Drake Sisters 04 - Dangerous Tides

shoulder, taking clothes and skin as it went by to smash into the rock behind him, ricocheting off to zing into the tunnel and embed in the dirt wall.

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    Water blasted up through the hole, completely soaking Tyson. Jackson made a grab for him and dragged him clear where he lay on the floor of the cave staring at his dead cousin's open eyes.

Chapter Twenty

    "LIBBY, what are you doing up?" Hannah asked. "It's nearly four a.m." She watched Libby pace back and forth across the living room floor. "Would you like me to make you a cup of tea?"

    Libby shook her head. "I can't sleep, but you should go back to bed."

    "You've been crying." Hannah waved her hand toward the kitchen. "You need something soothing. Have you slept at all since you last saw Tyson?"

    Libby shook her head. "Not much. I try. I have a lot of nightmares."

    Joley peeked into the room. "Are you having a private conversation, or can anyone join?"

    Libby smiled in welcome. "I'd ask you what you're doing up, but you never go to bed. At least not until morning."

    Joley shrugged and curled up in a wide recliner. "I've always been a bit of an insomniac. Don't you remember poor Mom trying to get me to bed?"

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    "You and Kate. She was always reading under the covers with a flashlight," Hannah remembered. "It drove Dad crazy."

    "Hey!" Abigail walked in, carrying her pillow. "If you're having a get-together, I want to be included.
    Besides, the whales should be coming through in about an hour and a half. We can sit on the cliff and watch them."

    "Only you would know precisely when a pod of whales would be swimming by," Hannah said. "We're always so lucky, we never miss them."

    "We can't have you sitting down here alone," Elle said, joining them. "If you all were going to have a party, you should have invited me."

    Libby's answering laugh was strained. "You're all crazy." She wasn't in the least surprised when Sarah and Kate arrived, complete with pillows.

    When she'd first come downstairs, she hadn't bothered with the lights, but sat alone in the dark, crying.
    Restlessness had set in and she'd been unable to remain still, pacing back and forth like a caged lion.
    Now she felt exhausted with grief.

    "Libby," Sarah said gently. "You're wearing yourself out."

    "Ty didn't say a single word," Libby burst out. She'd been so determined to be stoic, but now, surrounded by her sisters, she had to tell them how she felt—what she feared. "Not one. Not to me and not to Jackson. He looked so devastated and so alone."

    "Here, honey, drink this."

    Rather absently, Libby took the cup of tea Hannah handed to her. "Ty put his arm around me, but he was so broken I could feel it. I tried to help him, but he was in shock and nothing I did penetrated Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    enough to comfort him. I've never felt more useless. He lost so much. Everything . And I couldn't help at all." She blinked back tears. "Tyson walked away from me and he didn't look back."

    Hannah dropped her hand on Libby's shoulder. "You were in shock yourself, Libby, and you'd just expended a tremendous amount of energy healing your compound fracture. You have to cut yourself a little slack."

    "Not to mention fighting for your life," Joley pointed out.

    "Thank heaven you taught me that smashing maneuver with the mace that time, Joley," Libby admitted, striving to steady herself. "I never would have gotten away otherwise. I used the flashlight." She took a sip of tea. At once the soothing blend helped to calm her.

    She looked around the room suddenly aware of what she had. The true gift she'd been born into. Sarah and Abigail were lighting several aromatic candles. Kate added logs to the fire. Joley dimmed the lights.
    Elle and Hannah tossed pillows on the floor so they could all lie in their usual circle together. Everything Libby's sisters did was all for her. The house was warm and filled with love. Her sisters had all come together—gotten up at four in the morning just to support her—to make certain she was all right. She was surrounded by love every minute of her existence. Whenever she needed it or wanted it, all she had to do was reach out and any one, or all, of her sisters would be there for her.

    Tears filled her eyes. Setting the cup of tea aside, she slipped onto the