Tess stifled a laugh and winked at Ella. "I'd offer to help but it looks like you've already got him trained. I'll set the table." She turned toward the hall, laughing softly.
"Sweetie," Ella called after her, "check the ham and baste the yams with some of the syrup on the counter. We'll be through here in a couple of minutes."
"Consider it done." Tess peeked in the oven and saw a glazed ham trimmed with pineapple rounds and maraschino cherries, and a casserole with bubbling candied yams beside it. She reached for the yams and placed them on the counter, then spooned on syrup before returning them to the oven. In a pot on top of the stove were fresh green beans with slivered almonds and strips of bacon. Replacing the lid, she turned to set the table.
A few minutes later, Ella came in and began scurrying about dishing up food and putting it on the table, and shortly afterwards, Gib wandered into the room. After they took their places, Gib carved the ham and passed a platter of sliced meat around the table.
As Ella placed a thick slice of ham on her plate, she said to Gib, "I don't like Tess out there with those men, especially with all that's been going on. Really Gib, it's not a job for a young woman. Carl Yaeger's offer might not be what you want, but it is an offer, and it's beyond me to understand why you don't sell the place to him and be done with it."
Tess eyed her father with annoyance. "You never told me anything about an offer."
"That's because I haven't made up my mind one way or another," Gib said.
"But if you're thinking about it you could at least clue me in, you know."
Gib glared at his sister, then shifted impatient eyes to Tess, and said in a firm voice, "When and if I decide to sell you'll be first to know. Meanwhile, I don't want pressure from either of you women. I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet."
Ella glared at him. "You won't be ready to sell until you drop in your tracks out there. Meanwhile, your daughter's working with men like Jed Swenson, when she should be thinking about a home and family."
When Gib refused to respond, Ella looked at Tess, and said, "What did you do yesterday, sweetie? We were half expecting you to spend the weekend with us."
Tess stared at her aunt while deliberating whether to reveal exactly where she'd been for the past two days or whether to concoct something in order to keep the peace. Although her father claimed if she chose a life with Zak now he wouldn't stand in her way, she wasn't so sure she wanted to test that right now, with all the other problems at camp.
"Honey, are you okay?" Ella asked, when Tess didn't respond.
Tess nervously dabbed her mouth with her napkin. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."
Ella glared at Gib. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. Tess is out there running that place when she should be—"
"Aunt Ella," Tess interrupted. "I'm not tired from the job. I was in Navarre with Zak."
No one spoke. All that could be heard was the sound of utensils clinking against china.
Tess looked at her father, who continued eating as if nothing had been said, then at her aunt, who looked confused, as was Tess. After a few minutes Gib speared another slice of meat, and said, "This is one helluva good ham."
Tess eyed her father with bafflement, but when she saw Aunt Ella smiling, and knew her father had no intention of making an issue over Zak, she covered her mouth with a napkin and burst out laughing, and Ella quickly joined her.
Gib looked from one to the other, and said, "What the devil's wrong with you women?"
Tess stood, bent over her father and kissed him on the cheek, and said, "You." Then she whispered in his ear, "I love you, Dad."
Gib flushed, spooned yams onto his dish and passed the bowl to Ella, and said to Tess, "Northwest Tire called. Looks like the skidder tire's been shot with a high-powered rifle. They're able to fix it though. The shot didn't damage the sidewall."
"I'll call the police when I get back to camp," Tess said. "I hope they nail Swenson."
"What makes you so sure he's the one doing everything?" Gib asked.
"He's the only one with a motive. He's mad because I fired him."
"It seems pretty drastic steps to take just because a person's mad," Gib commented.
"I agree, but I'm sure he's behind it. Everything started happening right after I fired him, and we already know he has a hot temper. I hope he also has a big savings account because he'll need it to pay for everything."
"I guess I have to agree with you since I can't think of anyone else with a motive," Gib said. "Better keep an eye on him. I'm glad Zak's in the cabin next door."
Tess looked at her father with a start. His smile was her final assurance that he'd truly accepted Zak in her life. Eyeing him with affection, she said, "How about a game of chess after dinner?"
Sparks of challenge lit his eyes. "Kiddo, you're on."
Two hours later, Tess conceded the game to her father. "You'll get your come-uppance next time we play. It's all starting to come back."
Gib's face sobered, as he looked across the chess table at her, and said, "Just don't stay away from here too long."
Tess looked at her father's solemn face. "Don't worry, Dad. I'm through running away."
***
Tess resumed logging operations, and after work, two days later, she stopped by Zak's cabin, and seeing no sign that he'd been there, knew he wasn't back from the nest climbs he'd mentioned earlier. Ever since she'd returned from Baker's Creek she'd been anxious to tell him that at least one old man wasn't standing in their way.
Feeling restless, she returned to her cabin and busied herself tidying up. She was on the verge of walking over to Zak's once more before going to bed, when she heard knocks on the front door. She rushed to open it and found Zak looking at her.
Zak kissed her lightly, and said, "We have a problem." Tess stepped back for him to enter, and he lowered himself on the couch and sat with his shoulders slumped. Tess sat beside him and slipped her arm in his and waited. Zak drew in a long breath. "After I dropped you off Sunday, I hiked around the north end of the property looking for perch trees, and Jed Swenson showed up."
