Half-Moon Lake, page 19
I gulped, feeling more than a little inadequate.
On the other hand, my inner-Kate had smeared on war paint and had just pushed up her sleeves, crouching into her attack stance.
Though I was sure only seconds had passed since the arrival of the red-haired floozy, to me the elapsing time felt stretched out of shape, like worn-out elastic. “Olivia…” Levi’s voice sounded strangled. “…uh…great to see you again.” The look he gave me was apologetic, begging me to understand. He jerked his arm out of the other woman’s grasp, and pulled me closer, like he was trying to get the woman’s attention off him and on me. “I’d like you to meet Katelyn Eubanks—the late Patrick Eubanks’ daughter. Katie, this is Olivia Barnes.”
I met the hostile gaze with one of my own. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Barnes.” Yeah, like it would be nice to meet a shark right after cutting myself shaving.
Olivia’s tight smile looked forced. “Charmed.”
A person could get hypothermia from her icy tone.
Levi was trying to make the best of a very tense situation. “Liv, who’s your friend?”
Olivia barely glanced over her shoulder at her date, her curls bounced dismissively and she waved her hand in the young man’s general direction. “Oh, this is Todd…Todd Whiteside.”
Poor Todd. He stared blankly at each of us in a clueless manner; probably realizing in a vague sort of way that there was tension in the air, but having no idea why. He finally just gave up. His eyes returned to gaze adoringly at the greatly endowed Olivia. Pat would’ve said he had blond roots.
Levi still had one arm around me, holding me as closely as he dared—almost like a shield. I decided to play along. Reaching down, I grabbed his other hand, winding my fingers through his. Olivia’s eyes narrowed at my display and I sent her an extra sweet smile. “Maybe some night the four of us could get together for dinner. You know…get to know each other better. How does that sound, Liv?” It felt good…really good to see the look on Olivia’s face at my suggestion.
“I’ll have to check my calendar,” she ground out through clenched teeth; then composed her face with obvious effort and gave me a shrewd smile. “I’ll be sure to call Levi and let him know.” She turned impatiently. “Ready, Todd?”
Todd just nodded and stumbled after her like an over-eager puppy.
As soon as they were out of sight, I dropped Levi’s hand and tried to step away from him, but he was having none of that. He turned me around to face him and tried to pull me back into his arms, mistakenly thinking we’d just resume our dance. “Now, Katie…”
“Don’t you ‘now Katie’, me!” I growled through gritted teeth. “Would you care to explain your henna-haired Dolly Parton?”
His sigh was huge, and he gave up on the dance. “Come on,” he ordered. He turned on his heel and pulled me back toward the brick planter where we’d started, which was now nearly hidden in the deep shadows under the tree. Without a word he lifted me up and plopped me—very unceremoniously—down on top of the brick ledge. It was high enough that our eyes were nearly on the same level, but since he stood with his back to the streetlights, it was too dark to read his expression. However, I was certain he could see the fiery sparks shooting from mine! I wasn’t sure what made me angrier—the proprietary manner in which Olivia had clung to Levi’s arm, or the fact that her arrival had interrupted something I very much wanted to happen.
I was afraid it was the latter.
“Now.” Levi spoke evenly. “You want to know what’s going on with Olivia. Well, I can assure you there’s absolutely, one hundred percent of nothing to know. She showed up in my shop one day a couple of months ago, interested in some of my furniture. After I’d gotten all the measurements and necessary information from which to work up a quote, she started trying to turn the conversation personal. I was just as adamant about keeping it on a business level. After seeing that she was getting nowhere, she left in a sort of huff. I thought that was the end of it, but somehow she got my home number and started calling and calling…” He sighed. “…and calling. I have caller ID at home and when I see that it’s her, I don’t bother to answer it because I have no desire, whatsoever, to talk to her.”
