by Jane Toombs
“Grandma’s not easily fazed,” Mikel said.
“So I see.” Rachel had hardly been able to look at him this morning and she didn’t now. Spotting the note lying on the kitchen table, she picked the paper up and waved it at him. “This is Sonia’s grocery list. She said to give it to you, but I can easily—”
“No way. I’ll go.”
“But I need to get groceries myself. I’d be happy to—”
“We’ll go together.” He grinned at her. “Don’t argue with your guest.”
Rachel relaxed a little, smiling despite herself. Okay, so she was overwhelmingly attracted to him physically, but she also liked Mikel. He was easy to be with. She might even be able to trust him, if there wasn’t this barrier preventing her from ever trusting anyone except the Saaris. Mikel, especially, had to be kept outside that barrier.
In the grocery store, they ran into Bob from the gas station. “Did that lady in the red car get to your place okay?” he asked Rachel.
“Yes, thanks for helping her.”
“Friend of yours?”
“She’s my grandmother,” Mikel explained.
“Aino getting on all right?” Bob asked.
“Yes,” Rachel said. “We brought him home from the hospital this morning.”
“Glad to hear it. Well, see you two around.”
Mikel, who’d already decided the village information pipeline was more efficient than the Internet, figured that, by tonight, everyone in town would know Sonia was Aino’s private physical therapist. If he could find a way to tap into this community knowledge without raising suspicions by asking too many questions, he had a hunch he might be able to piece enough together to discover whether or not Leo Saari had some covert connection with Renee’s disappearance.
On the surface, it appeared Leo did not, but surfaces were often deceptive.
In the checkout line they encountered a mother of one of the Scouts. “Laurie says the camp-out is still on,” she said to Rachel, giving Mikel sidelong glances. “I thought maybe with Aino having had the stroke and all, you might postpone it, but I’m glad you called me to say your guest will be taking Aino’s place. Laurie will be so disappointed if she can’t go.”
“She meant me,” Mikel said.
“Oh, you must be the man who’s getting the pine trees from the Department of National Resources for the girls to plant,” the woman said.
Rachel broke in to introduce them. “As I mentioned, Mikel and his grandmother are staying at the farm with us,” she added.
“How nice,” Laurie’s mother said. “You’ll let me know for sure about the camp-out, then?”
Rachel nodded.
After putting the groceries in the car, Mikel said, “Which is the best way to get closer to Lake Superior? I’ve only had glimpses of it so far.”
“There’s a township park along the lake,” she said. “I’ll show you where to turn.”
“A park? Good.” He meant to force a discussion of last night and they needed to be alone, preferably not driving in a car. He intended to stop so they could get out and stroll along the beach.
When he finally pulled into a small parking lot and turned off the engine, he said, “Game to go wading?”
She stared at him. “Have you ever waded in this lake?”
“No, that’s why I suggested it. Something wrong about doing that?”
“Of course not.” Rachel bent to remove her shoes. “I was surprised that you wanted to.”
“Because I’m a city boy? As a kid I swam in the Atlantic.”
Leaving their shoes and socks in the car, they walked through a cluster of huge old white pines toward the water. The day was warm and the sun glinted off lazy waves pushing up onto golden-brown sand. Mikel gazed out at the blue water stretching to the horizon with no land in sight, and something within him responded to the uncluttered beauty of the scene.
“No boats out there,” he said. “And no one on the beach.” He looked at her questioningly.
Rachel pointed. “See that line of dark clouds just above the horizon?”
“Doesn’t look like much of a threat to me.”
“That’s because you didn’t grow up on this lake. Nobody’s taken a boat out because they know in about an hour, the wind’ll be up, causing waves you won’t believe, with the worst of the storm still to come. Since mothers don’t generally bring their kids to the beach until afternoon and most teenagers are either working or sleeping till noon, that’s why nobody’s here.”
He grinned at her. “We are. Race you to the water.”
