Home to Sparrow Lake (Harlequin Heartwarming)

by Lynn Patrick

  At this time on a Sunday morning, however, there wasn’t a whole lot of movement on or in the water. Alex had seen no more than two other fishing boats in the distance. No swimmers. He loved the sense of early morning peace. Well, usually. Fishing with the guys was an enjoyable venture, one to which he looked forward.

  As if Owen knew that Alex was fighting to keep from nodding off, he said, “Drink your coffee. You’ll feel better.”

  “I’m never going to feel better,” Alex groused. “Not until I get, like, twelve hours of continuous shut-eye.”

  John laughed. “You’re just a young whippersnapper. Wait till you get to be my age and wonder where the ability to sleep went.”

  “What are you? Fifty-six?”

  “Closer to seventy-six,” John said. “Actually I’m going to be seventy-two.”

  With thick salt-and-pepper hair and a lightly lined face, John looked a decade younger than his years, maybe because, after retiring from a suit job in Milwaukee, he’d taken to his Sparrow Lake vacation home full-time. Then he’d bought the store and made his version of an idyllic life come true.

  Alex was wondering what that felt like when he heard a faint buzzing. Owen put his fishing pole between his knees and pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

  “Trina?” Alex asked.

  “Yep.” Owen’s thumbs were going as he texted something in return. “She just woke up and wanted to tell me she loved me.”

  Thinking he knew the woman he’d like to have text him, Alex couldn’t help but tease his friend. “Newlyweds!” He rolled his eyes so John could see.

  John laughed. “Wish I had a beautiful woman who would text me about anything. You’re a lucky man, Owen Larson.”

  “Don’t I know it.”

  “It’s been nearly seven years since she died, but I still miss Karen.” John sighed. “What about you, Alex? When are you going to find you a woman?”

  “When I win the lottery,” he joked.

  He’d had a woman in his life for a short while. Rather than learning how to deal with the stress of being a cop’s wife, Emma had left him. Said she couldn’t stand the chances he took and wanted to end it before they brought kids into the world.

  He’d been married for all of five months.

  Now, nearly three years later, he’d finally found a woman he wanted to get to know better, but he feared that Kristen was never going to speak to him again, even though he’d been trying to help her brother.

  “You know you’re not too old to find someone else,” Owen told John. “There are lots of mature women around here who don’t have a man.”

  “No one around here much interests me,” John said. “Except maybe one.” He looked out across the lake at Margaret Becker’s mansion. “But she would never give a boring old coot like me the time of day.”

  “Then find a way to interest her.” Feeling a jerk on his pole, Alex realized he’d hooked a fish. “If you want to get to know her enough,” he said, putting down his coffee cup, “you’ll find a way to reel her in.”

  Good advice.

  He glanced back at the Becker mansion.

  Maybe he would take that advice himself and not give up on Kristen just yet.

  *

  WAS SHE DESTINED to see Alex everywhere she looked? Kristen wondered as she stared out the window on the other side of the kitchen sink. She was looking for that boat she’d spotted earlier, before the family had gathered for Sunday brunch. Family minus Brian, that was. It was nearly eleven and he hadn’t yet joined them. At any rate, she’d been washing off fresh strawberries in a colander and had sworn she’d spotted the police chief in a fishing boat. It wasn’t out there now, however. It seemed to have disappeared.

  Had Alex been watching the house?

  If so, had his interest been Brian?

  Or her?

  “Here are some more dirty dishes,” Heather said.

  Kristen moved to the side to let her sister put them into the sink but said, “I’ll take care of them if you start putting away the food.”

  “Deal.”

  What was it with dishwashers, anyway? Kristen wondered as she turned on the faucet. It didn’t matter how expensive the unit was, no matter the instructions, you always had to rinse off the dishes first if you wanted them clean.

  “You haven’t seen Brian, have you?” she asked, raising her voice to be heard above the running water.

  “No, not yet.”

  “Does he usually sleep this late?”

