by Gina Wilkins
“Not so far. No record I can find of a Terrence Landon in marketing in Austin. Doesn’t mean he’s a fake, just that I haven’t found him yet.”
Which raised Aaron’s suspicions even further. Was the guy really here under an assumed name? And if so, why?
“Everything you’ve told me raises flags,” Andrew continued. “The name, the rental car, paying in cash, the stream of visitors, staying inside at a place most people go to for outdoor sports. But has it occurred to you his visitors could be there for sex? This could all be nothing more than a cheating spouse or partner trying to stay low.”
“It occurred to me. Not ruling it out, though I didn’t get that vibe from them yesterday.”
“I’ll run this new number, see what else I can find on Landon. Can’t get to it immediately, I’ve got a security consultation in Plano this morning. Having lunch with the CEO and a few bigwigs, doing a factory walkthrough afterward.”
“Can’t see that there’s any rush. If Landon checks out before we find anything, I don’t think anyone will be sad to see him go. Whatever he’s up to, Shelby doesn’t want him using her family’s resort for it, but he hasn’t shown any hurry to leave yet.”
“Then I’ll look into it when I can.”
“Thanks, Andrew.”
“You seem awfully eager to set Shelby’s mind at ease.”
Was Andrew sensing something in his voice when he spoke of Shelby? It wasn’t easy to slip anything past his twin. “I told you yesterday that I like her. I like them all. Spent some time with Steven yesterday. Nice guy.”
“Yeah. Restless.”
“Did he mention that to you?”
“No. Just picked up on it while I was there.”
No surprise there, either. Aaron cleared his throat, wondering what else his brother was picking up on. “I’d better let you get ready for your meetings. Give me a call if you come up with anything interesting.”
“Tell everyone there I said hello.”
“I will.”
Disconnecting the call, Aaron frowned down at the phone for a few minutes. There was something in his brother’s voice when they talked about the Bell family...something Aaron wished he understood better. As soon as he got back to Dallas, he was going to do a little prying of his own.
With nothing pressing to do before meeting Shelby and Steven, he let himself out of his cabin. He noticed that Terrence Landon stood on the porch next door, glancing at his watch as if waiting for a late arrival.
“Good morning,” Aaron called out after locking his door, settling his cap more snugly on his head. “Looks like it’s going to be another nice day.”
Landon scowled at him, nodded curtly and backed into his cabin, closing the door sharply. Shaking his head, Aaron started walking toward the marina, exchanging greetings with a more sociable senior citizen couple he passed along the way. A green golf cart carrying two members of the resort housekeeping staff buzzed past and he waved at them, too. He was sure he could find something entertaining to do for a couple of hours. Though his first choice would have been to spend time with Shelby, he could bide his time until she joined him later.
* * *
It was far from the first time that Shelby worked all morning with a swimsuit beneath her top and shorts. That was one of the best parts about her bookkeeping job, working her own hours in the private office with little formal contact with the resort guests. She had quite a bit to do before meeting Aaron and Steven for water sports, so she was at the computer early, her fingers flying over the keyboard, numbers and forms flashing across the monitor screen. She sipped coffee at her desk, not even taking a break until she’d completed her day’s tasks. Only then did she stretch and look at the clock. It was straight-up noon. No wonder her tummy was starting to growl. Breakfast had been hours ago.
After straightening her desk, she headed downstairs. Sometimes she ate lunch at her place, or with various family members at one of the houses, but she had no plans today. Might as well eat in the grill, she figured.
The grill was busy, almost all the tables and most of the bar stools occupied. Most of the diners were guests from the campgrounds and motel, but one table was surrounded by the male members of her family. Her dad, uncle, grandfather and brother were all there—and they’d been joined by Aaron, she noted with a flutter of pleasure at seeing him. As if he’d sensed her presence, he looked around, smiled and motioned for her to join them.
Seeing her approaching, her father snagged an empty chair and maneuvered it into a space opened when the others moved closer to each other. Shelby helped herself to a diet soda from the fountain behind the counter, then scooted sideways into the chair. It was a tight fit, but she managed to squeeze in between Aaron and her dad. “Am I interrupting anything?” she asked cheerily.
“Would it make any difference if you were?”
She wrinkled her nose in response to her brother’s dry response. “No. But carry on.”
It looked as though the men hadn’t been there long. They’d barely started on their burgers. Aaron, she noted, was having grilled chicken again. He really was a healthy eater. She’d have to keep that in mind while planning the date she owed him.
“Want a sandwich, Shelby?” her mother called out from behind the counter.
“Got time to put another chicken breast on the grill?”
“Of course.” Her mother opened the fridge.
“We were just outlining the work that has to be done around here during the next few months,” Bryan informed her while she waited for her lunch.
“Like the marina remodel?”
“That. A lot of painting and weatherproofing. Need to put a new roof on Cabin Two next week, and on the motel before winter. Still thinking about putting in two new RV pads over by the boat storage to use for holiday overflow. The usual maintenance and grounds upkeep.”
