Oh, my God! What if he sent me the money? I can’t tell Simon. He’ll think I’m an accessory to the crime. Damn that Harold for getting me involved in his mess!
Trying to come to grips with what she’d heard, Nona stared silently out the window of the truck. It was hard for her to take in all of this information at once. The idea that someone would try to force information about Harold out of Maggie sent her heart to thumping with fear. Her little sister meant the world to her. She’d cared for her for so long that she was like her own child.
“Maggie doesn’t know anything,” she blurted.
“How about you?”
“I don’t know anything either.” She lied, hoping that she sounded convincing. “Is that why you’re here? You want me to tell you where Harold is?” Like a lightning bolt rippling across a stormy sky, a thought shot across Nona’s brain: Was Simon one of the “unsavory characters” looking for the loot Harold had taken? “Let’s get going. I want to get back to Maggie.”
“Not yet,” Simon answered calmly, his eyes searching Nona’s face. “I can see the wheels turning in your head. You’re afraid of me now. You think I’m trying to get information out of you.”
“Are you?”
“I won’t force you to tell me anything more than what you want to. All I want to do is look after you until this thing is settled. You, Maggie, and Mabel.”
“But you still want to know, don’t you?”
Simon looked away, staring out the windshield at the empty road. Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, he turned the key in the ignition and started the truck. They drove the rest of the way to the camp in silence.
When they parked next to Nona’s cabin, she made a move to get out of the truck but Simon stopped her with his hand on her arm. “I’m here to help you, Nona. I thought that the only way to keep you safe was to get you and Maggie up here to the camp, so I spoke to your former boss and told him about the job. When you called, you spoke to me.”
“That was sneaky.”
“Yeah, it was.” He grinned. “But I got you here.”
“You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am,” he said, the grin disappearing. “And you better be serious about it, too. I’ll show you the article from the Little Rock newspaper so you’ll know that I’m not lying.”
Nona shook her head. “I still don’t understand what your interest is in all of this. You don’t even know us.”
A sheepish smile once again teased at the corners of Simon’s mouth. “Maybe not as well as I want to, but I’ve seen you plenty of times in the apartment building where you lived. I used to go there on business for my grandpa Wright. He owns the building. I even played with Maggie once, but you came storming down to the sidewalk like a mama bear protecting her cub.”
“I knew I’d seen you before!” she exclaimed at the answer to the question that had been nagging at her from the moment she’d met him. “Did you know then that we were Harold’s half-sisters?”
“But, of course.”
Chapter 6
ANGER FLARED ONCE AGAIN. "You’re a manipulator. You knew I needed a job, and used that to get me here!”
The pickup truck was parked in front of the cabins. Nona fumed at the way in which Simon had wiggled his way into their lives. Nothing was as it seemed.
“I knew you needed money after I talked to your former boss, who, by the way, is a friend of mine. Quite frankly, it was pure luck that I’d leased this camp. I thought it would be the best place for you and Maggie right now. Believe me, you’re better off here than in Little Rock. From here on out, I’ll look out for you.”
The anger that had been bubbling in Nona’s breast began to boil at the calm way he described guiding her life. The color drained from her face and her heartbeat quickened. “You did all of this without even asking me what I wanted!”
“I didn’t have the time to try and convince you! You may find this hard to believe, but because of what Harold has done, you may have some very unpleasant people looking for you.”
“I don’t need your help. I’ve been taking care of myself and Maggie for a long time.”
“Don’t be stubborn about this. You can’t handle this by yourself.”
Nona lifted her chin and glared at him. She hated to admit that he might be right. If she had only herself to consider she could disappear someplace, but it would be hard to hide with a lively fourteen-year-old.
“I don’t know if I should trust you. You haven’t been truthful up to now.”
“If we were in Little Rock, I could give you some references, but we’re not in Little Rock, so you’re just going to have to trust me. Besides, I’m not that bad,” he said, straightening himself up in his seat and pushing back his unruly hair. “Don’t I look like the hero type?”