She stopped short of getting her feet wet, but he splashed in, immediately splashing right out again. “Straight from the Arctic,” he complained as he began to walk with her alongside the water.
“Forty-five degrees,” she said, smiling.
“You didn’t warn me.”
“You didn’t ask.”
Seeing his opening, he said, “If I ask you about last night, will you be honest?”
Though he wasn’t touching her he could sense her tensing. She didn’t reply for so long he was beginning to think she might not, when she finally spoke.
“I shouldn’t have let that happen.”
“But you enjoyed it as much as I did.” No question, he knew she had.
“Even so.”
Honest Rachel. He quelled his impulse to hug her, knowing that would be unacceptable right now. “Then why shouldn’t you have let it happen?” he asked.
“I don’t care to discuss why.”
He stopped, reached out and grasped her shoulders, turning her to face him, gazing directly into her eyes, noticing for the first time that she wore contacts. Which had nothing to do with the moment. “There’s a list of excuses you could pick and choose among—you don’t want an affair, I’m a stranger, it wasn’t the right time or the right place—but you didn’t use any of them.”
She looked back at him without expression. “I don’t need excuses. My reasons are my own. And private. There won’t be another occurrence.”
Though frustrated with her, he was in complete control of himself until her last few words made him feel she’d thrown down a gauntlet, challenging him. “Oh, won’t there?” he muttered, and pulled her closer, his mouth coming down hard on hers. He meant the kiss to be brief, no more than an answer to her challenge, but once she was in his arms, he couldn’t let her go. He wanted this woman more than he ever recalled wanting any other.
Rachel’s first impulse to thrust him away faded and vanished as heat rose in her to answer the passion in his kiss. If only this could last forever. If only there were just the two of them involved. If only she had no past. How she longed to give way to her own desire, to melt into his arms.
Why did it have to be this man, of all men, who evoked such a deep, yearning need she didn’t dare satisfy? She must break the spell of his kiss, she must pull free—and yet she couldn’t make herself do what she knew had to be done.
A child’s voice startled them both. “Mama, look—that man is kissing that lady just like on TV.”
Rachel and Mikel broke apart abruptly. Neither had been aware until now that they were no longer alone on the beach. Rachel’s face burned as she recognized the mother of one of her Scouts. The woman was holding the hand of a preschool child.
“Uh, hello, Mrs. Hansen,” she said feebly.
“Lovely day, isn’t it?” Mikel chimed in. “Too bad it’s going to storm later.”
He crouched down until he was even with the little boy. “Men do kiss ladies sometimes,” he confided, “but only if they like them.”
The boy blinked, taken aback by the attention from a stranger.
Mikel rose, nodded to Mrs. Hansen, who had yet to say a word, grasped Rachel’s hand and pulled her with him, back the way they’d come. Only when they reached the car did he release her.
“I don’t know whether to thank you for getting me out of there so fast or be mad because you got us into that position to begin with,” she said.
“Nice of you to be fair about it. My only excuse is I couldn’t help myself. If you challenge me in the future, you’d best be prepared for the consequences.”
Challenge him? What was he talking about? Then she recalled saying something to the effect that what had happened between them last night wouldn’t happen again. Apparently he’d taken that as a challenge.
“I suppose you know word will be all over town in a flash,” she told him.
He nodded. “Probably even before we get back to the farm.” After he opened the car door for her, then got in himself, he added, “Surely, in this day and age, it won’t affect your teaching position.”
“Actually, I’m taking a sabbatical this coming school year to finish getting my master’s degree, so it doesn’t matter. Eva’s going to substitute for me while I’m gone.” She knew she was babbling nervously but couldn’t seem to stop. “I’m not positive I’ll be coming back to the same position afterward, but I’m sure I could if I wanted to. It’s not the old days when a single female teacher couldn’t even date without her morals being questioned. Though people will talk because the village is so small. It really doesn’t matter to me.”