  “How would I know?” Heather was wrapping a plate of leftover cut fruit with plastic wrap. “I’m not the one who lives here.”

  Heather sounded testy, making Kristen hold back the observation that she’d only moved in with Aunt Margaret the week before. As to Brian…he must have been out very late.

  A reminder of Alex’s accusation.

  What had her brother been doing? she wondered, but figured there was no use bringing it up with her sister, who had been tense all morning, had actually lost her temper with the twins. Aunt Margaret had the girls now. They’d followed her to her huge, paint-and fabric-stocked studio where they could “create” something fun.

  Heather had seemed relieved to have a rest from them.

  Kristen finished loading the dirty dishes, added dishwashing powder and started the appliance.

  Thinking to get her sister’s mind off the girls, Kristen said, “You know, I enjoy working at the store more than I thought I would.” A fact that surprised her. “Nice people. A whole lot less pressure than I’m used to.”

  “Uh-huh.” Heather shoved a couple of cartons of leftovers into the refrigerator.

  “Nice working conditions. No stress.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  Kristen caught Heather’s sarcastic tone. What was wrong with her today?

  “I was thinking of ways to improve Sew Fine’s sales.” Which was necessary for Aunt Margaret to have a decent retirement. “I wanted to talk to you about creating an online store.”

  “What?”

  “That way, people who have been calling in orders could use it, and so could new customers who don’t necessarily live in the area.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Why not? The sky’s the limit, Heather. Customers could order from anywhere in the country.”

  Even as Kristen spoke, Heather’s expression changed from disbelieving to downright anxious.

  “No! It’ll be on me to see that it works. I can’t possibly take on something so complicated.”

  “No, no, I’ll take care of setting it up, Heather. It’s the best way to make the business grow.”

  “Grow? How many more orders?” Heather was so agitated she nearly dropped the plate of fruit meant for the refrigerator. “I don’t think so, Kristen. I have my hands full now.”

  “Brian is already fulfilling the phoned-in customer requests. He can continue to take care of the orders when the internet site is up and running.”

  “Brian is going to start college soon.” Heather’s voice raised a notch. “Full-time. At the end of the summer! I can’t count on him now. I’ll never be able to trust him to pull it off then.”

  Kristen gaped at her sister. She’d never seen Heather so panicked. Her sister was the supreme juggler of work, family and school.

  “Heather, is something wrong?” she asked.

  “I can’t take on anything more. I never should have agreed to be the store manager, but I knew how much Aunt Margaret wanted to retire and I needed the money for the girls. Everything I have to do…it’s all too much for me!” Heather pushed a shaking hand through her hair and her eyes grew watery. “And now my sitter called about tomorrow night. She canceled. I’ll have to miss a class, which will affect my grade. I’m scheduled to do a class presentation!”

  “Hey, hey, calm down, please.” Kristen had no idea the kind of pressure her sister had been experiencing. “You’re not alone. You have family.”

  “If you’re going to suggest that
I ask Brian to take care of my girls—”

  “I was going to suggest me.”

  “You?”

  “Don’t sound so shocked. I took care of you and Brian when we were growing up.”

  “But Brian and I weren’t five-year-old twins.”

  “I know, I know. Taylor and Addison are little monkeys, running around looking for trouble.”

  “Believe me, they find it.” Heather heaved a sigh.

  Kristen put her arms around her sister and gave her a big hug. “I’ll deal.”

  “You’re sure you want to do this?” Heather suddenly sounded calmer than she had all morning.

  “Positive. You can go to your class tomorrow night knowing that I’ll have it all under control.”

  At least she hoped she would. That morning, the twins had been hugging each other one minute, sifting dirt into one another’s hair the next. They’d gotten into all kinds of mischief before Aunt Margaret had finally lured them off to her studio.

  Poor Heather. Kristen hadn’t realized how so much responsibility had weighed on her younger sister. Heather suddenly seemed to be almost as badly off as their mother had been after their father abandoned the family.