“Absolutely not. If you like, I’ll list the reasons. I think you’re sneaky, manipulative, a charmer of old women and young girls, and you’re even trying to win our dog away from us.”
“Am I really that bad? I was just trying to put my best foot forward.”
“You came here and lied. You didn’t tell us who you really were,” she added as if he hadn’t spoken.
“Would it have made any difference?”
“Probably not.” Nona fanned her face with an old newspaper that was lying on the seat. It did little to help in the sweltering heat of the truck’s cab. “We’d better go inside.”
Slowly, Simon moved his hand across the seat until his fingers made contact with Nona’s. The touch was tentative at first, but became firm as he swallowed her small hand in his. It surprised Nona that she did nothing to push him away. What was she feeling? She turned her head away and felt her cheeks flush hotly. Before she could say anything, something caught her eye in the distance.
“Look!” she shouted. “Maggie’s in a boat on the lake! She doesn’t have a life jacket! I told her not to go out there.”
To her surprise, Simon flung open his door, jumped out, and started running toward the dock. Nona followed as quickly as she could, but Simon’s powerful legs carried him ahead of her. Out on the lake, a small motorboat with two men in it had swung around and was headed toward the rowboat. Fear gripped her and she ran even faster.
Simon’s boots pounded across the dock. He grabbed the rope that was tied to the rowboat and started pulling. “Maggie!” he shouted.
The voice of one of the men in the motorboat, a tall fellow with sandy-blond hair and a dirty white shirt, carried across the water to Nona. “Where ya goin’, pretty girl? We just wanna talk to you.”
“Get away from me!” Maggie yelled.
“Aw, come on, honey. Pretty girls shouldn’t be by themselves.”
“I said get away!” Maggie picked up the extra oar that was lying in the boat. She held it in both of her hands, but it was too big for her to manipulate. The man grabbed on to the side of the rowboat. He pulled it close, and it looked as if he was going to jump in.
“Get away from her!” Nona yelled.
Simon continued to pull on the rope, bringing the boat closer to the dock, but he could make little progress with the man hanging on to it.
“Maggie!” Nona shouted as she reached the dock and stopped next to Simon. Her breath was jagged after her run, but she began to pull off her shoes and prepared to dive into the water.
“Come on, sweet thing,” the man continued. “We’ll take you for a ride in our boat.”
“Let go!” With all of the strength that she could muster, Maggie swung the oar at the man. The wood struck his hand as it held on to the boat.
“Ouch!” he yelled and fell back into his own boat, which rocked in the water. “You little bitch! You broke my hand!”
“I’ll break your head if you don’t get away from me, you psycho!” Maggie shouted.
With the rowboat now free of the man’s grip, Simon made more progress and the boat slid through the water toward the dock. His muscles strained and his face was tight from the ef
fort. The man piloting the motorboat saw that their prey was too far away to catch and swung the boat around and headed back out into the lake.
“Bitch!” the young man shouted over the growing distance.
When the rowboat was close enough, Simon reached a hand down to Maggie. “Get out of the boat,” he said gruffly and then pulled her up onto the dock.
Nona, her face white with fright, grabbed the young girl and pulled her close in a tight hug. “I told you not to go out in a boat!”
“I was just sunbathing. The boat was tied to the dock and Mr. Story thought it would be all right,” Maggie explained.
Now, out in the middle of the lake, the two men in the motorboat had cut the engine and were sitting in the water watching them. One made a clumsy attempt to put a fishing line in the water, but Simon knew that they weren’t fishermen. Nona scrutinized the men. Even though he was wearing a cap, she was sure that one of them was the man that she had bumped into at the store.
“Where’s Russ?” Simon asked Maggie.
