Secrets and Solace

by Jana Richards

  Scarlet smiled as she watched her sister and her soon-to-be husband cross the room. He was dark to her fair, tall to her petite, brown eyed to her blue. But in every way that was important, Harper and Ethan were a match. A perfect team. Ethan had made Harper’s dream to bring the fishing lodge back to life his dream as well. Together, they were turning the old lodge into an eco-friendly resort the whole family could be proud of.

  To have someone to share her dreams, someone to have her back and love her no matter what seemed like a fairy tale to Scarlet.

  “They’re a good-looking couple, aren’t they?”

  Cameron’s deep voice broke into her thoughts, chasing away her fanciful notions. Nothing but wishful thinking.

  “Yes, they are.”

  He adjusted a limp, nearly asleep Tessa in his arms. Her head lay against his broad shoulder, while one hand rested on his chest, as if she wanted to feel the beat of her father’s heart. For some reason, the thought made her heart ache.

  “Is Harper pregnant?”

  She jerked her head up at his whispered question. “What? No, of course not!” In her surprise, her voice was louder than she’d intended.

  “I had to ask. They’re getting married in a hell of a hurry.”

  At least, she didn’t think Harper was pregnant. She and her sisters often withheld the truth about their lives from each other, especially when the truth was unpleasant, but she’d hoped they’d put those days behind them. Surely if Harper was pregnant, she would have shared the news with her and Maggie.

  Harper had turned to give her a puzzled stare, alerted by sound of her raised voice. Scarlet flashed her a phony smile before speaking to Cameron again, this time in a lowered tone. “Do you think that’s the only reason he’d marry her? Call me sentimental, but I believe they’re marrying for love.”

  “They barely know each other. What would be the harm in waiting a few months? I don’t want Ethan to get hurt.”

  She, too, had concerns, but she was too insulted on behalf of her sister to admit to them. He better not be suggesting Harper was only marrying Ethan for his money. Five years ago, Ethan won over a hundred and seventy-five million dollars in a lottery, though Harper hadn’t been aware of that when they first met. Because of painful past experiences, he’d kept the secret far longer than he should have, afraid it would alter the way she saw him.

  Scarlet straightened and looked Cameron in the eye. “I don’t want Harper to get hurt again. He lied to her about the money and she’s the one who walked away.”

  He leaned in close, his voice low and his eyes glittering. “But she came back, didn’t she?”

  Before she could respond, he turned and walked across the room. A moment later, he left the dining room of Miller’s Resort with his family, Tessa still in his arms.

  Anger swirled in her gut. Was Cameron Hainstock planning to make trouble for Harper?

  Her hands fisted at her sides. Not on my watch, he won’t.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Cam arrived at the lodge at ten minutes before nine. At least Scarlet Lindquist couldn’t accuse him of being late.

  That was probably the only thing she wouldn’t accuse him of.

  He winced when he thought of their conversation the previous evening. He shouldn’t have come right out and asked the question that had been worrying him ever since Ethan had announced his engagement. It had been rude and insulting. But he knew better than most the consequences of an unplanned pregnancy. He’d been relieved when Scarlet denied it.

  He hoped she was right.

  He parked his truck away from the construction chaos surrounding the lodge. Drew’s car was nowhere to be seen. Good. He’d come a few minutes early on purpose, hoping to apologize to Scarlet for his rudeness. Though he was sorry for the way he’d acted toward her, it didn’t change his wariness about his brother’s upcoming wedding. Someone as rich as Ethan had to be very careful.

  He made his way to the large white canvas tent that had been set up a short distance from the lodge on what had formerly been the parking lot. The sides of the tent had been rolled up to allow a breeze to blow through. Even at nine a.m. it was already hot.

  Scarlet was inside the tent, fighting to untangle what looked like miles of mini-lights. For a moment, he studied her unobserved. She had the fair, creamy skin of a redhead, with a smattering of freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks. She wore a blue tank top and denim shorts that left acres of creamy thigh exposed.

  He’d always been a sucker for a woman with great legs.

