by Keri Ford
Something important came up in Hank’s life to delay important business and he was standing in her shop? Something itchy walked across her shoulders.
Hank sat in one of the metal chairs often left scattered around the shop and crossed an ankle over his knee. “There’s been an offer made on your tail.”
She laughed. “That could have waited until you got back. You should not have messed up your business for that.”
“Per our agreement, I’m legally bound to give you all the details. The trademark is still in process, but now that it’s been started, it’s protected.”
“I don’t remember our agreement saying it had to interrupt other, surely more important, business you had going on, especially when you already know I’m not interested.”
“There’s some situations in this offer that I felt were important and couldn’t wait.”
That sounded serious. Serious enough Lanie found a chair. What could possibly be so significant about her silly little mermaid tail that Hank would prioritize it over his business? “All right.”
“What do you know of Eriksen’s ex-wife, Tish?”
Her arms immediately crossed under her chest. “Enough that I wouldn’t spit on her if she caught fire.”
The corner of Hank’s mouth pulled at a smile. “That sounds about right. She wants your tail.”
Lanie laughed.
Hank sighed, and for the first time in ever talking to him, his gaze slid away from her while he spoke. “I think it’s partly my fault. A couple of weeks ago, I ended some business with her. She’s coming at me, and this is my only open spot.” His gaze was back on her, and he looked tired. “My other adventures are tied up in complex situations that aren’t important for this conversation. But this tail is gaining around town. Locals are starting to talk about it more, and there was that feature in the newspaper.”
“Well, she definitely can’t have it.” She couldn’t imagine why he would delay his business over this. Featured in the newspaper was a stretch. It was a little letter to the editor column, not like a headline situation.
“I’m still telling you the offer so that you’re informed. In exchange for the tail, she’ll return Eriksen’s engagement ring. It was his grandmother’s, and she uses it as leverage to manipulate his mother.”
Lanie sat stunned as his words washed over her three times. The thing Tish used to lord over his mother, which no longer worked because of Lanie. Eriksen had filled her in on the details for how it led to him telling his mom about her. But it seemed Tish could still use the ring for some sort of leverage. At the end, she knew his mother wanted the ring back, and what would Eriksen do to get it and finally be rid of Tish? “Why would she make that exchange?”
“The tail is a positive business opportunity. Like a good-faith thing. One of her companies partnered with someone who is now under federal investigation. Plus I cut business ties with her. She’s going down with the ship, but a charitable thing can provide some balance before anyone else distances themselves from her. It’s a bit more than that though. I think she’s trying to sink her teeth back into Happily now that I’ve put things into place to turn it around. I’ve refused her other offers to help, but this gets a foot in the door. She doesn’t care about the ring. She just wants the outcome it can give her.”
“So she always wins.”
Hank nodded.
Lanie laughed. “In this, she doesn’t. How do I give her the tail?”
“You don’t want to think about it?”
“I have.” Lanie swore she’d do whatever it took to protect Eriksen from that woman. This wasn’t even something she had to think over. Besides, when it came to the mermaid tail, Lanie knew something Tish would never be able to understand. “Can we go now? That’s why you’re thinking of delaying, right? Because if I wanted to do this, you wanted to take care of it now, while she’s in town, before she changes her mind.”
He pointed at her. “Smart girl. She’s renting a house in town and told me to meet her there if I was willing to make the deal.”
She took her own truck and followed Hank across town. The road was winding, and each turn, twist, and dip had her gripping the steering wheel tighter. She disliked this whole situation. She couldn’t wait to walk in that door and let Tish see who the real mind behind the tail was and then get out. It was the only bit of satisfaction she had about this whole ordeal.
That and finally seeing Eriksen and his family free from her entanglements. Lanie’s cowardice had put Eriksen in the woman’s path, she was going to be the one to pull him out of it. She followed Hank through one of the more pricey neighborhoods in town. It looped a few blocks from where Violet and Jacob lived after she inherited the house last year when Violet’s fake mom died. She parked behind Hank in front of a three-story white house that looked more like a bed-and-breakfast on the front of a magazine. As they approached the door, it was opened by a woman in a navy dress who showed them a set of double doors. As they parted, and Hank walked in, a woman’s voice called out.
“Welcome, Hank. And Lanie Lange, aren’t you a surprise? Well, now. I think I know why Hank so quickly agreed.” She held up a diamond ring. A sighing tsk that looked all rehearsed eased out of her. “I know why you’re here. You want this? It’s pretty. Used now. Since I wore it first, but it could have been worse.”
“I’m not here to get it for myself. I don’t need to take from others to get what I want.”
One of Tish’s brows arched and she smiled. “Salty.”
Hank glanced to her, and clearly Eriksen hadn’t filled him in on their past. He opened a briefcase on the coffee table. “I have paperwork.”
Tish reached around and lay hers next to his. “So do I.”
He glanced at them. Quickly, he went through the pages. He turned through six sheets. It seemed a bit overkill to need all those pages for just this. Hank frowned and glanced up. “You want an NDA?”
“Yes.”