He was quiet for a minute watching me. I tried to stay angry, but it was a losing battle and he could probably tell. He reached for my hand and when he spoke again—though I couldn’t see it very well in the dark—I could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ve had a dickens of a time avoiding her. She’s like some crazy stalker. Cass says she’s been by the house several times, but thankfully, I was out. I’ve managed to keep out of sight at the shop each time she’s shown up there. I knew my luck was bound to run out sooner or later.” He raised my hand to his lips and kissed my palm.
It felt as if he’d blistered it.
I reminded myself to breath in and out. Breathing was entirely necessary—at least on a semi-regular basis.
His voice was low and rough around the edges when he spoke again. “Katie, you don’t know how badly I hate that she caught up with me like this tonight. I hope she got the message that I’m not interested. I guess you could say that I’m ‘spoken for.’ Actually, I have been spoken for—for pretty much all my life and that seems like a very long time.” His other hand reached out and lifted my chin, his thumb stroking along my jawbone.
I was discovering that it was very difficult for one to breathe in and out with one’s heart wedged tightly in one’s throat. I tried to swallow it out of the way.
Breathe, Kate…breathe…
“Spoken for?” All I could manage was a whisper.
His face was so close that I could feel his breath on my cheek when he spoke. “You asked me to marry you, remember?”
“No, I’m afraid I don’t remember, not yet, anyway. I guess I’ll just have to take your word for it.” My arms crept around his neck; a completely involuntary response. “You never told me what your answer was, though.”
He chuckled. “What do you think?”
Chapter Twelve
I was on a mission, and I was grumpy.
How I could possibly be cranky after the evening I’d had the night before, an evening that would rank at the top if I’d had a list of all-time best dates?
Lack of sleep would do it. I’d seen a poster once that said, “Without sleep, we’re all just tall two-year-olds.” That about summed it up. And besides, it was what came after my date with Levi that had me in a sleep-deprived stupor.
My inner-Kate looked up from her knitting, peering over the top of her glasses, eyebrow arched suggestively.
“Oh, stop it! You know better. The way Pat drilled that stuff into my head? How could I possibly forget her order for life? Marriage first, then and only then…sex.”
After making a face at me, she went back to her knitting.
I gave a tired sigh. Even with Pat gone, the lesson was so ingrained, I didn’t dare veer off course for fear my mother/older sister might come back and haunt me.
Last night, I’d planned on having some exceptionally good dreams starring one Mr. Levi Wolfe, but the impromptu encounter with Jessa, while on my way to my room kept those dreams from ever happening.
Grrrr… Just thinking about it made me want to chew up ten-penny nails so I could spit out rust! It was enough to put Mother Theresa in a bad mood!
Better think of something else, Kate.
I drew a deep breath, let it out slowly, and jingled my bracelet.
Before I’d left my room this morning, I’d retrieved my charm bracelet from the scant jewelry I’d brought with me. While packing for this trip, I’d surprised myself by wanting to bring it. Especially since it’d been years since I’d last worn it, but I’d dropped it in with the rest and forgotten about it…until this morning. I was glad I’d packed it now. The jingling seemed to help with my bad mood…at least a little.
Pat had added charms to that bracelet over the years for birthdays, Christmas and special places we’d visited. Looking through those tiny silver symbols was like taking a walk down memory lane. It made me feel closer to Pat and maybe I needed that right now.
There was one charm, however, that Pat hadn’t given me. It had been the first one on the bracelet, there as long as I could remember. I’d asked Pat about it, where it came from, but of course, she never gave a real answer. I’d always wondered if maybe my dad had given it to me. Who else could it have been?
There was no way of knowing now.
The charm was half of a circle with a crooked edge, as if it were jaggedly cut in two. The words “The Lord—between me—while we—one fr—” were engraved there. A mish-mash of words. That’s what I’d thought until one of my church friends in Arizona had explained that it came from a Bible verse, Genesis 31:49 to be exact. I’d looked the verse up and memorized it. At least it made sense when I knew the missing words: The Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from another.
And even though I couldn’t know for sure, it made me feel better hoping it came from my father.
I was getting closer to the lake. I kept catching little glimpses of the sparkling water through the trees and each time it was nearer than the time before.
