Met Her Match Read online

  “Yesterday some kids overturned a couple of boats. I told them to clean up, but they’re not afraid of me like they are you, so they didn’t get it all.”

  They stood side by side as they watched Nate maneuver the little boat near the big white objects. He tugged but they didn’t move.

  “Cut the lines,” Terri said aloud.

  “There are probably a thousand ropes caught on those old posts. He’s going to do it the right way.”

  Nate stood up in the boat, pulled his shirt off, then eased over the side into the water.

  “He can’t do that!” Terri started out the door. “I need to warn him about how deep the lake is there.”

  Brody caught her arm. “I think your young man can take care of himself. Look! He’s come back up and he’s putting things in the boat. That’s great. That place needs a cleaning. I’ve been meaning to do it for years.”

  When her father turned away, Terri saw the pain on his face. The night of the storm that took the big dock down was the night her mother went away. After that, there had been a couple of years when Brody had been grieving so deeply that he could barely function. His partner, Jake, had done most of the work around the place but that didn’t include replacing an old dock.

  “I have a truckload of food and booze that Nate had me get,” Brody said. “Where do I put it?”

  Terri was glad to change the subject. After yesterday in town she’d had all the reminders of the past that she could stand. She slid the door open. “I’ll help you unload in a minute, but I’m going to watch to make sure Nate doesn’t do anything stupid.”

  “Good idea,” he said, and they went to the chairs outside. Nate dived underwater, then came back up with some pieces of garbage and tossed them into the boat.

  Terri waved at him to let him know they were keeping guard, then sat down beside her father.

  “You know, don’t you, that you’re getting in over your head with this guy?” Brody said.

  “I do. I didn’t but I do now. What’s that saying about it being better to have loved and lost?”

  “Than not to have loved at all. Yeah, I heard it, but as one who lost I’m not sure the pain is worth it.” Brody’s words were gloomy, but then he grinned at his daughter. “Except for you. I wouldn’t have you if I hadn’t loved. So how’s he getting along with his fiancée? The girl he’s going to marry.”

  Terri did not want to talk about that! Her dad had said his piece and no more needed to be said. “I hear Della got a release from the hospital just so she could come to the party. Are you going to ask her out?”

  Della Kissel was at least fifteen years older than Brody, but she’d had a crush on him since the first day she saw him.

  “I’ve had enough teasing about that from Frank, so don’t you start. Did you know that he agreed to bring chicken and beef for the party? And I think he’s planning to help cook.”

  Terri looked at her father sharply. “What’s he up to?”

  “I have no idea. But you know Frank—he always has a reason for whatever he does.”

  “He’s not going to bring up the past again, is he?” Terri asked softly. “That thing about finding out his version of the truth? We know what happened.” Nate had nearly filled the boat with rubbish that had been trapped under the lake’s surface.

  “I think I made it pretty clear to Frank the last time he started asking questions that I wanted him to stop. He swore that he would. But now he seems to want something from Nate.”

  “What’s your guess?”

  Brody got up and walked the few feet to the edge of the water and motioned to Nate that that was enough. Nate held up his hand, index finger raised. He had one more dive to make.

  Brody turned back to his daughter. “I think Frank wants Nate to take over his job. Frank’s behaved himself for years now and I think he wants to retire and spend his days fishing. Or doing anything besides getting up at 2:00 a.m. because of a complaint about noisy neighbors.”

  “It’s not going to happen. Nate’s going to work with money. He said Stacy already has an office for him.”

  Brody looked at his daughter. “It’s on the ground floor of the Thorndyke house.”

  “Oh.” Terri didn’t return her father’s stare as she watched Nate lift himself into her boat. He motioned that he was going back to the clubhouse to sort out the rubbish for recycling, then he’d be back. She nodded and waved, then looked at her father. “Let’s go unload your truck. And don’t tell Nate any of this about a job. Let him make up his own mind.”

  “You mean let him see that if an active guy like him has to sit at a desk all day he’ll go insane?”

  Terri couldn’t suppress her grin. “Exactly. Have you seen the office?”

  “No, but Frank has. He said it’s got chairs with shiny steel arms. And there’s Native American artwork on the walls.”

  “Because Nate grew up in Colorado.” Terri took a breath. “That’s a nice house. Maybe he and Stacy will live on the top floors.”

  “Yeah, maybe. Come on! Let’s get to work before we depress ourselves.”

  Smiling, they started walking through the house. “That’s us. More identical than the Turner Twins. By the way, Nate met them.”

  “How was that?”

  “Quite gratifyingly awful. They were all jealous of one another.”

  “They should be. That reminds me. Elaine wants to bring a few clothes up here this afternoon. She thought you might like something new to wear.”

  “As opposed to my usual five-year-old T-shirts?”

  “I suggested red and sparkly. Maybe low cut.”

  “Dad!” She was shocked.

  “I’m on Team Terri. So shoot me. Elaine talked about skinny jeans and high heels.”

  “Absolutely not!” Terri said, then smiled. “Not too high anyway. She say anything about makeup?”

  “She has a case the size of a footlocker filled with nothing but little pots and bottles.”

  “That’s about exactly how much I’m going to need after years of sun and water.” Smiling, Terri slipped her arm through her father’s and they went outside to his truck.

  * * *

  Terri took her father’s advice and chose a pair of tight pants and a red silk blouse. She and Elaine were in her bedroom and the bed was covered with clothes. Since Elaine had come to the lake, she’d been as close to a mother as Terri had ever had.

  Elaine had been widowed two years before she arrived at the lake. She’d been driving from New York to Atlanta, where she planned to buy into her friend’s dress shop. Elaine had always been involved in the fashion industry, and she was looking forward to being her own boss. She’d pulled off the highway to have lunch by a sign that said Lake Kisses.

  That day Brody, Frank and Terri had been sitting at one of the tables in front of the pizza stand. They were going over some plans for enlarging the pavilion so they could host a farmer’s market.

  “You’ll get more townies in here with this,” Frank said, but when Brody didn’t answer, they looked at him. Terri was startled to see that her father had taken on the appearance of some predatory animal. His eyes were intense!

  Terri just stared at him, but Frank chuckled. In the next second they turned to see a woman at the counter. She was forty-ish and kept herself in shape: tall, slim, short dark hair. She wore tailored black linen trousers, a white blouse and gold earrings.

  As though he were in a trance, Brody got up and went to her.

  Frank, wearing a smirk that twisted his whole face to one side, got out his wallet. He put a twenty-dollar bill on the table.

  Terri was still gaping at her father. She’d never seen him look like that or go after any visitor. In fact, he did his best to get away from them.

  “Twenty bucks says she doesn’t leave here,” Frank said.

  She looked at him. “What are