“I can’t just flat-out ask her; she’ll fall over laughing. And besides, you know I’m hoping to get another six months of savings before I broach the subject.” She touched his hand when he tried to interrupt. “I’m not taking any money from you. I feel guilty enough as it is that Doris left me her savings. That money should have gone to family.”
“You’re the closest thing to family Doris and I got,” he said thickly, turning his hand to grasp hers. “And more than anything in this world, she wanted to help you realize your dream. Let me give you the rest of what you need for the down payment so you can buy Inglenook now, before Eileen gets it in her head she can sell to developers for more than you can afford.”
“No one’s going to pay big bucks for land way up here in the mountains; everyone’s too busy developing the coast. As it is, our campers keep complaining about how far we are from the nearest large airport.” She shook her head. “I need to wait until Eileen finds a position at a college, so she’ll be desperate to sell Inglenook. That’s the only way I’ll get it for a reasonable price.”
“I know. I know,” he said, patting her hand again. “Everyone thinks Eileen’s been taking advantage of you all these years, and I agree it’s better to let them keep thinking you’re in awe of your mother-in-law until you make your move. But I don’t like that people believe you’re a wimp for ducking down aisles to avoid them.”
Olivia broke into a smile. “And just when have I cared what people think of me?”
“But they complain you’re aloof.”
“Good. That way they don’t ask me to be on every committee in town. You know it took me all of Sophie’s kindergarten year to get them to stop asking me to bake cookies every other week for some school function.” She snorted. “When burning everything didn’t deter them, I had to resort to adding too much salt.”
“But that’s just it, Olivia. You haven’t let anyone see the real you since you were eight, when you finally decided your daddy wasn’t coming back,” he said gruffly, squeezing her hand. “You only let Doris and me and Sophie inside your world. Don’t you think it’s past time you showed everyone the real you?”
“I promise the real Olivia will make her appearance the day she hangs a new sign at the end of the road and opens up her own camp for families. Because I intend to climb Whisper Mountain and shout to the world that Olivia Naglemeyer Baldwin is home,” she said, trying to lighten the mood. “I promised myself when Sophie was born that she would have one home growing up, and that she’d always know right where to find me.” Olivia tapped the counter. “So it looks as if Spellbound Falls is where I’m making my stand. And come hell or high water, and God save anyone who gets in my way, by this time next year Inglenook will be mine.”
“Now that sounds more like the girl I know and love,” Ezra growled, stuffing the last of his bun in his mouth.
Olivia checked her watch, stepped behind the counter, and gave him a hug. “I have to get going if I want to catch Sophie’s bus. Thanks for the treat. You just saved me from raiding the pantry for a bottle of wine,” she said, stepping back into the aisle—only to nearly run into Peg Thompson. “Oh, hi, Peg.” She looked down and ruffled the hair of the boy clinging to his mother. “Hello, Pete. Or are you Repeat?”
“I’m Jacob,” the boy said as he pointed at his twin running toward them. “He’s Peter.” He then turned his pointing finger up at her. “You got white stuff on your chin.”
“That wouldn’t happen to be icing off one of Vanetta’s buns, would it?” Peg drawled as she pushed Jacob’s finger down. “Because I swear I smell cinnamon.”
Olivia rubbed her chin with her sleeve. “Guilty,” she laughed.
“Well, looky here,” Ezra said, making Olivia turn to see him pull another box from under the counter. “I must have ESP, and knew you young fellas were coming in this afternoon. Why else would I have these gooey cinnamon buns smelling up my store?”
Peter and Jacob were at the counter before he’d finished speaking, their young eyes going wide when Ezra opened the box and held it down to them.
“Oh, for pete’s sake, Ezra,” Peg moaned. “You’re spoiling them.”
“That’s right,” he chuckled. “For Pete and Jacob’s sakes. Go on, boys, take your pick.” He held the box toward Peg. “You too, young lady.”
“I’ll be back for mine in a minute,” Peg said, leading Olivia down the aisle. “Pete, Repeat, you stand right there and eat them. And don’t touch anything.”
“What’s up?” Olivia asked as soon as they were out of earshot.
Peg let her go, her eyes turning troubled as she glanced at the counter, then back at Olivia. “I’m worried about Ezra,” she whispered. “He’s starting to… I’m afraid he’s…” She shifted so she was facing away from the counter. “Dammit, I think he’s getting senile. At first I blamed his ancient computer for messing up my bill every month, but now I’m worried it’s him. He’s made a few mistakes in the past, but lately it’s been getting pretty bad. I called this morning just like I do every month when I get my social security checks for the children, figuring I owed Ezra about two hundred dollars, but he claims I only owe him ninety-five. I told him that couldn’t possibly be—what in hell are you smiling at?” she growled.
“He’s not getting senile, but he does seem to be getting more blatant,” Olivia said with a sigh. “Ezra sort of… fudges the accounts of several people in town who buy on credit from him.”
“He what?”