I sort of hated to try to talk to Wink while in this frame of mind, but it needed to be done if I were to find out the next clue, and the sooner the better. I knew Levi wanted to be with me for this, but Levi had a minor crisis involving one of his furniture designs that couldn’t wait and I couldn’t either. At breakfast this morning, BJ had told me that Wink was doing some repair work down at the lake, which was why I was stomping that direction through dried leaves in spite of being in a bad mood.
While I stomped, my mind unwillingly replayed last night’s meeting with my stepmother.
I’d floated up the stairs after my date, to find Jessa waiting by my bedroom door, her expression furious, her pale face chiseled from ice, her eyes glittered with malice. “Good evening, Katelyn. Or should I say…” She glanced meaningfully at her watch before arching one eyebrow and giving me a nasty look. “…good morning?”
It caught me off guard. “Jessa! What are you doing here?”
Her syllables were clipped and short. “It’s been brought to my attention that you intend on defacing Swan Song.”
I squinted in confusion. “Defacing? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play innocent with me. You know very well what I’m talking about.”
I sighed heavily. “Listen, Jessa. Why don’t you just spit it out? I’m tired and don’t feel like playing guessing games with you right now. Or what do you say we wait and play them in the morning after I’ve had some sleep? That way I’d be a little better contender.”
Jessa pursed her lips. “I’d prefer to discuss it now.”
“Fine.” I shrugged, then yawned in her face, not bothering to cover it. “Well, let’s get this over with.”
“The defacement, as I’m sure you’re well aware, pertains to the breaking down of two walls.”
“You mean my plans to uncover the doorways to the playroom?”
Though it didn’t seem possible, since Jessa was already as stiff as a board, I actually saw her stiffen. “No, I mean breaking down two walls! I won’t allow it.”
Okay…here we go… “Jessa, in case you didn’t catch it at the reading of my father’s will, this house is mine…as in not yours.” I spoke the words slowly, over-enunciating, like I was speaking to someone with limited intelligence, incapable of understanding. “I can do whatever I want with it and what I want is to have both doorways to the playroom where my sister and I played as little girls—uncovered!” I was nearly shouting by this time. “And frankly, I don’t give a rat’s patootey whether you like it or not!”
It’s a good thing that looks can’t kill because I’d be so dead if they could. Jessa’s stare had taken on a rather crazed look, but I didn’t care; I was on a roll. “As a matter of fact—my dear stepmother—I think, perhaps, it’s time for a few more changes. I’ll be contacting my father’s attorney to have him either set up an auction for Daddy’s pipe collection, or else sell them directly to a museum. Either way, it’s time for them to go. And while we’re on the subject of going…I think now would be a very good time for you and Emory to start looking for another place of residence. The present situation is not working out!”
On that note, I turned, intending to unlock my door, but Jessa grabbed my arm, her claw-like fingers digging painfully into my flesh, before spinning me around. “I don’t care what Patrick’s will said; this house is mine. I’ve worked too long and too hard to let you waltz in and take it all away from me.” Her flashing eyes were mere inches from my own; our noses nearly touching. “You will not change anything in my house!”
I could see flecks of spittle at the corners of Jessa’s lips. It reminded me of a rabid dog. I felt my face twist in disgust.
Though in hindsight I knew I shouldn’t have goaded her like that, I couldn’t seem to help it. “Wanna bet?” I countered grimly, eyes narrowed.
As triumphant as I’d felt upon entering my room and slamming the door, it didn’t last. I’d spent the rest of the night tossing and turning, reliving the conversation, seeing over and over the crazed expression in Jessa’s dark eyes. It worried me that I’d made her so angry. That probably wasn’t a very smart thing to do, since I strongly suspected Jessa had murdered my sister, and possibly my father, mother, and even Pat’s mother. What made me think that I was any safer than they’d been?