  Cam struggled to focus on her face instead. She looked up when he cleared his throat, her expression wary.

  “Hi. Thanks for coming. We’ve got a lot to get done.”

  “No problem.” He shuffled uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “Listen, I want to apologize for what I said last night. I insulted you and your sister, and I’m sorry.”

  She silently continued to untangle the lights, her eyes on her task. When she finally lifted her gaze to his, her mouth was unsmiling and her chin lifted at a defiant angle. “Are you planning to cause trouble for my sister? Because if you are—”

  “No.” He held his hands up in surrender. “Hell, no. The last thing I want to do is interfere. I’m simply concerned. Ethan was engaged once before, and it was a disaster. The woman faked a pregnancy so he’d marry her and she could get her hands on his money.”

  Scarlet’s eyebrows rose. “That’s pretty intense. I didn’t know.” She set aside the lights. “I’m sorry he had a bad time, but Harper’s not looking to use him. She loves him. She’s a good person.”

  He nodded, accepting her words with a grain of salt. Of course Scarlet would defend her sister. Still, he hoped she was right.

  “And you’re wrong about why Harper went back to Ethan. You think it was because he handed over ownership of the lodge to her, free and clear.”

  “Wasn’t that what happened?” When Harper broke up with him, his brother had papers drawn up, giving her everything. As far as Cam was concerned, it was the stupidest thing he’d ever done.

  “Harper wouldn’t sign those papers. She didn’t want Ethan to think the money was more important to her than he was. She drew up her own papers. Ethan now owns fifty percent of the lodge.”

  That was a surprise. Ethan hadn’t shared this information with him. He hadn’t shared the information about giving Harper complete ownership either, but Lydia had filled him in. As Ethan’s financial advisor, she’d been concerned.

  This new information, if true, put Harper’s relationship with his brother in a different light.

  Drew walked into the tent, giving Scarlet a friendly smile. “Good morning. I see the decorating crew’s all here. I hope I’m not late.”

  “No, at all. We’re just getting started.”

  Cam noticed that the greeting Scarlet gave his nephew was much warmer than the one she’d given him. The smile she bestowed on Drew made his jaw clench. Trying to keep the edge out of his voice, he asked, “What would you like us to do?”

  She lifted another string of white mini-lights. “My plan is to string these lights between the main supporting poles and some of the side supports and then cover the lights with tulle.”

  “With what?” Drew asked.

  Scarlet grinned. “With tulle. It’s a gauzy, see-through fabric. Trust me, it’ll look really pretty and make this tent look better than the canvas hut it is right now.”

  She showed them where she wanted the lights strung. With the help of some staple guns and a couple of ladders borrowed from the construction crew, they got the job done.

  “Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself,” Drew said, looking up at the ceiling of the tent. He swatted at a mosquito on his arm.

  Scarlet handed him a can of mosquito repellant. “Are you kidding? It looks great! But don’t rest on your laurels yet. I have a few more things for you to do.”

  “Like what?” he asked, spraying his arms with repellent.

  “I’ve got a
couple of wooden arbors. I want to string lights through one and place it at the entrance to the tent.”

  “But the whole tent is open,” Drew argued. “How are people supposed to know where the entrance is?”

  Scarlet grinned. “Because we’ll show them.”

  “Where does the other arbor go?” Cam asked.

  “On the hill overlooking the lake where the ceremony is going to take place.”

  Cam and Drew strung the lights through the latticework of the arbor and set it in the spot Scarlet directed them to. She put the finishing touches on it by covering the lights with tulle. Cam could see her vision coming together, truly transforming the utilitarian tent into something beautiful.

  After attaching the mini-lights to extension cords that were plugged into a generator next to the lodge, he and Drew tested the lights. When they were satisfied everything worked properly, they went back into the tent to find Scarlet. She was standing in front of the second arbor, a bundle of tulle in her hands.

  “What’s next, boss?” Drew asked.

  “We’re almost done,” she said with a smile. “I just have to figure out what to do with this second arbor. Harper wants things to be kept simple at the ceremony. She thinks the lake and trees are enough decoration.”

