Nona turned to look hard at her sister. Without their parents, she and Mabel had done the best that they could to bring the young girl up right. Now, she was being encouraged to be irresponsible. The thin smile on Simon’s lips irritated her.
“You did say you’d let me drive your truck, didn’t you?” Maggie asked, turning to Simon.
“Yes, I did,” he said, his gaze staying on Nona. For a moment, she thought that she saw concern flicker in his eyes. “But you need to get permission from your sister or she’ll send you to bed without any supper.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Maggie groused.
“Was to me. When I was a kid, that was my worst punishment. I loved to eat. I still do.”
“Well, in that case,” Mabel said, “come to supper. We’re going to have fried fish, fresh okra, and I’m baking a peach pie.”
Nona stifled a groan. What were these two doing? He’s invited to supper?
“Why, thank you, Mrs. Rogers. I do believe I’ll take you up on that offer. But first I need to go back to my cabin and clean up a bit.”
“It’ll be ready in a couple of hours,” Mabel said.
As Simon was leaving, he looked over his shoulder and winked at Nona.
Damn you, Simon Wright! Don’t think that I’ll buy into your flirty ways. I have more than myself to consider. I’ve got to get settled before fall so Maggie can enroll in school.
It suddenly occurred to Nona that it might be a good idea for the three of them to leave the camp immediately. It would give her nearly six weeks to settle in a new location and find a job. She sighed heavily. She would talk it over with Maggie and Mabel; but, in the end, she would have to be the one to make the decision.
The rest of the afternoon was quiet. Maggie took Sam Houston with her when she went to take Mrs. Leasure her groceries. Nona watched them through the window. Sam Houston was trotting along behind as Maggie cajoled him to keep up. Mabel took her pie out of the oven and set it on top of the stove to cool. Her face was flushed from the heat and her hair clung to her cheeks.
“Whooeee! It’s hot in here!” Mabel exclaimed.
“The stove has got plenty to do with that.”
“I suppose so.” Mabel chuckled.
“We’re not going to have to use that kerosene stove all summer, are we?”
“No, we won’t,” Mabel said as she wiped her brow with the end of her apron. “Simon told me he’d order an electric stove to use when it really got warm.”
“He’s all talk!” Nona fumed. She hadn’t been very polite to the man, even though he was her boss. There was something about him that made her nervous. “Why didn’t he tell us he was the owner when he first arrived?”
“He must have had his reasons.”
“You had no idea he was the owner?”
“No, I didn’t. I thought he was on vacation.”
Nona seethed. The way Simon had moved in without telling them his identity was devious. She felt that they had all been used. But what could they do? After thinking about it for a moment, she decided to confide her thoughts to Mabel.
“I’m afraid that we’ll soon be unemployed. He doesn’t need us now that he’s going to be here. Why pay us when he can just do the work himself? We should probably leave here by the end of the week so I’ll have time to find a job and an apartment near a school. Maggie’s a good student, but she can’t afford to miss even a few days.”
“Before you make plans, you should talk to Simon.”
“I’ll talk to him all right. I’ll walk right over, give him a week’s notice, and collect the month and a half wages he owes me. It won’t be much, but with what I have in my savings, it’ll see us through a couple of months.”
As Mabel opened her mouth to interject, Maggie came bounding through the front door, Sam Houston, his tail wagging, at her heels. She came to the kitchen, danced around, and finally placed a kiss on Mabel’s cheek.
“Don’t you ever walk, Maggie?” Nona scolded. “You’re getting to be as wild as a deer since we’ve been here.”
“I’m excited about our dinner guest.”
“I don’t think he’s anything to get excited about.”
With her hands on her hips, Maggie frowned deeply at her older sister. “What’s the matter with you? You’ve been in a funk since the moment you got back. What happened to ruin your day?”
For a moment, Nona was jerked back to her encounter with the strange man in front of the general store and his following her out of town.
“Nothing happened,” she finally said.