Tess's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What was he doing there on Sunday?"
"That's what I wanted to know. Seems he brought in a backhoe to trench along the road to divert the water from Saturday's rain so the road wouldn't wash out. He was also putting in a culvert, so I jumped at the chance to ask a few questions."
"What kind of questions?"
"Nothing specific, just trying to fish for information on his background, specifically if he'd had any military experience or knew anything about explosives, and I found out he'd been in the Marines. He was reluctant to talk about it, but he did mention he'd been discharged early. I got suspicious, thinking he'd been given a dishonorable discharge, so I did some checking."
"Wait, let me guess. You found out he was discharged for accidentally blowing up the barracks while tossing a grenade to a friend."
"Not quite, but I did manage to pry out of him the date of his release, and that he returned to Baker’s Creek right afterwards. So I checked through back issues of the Baker’s Creek Gazette and found this." He removed a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Tess, who unfolded it.
Finding a photocopy of a newspaper article, she read: While serving as Platoon Sergeant of Company G, Second Battalion, Fifth Marine Division, Sergeant Jedediah Swenson was severely wounded while evacuating a fallen comrade when the unit came under heavy automatic weapons fire from enemy forces. Despite his wounds, Sergeant Swenson ran across a fire-swept range, completely exposed to view, and delivered a hail of machine gun fire against the enemy. Fighting pain, weakness and loss of blood, he braved the concentrated fire and charged an estimated twenty-five enemy soldiers advancing to attack, continuing to fire until the enemy ran for cover. For courageous and inspired performance in the face of overwhelming odds, Sergeant Jedediah Swenson has been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Tess stared at the paper, unable t
o process what she'd read. But the words were there. "I can't believe this. Swenson actually received a Medal of Honor?"
"And a Purple Heart for his wounds. But that's not all. After I got out of him the information about being in the Marines, I asked what the problem was at Timber West and he said he wouldn't work for a woman, so I dug a little deeper and found out Swenson was raised by six women—his mother, his grandmother and four older sisters. I think he's just had his fill of women telling him what to do. I also think you'd better take another look at Curt Broderick. Swenson's stuck to his story that Broderick cut the trees and I believe him."
"That doesn't make sense. Why would Curt sabotage Timber West?"
"I asked Swenson that too and he said he didn't know, only what he'd seen Broderick doing."
"Well, I'm not yet convinced Swenson's off the hook, but I'll keep an eye on Curt, at least see where he goes during his spare time, maybe find out who he hangs out with."
"You might ask him if he was in the service, and if so, what he did. Maybe he's our explosives expert. The job on the ridge road was done by someone who knows explosives."
"That's what Herring said. Now that I think about it, Curt didn't have much to say about the whole thing. Still, there's no reason for him blowing up the road and cutting down trees and shooting a hole in the skidder tire. And incidentally, the tire was shot."
"Considering everything else that's happened, that doesn't surprise me. You know, Swenson's really not a bad guy. He's a hell of a worker. If you need a new woods boss, you might give him another chance."
"He doesn't work for women, remember? Meanwhile, I have some good news, at least I think you'll like it." Zak eyed her with curiosity and waited. "My father's no longer objecting to us. He didn't so much as blink when I told him I'd been with you for two days." She went on to explain her father's reaction to her announcement about being in Navarre.
"Well, that's one bullheaded old cuss out of the way," Zak said. "Now, we only have one more to go, and I think you've about got him wrapped around your little chess finger. Anyone who'll be Father's chess buddy is in. So I guess our only problem now is to somehow resolve the property line dispute while keeping two old goats from butting heads."
Tess sighed. "The dispute will be resolved in court, but I don't think the head butting can be resolved. My father never has a good word for yours, and I'm sure it's the same with your father."
Zak agreed. "But there's sixty miles separating them, so maybe they won't kill each other."
"But you said there was a problem. This all sounds good."
"There is a problem, and I wish I could put it off, but I can't."
The subject was serious. Tess could see it in Zak's eyes, and in the furrows in his brow, and the way his jaw clenched. He covered her hand with his, and said, "Honey, I hate having to be the one to tell you this, but you have to stop operations near the ridge. You're logging in the primary zone of a perch tree."
Tess pulled her hand from under his and stared in disbelief. "You can't be serious. It's only a perch tree?"
"It's also an alternate nest tree."
"But the nest has been empty for years. Besides, we don't plan to cut that tree down or even the timber around it, only the pole timber in the area."
"It still could disturb the birds."
"How can you do this, Zak? You and I are trying to get our lives together and my father has finally accepted you. Do you have any idea what this will do?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't let your father dictate how I do my job."
Tess moved away from him and folded her arms. "Fine, but you'd better understand one thing. If my father wants to keep cutting we'll keep cutting, and the only way you'll stop us is to have me arrested, unless, of course, you want to arrest a sick old man." She glared at him with suppressed rage. "And I thought I was naive at seventeen."
Zak's eyes narrowed. "Don't put me in this position. No one should be arrested."
