Bait Shop Blues

by Nancy Pirri

  Her eyes widened on him as he slowly backed away from her, his eyes gleaming with appreciation as he swept her body from head to toe. “You look sweet, Cassie-girl. He gave her a friendly departing wave before loping back inside the store.

  As Cassandra drove down the road and headed for the town of Crane, the first place on her list, she told herself she had nothing about which to feel guilty. Leif hadn’t asked her where she was going to get the money for the artwork and souvenirs. She hadn’t found it necessary to volunteer the information. She’d tell him soon enough that she’d delved deep into her own pockets—when the time was right. Once they paid the back taxes back from Gateway’s till, knowing Leif would have a fit if she paid out of her own pocket, and once Gateway started showing a profit, she’d pay herself back for the artwork.

  Leif was a very proud man she’d learned. There was no sense denting that pride by confessing about the money. It was her money, and she’d spend it how she wanted. She’d tell him later.

  She spent the next two days shopping and networking with artisans in surrounding communities. If she could secure the artwork on consignment she wouldn’t have to pay out so much. She even managed to commission them into providing her more of their work over the next several months. Of course, she’d made them offers they couldn’t refuse, guessing she’d have no trouble selling the artwork once she got the word out about it. She bought wildlife paintings done in earth-toned colors and painted in oils, and blown glass swan candleholders and delicate vases.

  She found a tiny sewing shop and discovered that the owner sewed exquisite, unique clothing for women and children so she ordered several garments.

  All in all, Cassandra had had a good day. She thought about the money she’d spent and hoped Leif wouldn’t ask her about it. She doubted he would since she’d led him to believe they still had some money in Gateway’s account, but she’d also told him they may have some lean times ahead, especially with winter coming and the tourist season coming to a stand-still. She hoped to sell most of the items over the next several weeks, until the season’s end. Then, come spring, she’d reorder.

  Upon returning to the shop, she entered just as Maxie headed out the back door. The older woman paused reached out and caught a box ready to fall from Cassandra’s arms. “Whoa, what did you do? Buy out the shops?” she asked, laughing as she headed inside.

  Cassandra followed her, carefully carrying a box containing precious merchandise. “Pretty much, but I must admit I was selective.”

  After they unloaded the truck they sat down at the counter with cups of coffee and Cassandra explained her plans to Maxie.

  “Sounds like you’ve got some good ideas, Cassie, but I’ve got one suggestion to make.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Advertise. Did you go into town and place an ad in the newspaper?”

  Cassandra ginned, knowing she was a step ahead of the sharp, older woman. “I certainly did.”

  “You gonna put up some posters letting people know about the changes to Gateway?

  “I guess I didn’t think of that,” Cassandra said and heaved a deep sigh.

  “That’s okay. Go back tomorrow to all of the shops in town and post them. And hit all the other resorts in the area, too.” She waved her hand when Cassandra opened her mouth to protest. “No, they won’t give you any grief about competing for business. Gateway’s a drop in the bucket compared to those places. Oh, and one more thing, advertise the opening of the coffee shop, too.

  The following morning, Cassandra spent the rest of the day creating attractive poster advertisements for Gateway on the computer and delivering them to local businesses that were more than happy to post them.

  When they opened the coffee shop two weeks later, Maxie and Cassandra could barely handle the crowd. Not only was the bait shop busy in the early and later part of the day but during the in-between times, too. At the end of each day the two women gleefully counted the day’s revenues. Cassandra knew they’d struck a gold mine with the coffee shop. And the jewelry, pottery, and other artwork had brought in tourists from miles around.

  Leif had been absent from Gateway often due to the last summer rush of fishermen. On one fine late August morning, he stormed into Gateway and stared at the men lounging in their seats. They sat before small round café-style tables, and chairs covered in leaf-patterned cushions, their eyes riveted on Cassie as she bustled from table to table with a tray of pastries and coffee.

  Leif thought he really couldn’t blame them for staying inside where the food was delectable, the coffee good and strong. And sexy Cassie was every man’s dream woman.

  She was lovely in her ankle-length pink skirt and sleeveless top showing off her slender, bare, arms with bangles at her wrists. She wore a pair of exquisite pearl and jade earrings he’d seen for sale in the store. Several women had asked to purchase the same ones but they’d had to settle for a pair from a dozen other designs.

  “What in the hell’s wrong with you men?” Leif finally growled. “I’ve been sitting out in the plane waiting for you for over half an hour.”