“Something did. You need to chill out.”
Changing the subject, Nona asked, “How was Mrs. Leasure?”
“She told me to tell you thank you for getting the milk and eggs. I feel sorry for her. She’s down there all alone. I bet she’s scared her husband won’t come back.”
“What makes you think that?”
“I don’t know,” Maggie said, shrugging her shoulders. “Some of the things she said, I suppose. She asked if we were going to be here all summer.”
“Did she say anything about her husband?”
“Only that he was working with a crew taking out trees for a road-widening project and that he might have to go to Texas.”
“That doesn’t mean he won’t be coming back.”
“He wouldn’t be much of a man if he went off and left his pregnant wife,” Mabel exclaimed. “She told me that the baby is due the middle of September. Surely he doesn’t intend to leave her here until then.”
“But what if he does?” Maggie asked.
“It won’t concern us. Mr. Wright can handle it,” Nona said, as she threw her arm across her sister’s shoulders and hugged her.
Even though she could get on Nona’s nerves from time to time, Maggie meant the world to her. All of her adult life, she had been taking care of herself and Maggie. Their half-brother had not taken an interest in his sisters. She wondered what it would have been like to have a man to share the problems of bringing up a teenager.
Enough of that train of thought, she chided herself. She gathered the dishes to set the table. She paused and looked out the window at the smooth, tranquil lake that mirrored the tall pines that surrounded it. The hills rose in the distance, and Nona felt that she was falling in love with the rugged land. She remembered the thrill she had felt the first time she saw deer and elk. A man in town had told her that there were brown bears in the region, but she had yet to see one.
Nona sighed. She was not pleased with how she had handled things lately. It had been foolhardy to jump into a job, move Maggie and Mabel to this remote place, all without having ever met her employer. It wasn’t all her fault. She had laid it out to Maggie and Mabel. Maggie was anxious to go, and Mabel had looked forward to a new adventure.
As she set plates around the table at the end of the kitchen, Nona’s head began to pound. The stress of the day finally began to overwhelm her. The pain became so severe that she rubbed her temples with her fingertips. She glanced at Mabel, who was looking at her intently.
“Do you have a headache?”
“The beginning of one.”
“Simon’s not the devil, you know.”
A throbbing pain lanced through Nona and she had to balance herself against the table. She was getting one of her dreaded migraine headaches.
“Go to bed, honey,” Mabel said gently. “I’ll explain your absence to Simon.”
Before she could move, a deep masculine voice broke through the early evening air. “Something smells good!”
Speak of the devil.
Chapter 3
THE SOUND OF A RADIO WOKE NONA. She lay with her eyes closed and waited to see if the headache she had taken to bed was still with her. Thank goodness, in spite of the tossing and turning, her mind in turmoil over the news that the mysterious Mr. Wright was the owner of the camp, she had slept the headache away. The pain had been so strong when she went to bed that she had feared she was going to be sick. The last thin
g that she had heard was Mabel’s voice explaining her absence from the dinner table to Simon Wright.
As she lay on her back, running her fingers through her hair, the sounds of the early day reached her; chirping birds competed with the clatter of iron against iron as Mabel prepared breakfast. It struck her again, for the hundredth time, that it had been foolhardy to bring Maggie and Mabel to this place in the wilds, so far from a town, so far from an indoor toilet. At first, Maggie had refused to use the privy and had instead used a slop jar, until she found out that she would have to carry it out and empty it every morning. After that, she went with Nona to the outhouse before going to bed. The outhouse was just one of the things to which they had all needed to adjust. Simon had told Mabel that he would modernize the cabins, put in a septic tank and indoor toilets. But, by then, they would be long gone.
They’d had to adjust to many things the last couple of years. The manufacturing plant where she had worked for five years as an assistant to the personnel manager had moved to Mexico, as had many other plants. She wasn’t about to take Maggie down there. Jobs had been scarce in Little Rock, but she had done whatever was available to make ends meet and provide for her sister. She feared that she’d never find another job with a wage adequate to support the three of them, when out of the blue had come the offer to manage the camp. Without much hesitation, they had packed up and moved to this beautiful lake in southwestern Arkansas, near the town of Home.