She had more difficult problems to worry about. How could she be upset at gossip when Mikel’s mere touch kept her in such turmoil?
They were almost to the farm when he asked, “So are we on for the overnight camp-out or not?”
No! rose to her lips, but she held it back. She couldn’t disappoint the girls, who for weeks had looked forward to the hike and camp-out. With no reason not to go—Sonia would certainly take good care of Aino—she had little excuse to cancel. If only Delia hadn’t asked if Mikel could come, it’d be simple. She and the girls could go by themselves.
“It’s not really necessary for you to tag along,” she said.
“Aino worries about you. Isn’t that why he intended to go with you? You know he’ll feel better if I take his place.”
She could hardly tell him Aino was one thing and he was quite another so she shrugged and said, as indifferently as she could manage, “If you want to go to all that trouble. It won’t be very exciting, after all.”
“Who needs excitement? I expect to enjoy myself. Peacefully.”
Damn the man. “Well, all the mothers did agree. Be ready early Wednesday morning,” she said reluctantly.
As she’d predicted, by the time they’d finished carrying in the groceries, the wind had picked up and dark clouds were rapidly covering the sky. Grandma Sonia was making chicken soup for lunch, while Aino rested on the couch in the TV room.
“Your cousin is very motivated,” Sonia said to Rachel. “That makes him easy to work with. Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s easy to get along with. What was his wife like?”
Actually, Rachel hadn’t known Aino’s wife Mary for very long before she died. Casting her mind back, she said, “Mary was quiet, she didn’t talk much. But she was a kind woman.”
“Quiet,” Sonia said. “Yes, Aino would choose a quiet one.”
“Grandpa Boris didn’t,” Mikel remarked. When Sonia waved the soup ladle threateningly at him, he added, “Time for me to head for the cottage.”
“Be sure you’re back here promptly at noon for lunch,” Sonia warned him. “I don’t cook for tardy people.”
As soon as he was out the door, Sonia looked at Rachel. “How is everything going?” she asked.
“Everything?” Rachel echoed, knowing full well what Sonia meant.
“Has he confessed his feelings yet?”
“I’m not sure you understand exactly what the situation is,” Rachel said.
“Who couldn’t understand? The question is, when will he do something about it?”
Like making love to me on the porch swing? Rachel was tempted to say. “I think Mikel needs to talk to you about this,” she told Sonia.
“Oh, that isn’t necessary, not at all. I approve. You’re the kind of girl I was always trying to find for him and I’m so happy he discovered you on his own.”
“Thank you, but it’s not exactly the way you might think.”
Sonia’s eyebrows rose “It’s not? Don’t you like my Mikel?”
“I like him fine.” Rachel searched for words to try to explain without revealing what Mikel still hadn’t managed to tell Sonia. It was up to him to do so—and the sooner the better.
“Then everything will work out—just you wait and see.”
The ache in her chest told Rachel nothing could ever work out the way she wanted it to. “What can I help you with?” she asked Sonia, hoping to change the subject.
“You, who’ve already milked the cow, turned her out to feed, helped get Aino home, bought groceries and hauled them home, all before lunch? Let me putter on my own, I do best alone in the kitchen.”
More or less turned out of her own kitchen, Rachel peeked in to check on Aino and saw he was sleeping. She wandered into his bedroom—the only one downstairs—and saw that Sonia had already put everything away that he’d brought back from the hospital. Rachel might have felt resentful, but she liked Sonia and realized the older woman must be lonely and welcomed the chance to feel useful again. If only things were different and there was a chance that Mikel…
But Rachel had used up all her if-onlys long ago.
Chapter Seven
On Tuesday, Mikel called headquarters from a pay phone in town, hoping Ed, his contact, had something for him on Rachel Hill. He had little doubt she was who she claimed to be, but it’d be good if the agency confirmed the fact.
“What do you mean you hit a snag?” he demanded after a moment.
After listening some more, he said, “A gap in her records? What does that mean?”