  Well, she was here for Heather, at least for now, Kristen thought. While she was still in Sparrow Lake, she would do whatever she could to make her sister’s life a little easier.

  A vow that bothered her later that day after Heather and the girls had left for home.

  Knowing she needed to update her résumé before continuing her job search, Kristen pulled it up on her computer and added her work as a marketing consultant for Sew Fine. She would have to start sending résumés out soon. In this economy, who knew how long it could take her to find another job in Chicago? Or even an interview for a job.

  She sat there staring at her résumé, realizing this was the first step to leaving Sparrow Lake. Leaving her family—the people who needed her—and she’d just gotten here. Aunt Margaret needed someone to make sure she could retire in comfort. Brian needed someone to make sure he wasn’t getting into trouble. Heather needed someone to lift part of the burden of being a young widow with too much responsibility.

  But what about what she needed? Aunt Margaret had agreed that Kristen would keep looking for something permanent while she tried to boost business for Sew Fine.

  Since the day she’d received notice that Chicago Lifestyle was downsizing her, Kristen had felt a hole in her life that she hadn’t been able to fill. Being told that she wasn’t necessary to the company she’d helped expand in so short a time had truly been a humiliating experience, one she hoped never to repeat. She was determined to prove herself, to show them what a mistake they’d made in letting her go.

  She did not want to be compared to her father, a man who had failed at everything he’d tried. True, most of the businesses he’d gotten himself into had been risky. But still…

  So far, she’d proved nothing except how difficult it was to get a job when you were already out of work.

  *

  IT WAS ONLY early evening and Margaret was tired enough to stretch out on her bed, draped with gauzy material from post to post. Those twins were enough to exhaust anyone, even their mother, who was a third Margaret’s age. Poor Heather. Margaret wished her niece could find a nice man to love her and her children. The girls could use two parents. Heather had been going it on her own for more than two years. Probably she didn’t have the time to even think about dating again.

  Worse, Kristen had the time and a nice man who was interested, but she didn’t seem to want to let him into her life.

  The phone rang, startling her out of her thoughts.

  Reaching over to the nightstand, she picked up the receiver on the second ring. “Hello.”

  “Margaret? This is John McClintock.”

  “John.” Odd, John had never called her before. “How are you?”

  “I’m good. Um, I’m not sure if you know this, but I’m having a big fish fry at the shop next Sunday. The proceeds are going to fund a fishing camp for local kids.”

  “That sounds nice.”

  “I was thinking maybe you could invite your whole family. Your nieces and nephew and those two cute little girls. I’ll bet those two rascals would like to learn to fish.”

  Undoubtedly they would. The twins were a lot like her—always wanting to try everything at least once.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Margaret promised.

  “Listen, I have another reason for wanting you to come.”

  Margaret’s pulse sped up a bit, and she sat up. Here she’d just been thinking about seeing someone new. Was John interested in her? She didn’t know him well, but he’d always seemed like a very nice man.

  “Yes,” she said expectantly.

  “It’s my buddy Alex,” John said. “He’s a little soft on your niece Kristen, and she’s a difficult one for him to get to know. He’s gonna be at the fish fry, too.”

  “You want to set them up?” How silly that she’d thought the man was interested in her.

  “I figured they didn’t get a good start with Alex arresting Kristen and all. The fish fry would give them a chance to get to know each other better.”

  “It would,” Margaret agreed. “I’ll do it, John! I’ll find a way to convince Kristen to come with me.”

  “Good. Good. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

  “Same here.”

  “Okay.” He sounded happy when he said, “See you next Sunday, then.”

  Margaret was happy, too. Conspiring with John McClintock to get Kristen and Alex together could be rewarding.

  Not only would it be fun for her, if things worked out between her niece and the police chief, it would give Kristen another reason to stay in Sparrow Lake.

  *

  TO BRIAN’S RELIEF, Matt pulled his beat-up car over to the curb on a dark side street. It was well after midnight. Most houses around the area were dark, too. People in this town were already in bed.