He looked to her and Lanie shrugged. Contract speech was beyond her. “Nondisclosure agreement. She wants our silence. No talking about the tail, hinting who started it or that she bought it.” Hank shifted his gaze to Tish, then back to Lanie. “She wants to pass it off as her own idea.”
Lanie snorted. “So shocked.”
Tish shrugged. “I’m a businesswoman. I take my opportunities as I have them. Today is my last day in town. Do you want to take the deal or not?”
Lanie looked to Hank, ready for this to be over. Just being here sent a creepy chill across her arms. This was for Eriksen, and there was no price too high to pay. “That’s fine.”
With that, Tish called someone in who laid out notary stamps and asked for identification. Lanie signed in all the locations on her agreement with Hank. Hank in turn signed off everything with Tish. Lanie collected the ring. Tish took her signed copies. It was all over with in less than an hour. Lanie had given up on something she’d held for so long for Eriksen, and she had no regrets.
Hank paused on the sidewalk by Lanie’s car. “I wasn’t sure if you’d give it up or not.”
“Did you not want me to?”
“Not my choice. I was only commenting that I wasn’t sure if you would give it up or not.”
“Oh, well.” She snickered with a glance at the house. “The tail won’t work for her.”
He cocked a brow full of questions.
Lanie laughed and shrugged. “She’s too selfish. An idea like this, it’s not about you or the deals you can make or the attention you can get. It’s about others. Getting the tail this far has taken me, Violet, Eriksen, Jacob, the twins—plus the twins’ friends—pushing it. She’ll never understand the commitment, won’t have the dedication of loved ones behind her, and because of it, it’ll never work for her.” She licked her lips and sighed, then told him everything about that night on his boat. “So while I get some personal satisfaction knowing that, I gave it up for him.”
“You’re a saint, Lanie.” Hank patted her arm and headed to his car.
Chapter Fifteen
The large ring lay in her hand, and she fisted it to her chest. She had no regrets. She hadn’t heard from Eriksen yet, but he could still be at the hangar getting news from Hank that they weren’t leaving until tomorrow now. Or maybe he was tied up with something else. She didn’t want to tell him this over the phone, and there was no way she was getting work done now, so she headed back to the cabin to wait until he called to let her know he got one more night before takeoff. Lanie drove up to her cabin to find Eriksen already there, and a smile fell all over her.
He sat in a rocking chair, reclined, and lightly swayed it. “Playing hooky?”
She grinned and stepped on the porch. “I am. I heard you weren’t going to New York today.”
He frowned and shook his head. “News travels fast. I wanted to surprise you. Next time I’ll have to tell Jacob to tell Violet to not tell you our plans were canceled.”
She laughed and settled on his lap to rest against his chest. The ring was still fisted in her palm, hidden from his view. “I didn’t hear from Violet. I heard from Hank. It’s my fault you didn’t leave.”
The rocking stopped. “Now you’ve got me stumped.”
She turned her hand out and uncurled her fingers. Even under the shade of the porch, the diamond sparkled.
He stilled and, ever so slowly, reached for it. So slowly that his fingers trembled. “How did you get this?”
“She made me an offer for it. She wanted the trademark for the tail and offered the ring in exchange.”
He moved so fast in one breath she was reclined against him and in the next he had set her up and turned her so that she stared at him eye to eye. “You gave her the rights to your tail?”
“Yes.”
“Your mermaid tail.”
“Yes.”
“Why would you do that?” An accusation laced his tone in there.
It gave her pause and wiped the happy thoughts from her mind. “I thought you wanted the ring back, that your mother wanted it too.”
“I did.” He practically shouted at her and shifted. She stood off him before she fell, and he came out of the chair nearly as quick. “But not at the expense of something of yours. I cannot believe you would do that.”
“I wanted to do it. Hank told me the offer, and I don’t regret my choice.”
“I don’t understand. Why would you give up the mermaid tail for me?”
She blinked at him and straightened. “I would think that would be obvious.”
He shook his head. “It’s not. I can’t think of a single reason you’d give something like that to her for this? The last thing I would want is a reason for her to be in town. Now she has one.”
“Maybe it’s because I love you?”
“If that were true, you would have talked to me about it! Why do the people I care about not give me the decent respect to think I can’t take care of my own business?”
“You’re still not getting it! This, all this with her, traces back to me. It is all my fault. I left you on the sandbar with her that night. It wasn’t your business to take care of. It was mine. And I took care of it.” Her lip trembled, fists tightened. She wanted to throw her feelings out, but as he just stood there, staring at her, everything inside took a giant crack right through the center of her. Oh my God.
How could she still screw this up with him?
Oh God. She had said she loved him, and he yelled back and never acknowledged it.
“Lanie…” He rubbed his forehead.
Thoughts and mistakes swirled, and she grasped for words but was so out of her depths she shivered. Not anger, fear. Her breath was shortened, and she scrambled for escape. Over his shoulder, the lake glistened and she ran for it.
He didn’t follow.
She kicked her boots off the back door and went out, directly into the water. She just needed to get a few moments before the winding in her chest broke her.