  One by one the men reluctantly rose from their chairs. With big friendly waves at Cassandra and Maxie, they left the shop. Leif started to turn away, but paused when he realized one of the men he was supposed to be guiding this morning was still sitting at a table, his dark, leering gaze leveled on Cassie.

  “You coming?” Leif asked, his question a command.

  The man merely shrugged and sank back in his chair. “I’ll be along tomorrow. I’ve got all week to catch the big one, you know.”

  “You’re leaving now, Connors,” Leif ordered.

  Connors laughed. “You and what Army is going make me go?”

  “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve work to do in the kitchen.” Cassandra started to turn away from him but he snatched one of her apron strings and held her there at his side. Cassandra gave him a hesitant smile. “Really, I’ve work to do, Mr. Connors.”

  “Let go of her,” Leif snarled. The man’s a paying customer, but he couldn’t allow him to accost Cassie.

  The man’s lewd expression leveled on Cassandra’s face now turned to Leif. He released her, then slowly rose from the table and sauntered over to Leif, planting himself directly in front of him.

  Connors was bigger than Leif by more than a few inches in height and probably outweighed him by thirty pounds. Leif shrugged it off. The bigger they are the harder they fall was his motto. He just stood in front of the man and waited for him to make the first move.

  When he did, Leif was ready for him.

  From a distance he heard Cassie’s shriek as the man threw the first punch. Easily, Leif ducked, whirled in a circle away from the guy, then headed straight for him, performing spiral turns and kicks simultaneously. Connors would never mess with a man trained in the martial arts again Leif knew, as he floored him with two quick, sharp kicks from his booted feet. Connors crashed to the floor, hit his nose and it bled profusely.

  “I gave you a choice and you made it, big man,” Leif growled. “Now get out. Even though I don’t have to I’ll give you a refund.”

  Connors lumbered to his feet, his eyes glinting with fury as he wiped the blood from his nose with the back of one sleeve. He stumbled out the door and Leif followed. He paused at the door and glared at Cassie over his shoulder. “We’ll talk about how we’ll run the coffee shop when I return later today.”

  Cassandra bristled, “There’s nothing wrong with the way we’re operating the shop. So the man didn’t want to go fishing. Didn’t I say they’d enjoy the pastries?”

  “You sure did.” He gave her a meaningful look. “But the sweets on that tray aren’t what Connors had in mind to eat.”

  Chapter Six

  Cassandra gave Leif’s departing back a narrow-eyed look then turned to Maxie. “I know why Leif was so angry. He was afraid of losing revenue on that fishing trip if Mr. Connors stayed behind.”

  Maxie chuckled as she rearranged the stock
on the shelves in the children’s area. “You can think that if you like, but you’re wrong. Those men already paid Leif up front for a week of fishing. That man had big plans for you, and to hell with fishing. Didn’t you notice?”

  “I did, but didn’t think much about it.” Cassandra had noticed all right, and she hadn’t liked it, but the man was a paying customer. She also knew she could have handled him if Leif hadn’t intervened.

  Leif returned in the late afternoon from his fishing trip, earlier than usual Cassandra noticed. Even though she was bone-weary, her feet hurt, and her head ached, she flipped hamburgers on the grill on the deck. Since the creation of the coffee shop, Gateway’s daily till was full to overflowing, yet Cassandra could hardly wait for the end of the tourist season.

  Even when she’d owned her beauty business and had worked long days, often into the evening hours, she’d never felt this tired. But now she was on her feet most of the day, not tucked on her butt behind a desk.

  The shop’s door slammed. Cassandra smiled at Leif as he ambled to her side, feet bare, looking tired but handsome. “Hamburgers, huh?” He hovered over her as she flipped the meat on the grill. “Looks like there’s enough for both of us.”

  She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Didn’t you eat today?”

  “Just some sandwiches and beer.” He nodded at the burgers. “Those smell great.”

  “You know,” Cassandra said thoughtfully, “have you ever thought about including shore lunches with your fishing trips? I’ve learned many of the resorts in the area do.”

  “Gateway isn’t a fancy resort. It’s a plain old bait shop.” He frowned and added, “Which now happens to cater to tourists with a penchant for coffee, pastries, pottery and fancy jewelry.”

  Cassandra ignored his wry tone. “I’ve a favor to ask. Tomorrow, I’d like you to show me the location of our property lines.”

  He shrugged. “Sure thing, but we’ll have to do it from the truck since we own almost a hundred acres.”