“I don’t know,” she answered nervously. The shock of what had happened had begun to wear off, leaving a frightened fourteen-year-old girl behind. “He was here a little bit ago. Oh, wait! Here he comes.”
They turned to see the handyman coming down the path from the outhouse, pulling his old cap down over his head.
“Go to your cabin,” Simon said sharply. “Both of you.” He then walked over to meet Mr. Story. “Why did you let Maggie go out in the boat?” he said when he reached him. “I told you she wasn’t to be on the lake when I wasn’t here.”
“I told her she could sit in the boat while I went to the can. To tell you the truth, Mr. Wright, I have loose bowels,” the older man added in a low voice. “She’s a good kid and usually does what I tell her. I told her to stay by the dock. I didn’t think she’d go out onto the lake.”
Simon turned and pointed out at the two men in the boat. “Do you know either of those men?”
“They ain’t been around here before,” he said as he peered out onto the lake. “I’d remember that shiny new boat and them pricey clothes. None of the regulars have boats like that.”
“If you see them around here again, let me know.”
“Will do, Boss.”
Nona and Maggie left the dock and headed across the grass for their cabin. Nona couldn’t believe that her sister had deliberately disobeyed her, but yelling at her now would only make it worse. Before they’d reached their cabin, Simon caught up with them and put his hand on Maggie’s shoulder.
“Next time you want to go out in the boat, squirt, wait for me.”
“You’re too busy.”
“I’ll take time,” he said, looking over his shoulder and out over the lake. The two men hadn’t moved. “When do you want to go? Who knows . . . maybe we can talk Nona into joining us.”
“I don’t think so.”
Nona walked on ahead of the others. Mabel stood on the small stoop drying a bowl with a towel. She smiled warmly at Nona, unaware of the drama at the dock.
“Did you get my vanilla? I’ve been waiting to make custard.”
“It’s in the truck.”
“I’ll get it,” Simon said as he and Maggie reached them.
The two sisters trudged up the steps to the porch, Nona leading the way for an unhappy Maggie. Her face was set in deep, stubborn lines. “Come on, Nona. I’m not a kid. I know what I can do.”
“You are a kid.”
“I’m fourteen, almost fifteen. A lot of girls go steady at my age.”
“Do you have someone in mind?” Nona asked as she put her purse in the bureau drawer. How many times had they had this argument?
“No, I don’t,” Maggie answered tartly.
“I thought maybe you had your eye on Simon.”
“He’s way too old for me,” the younger girl countered. “He’d be better for you. Besides, I think that new handyman is a dream. He’s got the most heavenly blue eyes.”
“He’ll be too old for you, too, unless he’s a high school boy.”
“I guess that only leaves old Mr. Story. He doesn’t think I’m a scatterbrain.”
“I don’t care what Mr. Story thinks. You are not to go out in that boat alone. Do you hear me?”
“Can’t you stop yelling at me?” Maggie groaned, throwing her thin arms up into the air.
“I am not yelling,” Nona disagreed sharply.
There was so much that she wanted to tell both Maggie and Mabel, but she didn’t want to worry them. Even before the ordeal at the dock, she’d decided not to tell her little sister what she had learned about Harold and about the package she had received. It would only confuse and upset her.
Oh, Lord. I may be jumping the gun. Harold might have sent me papers about Daddy’s estate. But why would he tell me not to open the package?
Besides, she still hadn’t sorted out all that Simon had told her. She couldn’t understand why he would take such an interest in them. It surely couldn’t be because her half-brother was his cousin. As soon as she had a chance, she would open the package, and talk to Mabel. Her old friend had an extra dose of common sense. Even though she’d been taken in by Simon’s sweet talk, she’d listen with an open mind.
As she went to the sink to clean her hands, Nona admitted to herself that Simon was quite persuasive. And it was reassuring to have someone looking out for them, even if the man doing it was an arrogant son of a gun. It had been a long time since she’d had a shoulder to lean on. The pressure of taking care of her little family was a heavy load.