Now, after no more than an hour or so of fitful sleep, I was not in a good mood. Oscar the Grouch had nothing on me this morning. I wasn’t sure whether it was the fact that I’d missed my anticipated dreams of Levi, or my worry that Jessa would add me to her list of casualties that was the biggest contributing factor to my grumpiness.
When the trail opened out, it was to a crescent of white sandy beach that would’ve bordered the water, had the water been at the level it was supposed to be. As it was, a very wide muddy strip stretched between the white sand and the sparkling lake. What in the world happened? It hadn’t been down like this the last time I’d gone by it. On second thought, it could’ve been like this last night. It had been dusky dark on the way to Hendersonville and my attention hadn’t exactly been on the lake. I’d had something much more interesting to occupy my attention. Or maybe I should say someone…
I scanned the shoreline, looking for the gardener/handy-man. I definitely wanted my mood to do a one-eighty before seeing Levi later that afternoon. Some good news from Wink would probably go a long way in accomplishing that.
I finally spotted him bent over a small wooden structure far down at the water’s edge.
“Yoohoo…Wink.” My greeting had a two-fold purpose. I didn’t want him to think I was sneaking up on him and I wanted to see if what BJ said was true: if Wink really could hear. I waved to get his attention before starting toward the water. He turned, squinting in the direction of my voice, but appeared not to be able to see me.
Okay, apparently he can hear. Now can he talk?
Maybe I needed to step out into the sunshine. Since his eyes were adjusted to the bright light, it was certain he couldn’t see me up in the shadow of the trees.
“Here I am.” I waved again. He could see me now. I watched a look of uncertainty crossed his face before he turned back to his task. “What are you working on?” I leaned over his shoulder to see.
It was hardly recognizable at first, but I soon realized I was looking at the algae-covered bottom of the six-foot square, wooden dock that usually floated out in the water.
He didn’t answer; just gave the screwdriver a couple more twists before getting to his feet. He bent over, sliding his hands under the edge of the big frame and began lifting.
“Oh, here…let me help you with that.” Our combined strength had it perpendicular in no time. “Now what?” I huffed.
He waited for me to look at him. Then brought one hand down to shoulder level and placed his palm against the boards. He nodded his head for me to copy him.
“What? You mean, like this?” I mimicked his move. He smiled and nodded. “We’re going to push it over?” Another nod. “All right…ready when you are.”
At his non-verbal signal, we both shoved and the platform started falling; slowly at first, but picking up speed until it hit the shallows with a tremendous splash. As soon as it settled into the water, Wink placed his well-worn boot against the closest edge and shoved it farther out into the lake.
As we watched, little wavelets of current eased the floating wooden platform twenty or so feet out into the lake until it moved no farther. It must have some sort of anchor to keep it from floating away.
At first I thought the low, unintelligible mutter was my imagination. A split second later, when I realized he’d actually spoken, elation made it difficult to keep from doing a happy dance.
I had to work hard at keeping my question calm and under control. “Pardon?”
He raised his voice to a volume nothing other than wild animals could hear. “I said; I had to replace some of the floats. They can fill up with water sometimes and it ends up sitting all catawampus. Not that anybody uses it anymore.”
It was when he muttered those last six words that I had another flashback.
Kenna was laughing in the water as I stood poised on the edge of the floating dock, toes curled around the rim, readying myself for a spectacular dive. Just before taking a deep breath, I was shoved violently from behind. My scream was cut to an abrupt end by water closing over my head. When I surfaced, I was sputtering with indignation into the laughing face of Emory.
“Emory! You idiot! Why won’t you just leave us alone! Don’t you know when you’re not wanted?”
“Yeah!” Kenna echoed. “Leave us alone!”
The change in Emory’s expression was startling, both in its immediacy and its direct oppositeness; from laughter to rage in the blink of an eye. His face turned an angry shade of purple as he glared at Kenna, but not me. “Shut up! You’re the one who’s not wanted. You’re the one who needs to disappear…permanently.” He dove into the water, a murderous gleam in his eyes. Kenna squealed and started swimming underwater, back toward the dock.