  Drew lifted a piece of material and let it drop. “Why not decorate the arbor the same way you did the other one, with this tulle stuff?”

  “I could, I suppose.” She gave Drew a patient smile. “But I’d like something different, something to set it apart and make it a little more special.”

  “Do you have any more decorating material?” Cam asked.

  She turned cool eyes to him. “Yes, I’ve got a box of ribbon. Over there.”

  She pointed to a cardboard box sitting on the ground on the other side of the tent, and Cam went to retrieve it. There were several rolls of ribbon, some silver and some in a dark emerald green, the same color as Tessa’s flower girl dress. Harper had purchased the dress at a bridal shop in Brainerd, and a local seamstress had hemmed it and made a few alterations so it fit his daughter perfectly.

  “How ’bout we wind some of these ribbons through the arbor. It’ll match your dresses.”

  “How did you know our dresses were this color?”

  “I assumed they were the same color as Tessa’s. Am I wrong?”

  “No, they’re the same color.” She said the words reluctantly, as if unwilling to concede even this small point to him. “I was going to use the ribbon to tie green and silver balloons from the three support poles. I don’t have enough for the arbor as well.”

  “What if we only make a balloon and ribbon display on the center pole? That way we’d have enough.”

  Her brow wrinkled. “I suppose that could work. What do you have in mind?”

  Cam lifted some of the silver ribbon from the box. It was about three inches wide and had metal wire embedded on the edges of the fabric that allowed it to be manipulated and folded anyway he chose. He wove silver ribbon through the latticework in one direction, then the green in the opposite, creating a checkerboard affect. He stepped back to check it out. Not bad on short notice.

  Scarlet walked around the arbor, examining it with a critical eye. “It looks good. I like it.” She sounded surprised.

  “Well, you know, Uncle Cam is an artist,” Drew said with a grin.

  She turned to look at him, lifting an eyebrow as if she expected an explanation. Cam shrugged. “I do some drawing.”

  “Come on, Uncle Cam. Don’t be so modest.” Drew turned to Scarlet. “He’s an amazing artist. Get him to show you some of his drawings sometime. And he makes furniture.”

  “A man of many talents.” There was a slight mocking tone in her voice. Cam inwardly sighed. He couldn’t blame her. He hadn’t given her much reason to praise him. Or like him.

  “So, will this do for the second arbor, or would you like to try something else?” he asked.

  “No, this is perfect. Thank you. All we have to do now is set it up on the hill.”

  He and Drew carried the arbor a short distance to a small, flat-topped hill overlooking the lake. Cam smiled as he set it down. It was a beautiful spot for a wedding ceremony.

  He hoped the marriage wasn’t as short as the wedding ceremony was supposed to be.

  “Where do you want this?”

  Scarlet walked to a spot near the edge of the hill. “Right here. That way it’s behind Ethan and Harper and will frame the view of the lake.”

  He could see it. Scarlet had a good eye.

  They secured the arbor with pegs. “Do we need anything else up here?”

  Scarlet shook her head. “Only the flowers, but I won’t be picking those up until this afternoon. The ceremony won’t be more than fifteen minutes, so everyone will have to stand. I’m afraid if we bring chairs, they’ll sink into the ground.”

  “What’s left to do?”

  “The last thing is blowing up the balloons and tying them to the center support.”

  “I was thinking,” Cam began. “You have lots of balloons. We can use what’s left of the ribbon on the center support and then make smaller displays with just balloons on the other two support poles. It would look more balanced that way.”

  Scarlet cocked her head slightly as she examined him. “You really are an artist, aren’t you?”

  “Told you,” Drew said with a grin.

  Cam looked away, embarrassed by her words. He rarely talked about his artwork and almost never showed it to anyone outside of his family. His voice sounded gruff as he spoke to his nephew. “Come on, kid. You’re so full of hot air you should be able to blow up a few balloons.”