Shelby happened to be looking at her brother while her uncle listed only some of the jobs scheduled for the upcoming months. Steven’s jaw seemed to tighten a little more with each task mentioned.
“How much of the work will you hire out?” Aaron asked, seemingly fascinated by the inner workings of the resort.
“As little as possible,” Bryan answered with a shrug. “Like everyone else these days, we try to keep our expenses down. The whole family will chip in when not taking care of their other chores, along with some of the seasonal workers we employ during summer break from school.”
“I wield a mean paintbrush,” Shelby said.
“But don’t let her near a nail gun,” Steven said with a grimace.
“That was just one time!” she protested indignantly.
“And I could have lost an eye.”
She snorted. “I missed you by a good three or four inches.”
Steven looked significantly at Aaron. “Like I said.”
“So, anyway,” Bryan said to Shelby’s dad, as if continuing a conversation that had started before she’d joined them, “I’m going to hire Bubba and those two friends of his for the summer. We know Bubba’s a good worker and he vouches for his friends. Tomorrow’s their last day of school this semester.”
C.J. nodded. “Bubba’s a good kid. Not the brightest bulb in the box, but he gives it his all. I say go for it.”
“Is that the boy who wore his pants down around his butt last summer?” Pop demanded with a scowl.
“Well, he did until you threatened to make him wear striped suspenders,” Steven said with a chuckle. “After that, he bought a good belt.”
“He’ll work hard for us, Dad,” Bryan assured him. “And I’ll tell them all to keep their shorts covered.”
Aaron sipped his lemonade, sitting back and listening to the conversation. Shelby wondered how many business-related meals took place around his own family’s lunch table. She would bet there’d be
en more than a few.
“Steven, I need you to set the new charcoal grill in Site Thirty after lunch,” Bryan mumbled around a mouthful of burger. “Going to be busy this weekend, and we’ll need it.”
“Some yahoo backed his trailer into the old grill and broke it right in half,” Pop grumbled to Aaron. “Nowhere near the RV pad. Don’t know what he was thinking.”
Steven glanced at his watch. “I told Aaron we’d take out a couple of Jet Skis this afternoon.”
“I’ll help you install the grill, and we can play afterward,” Aaron suggested.
“I’ll help, too,” Shelby offered. “I was planning to join you in the water, anyway. I’ve finished just about everything I have to do in the office today.”
“But no nail gun for you,” Aaron told her, grinning.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m aware that we won’t need a nail gun to set a grill in concrete.”
“Just saying. I’d kind of like to keep my eyes.”
Bryan gave them a crooked smile. “I’m not sure about letting you three loose on a job, but I’ve got too much else to do myself, so I guess I’ll have to trust you with it. Unless there’s something you’d rather do, Aaron. After all, you already helped me unload that trailer at the storage building. Then you spent a couple hours helping C.J. in the marina. Don’t feel like you have to help Steven with the grill. He’s perfectly capable of putting it in himself.”
“I was looking for something to do when I saw you unloading the trailer,” Aaron said with a slight shrug. “And I was interested in what goes into running the marina. I learned a lot I never really thought about before. I don’t mind helping with the grill, either.”
Steven nodded. “I’d appreciate it. Besides, the faster we’re done, the sooner we can get out on the water.”
Shelby glanced up with a smile when her mother set a plate in front of her. “Thanks, Mom.”
Pop was looking hard at Aaron. “You remember that guy who worked the gate for us last year? The older man with the prosthetic leg? He passed away a couple months ago. Got an infection he couldn’t shake.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but I didn’t know him,” Aaron replied patiently while everyone else shook their heads. “I’ve never been here before this week.”
“Oh, that’s right. That was your, er, identical twin brother.” Pop winked.
While the others either groaned or chuckled, Shelby studied her grandfather closely. Did he really believe Aaron was Andrew, or was he putting them on? It was hard to tell with Pop. Always had been.
Her dad began a familiar diatribe about the outrageous cost of marine fuel, which led to an oft-repeated discussion of the rising prices of liability insurance and other expenses of business. Shelby ate her sandwich while the men complained. Aaron commented a few times, but mostly seemed content to listen. He fit in well here, she mused, just as his brother had.
She wondered if Andrew would be back to see them anytime soon. Apparently, he’d recommended the resort to Aaron. It would have been nice if both of them could have come, though even if they had, she thought she would still have been drawn this strongly to Aaron.
Steven gathered his disposable plate, napkin and drink cup. “I’ll load up the grill and supplies.”
Wiping his mouth, Aaron rose. “I’m ready.”
“I’ll finish my lunch and join you at the site,” Shelby told them.
She watched them walk out, though she found her attention focusing on Aaron. He looked darned good in his T-shirt and shorts, she thought with a very faint sigh. Those long, tanned legs were sexy as all get-out, and the way his shorts skimmed his lean hips drew her gaze straight to his nice, firm butt. She didn’t usually notice guys’ backsides all that much, but there was nothing about Aaron she didn’t admire.
When he’d walked outside, she turned her attention back to her lunch. Her gaze collided with her dad’s, and she realized that he’d been watching her watching Aaron. She cleared her throat and took a big bite of her sandwich, looking down at her plate to avoid her father’s eyes as she chewed.
