Page 84 of Dreaming at Seaside
His eyes were hidden by his hair, but she had a clear view of his clenching jaw. He was throwing off the same troublesome vibe she’d felt when they left the beach.
“Evan, if there’s something—”
“Nothing’s going on, okay?” He breathed heavily through flaring nostrils.
Holy crap, what are you dealing with?
“Okay. Okay. Sorry.” She took a step away.
“Wait.” The tremor in his voice stopped her cold. He crossed and uncrossed his arms. “I don’t know if something’s wrong. Everything’s messed up.”
“Evan,what’smessed up?”
He clammed up again, and she wanted to shake him into talking.
“Hey, guys.” Caden’s voice cut through the silence. He ran his eyes between the two of them. His smile faded, replaced with a piercing, worried stare. “What’s going on?”
Evan shot a look at Bella. She tilted her head and softened her gaze, as if to say,This is all you, buddy.
Evan shifted his eyes to his father again. He crossed his arms over his chest, but he couldn’t hide the fearful vibe that radiated from him.
“It’s Vera.”
Two words that hit like a bullet to Bella’s chest.
Caden closed in on him. “What’sVera?”
“I don’t know.” Evan drew in a jagged breath. His voice was shaky and angry, and his eyes welled with tears. “I don’t know, okay? Those guys sent me a text, and I think it might mean that they’re doing something to her cottage. I don’t know, Dad, and I swear I have nothing to do with it.”
Without a word, Caden stalked inside and grabbed his duffel bag. He pulled out some sort of radio and called in a report to the station for someone to get over to Vera’s cottage.
“Evan?” Bella placed her hands on his shaking shoulders and stared into his damp eyes. “Tell me what you know.”
“They sent a text telling me off and that she could kiss her violin goodbye. I think they thought she was with us.” Evan pulled out of her grasp. “If they hurt her, I swear I’ll kill them.”
Adrenaline and worry surged through Bella’s veins. She heard Caden talking to Joe; then he went to the front of the boat and pulled Jamie aside. A minute later Jamie was hulking over Evan and there was a flurry of pulling in fishing lines and worried voices.
“What on earth is going on?” Jamie demanded. His face was red, the veins in his neck plumped, snaking over tight muscles.
“I…I don’t know. I swear I didn’t know anything, Jamie. I swear it. I would never hurt Vera.” Tears streamed down Evan’s cheeks.
Bella had never seen Jamie as angry as he was now, pacing the deck with fisted hands. The boat roared to life and sped toward shore. The others gathered together, trying to figure out what was going on. Words of worry and confusion darted from their conversations. Caden dragged Evan to the opposite end of the boat with his back to Bella and the others. He paced a few steps, stopped and said something to Evan, then paced again. Evan shriveled beneath Caden’s anger. Bella couldn’t think past hoping that whatever was going on, Vera was okay.
