thrilled to have them.” Kent walked morosely back to his car. He shouldn’t be feeling this disappointed over someone he had only met briefly, but he was. In fact, he was very disappointed. The ordeal yesterday morning must have affected him a great deal more than he had at first realized. Meeting up with the young woman would have brought a sense of closure to the whole episode. With that taken away from him he was feeling more than a little empty. Unlocking the car door he slipped into the driver’s seat and pushed the key into the ignition. With his hands resting on top of the steering wheel he stared through the windscreen at the light rain that had begun to fall. What name had the receptionist called her? Christy? That was it. He hadn’t thought to ask her for her last name too. No matter, she was probably already heading back down south with her father by now. She was definitely an out-of-towner, and having just gone through that ordeal she would be eager to get back home again. He turned the key and the engine burst into life. It would be best to put her out of his mind. He had a busy week ahead of him and was in serious need of some sleep, so turning the wheels away from the curb he shifted gears and headed for home. He gave some thought to his future as he drove through the rain to Paihia. His charter boat business wasn’t exactly thriving. In fact, in the past six months he had only just met the mortgage payments on the boat by the skin of his teeth. If things didn’t pick up soon he ran the very real risk that the bank was going to recall the loan, and that meant he would lose everything he had worked so hard to achieve. As he drove into Paihia he pulled into the beachfront and sat behind the wheel watching the waves crashing along the beach. He wouldn’t be taking anyone out in a sea that rough. According to the forecast there was a good chance this weather was settling in for the next five days or so. That meant no income until it had passed. He couldn’t help worrying. That charter boat was his whole life, he didn’t have anything else. If they took it off him he would be starting at the bottom again, and at thirty-one he didn’t fancy that at all. He had come up with the deposit for the boat with what he had saved deck handing on a crayfish boat eight years running. That plus the money his dad left him when he had passed away got him to the two hundred thousand dollars he needed for the most beautiful boat he had ever laid eyes on, but the thought of their years of hard work being all for nothing made his blood run cold. He brought his hands down savagely on the steering wheel. “I will not fail,” he said firmly. The rain was beating down with even greater ferocity on the windscreen now, completely obscuring the beach from view. “I won’t let you down, Dad,” he said, in a more subdued tone. A strong gust of wind suddenly buffeted the car, and his thoughts suddenly went back to the boat. He hoped it was securely fastened to its mooring. If this weather got any rougher, then a lose boat being driven onto rocks or into another boat would be his worst nightmare come true, especially since he had tried to save money by not insuring it for its full value. Yes, he had staked everything on that boat, all that he had owned, all his youthful energy and the only woman he had ever loved had been sacrificed so his dream of owning a charter boat could become a reality. He had been sorry when Jocelyn Holwood had walked out on him. She was no ordinary woman that was for certain. She had taken a fancy to him right from the moment they had met at the annual swordfish club awards dinner, and had done all the chasing. Kent had never been much good at that sort of thing. He had always been one of those quiet types who didn’t push himself forward when it came to women. But Jocelyn had been quietly determined to have him. Not that he could claim that he put up much of a fight. She was a good-looking