At the stove, Mabel lifted the lid on a pot and stirred the contents with a long-handled spoon. “While you were gone, I had a nice long visit with Mrs. Leasure. She’s a pitiful little thing. I know she’s worried about her husband.”
“Have they been married long?” Nona asked.
“Several years, she said.”
“Where are they from?”
“Someplace up in Missouri.”
“What is she going to do if he doesn’t come back? Does she have any relatives who would help?”
“She didn’t mention any.”
The screen door slammed with a bang, and heavy boot heels pounded across the floor. Simon appeared in the doorway, a large sack of flour thrown over one shoulder and a sack of sugar over the other.
“We’re going to have to start buying more,” he said to Mabel.
“What are you planning to do, Simon? Feed an army?”
“Just me and the new handyman for now.” He grinned. “Oh, and I’ve hired a carpenter to help with the remodeling of the cabins. He and his wife can stay in cabin number eight.”
“Do you expect us to feed them, too?” Nona asked.
“No, I don’t.”
“That’s good. This place is starting to resemble Grand Central Station.”
“I don’t hear Mabel complaining.” Simon winked and headed for the door. “Only you.”
“Mabel never complains,” Nona replied, ignoring his wink.
When Simon returned, he placed a large cardboard box in the center of the table and dug around inside. Finally, he pulled out a paper sack and handed it to Maggie.
“Here’s your magazine, squirt.”
“Awesome! Thank you!” Maggie exclaimed as she danced around the table and hugged Simon’s arm. She glanced at her sister but didn’t offer any thanks her way. “Did you get the pop, too?”
“There’s two cases out in the truck.”
“Cool!” Maggie shouted as she headed for the door and bounded down the steps to the truck. Sam Houston awakened from an afternoon nap on the porch and followed her.
“Did you tell her?” Simon asked.
“There hasn’t been a chance,” Nona said, slightly irritated at his tone. “Besides, I’m not telling her until I have to. I don’t want her upset any more than she is.”
“What in the world are you two talking about?” Mabel asked as she emptied the cardboard box of its canned peaches. “Don’t tel
l me the two of you are planning on getting married and are afraid to tell Maggie?”
“Have you lost your mind?” The words exploded out of Nona’s mouth.
“Now, honey.” Simon winked. “We can tell Mabel.”
“He’s just teasing. Don’t believe a thing he says.”
“She’s going to be stubborn about this.” Simon continued to tease. He went over and put his hand on Mabel’s shoulder. The two of them were beaming from ear to ear. For a brief moment, Nona felt a stab of disappointment. Her dearest friend was siding with this glib-tongued rogue who’d insinuated himself into their lives. She’d had Mabel’s loyalty and friendship for more than ten years. Now, in just a few days, she seemed to have become Simon’s bosom companion.
After everything had been put in its place, Simon grabbed Nona by the arm and moved her toward the door. “Now that all this is done, I thought you might like to meet your new handyman.”
“All right.”
Nona followed Simon out the door and across the yard to where a man was pulling new lumber from his truck and stacking it beside one of the cabins. He stopped, took off his work gloves, and wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his hand. When he saw them approaching, his eyes were on Nona.
“This is Jack Grant,” Simon said as he introduced them. “Jack, this is Miss Conrad, the camp manager. She’ll be telling you what she needs done.”
“Hello again,” Nona said, holding out her hand. When Jack took it, it disappeared into his large, rough paw. The man was certainly used to hard work.
“Howdy, ma’am.” He smiled down at her. “Good to see you again. Nice to know you got back all right with your groceries.”
“Did I thank you for your help that day? If not, I should have.” Nona glanced up at Simon and saw a frown spreading across his face. As she held Jack Grant’s grip, one thought filled her with happiness.
There was one thing he didn’t know, and she’d be damned if she was going to explain how she knew the tall, handsome handyman.
On Tall Pine Lake Page 6