They’d known that things would not be easy. When Mabel and her husband had first been married, they had run a fishing resort in Michigan. With this bit of experience, combined with all of their meager savings, they’d believed they could manage through the summer. Now Simon Wright had shown up and placed all of Nona’s hopes in jeopardy.
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight that poured through the windows. As happy as she was to see that it would be a beautiful day, she still wasn’t pleased with herself this morning. She’d made a fool of herself last night. The anger she’d felt when Mabel had asked Simon to dinner had shaken her. It was best that she’d gone to bed instead of sitting at the table glowering at the man. She could only imagine what she might have said if she had allowed her anger to go unchecked.
“Coffee smells good, Mabel,” she said as she entered the kitchen.
“How do you feel? Headache gone away?”
“Yes, thank goodness. I was afraid I was going to get one of those full-blown migraines. What’s for breakfast?” she asked and peered into the big iron skillet. Before Mabel could answer, Nona exclaimed, “Hot cakes again? What are you trying to do to me?”
“Fatten you up. You’re as skinny as a starved alley cat. You need something to stick to your ribs when you’re working so hard.”
“I don’t know about that.” Nona set two mugs of coffee on the table, and took a seat as Mabel served a plate of hot cakes. “How was dinner?”
“Fine.” Mabel smiled. “Simon is a nice man.”
“I’m sure.” Nona frowned. “But I’m still puzzled as to why he didn’t tell us he was the owner when he came here.”
“Maybe he wanted to see how we ran the place before he told us he’d bought it. That’d make sense.”
“There’s really not much running to do. We clean the cabins when they’re used, which is seldom. We fight the weeds and mosquitoes, although they aren’t as bad as I expected. We run errands for people like Mrs. Leasure. What more does he want from us?”
“That’s all that we do now,” Mabel said, emphasizing the last word. “But Simon said something about turning a couple of the cabins into a dining hall and a recreation room.”
“What?”
“He said we should try to get some larger bookings when the hunting season opens. He thought that home cooking and recreation would be an enticement.”
“The hunting season is only two months away. I suppose he expects us to build these ‘enticements’!”
“Don’t be silly, dear. He’ll hire professionals.”
There was something about Mabel’s tone of voice that unsettled Nona. The older woman acted as if her concerns were ridiculous or unnecessary. Simon must have spent the whole evening sweet-talking her into seeing things his way! “Who would be doing the cooking?”
“Why, me, of course. You know I can cook up a storm when I set my mind to it.” Mabel’s eyes had a vivid sparkle. “He said I would have all the modern conve-niences including a dishwasher.”
“I won’t let you do it,” Nona argued. “You’re in no condition to be slaving over a hot stove. Your blood pressure—”
“—is fine,” Mabel said so reassuringly that Nona felt the battle nearly lost.
“Why didn’t he discuss this with me?”
“He would have discussed it with you last night but you went to bed.”
“Then I’ll tell him what I think about his harebrained idea the next time I see him!” The idea of telling that overbearing man what she thought of his ridiculous notions gave Nona a quick spurt of energy.
“Then you’d better hurry and decide what you want to say.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“He’ll be here any minute for breakfast.”
A loud knock on the door brought Nona to her feet. She looked down at the older woman accusingly. “You invited him for breakfast?” she whispered, but Mabel remained silent as she sipped her coffee. “We didn’t contract to feed him,” Nona muttered before hurrying to her bedroom to make herself decent.
“I’m just trying to get in good with the boss,” Mabel called. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again . . . there’s nothing that gets to a man like good home cooking.”
