all the campsites, so you need to pack up whatever critical items you have,
Dev.” She regarded Leslie pointedly.
“You were lucky to make it here at all, Ms. Harris. The lake is still far too rough
for your craft. You’ll be riding with me.”
Leslie didn’t like being given an ultimatum, but she needed to get back to the
mainland. She needed enough space from Dev to be able to draw a breath that
wasn’t ? lled with need. “I want to be sure my boat is secure.”
“I’ll help you with that while Dev gets her stuff together.”
Natalie turned and walked back into the woods, leaving Leslie no choice but to
follow. When Natalie stopped on the lake bank, Leslie came up beside her and
studied her boat rocking hard in the churning water. Natalie’s larger, heavier
departmental craft was anchored nearby.
One of them would have to climb down the bank into the water to get more
lines on her boat or it was going to break free. “We’re going to get wet doing
this.”
“I’ll get extra lines from my boat.”
“I couldn’t get much wetter,” Leslie said when Natalie returned with the ropes.
“I’ll go. You stay up here to secure them.”
When Leslie started down the steep, muddy bank, Natalie wrapped an arm
around a tree that canted out over the water, leaned out as far as she could, and
held out her hand.
“Here, grab on so you don’t fall.”
“Thanks.” When Leslie took Natalie’s hand their eyes met.
Natalie’s were dark and considering.
“That was pretty risky, coming out here yesterday,” Natalie said
conversationally.
“She was out here alone,” Leslie said. “You would have done the same.”
• 164 •
WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE
“I wanted to.”
“I can imagine.”
Natalie smiled faintly. “Can you?”
“Yes,” Leslie said softly, “I can.”
• 165 •
• 166 •
WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE
CHAPTER NINETEEN
While Natalie stood at the wheel in the cockpit, her legs braced wide apart for
balance in the buffeting wind and rain, Leslie huddled on the bench across from
Dev. The sky was a muddy brown, the water an angry gray, and both suited her
mood. She hated being rescued, even though she knew it was the wisest course.
The swells were higher than she’d ever seen them on the lake, and even in the
larger, heavier park service craft, the ride was harrowing. In her boat it would
have been impossible. Conversation was impossible, too, but even if she’d
wanted to talk to Dev, Dev clearly didn’t want to talk to her. Dev sat with her
body angled forward toward Natalie, her face impassive.
Leslie wondered what she was thinking. They hadn’t had any time to talk since
Natalie showed up at the campsite, but then Leslie wasn’t sure what she would
say to her. What could she say? I’m sorry?
That hardly seemed to cover how many wrong turns she’d taken with Dev,
starting when they’d been seventeen. Last night, though, might just have been
her crowning moment. They weren’t impulsive kids anymore, but she hadn’t
been able to keep her hands to herself or her mouth shut. She’d been in the
midst of seducing Dev—Leslie cringed inwardly but there was no other word
for it—she’d told Dev she wanted to make love, for God’s sake. And then in
the next breath she’d said no.
What had she been thinking? Nothing, obviously.
When she looked back on her relationship with Dev, it was littered with regret.
The only good thing to come of the entire visit had been that she and Dev had ?
nally talked about what had happened between them the night of the accident.
Of course, that conversation had nearly
• 167 •
RADCLY fFE
ended with them mindlessly screwing on the shore. Maybe it was better if they
didn’t talk. Leslie stared at Dev and her heart raced. No, it was better if they
weren’t anywhere near one another.
With a sigh, Leslie closed her eyes. Her father was home from the hospital and
headed toward recovery, her mother had hired a temporary cook and part-time
handyman, and she had even gotten the medical tests she was supposed to
have. God knew, she’d certainly had enough rest and relaxation. Any more, and
she would lose her mind. She’d stay to help her mother with the July Fourth
bash, and then she was going back to Manhattan. Back to the orderly, satisfying
life she had chosen, the one that suited her.
“You okay?” Dev shouted over the wind.
Leslie opened her eyes, her pulse racing when her eyes met Dev’s.
“Yes! You?”
Dev grinned ruefully and shrugged.
Even though relieved at the imminent prospect of heading back toward sanity,
Leslie couldn’t ignore the pang at knowing she wouldn’t see Dev again. And
with the heat of Dev’s body still alive in her mind, Leslie feared it would take
more than distance to extinguish the memory.
When the sound of the motor revving down caught Leslie’s attention, she
looked away from Dev with both sorrow and relief.
Natalie was guiding the boat up to the wide, rain-slicked dock alongside
Lakeview’s boathouse. It was deserted, as were the grounds.
Many of the cars that had been in the parking lot were gone, and Leslie
expected that a fair number of people had cut short their vacations when the
weather turned bad. In a way, that wasn’t such a bad thing, because it would
give her mother a break before the in? ux of new guests for the long weekend.
Natalie throttled down, eased the boat against the side of the dock, and called
over her shoulder, “Someone want to climb out and grab the lines?”
Leslie was closer to the dock side and hurriedly clambered out, dragging the
stern line with her. She pulled the craft against the cushioned bumpers attached
to the side of the dock and wrapped a line around a cleat while Natalie jumped
from the bow and did the same.
“Thanks,” Natalie called, hunching her shoulders in the wind.
“No problem.” Out of the corner of her eye, Leslie saw Dev stumble as she
climbed from the boat onto the dock, a grimace of pain on her face. “Dev!”
• 168 •
