“Yesterday some kids overturned a couple of boats. I told them to clean up, but they’re not afraid of me like they are you, so they didn’t get it all.”
They stood side by side as they watched Nate maneuver the little boat near the big white objects. He tugged but they didn’t move.
“Cut the lines,” Terri said aloud.
“There are probably a thousand ropes caught on those old posts. He’s going to do it the right way.”
Nate stood up in the boat, pulled his shirt off, then eased over the side into the water.
“He can’t do that!” Terri started out the door. “I need to warn him about how deep the lake is there.”
Brody caught her arm. “I think your young man can take care of himself. Look! He’s come back up and he’s putting things in the boat. That’s great. That place needs a cleaning. I’ve been meaning to do it for years.”
When her father turned away, Terri saw the pain on his face. The night of the storm that took the big dock down was the night her mother went away. After that, there had been a couple of years when Brody had been grieving so deeply that he could barely function. His partner, Jake, had done most of the work around the place but that didn’t include replacing an old dock.
“I have a truckload of food and booze that Nate had me get,” Brody said. “Where do I put it?”
Terri was glad to change the subject. After yesterday in town she’d had all the reminders of the past that she could stand. She slid the door open. “I’ll help you unload in a minute, but I’m going to watch to make sure Nate doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“Good idea,” he said, and they went to the chairs outside. Nate dived underwater, then came back up with some pieces of garbage and tossed them into the boat.
Terri waved at him to let him know they were keeping guard, then sat down beside her father.
“You know, don’t you, that you’re getting in over your head with this guy?” Brody said.
“I do. I didn’t but I do now. What’s that saying about it being better to have loved and lost?”
“Than not to have loved at all. Yeah, I heard it, but as one who lost I’m not sure the pain is worth it.” Brody’s words were gloomy, but then he grinned at his daughter. “Except for you. I wouldn’t have you if I hadn’t loved. So how’s he getting along with his fiancée? The girl he’s going to marry.”
Terri did not want to talk about that! Her dad had said his piece and no more needed to be said. “I hear Della got a release from the hospital just so she could come to the party. Are you going to ask her out?”
Della Kissel was at least fifteen years older than Brody, but she’d had a crush on him since the first day she saw him.
“I’ve had enough teasing about that from Frank, so don’t you start. Did you know that he agreed to bring chicken and beef for the party? And I think he’s planning to help cook.”
Terri looked at her father sharply. “What’s he up to?”
“I have no idea. But you know Frank—he always has a reason for whatever he does.”
“He’s not going to bring up the past again, is he?” Terri asked softly. “That thing about finding out his version of the truth? We know what happened.” Nate had nearly filled the boat with rubbish that had been trapped under the lake’s surface.
“I think I made it pretty clear to Frank the last time he started asking questions that I wanted him to stop. He swore that he would. But now he seems to want something from Nate.”
“What’s your guess?”
Brody got up and walked the few feet to the edge of the water and motioned to Nate that that was enough. Nate held up his hand, index finger raised. He had one more dive to make.
Brody turned back to his daughter. “I think Frank wants Nate to take over his job. Frank’s behaved himself for years now and I think he wants to retire and spend his days fishing. Or doing anything besides getting up at 2:00 a.m. because of a complaint about noisy neighbors.”
“It’s not going to happen. Nate’s going to work with money. He said Stacy already has an office for him.”
Brody looked at his daughter. “It’s on the ground floor of the Thorndyke house.”
“Oh.” Terri didn’t return her father’s stare as she watched Nate lift himself into her boat. He motioned that he was going back to the clubhouse to sort out the rubbish for recycling, then he’d be back. She nodded and waved, then looked at her father. “Let’s go unload your truck. And don’t tell Nate any of this about a job. Let him make up his own mind.”
“You mean let him see that if an active guy like him has to sit at a desk all day he’ll go insane?”
Terri couldn’t suppress her grin. “Exactly. Have you seen the office?”
“No, but Frank has. He said it’s got chairs with shiny steel arms. And there’s Native American artwork on the walls.”
“Because Nate grew up in Colorado.” Terri took a breath. “That’s a nice house. Maybe he and Stacy will live on the top floors.”
“Yeah, maybe. Come on! Let’s get to work before we depress ourselves.”
Smiling, they started walking through the house. “That’s us. More identical than the Turner Twins. By the way, Nate met them.”
“How was that?”
“Quite gratifyingly awful. They were all jealous of one another.”
“They should be. That reminds me. Elaine wants to bring a few clothes up here this afternoon. She thought you might like something new to wear.”
“As opposed to my usual five-year-old T-shirts?”
“I suggested red and sparkly. Maybe low cut.”
“Dad!” She was shocked.
“I’m on Team Terri. So shoot me. Elaine talked about skinny jeans and high heels.”
“Absolutely not!” Terri said, then smiled. “Not too high anyway. She say anything about makeup?”
“She has a case the size of a footlocker filled with nothing but little pots and bottles.”
“That’s about exactly how much I’m going to need after years of sun and water.” Smiling, Terri slipped her arm through her father’s and they went outside to his truck.