Hastily, Nona slipped on a pair of slacks and an old long-sleeved T-shirt. She couldn’t believe that he was back again! Wasn’t it enough that he’d ruined her evening? She could only imagine what Maggie thought of his idea; she was so moonstruck that she probably volunteered to put up the buildings herself! Nona came silently from the bedroom and paused in the doorway. All that she could see of Simon was his broad back as he sat on one of the kitchen chairs, looking as if he were in a restaurant expecting to be served.
“You’re a jewel, Mrs. Rogers. How come you’re still single?” His voice was deep, throaty, without a hint of accent to betray what part of the country he was from.
“Well, I do have to carry a club when I go to town,” Mabel replied sassily. “And please, call me Mabel. My mother-in-law was Mrs. Rogers. She was a terror and didn’t like me much.”
Simon’s answering laugh was warm and pleasant, even if it grated on Nona’s nerves. Before she could even announce herself, a deep “woof” came from the back porch. Mabel opened the door, allowing Sam Houston to lumber into the room. The big yellow dog made straight for the man at the table. The vision of the dog lunging at Simon and sinking his teeth into him played at the edges of Nona’s thoughts, but the reality was disappointing. Sam Houston neither bit nor snapped at Simon, but instead laid his head on the man’s thigh.
“Morning, Sam,” Simon said as he scratched the dog’s ears. “Now, aren’t you the nice fellow? You keep it up and Mabel might even give you a flapjack or two.”
In answer, Sam Houston backed up a step, sank down onto the floor, and rested his jowls on his paws. Nona had to fight the urge to kick the mangy dog and instead poured herself a cup of coffee. Finally, her sense of good manners forced her to say, “Morning.”
“Morning, Miss Conrad,” Simon answered.
If he’s waiting for me to say ‘Call me Nona,’ he’ll wait till hell freezes over!
“Call her Nona,” Mabel said brightly as she pushed the hotcakes forward. “Have these, dear. I’ll make more.”
“None for me, thanks,” she grumbled. Her throat felt as if it had a rock in it.
“Oatmeal? Toast?” Mabel continued.
“Nothing right now. I’ll eat later.”
Simon suppressed a smile as he stared at t
he attractive young woman sitting across from him. With her curly red hair in a flyaway tangle that framed her high-cheekboned face, she was a beauty. But it was her mouth he couldn’t seem to look away from. The upper lip was short, the lower one full and sensuous, though both were now pressed together stubbornly. With the glances she was giving him, he knew that the last thing he should do was tease her, but he couldn’t help himself. She was too darn attractive to resist!
“Don’t let me keep you from your breakfast, Nona. You really should eat something. Besides, you don’t seem to have a weight problem . . . not yet, anyway.”
Nona’s palm hit the table and she glared at him.
“Arr—woof!” Sam Houston rose to a half crouch and the hair stood up on his back.
“Nona!” Mabel screeched in surprise.
Simon raised his brows and his lips pursed in a suppressed smile.
“You’ve a lot of nerve!” The look on his face only fanned her anger.
“It was the ‘yet’ that got to you, wasn’t it? Let me guess, you’re one of those women who constantly worry about getting a broad behind.”
“That’s none of your business,” she sputtered. She couldn’t believe the gall of the man! Even after his personal remark, he sat calmly at their table, drinking from his mug. “Why didn’t you tell us you were the owner when you arrived?”
“Relax and drink your coffee.” Simon lifted his cup.
Mabel was giving her the “what’s got into you” look.
“I can clear up one thing easily,” Simon said as he heavily laced his hotcakes with maple syrup. “I didn’t tell you I was the owner because even though I had made an offer on this place, I only found out yesterday that it had been accepted. No use telling you before then.”
“I suppose the moving van was just waiting up the road for you to give the word,” Nona said skeptically.
“I leased the camp before I decided to buy it. My things were already on the way,” Simon said matter-of-factly before tucking a huge wedge of pancakes into his mouth. With his mouth full, he asked, “Did you make this syrup, too, Mabel?”
On Tall Pine Lake Page 3