“Heck, he even messes with mine when he thinks I’m not paying attention.” Olivia leaned closer. “He and Doris had been doing it for years, only Doris always made sure it wasn’t obvious. Misplacing a few slips is their way of giving back to the community.”
“But he’s losing money!” Peg shot a glance toward the counter, then pulled Olivia behind a rack of potato chips. “Are you telling me he’s undercharging me on purpose? That old goat,” she muttered when Olivia merely nodded. Peg blew out a harsh breath, shaking her head. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to be responsible for his going bankrupt. I’m writing him a check for two hundred dollars today, and from now on I’m keeping every slip to prove what I owe him.”
Olivia grabbed her friend’s sleeve when she started to turn away. “You can’t, Peg. It’ll devastate him if you do. Doris originally came up with the idea about a year after they bought the store, and Ezra needs to keep doing it in her memory. He feels so good about helping his neighbors, that if you call him out on it or tell anyone, he’ll…” She squeezed Peg’s arm. “He’s been doing it for over ten years and hasn’t gone bankrupt yet. Please, can’t you just keep playing along?”
“But I can pay my own way. Let him help people who really need it.” Peg shook her head, her shoulders slumping. “I can’t possibly keep shopping here now, knowing he’s not charging me for half the stuff I buy. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“Can you live with yourself knowing you’d break his heart? His customers are all he’s got left.” Olivia waved toward the back. “The minute he found out you were coming in this morning, he ran next door for cinnamon buns for you and the twins. And if I’m not mistaken, there are a couple of extra buns in that box for you to take home to Charlotte and Isabel. It’s not charity, Peg; it’s simple, old-fashioned, neighborly love.” She shot her a grin. “And for Ezra it’s a sneaky little joke he’s been playing on everyone for years.”
“Does he really do it to you, too?”
Olivia nodded. “And every so often I even get all huffy and complain that he’s overcharging me.”
“You do? But you’re the least confrontational person I know! For pete’s sake, I caught you hiding in my minivan two weeks ago. You scared the living daylights out of me when I opened the door.”
“I was hiding from Missy’s brother, and thank you for pulling your punch at the last minute.”
Peg gave a visible shudder. “Simon’s gotta be old enough to be your father.” She arched a brow. “You do know h
iding isn’t going to make him go away, don’t you?”
Olivia sighed. “I know. But it’s hard to flat-out reject a guy to his face, especially when a supposedly lonely widow is doing the rejecting. I’m hoping Simon will come to his senses and decide I’m not worth the trouble.” She touched Peg’s sleeve again. “So you’ll keep shopping here, and let Ezra keep up his pretense?”
“But where does he get the money to keep the store going?”
“I have no idea,” Olivia said with a shake of her head. “Ezra and Doris had a modest lifestyle, but they always appeared to be financially comfortable.” She shrugged. “They must have invested wisely.”
Peg touched Olivia’s sleeve. “I miss Doris, too.”
Olivia nodded her thanks. “That’s why it’s important we continue letting Ezra think he’s pulling one over on us. He needs to still feel needed. And if you feel compelled to do something nice for him in return, then haggle over his prices.”
Peg just gaped at her, then suddenly burst out laughing, only to slap a hand over her mouth as she leaned around the potato chips to glance down the aisle. She looked at Olivia and shook her head with a lingering chuckle. “I don’t know which is more outrageous: that Ezra’s giving half his store away or that you’re asking me to complain about it.”
“Hey, everyone needs a good rousing argument once in a while, don’t you think? Consider it your contribution to keeping his big old soft heart revved up.”
“Mom! Peter wiped his hands on my shirt and now I’m all sticky!”
Peg closed her eyes on a sigh. “If I wasn’t afraid his heart would explode, I’d leave Pete and Repeat with Ezra for the day.” She headed down the aisle. “Peter Thompson, what did I tell you about minding your manners in here?”
Olivia stayed hiding behind the potato chips, breaking into a smile when she heard Jacob snicker in delight. Wouldn’t she love to have a little son to plague Sophie. But God help her, not twins! Lord, she didn’t know how Peg survived raising her four children alone since her husband had died three years ago.
“Ezra,” she heard Peg drawl. “You gonna make me drive all the way down to Turtleback to redeem my coupons, or you gonna get serious about being a real store?”
Olivia covered her mouth to stifle a laugh when Ezra gave a loud harrumph. “I’ll have you know that Grant’s Grocery prints those flyers to reel in unsuspecting chumps like you with ridiculously low prices on one or two items, only to jack up the price of everything else they sell by ten percent. And it’ll cost you more for gas than you’d save to drive the sixty-mile round trip.”
“But today they’re offering double coupons.”
Olivia leaned around the rack of chips to see Ezra glaring at Peg as he suddenly thrust out his hand. “Oh, give me those blasted coupons. But if you tell anyone I honored them, I swear that’ll be the last cinnamon bun you get from me.”
Peg clutched the coupons to her chest. “Double?” she asked.
“Jumped-up old monkey poop,” he growled. “Are you trying to bankrupt me?”
Olivia crossed her fingers when she saw Peg hesitate, and gave a relieved sigh when her friend finally handed Ezra the coupons.