With three of them to do the job, it took less than an hour to set the new grill in concrete. Steven and Aaron dug the new hole with a post-hole digger and added a thin layer of gravel. Shelby helped Aaron steady the grill while Steven poured in the concrete mix, and then Shelby used a level to make sure the cooking surface was properly aligned. Leaving the concrete to set, they stashed their tools in the back of the utility ATV.
Steven dusted off his hands. “That didn’t take long.”
“Compared to the list your uncle recited at lunch, I’d say this was one of the easier jobs on the near horizon,” Aaron commented.
Steven nodded. “Yeah. We don’t lack for projects to tackle around here.”
Most of which would be manual labor, Shelby thought, though of course Steven would be in a supervisory position even as he worked alongside the summer workers. As the older generations retired, she and Steven and their cousins would take on even more management responsibilities—Lori, too, if she wanted, though that seemed increasingly unlikely. With his degree in business management and years of experience in the business, Steven was fully qualified to run the place eventually—as she was herself, for that matter.
Maggie had said many times that she never wanted to be responsible for major business decisions, having no interest in numbers and legal regulations and licenses and contract negotiations. She liked the personnel part—interviewing, hiring, supervising, firing if necessary, though that was hardly her favorite chore. She had double majored in human resources and Spanish, and was already happily settled into her niche here.
With a degree in marketing and advertising, Hannah was a people person. She loved working the front desk, greeting longtime guests, designing advertising materials and especially the social media part of her promotional duties. Steven and Shelby were the ones interested in upper management—actually running the business itself, which their father and uncle had been doing together since Pop had stepped down from full-time administration a few years ago. At least Shelby was interested in that future. Honestly, she couldn’t say what Steven wanted these days.
Whatever his thoughts about the future, Steven seemed to enjoy playing with them that afternoon. They sped out of the marina on resort-owned personal watercraft. Proving he’d had plenty of experience with the machines, Aaron raced across the glittering surface of the lake with the same ease as Shelby and Steven. They laughed, explored nooks and inlets, jumped boat wakes, kicked up joyous tails of water behind them. Aaron was flirty with Shelby—though she couldn’t have said whether it was because of her cover story or simply because he liked flirting—and jovial with Steven. Both of them enjoyed his company.
Perhaps Shelby had to make an occasional effort to focus on her driving rather than admiring how good Aaron looked straddling the powerful machine, his dark hair whipping in the wind, his white teeth gleaming with his grins. He gave her a few appreciative looks, too, which did wonders for her ego. Her swimsuit was a purple two-piece cut more for function than fashion, but she still thought it flattered her. It highlighted her toned arms, legs and midriff without causing her to worry about anything showing that shouldn’t.
They stopped the machines in a quiet cove, took off their life vests and dove into the water for a swim, leaving wallets, cell phones and sunglasses in the watercraft storage compartments. The men had shed their T-shirts, draping them over the handlebars of their skis. All three of them were competitive, and soon they were racing. Steven and Aaron were evenly matched, and Shelby held her own despite her smaller stature.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed quite so much.
“Oh, man,” Aaron said, finally slowing down to paddle lazily on his back. “This is the life.”
Steven climbed back onto his watercraft, pushing a hand throu
gh his wet hair. “It’s a good life,” he agreed.
“It’s a great life,” Shelby said, treading water beside her machine. “We work hard, we play hard, we’re surrounded by nature and people we love. What’s not to like?”
She watched as Aaron and Steven shared a slightly rueful glance. “Maybe that surrounded part,” Aaron murmured.
Steven grunted. “You got that right.”
“Oh, come on, you guys. You know you love your families.”
“We do.” Still floating, Aaron smiled at her. “Doesn’t mean we want them watching and commenting on everything we do.”
Steven nodded as he donned his life vest and snapped the fastenings. “Amen.”
Shelby sighed and shook a wet curl out of her face. Aaron seemed completely sympathetic to her brother’s growing wanderlust. Now that she knew how he felt about working with his own family, she supposed it made sense that he’d understand how Steven felt.
Steven had taken his watch out of the watercraft’s storage compartment. Glancing at it, he said, “I’d better get back. It’s after four, and I still have some mowing to do. No need for you two to rush back, though. Take your time. Have fun.”
“See you later, Steven.”
Steven nodded to Aaron, then gave Shelby a little wave. “Be careful.”
He leaned the watercraft into a turn and gunned the engine, speeding out into the open lake and toward home. Shelby was left wondering just what he’d meant by that final warning. Was it the obvious interpretation—that she should be careful in the water, with the Jet Ski? Or a more subtle caution that she should be careful about her probably obvious attraction to Aaron?
Or was she just overthinking everything today?
Exasperated with herself, she swam to her machine, preparing to hoist herself onto it. Before she could do so, she was pulled completely underwater. She emerged laughing and sputtering, slapping a handful of water directly into Aaron’s face. He grinned and tossed his head, slinging droplets from the ends of his dark hair, some of which landed on her cheeks.