"Then don't shut down Timber West!"
Zak drew in an exasperated breath. "I'm not shutting it down. I'm only telling you to stop logging within six-hundred feet of the perch tree."
"That's over forty acres!" Tess cried.
"You have other timber, and other areas where you can log."
"The pole timber's what's keeping us going right now! We just wiped out the last of our working capital in order to make our quarterly tax payment, and in ten days we have a loan payment due, and that's just the beginning. We owe money for skidder tires, and equipment repairs, and wages, all of which can be paid if we harvest the pole timber."
"I know you're struggling financially, and I'm sorry about that," Zak said, "but you'll still have to stop logging near the tree."
"I'll do whatever my father decides."
Zak glared at her. "Then you might end up in jail. You know what he'll decide."
"Yes, I do, so I suggest you stay clear of him after today. You won't be very popular with him... again." She held his unwavering gaze for a long, silent moment.
When she offered nothing more, Zak stood, splayed an agitated hand in the air, and said, "Fine, have it your way. It's out of my hands. The report's already gone in."
He threw the door open, sending it crashing against the wall, and walked out. Moments later, tires spun as the truck sped into the darkness.
Tess slammed the door and stared at it, her heart racing. Zak's crusade was very noble, but he was carrying things too far, and the one thing she refused to do was to stop logging because of an empty nest!
CHAPTER 12
Tess stood on a rise at the edge of the tract with the pole timber, looking across the clearing to where logs were being stacked on the landing. In the distance she heard the buzz of chain saws cutting trees and the whine of the skidder hauling logs, and beneath her feet the ground vibrated with the rumble of the bulldozer. Normally, she gave the noise little thought, but for some reason today the clatter from the machines grated on her nerves. She suspected it was a combination of lack of sleep, and Zak's angry exit from her cabin three nights before. She hadn't seen him since, and his abrupt departure hung heavy on her mind.
If they were forced to stop logging pole timber, she didn't even want to think about her father's reaction when he learned Zak was behind it. Meanwhile, the more timber she could get down, the less she'd hear from her father when and if it came to that.
She watched Curt Broderick lower the blade of the Cat and start shoving limbs onto a burn pile. Over the past three days she'd pondered his reactions to the various incidents, while growing increasingly suspicious that he might actually be the one behind it all, in spite of the fact that there seemed to be no logical reason why he should sabotage his own job. She'd also gone over in her mind what she'd say to him today, in an effort to draw him out. But as she watched him operate the Cat, she questioned her reasoning. She wanted to point a finger at someone, and before reading about Swenson's stunning military actions, that person had been him. Now, she knew, it was time to start asking questions, beginning with Curt.
While she waited for him to finish moving limbs and brush, she saw her father's truck lurching up the rough road. When he pulled into the clearing, she noted he was wearing his hard hat and work boots. From the pleased look on his face, and the spring in his step, she could tell he was excited about something, which he confirmed when he said, "I just got word that the price of pole timber went up, and this stand is top grade. It might just keep us in business."
Tess forced a smile, but inside she felt the sting of Zak's ultimatum. "That's good. We should be done here in less than three weeks." She scanned his hard hat and work clothes. "I hope you aren't planning on operating any equipment because you're not supposed to."
"I just came to see how things were going," Gib said. "Any problems?"
Tess relayed what she'd learned from Zak about Swenson getting the Medal of Honor, then offered her reasons for suspecting Curt of sabotaging the place. "He was the first to discover the landslide, he
's woods boss so he's first on the job every morning, he was working on the Cat the day before the steering hose broke, and he was also first to discover the hole in the skidder tire, claiming it ran over a spike. And now we find out the tire was shot with a high-powered rifle. He keeps one on a rack in his truck."
"So do lots of people," Gib said.
"But Swenson says Curt was the only one around when one of the two trees went down that Alesander de Neuville claims was on his property. Regardless of whose property it's on, you didn't order it cut, I didn't order it cut, and neither did Mr. de Neuville."
"That may all be true," Gib said, "but Curt has no motivation."
"Maybe he does, and that's what I hope to find out."
"Well, you'd better keep him on until we get this pole timber down. Without it, the whole crew might be looking for new jobs."
"That's another thing I want to talk to you about." Broaching the next subject with trepidation, she said, "There's some old-growth fir among the pole timber and one of them has an eagle's nest in it, and we're not supposed to log within six-hundred feet of the tree."
"That nest has been inactive for years," Gib said.
"Yes, but the eagles are still using it for a perch tree."
"It'll still be there after the pole timber's gone, but there's no way in hell I'll stop logging just because of an empty nest."
"What if we're ordered to stop?"
"No one's gonna order me to stop cutting my own timber because of an empty nest, and if anyone does, send them to me."
"We do have other areas where we could log," Tess pointed out.
"We have pole timber right here that needs cutting while the price is high and I don't want to hear any more about it." He got in his truck and slammed the door. As Tess watched his truck pitch and buck down the road, she desperately hoped Zak would not carry out his threat.
She looked toward the creaking bulldozer and saw it lumber to a halt. Curt jumped down to drag limbs onto a pile. "Curt!" she yelled, motioning to him.
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