“Oh, okay,” Peg said, sounding defeated. “I guess face value is worth saving me the drive to Turtleback. Um… can I have my bun now?”
“You can,” Ezra muttered as he shuffled over to his computer. “But I’m adding it to your bill. Not the children’s buns; just yours.”
Olivia stepped into the aisle and shot Peg a wink when the woman gave her an uncertain look, and then headed outside to find her way-too-forward employee.
Or rather, her about-to-be-fired employee.
She stood at the edge of the road looking for Mark’s truck and sighed. Dammit, she couldn’t fire Mark until she found someone to replace him. Five families, totaling twenty-four people in all, would be arriving at Inglenook in three weeks, and even half a worker was better than none.
She was cutting it close as it was, considering all the work still left to be done. Next year she’d have to think about stretching her downtime between the winter and summer sessions, because five weeks just wasn’t long enough to give every cabin a spring cleaning, paint and make repairs, and spruce up the grounds. She still had to plumb the new water heater into cabin six, replank the docks if she hoped to put them in the lake as soon as the ice went out, get the stables ready for the twelve horses arriving in three weeks, and go through every last linen and towel to decide how many needed replacing.
What had made her think she could get away with hiring only one helper for this year’s mud season makeover, when it was obvious she needed a small army—other than the fact that her operating budget was nearly blown for this year, that is. Hell, she could barely afford the new water heater, much less pay someone to put it in.
That was the only reason she’d let Eileen talk her into allowing Mr. Oceanus and his son to arrive three weeks early; the outrageously large check he’d offered to give him a jump start on the other campers meant she could finally make the repairs she’d been putting off. And other than having to feed them, how much of a bother could a lone man and his six-year-old son be, anyway, considering the organized chaos she dealt with when camp was in full session?
Olivia saw Mark sitting in his truck parked in front of the post office and headed diagonally across the road instead of crossing to the footbridge that spanned Spellbound Stream. She did take the time to look both ways for traffic, considering that the thunder of the falls made it hard to hear even a large truck rumbling through town. On the ride home she’d give Mark a gentle but firm no thanks to his salacious offer, she decided, and then fire the twit the moment she found a replacement.
As for Simon Maher, well, considering how quickly it had brought the Minks to their senses, maybe she’d invite Simon to go on a pleasant spring hike when he got back from Chicago and accidentally lose him, too.
Chapter Two
Apparently Mark Briar wasn’t used to anyone telling him no, be it the girlfriend who’d just sent him a Dear John letter or some lonely widow he was magnanimously offering sexual favors to. Hearing the aggressive edge creeping into his voice, Olivia wondered what terrible sin she’d committed to be finding herself stuck in the front seat of a tired little pickup with the employee from hell. Not only did Mark keep trying to point out what she’d be missing if she didn’t come to the bunkhouse tonight, it appeared that her repeatedly gentle but firm refusals were making him angry.
Well, and the Dear John letter he’d crumpled into a ball and thrown at her feet after reading the more interesting parts to her. Added to that, his driving had gone from reckless to downright scary. What had she been thinking when she’d asked if they could use his pickup to go after the heater? If she’d taken ten minutes to pull the rear seat out of her van, she’d be in only half the mess she was in now; she might still be dealing with an angry young man, but at least the pine trees wouldn’t be speeding by in a blur.
Olivia decided that when they met the school bus, she and Sophie were walking the last three miles to Inglenook. “Look, Mark,” she said calmly, even as she checked the buckle on her seat belt, “it’s not that I’m not flattered by your offer, but I have a very firm rule about fraternizing with my employees.”
“Employee. You have one. So it’s not like anyone can complain the boss is playing favorites or anything.”
“When camp’s in session I have fifteen people on the payroll: seven who live at Inglenook—you, the cook, and several counselors—and eight locals who show up every day at the crack of dawn,” she said, getting a bit angry herself.
His eyes narrowed menacingly. “What about the campers? You got any rules about fraternizing with them?” He snorted. “Or is that how you fill up your single-father sessions year after year?”
Olivia counted to ten to keep from smacking the belligerent snot, wanting worse than anything to get out of this damn truck. “Ohmigod!” she shouted, pointing out the windshield. �
�Quick, pull off the road!”
Mark hit the brakes in surprise, then veered into a small gravel pit before bringing the truck to a sliding stop and shutting off the engine. “What did you see?” he asked, looking around.
Olivia immediately undid her seat belt and got out. “A moose just crossed the road in front of us,” she said, pointing toward the trees when he also got out. “And where there’s one, there’s usually more. Hitting an animal that size would total your truck.”
“I didn’t see anything.” His complexion darkened, his anger returning as suddenly as it had left. “You just made that up,” he said, storming around the front of the truck. “What in hell is it with you women, anyway? You think you can just dump me like yesterday’s trash to go after some rich guy just because he’s got a career and drives a Porsche?”
“Hey, wait a minute.” Olivia started walking backward. “I’m not your girlfriend; I’m your boss.”
Spellbound Falls Page 2