Free The Almost Wives Club: Kate by Nancy Warren

said, “If you find her and you upset her in any way I will personally hunt you down and kick your ass. Got it?”
    “Got it.”
    So she told him about her ancient Rabbit.
    “Any idea where she might go?”
    “No, but I can tell you that car is not exactly reliable. I told Kate, only a fool would try and drive it more than a hundred miles.”
    He got back into his own car and thought, a hundred miles in any direction was a lot of territory to cover. A hundred miles of coast, on the other hand, was a relative piece of cake.
    He headed for the coast and, as he opened the windows of his rental car and threw off his jacket, he wondered why everybody didn’t live in California.
    It took him two days to find her.
    It wasn’t the car he spotted.
    It was Kate.
     

Chapter Eight
    Nick stopped at every beachside town plus a few inland places that were still near the coast, stopping to show her photo around, ask if anyone had seen her. There was one guy in San Clemente who thought he’d seen her on the pier, but he wasn’t sure.
    He doubted she’d crossed the border into Mexico, but there was still a lot of waterfront real estate to check out.
    When he reached Carlsbad it was lunchtime. He picked up fish tacos and an ice tea and took the food to the beach. He figured he’d take a short break then start showing her photo around town.
    He settled back, idly watching the surfers. He spotted her almost immediately. He couldn’t have said why. The line of her body, the turn of her head, the way she held her arms. He had no idea but his gut lurched and he knew the woman in his line of sight was Kate.
    He fished his binoculars out of his pack and confirmed that the woman skimming waves with the same confidence the pelicans skimmed the air currents was, in fact, Kate. And damn, she was good. She crouched and turned this way and that, staying with the wave when he thought it would dump her. He could see her feet moving up and down on the board like a gymnast’s on a balance beam.
    He watched until the waves quieted and she called it a day.
    He was far enough away that she wouldn’t recognize him, and sure enough, she headed straight across the sand to the stairway that led up to the road without even glancing in his direction. He gave her a couple of minutes, then followed.
    She hefted the board into a surf shop. Spent ten minutes inside, then came out in a pair of jeans that hung low on her hips and a tight shirt. She had flip-flops on her feet. Her hair was short.
    He ducked down to pat a dog. She headed away from the store on foot and he followed her, knowing that if she turned around, he was made. She didn’t turn. She headed into an older triplex not half a block from the beach.
    Once he knew where she was staying, he jogged back to his car, drove to one of the vacation rental places he’d passed and booked himself a condo for a week. He chose the one that had the best view of the surfing beach and also provided a partial view of her street.
    He’d found her. She was safe. More than safe, she appeared fit and happy.
    So, he’d discovered she was fine. He could leave.
    But he knew he wouldn’t leave.
    Not before he’d seen her. A better man would leave her alone. She’d made it very clear she wanted some space.
    As he unpacked his case he accepted that he wasn’t a better man.
     ***
    Teaching surfing turned out to be not only a lot of fun, but also kept her too busy to brood. Sometimes she was even so tired from surfing and teaching that she got a few hours of sleep.
    Of course, Kate knew that she couldn’t hide out forever, but for a few weeks no one expected anything of her. At some point, she needed to find a job, tell her friends she wasn’t getting married. Start doing whatever a bride did when the wedding was off. But not today. She could walk the beach, feel the sun on her skin, she could surf and she could cry and she could grieve.
    She wasn’t overbooked with surfing lessons but there were usually one or two