  The delivery truck with the rented tables and chairs arrived as they finished hanging the last of the balloons. He and Drew helped unload and place the tables and chairs around the perimeter of the tent. Scarlet had also rented a portable wooden dance floor that they set up in the middle of tent, between the first two support poles.

  “I think that’s it, gentlemen,” Scarlet said when they’d finished putting together the dance floor. “Thank you for all your help. I couldn’t have done this on my own.”

  “You’re welcome,” Drew said. He slapped Cam on the back. “I’m ready for lunch. How about you, Scarlet? You want to join us? I hear Miller’s has a really good lunch buffet.”

  “Thanks, Drew, but I can’t. I still have a lot of things to do before the ceremony at five o’clock.”

  “How about you, Uncle Cam? You ready for lunch?”

  Cam hesitated. He didn’t want any bad feelings to linger between him and Scarlet, not on Ethan’s wedding day. It suddenly felt very important that she forgive him for his stupid remarks last night. “You said you had to pick up flowers?”

  “Yeah, in Brainerd.” She checked her watch. “I should probably leave soon.”

  “Why don’t I pick up the flowers while you have lunch with Drew? I’ll bring them back here and we’ll help you with them. That way you won’t be so rushed for time.”

  Her blue eyes regarded him with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, which was better than the hostility he’d seen in them earlier. “That would be very…helpful. Thank you.”

  “That’s me. Mr. Helpful.”

  When she laughed, something twisted inside his chest, as if a muscle he hadn’t used in a very long time unexpectedly jerked back to life.

  Damn.

  There was no doubt she was a beautiful, desirable woman. And that was the reason he couldn’t let himself feel anything for her, or even like her. He’d made the mistake of falling hard for another beautiful woman, and she’d ripped his heart in two. But she’d also given him Tessa, and he’d spent the last five years walking a tightrope between heartache and joy.

  A very uncomfortable place to be.

  Cam frowned at his reflection in the mirror, at the crooked, bulky knot he’d made in his tie. How the hell did other guys wear one of these damn nooses around their necks every day? “Can’t I wear a t-shirt?” />
  “To my wedding? I don’t think so.” Ethan spun him around, untangled the tie and flipped up the collar of Cam’s shirt. “When was the last time you wore a tie?”

  He knew the date exactly. “Seven years ago.”

  Ethan’s eyes met his. “Dad’s funeral.”

  Cam nodded curtly. The last thing he wanted to think about, the last thing he wanted Ethan to think about on his wedding day, was their father. But the old man cast a long shadow, even from the grave.

  Ethan skillfully looped the silk tie into a perfect knot, then gave it a tug, nearly strangling him. Cam stuck his finger between his neck and the collar of his shirt. “Geez, give me a break here.”

  “Fine.” Ethan loosened the tie enough to ease the strangling sensation. “Have I ever told you what a big baby you are?”

  “Have I ever told you you’re a pain in the ass?”

  “Many times.”

  A knock sounded on Cam’s bedroom door before Drew stepped inside. “Are you two ladies ready? Mom says it’s time to go.”

  Cam slipped on his suit jacket. “Don’t be a smartass, Drew. Just because you’re dressed up all pretty doesn’t mean I can’t kick your ass.”

  “In your dreams, old man.”

  Spoken with the confidence of a twenty-one-year old. Cam had been there once, a long time ago, as brash and cocky as his nephew. But these days, he sometimes felt as ancient as Drew believed he was.

  “Give us a minute, will you?”

  “Okay, but make it quick. Mom’s starting to get antsy.”

  “We’ll be right there.”

  Drew nodded and shut the door as he left.

  Ethan frowned. “Is there a problem?”

  “I need to ask you, are you sure?”

  “About marrying Harper? Absolutely. More sure than I’ve ever been about anything in my life.”

  He’d answered with no hesitation. His face was calm and his voice steady. He looked…happy.

  “Is it true that you and Harper have divided up the ownership of the lodge fifty/fifty?”

  “Where did you hear that?”

  “A little birdie told me.” A long-legged, redheaded flamingo. “Is it true?”