  “Why are you parking here?” Andy asked. “What if we need to make a quick getaway?”

  “We’re only a block from our target,” Matt told him as he put the car in Park and removed the key. “This way, no one can place my ride at the scene of the crime.”

  Just hearing the word crime made Brian wince. Things were getting out of hand, and it was more and more difficult to keep his buddies from crossing the line.

  “We’re pranksters,” Brian insisted. “Not criminals.”

  And not vandals.

  They got out of the car, and Brian dragged behind Matt and Andy to the gas station, thankful that he’d talked them out of using that can of purple spray paint. Matt’s idea. Brilliant. If they did get caught spray painting a building, they’d be arrested and thrown in jail. That’s why he’d insisted on stopping at FamilyMart to buy a box of giant colored chalk, the kind kids used to draw lines for hopscotch and other games on sidewalks.

  Only sidewalks weren’t their target.

  The gas station was.

  “I still don’t see why we couldn’t use my paint,” Matt said.

  “That’s what everyone would expect,” Brian told him, trying to make it sound like what they were going to do was more interesting—cooler—when he was simply trying to avoid doing something he’d regret. You couldn’t just wash spray paint off a wall the way you could chalk. “Think of us as street artists. We can tick off Mr. Hansen while entertaining the people in town who appreciate what we have to say.”

  His words were sounding hollow even to his own ears.

  But once at the gas station, Brian relaxed and got into the prank. It was so late that no one was around to see them.

  The building’s walls were covered in stucco, so it wasn’t as easy to use the chalk as he’d thought, but he’d always loved drawing, so he made the effort. He supposed he’d gotten that from Aunt Margaret.

  Each of them had thought of something to say about energy reduction.

  Andy drew an outline of a car
hooked up to an electric pole and scrawled “Save the Earth, Buy Electric Cars.” Matt drew a blobby guy wearing a mask with the words Gas is Toxic over his head. And Brian drew an intricate windmill and told the onlooker to “Save on Gas, Buy Hybrid.”

  “Cool,” Matt said when they all stood back to admire their handiwork barely illuminated by a streetlight.

  “People will be talking about this for a while,” Andy said.

  Unless the owner cleaned it off the building in the morning before anyone got a chance to see it, Brian thought. “Let’s get to the car before some cop trolls the area.” A cop named Alex Novak, he thought sourly.

  They walked fast. Didn’t run. No need to draw attention to themselves in case someone was looking out a window.

  When they were all in the car, Brian drew a deep breath. What had he been so worried about? It had been fun and the whole town was going to see their handiwork.

  “So what are we gonna do tomorrow night?” Matt asked.

  “We can meet with these guys I know,” Andy said.

  Brian frowned. “What guys? You haven’t told anyone what we’ve been doing, have you?”

  “Nah, they wouldn’t be interested in kid stuff.”

  “What would they be interested in?” Matt asked.

  “Making money.”

  Brian had a weird feeling about this. “Doing what?”

  “Don’t know. That’s why we need to meet with them.”

  Matt snorted. “I don’t want some dumb job.”

  “Who says it’s a job?”

  That’s what Brian was afraid of. “Forget about it. We don’t need anyone messing up what we’re doing now.”

  Neither of the other boys protested, but Brian feared this wasn’t the last they were going to hear of the making-money deal. Pulling pranks was fun. Sort of. He didn’t want to cross the line to dangerous.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ALEX ENTERED SEW FINE on Monday afternoon, his gaze automatically going to the rear of the store where Kristen sat at her computer. Ignoring curious shoppers, he headed straight for his target. He was halfway there before she looked up and saw him.

  Kristen’s expression closed, and by the time he got to her she was on her feet. Dressed less formally than usual, she wore wide-legged trousers and a pretty blue blouse the same color as her eyes. Her blond hair was pulled high into a sleek ponytail that made her look both elegant and casual.