* * *
Terri took her father’s advice and chose a pair of tight pants and a red silk blouse. She and Elaine were in her bedroom and the bed was covered with clothes. Since Elaine had come to the lake, she’d been as close to a mother as Terri had ever had.
Elaine had been widowed two years before she arrived at the lake. She’d been driving from New York to Atlanta, where she planned to buy into her friend’s dress shop. Elaine had always been involved in the fashion industry, and she was looking forward to being her own boss. She’d pulled off the highway to have lunch by a sign that said Lake Kisses.
That day Brody, Frank and Terri had been sitting at one of the tables in front of the pizza stand. They were going over some plans for enlarging the pavilion so they could host a farmer’s market.
“You’ll get more townies in here with this,” Frank said, but when Brody didn’t answer, they looked at him. Terri was startled to see that her father had taken on the appearance of some predatory animal. His eyes were intense!
Terri just stared at him, but Frank chuckled. In the next second they turned to see a woman at the counter. She was forty-ish and kept herself in shape: tall, slim, short dark hair. She wore tailored black linen trousers, a white blouse and gold earrings.
As though he were in a trance, Brody got up and went to her.
Frank, wearing a smirk that twisted his whole face to one side, got out his wallet. He put a twenty-dollar bill on the table.
Terri was still gaping at her father. She’d never seen him look like that or go after any visitor. In fact, he did his best to get away from them.
“Twenty bucks says she doesn’t leave here,” Frank said.
She looked at him. “What are
you talking about?”
“Her. The chick in city clothes. She didn’t go to the office so she’s not here to rent. I know she doesn’t own, so she’s probably meaning to keep going.”
“She could be somebody’s guest.” Terri watched as her father smiled at the woman and began talking while his eyes seemed to travel up and down her.
“Nope,” Frank said. “I’ve only seen your father look at one other woman like that and he married her.”
“You’re crazy! Dad doesn’t—” She stopped talking because her father slipped his arm through the woman’s and they walked toward his office.
Frank put the bill back in his wallet. “You owe me twenty bucks.” He got up.
“I didn’t agree to your dumb bet.” She was staring at her father as he ushered the woman into his office. She looked back at Frank. “But... I mean...”
Frank grinned. “Your dad used to be one of the Players. In fact he probably started them on their paths to eternal damnation.”
“My father would never—”
“You better face it, kiddo, your daddy may seem to be alone, but Brody Rayburn isn’t celibate. See you later and you can introduce me to your new stepmom.”
“She isn’t going to be—” Terri broke off because she was shouting and people were staring. Frank waved his hand but he didn’t look back.
It had turned out almost exactly as Frank had said it would. By the next morning, Brody had talked Elaine into opening a dress shop right outside his office. He’d put her in a store that had mostly sold sunscreen and ugly towels. Two weeks later, Brody tore down the wall into the boat storage next to it to give Elaine more room. He’d had to deal with some anger when people had to take their boats out of storage, but he didn’t hesitate.
When the women around the lake saw a showing of Elaine’s clothes set up in the clubhouse, they volunteered to help build the new store.
From that first day four years ago, Elaine and Brody had been a pair. Everyone except Frank had expected Terri to be jealous, but she hadn’t been. She loved the woman almost as much as her dad did.
“You’re sure about this?” Terri asked, looking at herself in the mirror over the dresser. They had the curtains drawn because the house and grounds were beginning to fill up with people.
“You look beautiful,” Elaine said. “The Turner boys are going to be falling all over themselves at the sight of you.”
“Oh. Them.”
Behind her, Elaine smiled. “You shouldn’t dismiss those two. They’re handsome and rich and a lot of fun. They—”
“Can’t do anything.” Terri turned away from the mirror. She looked at the clothes on the bed with longing. It had been years since she’d worn pretty clothes. She used to take hours to get dressed and now she spent the day without so much as brushing her hair.
“You’re right,” Elaine said. “The Turner Twins can’t get the kids together, can’t throw a party for everyone, won’t clean up lakes and old boathouses. They aren’t liked by everyone they meet. They aren’t a Pied Piper come to life.”
Terri sat down on the bed and picked up the sleeve of a blouse with pearls along the cuff. “No one is like Nate.”
“Oh, honey.” Elaine sat down beside Terri and put her arms around her. “Don’t fall in love with a man who’s already taken. That’s the way to get your heart broken. Just wait. Give him time to decide what he wants to do.”
“The mayor’s daughter or the girl at the lake? Not a difficult decision to make.”
Elaine leaned back to look at her. “I don’t know this Stacy Hartman, but I do know you, and you’re as good as any young woman on this planet.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Terri said. When a ball bounced against the glass doors, she sat up. “I’m okay. Maybe I should go out with one of the Twins. Nate says one’s an ambulance chaser and the other one is a quack.”
Elaine laughed. “I think I agree with him.” She waved her hand around. “How are you with all of this?” She meant the people who were inside and out of the house.
Terri got up. “I love it. You know how bad Dad and I are at socializing.”