She glanced over, seeing him at the back door, and dove under. She kicked as hard as she could, aiming to get as far as she could to where the landed jutted. Once she got around that part, she’d be away from him. The dim, dusky light underwater cleared the tears that finally fell, and she kicked until she couldn’t hold back the burn in her lungs any longer. She surfaced for a breath and immediately ducked back under, striving for sanctuary to lick her wounds.
Didn’t know why she’d give up her tail for him. Was angry even. A groan trapped in her throat, and she surfaced, settling into hard strokes as she approached the end of the bend.
“Lanie!”
His voice echoed from the bank, and she paused for only a moment before continuing. She couldn’t talk to him like this, and he wasn’t coming after her, not out here. He wouldn’t be able to catch her even if he did try swimming. The kayak was his only option, but it was at Hank’s place. She pushed herself to go as fast as possible until she rounded the northern bend, getting out of sight of the cabin. She slowed her strokes and eased closer to the bank.
She hadn’t prepared for a swim. She was fully dressed. No extra carbs or potassium to fight cramps. She edged a bit closer until she stood, confirmed she could touch the bottom, then sank into the waters and privacy of the darkness within.
The absolute nerve of him. How could he? She got him something he wanted, she cut him off from that witch, and the thanks he gave was to fuss at her? He didn’t—she slowed her fierce temper to stay under longer. He didn’t even notice that she’d all but told him she loved him.
Losing the tail hadn’t hurt. She’d willingly given it. Maybe because partly she knew it wouldn’t matter. Tish would never get the tail to work so long as Lanie pulled her support from it. Lanie could do something else instead. Keep at her anonymous pay-it-forward movement and just not attach anything to it. Or put the word out to start putting their own image that meant something to each person to their deeds. Just leave it all clouded in mystery. She didn’t need the tail for the satisfaction of the project.
Maybe without it, more people would be encouraged to take part. She rolled to her back and kicked over the surface. The water rushed over and brought calm back to her tensed shoulders. Temper cooled off, she could explain all this, and maybe his would have too so that he would listen instead of yell.
As for the I love you part… she didn’t have an answer, but swimming about wasn’t going to give it to her either.
She turned and headed home. They could discuss this. He didn’t understand that this wasn’t his problem. This was hers. She’d put him in Tish’s path long ago. This mistake was all her doing, and it was her responsibility to clean it up.
The return trip took longer. She not only had to figure out what to say to him, she also had the shame for running away to face. Seemed she was a little too good at taking off when she got afraid.
That had gotten her into this mess to begin with years ago. If she had just stayed then.
If she had just stayed now?
Maybe he would have seen reason after the shock. Maybe he would have left. Whatever happened, she would know she’d done all she could from her end of things. A new Lanie Lange was about to appear.
She walked out of the water and into her cabin only to find him gone.
Chapter Sixteen
Lanie checked the whole house. Twice. She wasn’t sure why. His truck was gone. It didn’t just drive itself off, but she couldn’t stop the hope that maybe as she walked in the living room, he’d be sitting there.
The chairs remained empty as she passed and stepped onto the deck. She’d had everything and it was gone. She collapsed onto a deckchair.
An engine in the distant ran and tires crunched over gravel. She spun around, looking first, then sprinting around the side of the house. He came back. They could fix this. They could do something and it would all work out fine.
A fist held tight to her chest as she made it to the front of the house. The hold loosened with a depressing sink and her shoulders dipped. Her brother Tommy parked. Not that she wasn
’t glad to see him, but it wasn’t Eriksen.
He slipped out and walked her way. “Hey, squirt.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Just thought I’d check on you. Cindy told me at the diner Eriksen was out of town for the night so I thought it’d be a good time to catch up with you. I brought us some steaks.” He got closer and paused. He pulled his sunglasses off. “What’s the matter?”
“I think I messed up.” She walked into him and wrapped her arms around his waist and started unloading it all. From the rescue when she was sixteen all the way up to this afternoon where she’d lost everything.
He managed to shuffle her inside while she talked. Somehow she ended up in the kitchen and he passed her a mug of her favorite tea.
She poked the infuser and sat with her self-pity. “I messed up. I don’t know what to do.”
“If it’s messed up beyond repair from this, then it wasn’t meant to be.”
She smiled at him. “That was kind of deep.”
“I think I read it on a pillow somewhere.”
She felt better after hearing it, but then worry slipped under her skin. She wanted it meant to be with Eriksen. “I get that I stepped in his business, but I need him to get that it’s my business too.”
Tommy put his arm over her shoulders and tucked her into his side. “If he doesn’t come around on his own, I can beat it into him.”
She rubbed his arm. “Probably overkill.”
“Well, if you change your mind, it’s not a problem.”
“I will let you know.”
“So what about dinner?”
“I’ll start the grill while you get the steaks ready to go on?”
“Get to it.”
She headed out. Her heart weighed heavy, but not as much as it did ten minutes ago. They could fix this. She may have scared him off with her love talk, but they could work through it. She poked around the grill when the unmistakable sound of paddles slapping the water grabbed her attention. Eriksen was on the lake and rowed toward her.