“Maybe nothing,” Ed told him. “I’m keeping on it. Call back in a week, give or take a few days.”
Mikel thought about this as he returned to the farm, finally deciding not to let it bother him since the researcher didn’t seem to think it was important. But he did make up his mind to try again to get Sonia alone so he could straighten her out about his relationship with Rachel. He found her on the porch with Aino, both of them seated on the swing.
“My Mary was a sweet woman,” Aino was saying. “Never raised her voice to me, unlike someone I could mention.”
“That might have been fine for Mary,” Sonia told him, “but I never had any ambition to be called sweet. I’ve always felt that if I don’t speak my mind, who’ll do it for me? Just because you were married to a quiet woman is no reason to expect the rest of us to keep our mouths shut. In any case, you’re a stubborn man who needs prodding.”
“Danged if I mean to let some mouthy female run my life.”
“I’m trying to help you, not run your life,” Sonia said. At that point she looked around and saw Mikel. “There you are,” she exclaimed. Nodding toward the backyard, she added, “Rachel needs help airing out the tent.”
Mikel left the porch to join Rachel. Once they had the tent under control, she asked, “Do you have a sleeping bag with you? If not, we have an extra.”
“Always keep one in the trunk. Never know when it might come in handy.”
“Good. How about a backpack?”
“Wouldn’t be without one. I take it this’ll be a fairly easy hike on a marked trail tomorrow.”
She nodded.
“That tent looks like it sleeps two,” he said.
Frowning, she said, “Not on this overnight trip.”
“What if it rains?”
“It won’t. But if it did, one of the girls could share it with me and you could use her one-man tent. Are you worried about sleeping in the open?”
“Wouldn’t be my first time.” Although he wasn’t, strictly speaking, a camper, all the agents had to complete a course in wilderness survival, so he wasn’t exactly a novice. Of course, he hadn’t brought any of his special gear to the U.P. with him, but who’d need that on an easy hike on a marked trail?
Since the walk along the lake,
Rachel had treated him with a you-might-be-a-friend-but-don’t-get-too-close casualness. He supposed her attitude was just as well, even if he’d prefer a tad more intimacy. Better yet, a lot more. Which he wasn’t likely to get on a hike with five Girl Scouts—that was all who were able to come. They were good kids and he liked them, but when what he really wanted was to be alone with Rachel, even one Scout was too many.
He tried, but found it impossible, to take Sonia aside before it was time to retire to the cottage for the night. The explanation would have to wait until he got back from the camp-out. As he settled into bed, remembering Rachel’s rundown of the wild critters one might encounter up here, he decided to take along his gun, just in case. No one would notice it tucked away in his shoulder holster.
Using a van lent to Rachel by one of the girl’s family, the five Scouts plus Mikel and Rachel reached the point of departure for the hike well before noon. Once the van was parked everyone collected their gear and scrambled out. Rachel did a final check to make sure nothing was forgotten.
“Okay, gang, backpacks secure and comfortable?” she asked. “Everybody got their whistles? Good. I’ll take the lead, the five of you will follow with Mikel as rear guard.”
“In case a wild animal sneaks up on us?” Delia asked.
Mikel was about to reassure her when he realized, by the giggles, that Delia was joking. Apparently these girls didn’t take the possibility seriously. And they were probably right. Most wild critters were smart enough to keep as far away from humans as possible.
“Well, we could meet a porcupine,” Beth said. “Nothing scares them.”
“So we let him have the right of way,” Rachel said. “Everyone clear on that?”
They were.
“What don’t we do on the trail?” Rachel asked.
“Stray off,” Carol said.
“Good. What else?”
“We don’t eat,” Laurie said.
“Right. Food might attract a bear.”
“No litter,” Beth said.
“Or tripping over stuff ’cause we aren’t paying attention,” Amy added.
“I’m beginning to think I’ve got the smartest Scout troop in the country,” Rachel told them.