“Don’t get me started. Getting him to leave the lake to go to a movie takes a week of nagging.”
“That’s an idea. Maybe we should open a—”
“Movie theater here? Absolutely not. You two need to learn that a world away from this lake exists. So you don’t mind your house being overrun?”
“Nate will take care of it. This morning he was saying that he and I would have to do the cooking, but he found a chef. Did you know that Mr. Parnelli used to cook for a five-star restaurant?”
“I didn’t,” Elaine said as she got up. “But I think your Nate knows more about the people here than I do. Everyone has met him.”
“You like him too.”
“Of course I do,” Elaine said. “He carried in all the boxes of clothes you got in Richmond, then helped me unpack them. He liked that blouse you have on.”
Terri quit fiddling with the collar in a way that said If Nate likes it, so do I.
Elaine pulled the curtains open. Outside the sun sparkled off the water. There were many smiling faces of people who were already there, even though it was early afternoon.
As she began gathering the clothes, Elaine saw Terri looking to one side. Nate was by the water, his phone to his ear, and he was frowning. Looked like he was arguing with someone. Hope it’s her, Elaine thought.
With Terri’s back to her, Elaine hung the blouse with the pearl-encrusted sleeves in her closet. She’d already ordered a dress for Terri for the Widiwick dance—and she truly hoped it got torn to shreds in passion.
Chapter 7
When Terri entered the living room, she had the great satisfaction of seeing Nate’s eyes widen at the sight of her. He’d been laughing with three of the retirees, men Uncle Frank called would-be-Players. “They would if they could.” It was a private joke he shared with Terri and her father.
She acted as though she hadn’t seen Nate’s appreciative look and went to the kitchen, her heels tapping on the stone floor. The long counter that her aunt used to fill with her homey desserts and casseroles was now covered with bowls and platters full of beautifully arranged food. Behind the counter was a retiree, Mr. Parnelli, in a white apron. He was flanked by two of the weekend widows, who were busy chopping and mixing, and from the look of the big stove, setting things on fire.
“Looks good, doesn’t it?” Nate said from beside her.
She didn’t turn to look at him. “I had no idea what these people could do.” The three of them were working together as though they’d always done it.
“Mr. Parnelli was a top chef and the ladies worked in various positions in restaurants before they married.”
“Then they married money and now dedicate their lives to whatever their husbands want.” She was smiling as she turned toward him. A couple of kids ran past them and jostled into Nate so that he took a step forward. His nose almost hit Terri’s.
Instantly, he stepped back. “You got taller.”
“It’s the heels. I almost forgot how to walk in them.”
“It’s interesting that you do know how.”
She started to reply, but over his shoulder she saw Della Kissel enter. She was a small, older woman, her face wrinkled from a lifetime of sun. Everyone in town said she had vision an eagle would envy—and at least four eyes so she saw everything.
Terri took Nate’s hand and pulled him around the corner, then stopped and glanced back toward the kitchen. “Della Kissel just arrived and I have to protect you. You’re fresh meat to her. If she sees you, she’ll imprison you and interrogate you throughout the night.”
“Yeah?” His voice was suggestive. “What’s she look like?”
She sniffed his breath. “How much have you had to drink?”
“Two b
eers. Maybe three. Everybody is asking questions about me. I think they want to see my résumé.”
“That’s good. Maybe you can get some clients for your money business.”
He was leaning against the wall. “I thought I had a job cleaning up rubbish from under the lake. Why was that dock taken down and how deep is it there?”
“When Dad and Uncle Jake put in Club Circle, the dock was too far away. It came down in a storm and no one rebuilt it. No one’s measured the depth, but Mr. Kissel said he’d lost a couple of cows down there.”
“It wasn’t a cow I saw under the water.”
Terri was peering around the corner. “Della is searching for you.”
“Sure it’s not you she wants?”
“As she loves to tell people, she used to change my diapers. There isn’t much of anything that she doesn’t know about me. Uh-oh. She’s coming this way.” Again Terri took Nate’s hand, led him past the bathroom into her bedroom and shut the door.
Nate immediately stretched out on the bed. “People sure show up early for parties here.”
Terri glanced out the window. “If I could, I’d turn on a neon sign saying I told you so. These people have nothing else to do except party. And since Mr. Do-Gooder you went around asking what everyone used to do, they now want to show off. In my house.”
Nate gave a one-sided grin. “You don’t sound like you hate it.”
Terri flopped down on the other side of the bed and looked up at the ceiling. “It’s been nice.”
“What has?”
They’d always had a lighthearted teasing between them, but she grew serious. “What you’ve done here has been good for all of us. Dad and I tend to be so focused on getting the work done that we forget to have fun. Aunt Aggie used to have parties, but she invited her favorites and...” Terri turned to look at him. “You include everyone in what you do and everybody here likes you.”
Instead of the smile she expected, Nate frowned. “Don’t sell yourself short. What you do to run this place is extraordinary. You’re like a tribal chief keeping everyone in line. I’m just the clown.”
Met Her Match Page 8