Met Her Match Read online

  Nate grinned. “Now who’s granting wishes? Okay, magician, how are you going to fix my office?”

  “Can’t do that one. That’s between you and Stacy. You can’t move into the Stanton house for a couple of years so where are you planning to live in the meantime?”

  Nate’s eyes brightened. “Is that house where we had the pizzas for rent?”

  “The daughter of the mayor of Summer Hill staying at the lake? I don’t think so. When you entered the Thorndyke house to go to your office, what door did you use?”

  “The front one. Why?”

  “There’s a side door that leads to a full apartment. Billy’s grandmother, Babs, lived there. She was a wonderful woman. She used to let Billy and me drink her homemade wine. We thought we were very sophisticated.”

  “Sometimes it seems like every story in this town leads back to Billy Thorndyke. How is he now?”

  Terri looked down at her plate and the piles of green. “I have no idea. When does Stacy get here?”

  “Thursday night. You don’t have any contact with him?”

  “None. Where are you planning to stay after she gets here?”

  “I haven’t thought about it. What was Thorndyke like as he got older?”

  “Smart, athletic, beautiful and big. He ruled our school and he didn’t allow any bullying. There was a kid who transferred from the east who picked on the little kids. Billy hung him up on the wall of the gym. He didn’t bother anybody anymore. You need to think about where you’re going to stay.”

  “I can see why a guy like that would choose you. He have any girlfriends before you?”

  “If you’re asking if he and Stacy were an item, they weren’t. Billy was unattainable. Personally, I figured he was gay.” As she moved a wad of green around on a plate, she smiled in memory.

  “I take it that you found out that he wasn’t.”

  She glared at Nate. “How did this go from you to me? Unless you want to be stuck at the mayor’s house, you need to find a place to stay in town. I haven’t heard that Babs’s apartment has been rented. I bet Mr. Hartman would rent it for his daughter just to get rid of you.”

  “I’m not sure Stacy and I will be living together.”

  Terri drew in her breath.

  “I mean, before the wedding. Summer Hill doesn’t seem like a place where people can live in sin.” He was smiling at his jest.

  “Don’t kid yourself. This town is full of sin. You just have to sit outside and see the flashlights to know what’s going on.”

  “Why did Billy leave?”

  Terri started to reply, then closed her moth. “The kale ice cream has melted. You want to order some more?”

  “Lord no!”

  “I agree.” Terri looked at all the leftover food. “Let’s get this boxed and take it to Elaine. She loves this stuff. She even tries to get Dad to eat it.” She looked at the clock on the restaurant wall. “We’re going to be late to the meeting.”

  Nate pushed his chair back. “Then we’d better go.” He nodded to the waitress, paid, and they waited for everything to be wrapped. As they left, he said, “Tell me about this Day of the Demons.”

  Terri waited until they were in the car before she spoke. “After Mr. Cresnor started granting wishes, we got a lot more people wanting to come and see this cute little local custom.”

  “Sort of like an anthropologist’s dream.”

  “More or less. With more people coming, the vendors started wanting to put up their tents two weeks before the fair. Then six weeks, then three months. It was totally out of hand. So Dad and Uncle Jake decided to cram it all into four days, Monday through Thursday. The fair starts on Friday, goes through to the dance on Saturday night. They disassemble everything on Sunday, starting after church.”

  “You don’t really think Jamie will need to be there, do you? I mean, as a doctor.”

  “Yes.”

  When Terri didn’t say any more, he looked at her. She seemed to be quite serious about it—or about something.

  “You’ll need to move out by Wednesday,” she said softly.

  “I thought Thursday morning. I don’t need to be at the airport until 5:00 p.m. I could move just after lunch.” He sighed. “Maybe I’ll stay at Jamie’s for a while. I could cook for them. Hallie’s getting very big and needs to stay off her feet. The baby’s due soon and I could help with that. We Taggerts know about babies.”

  Terri was looking out the window and thinking of the house without Nate. No more waking up to the smell of coffee. No more spicy chicken dishes. Who was going to groan when she wanted to watch an old movie, but then would sit there with her? What about emergencies? Twice she’d been called out in the middle of the night. Both times Nate had gone with her. He’d calmed a hysterical family while Terri climbed on the roof to chase a feral dog away. The noise had terrified them. The second time, something had overturned a boat and the Enders were sure it was a bear. But it was just a couple of kids who’d sneaked out in the night. She and Nate caught the ten-year-olds and drove them to the sheriff’s office. Let their parents take care of them!

  How could she and Nate have done so much in just two weeks? How could one person have become as much a part of her life as he had in such a short time? Her dad said that thanks to Nate he’d had two weeks of vacation. Even though she’d never stopped working, Terri felt the same way. Nate was like her, but he was also different. He believed in the old adage of stopping to smell the roses. Terri tended to go from one task to another, with no break in between. But Nate liked to escape. He found hiding places where they could run away from people. In the surrounding forest, they found an old shed, a leftover from when the Kissels owned the place.

  They ran inside, feeling that they’d discovered something no one else knew about. When they found six used condoms on the dirt floor, they fell back in laughter.

  Nate was great with all the college kids who did the grunt work of the place. They were usually Brody’s responsibility, but Nate had such an easy way of solving problems that he’d taken over the job.

  Everything was easier and more pleasant with Nate around. And he was endlessly thoughtful. When he saw books in someone’s cabin, he asked if he could borrow a murder mystery for Terri. He exchanged recipes with people. He introduced them to each other. More than once he’d dumped a bratty, restless kid onto some grumpy adult, then left them with each other. Thanks to Nate, there were some groups of old and young that were studying turtles or learning about cameras or just lying on the bank and doing absolutely nothing.

  “I can’t imagine the place without you,” Terri said so softly she could hardly be heard.

  Nate reached across the console and took her hand. “We’ll always be friends. No matter what happens.”

  “I know.” She pulled her hand out of his grip. Friends! she thought. Friends.

  When Nate’s phone buzzed, he pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Would you see who that is?”

  “Stacy. You really need to speak to her.”

  “Not while I’m driving. I’ll call her when I get home.” He put the phone back in his pocket.

  Minutes later, Terri’s cell was ringing and caller ID said it was Bob Alderson.

  “Terri! Where are you?” His voice was testy.

  “In the car with Nate. Why?”

  “Put me on speaker and hold up the phone. He needs to hear this.”

  “Bob wants to talk to you.” She held her cell up.

  “Nate,” Bob said, “can you hear me?”

  “Loud and clear. What’s up? Want to buy my office furniture?”

  “No!” Bob sounded very angry. “I spent hours singing your praises to all four parents. Just when they were beginning to believe that you weren’t some girl-stealing jerk, Stacy called. In tears.”

  Nate glanced at Terri. “Why?”