  Cassandra nearly dropped a burger at his words and she raised her brow. “Did you say one hundred?” At his nod she said, “Does the property run deep with little lakefront, or—”

  “Heck, no. It’s not deep at all. The land runs about four hundred feet back to the road. Then the acreage runs halfway around the lake. Haven’t you noticed there’s only one other resort on this lake—just a few single-ownership properties, and Gateway?”

  My God, they were sitting on a gold mine! “I had noticed, but I assumed the other resort owned some of the property, and the rest I thought was privately owned by folks who hadn’t built cabins yet. Oh, Leif, this is an opportunity we can’t pass up! Do you believe in competition?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “What have you got in mind?”

  “Let’s eat first. By the way, you’ll be happy to know you have been paying taxes all these years. I found another filing cabinet in a the closet in the office, buried under years of dust and grime, but inside are all the tax records for you, Grandpa and Gateway, which is a good thing. It’s just the last two years we’ll have to file late taxes on the store, but I’ve already arranged that with the IRS.”

  Leif nodded, but didn’t reply, only stared at the lake, his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles.

  Cassandra set the burgers on one of the tables on the deck. She sat down and he joined her. While she dished up coleslaw and potato salad, Leif forked a burger onto a bun.

  As they ate in silence Cassandra tried to think of the best way to approach him with her idea. She should know by now that Leif was adverse to change. He was a creature of habit, but she shrugged that off since, in her experience, most men she knew were that way.

  She, on the other hand, enjoyed change. And people. She’d always been very social, and had already learned Leif wasn’t. To Cassandra, this was strange since Gateway was a business that dealt with the public. And with a business like Gateway, being social could make the difference between failure and success.

  Leif waved his fork in the air and said, “So let’s hear it. I can tell you’ve been making all sorts of plans while I’ve been gone.”

  “All right.” She took a deep breath and said all in one breath, “I’ve been thinking it might be a good idea for us to expand. We’ve enough money now to pay the back taxes, and that money we earned in just over a month of good, steady business.”

  “Great,” he said between chewing bites of his food. “So, buy more trinkets to sell. That’s fine with me.”

  She frowned. “I wasn’t thinking about that aspect of the business, but another that could prove even more profitable. It may take us a few years to see the profits, of course, but that’s to be expected when one begins a new venture. I think we should build six housekeeping cabins, and possibly a marina.”

  Leif choked on a gulp of lemonade.

  Cassandra added, “With all the boat traffic up here I’ve a feeling a marina would bring in a fair amount of cash.”

  He rose from the table, then opened and shut his mouth a few times before finally managing to shout, “No way! Your grandpa never meant for Gateway to be anything but what it is. I know where that blonde head of yours is going and I don’t want any part of it. It’s getting more and more crowded up here every day. We’re not building any cabins for folks to rent, and no marina, which isn’t possible, anyway.”

  “Why not?”

  “The Department of Natural Resources won’t allow anyone to change a lake’s natural shoreline, that’s why. And let’s face it. Most folks when they stay at a resort, also want a beach.”

  She shrugged. “Hmm, I don’t know if that’s necessarily true. I’ve something to show you.”

  Cassandra rushed into the shop and returned a moment later, clutching an inch thick bundle of pink paper. Standing beside him she shoved his plate over, then smoothed the papers down in front of him.

  “Take a look at these.”

  She took her chair while Leif read. She was glad to see he was taking his time and hadn’t just pushed them away with disinterest. After a long while he looked up at her.

  “Who did you survey? I noticed there are no names on the forms.”

  “Last weekend I stood outside the IGA store in town and asked folks if they had time to fill out a survey. As you see, many did. Some of the folks were people I recognized from town, but others were tourists.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I asked them. If you’ll notice, as long as a resort includes a nice sandy play area, including playground equipment and a children’s pool, a beach isn’t a necessity as long as there’s lake access.”

  “We don’t have enough money. Remember?” he replied.

  “I’ve money in savings that I could use toward this project.”

  “No. I won’t take your money.” Leif rose from the table and headed inside.

  Cassandra snatched up the stack of papers and followed him. She watched him rummage around in a drawer behind the transaction counter.

  “What do you mean ‘no’? I do own half this place, remember?”

  “I said, no.”

  “Look, Leif. You can’t just say no and not follow up with some sort of explanation, other than the fact you don’t like using my money, and you don’t enjoy crowds.”

  He met her eyes with a level look. “Sure I can. I just did. You can forget the idea of a resort with cabins. I’m not interested. Neither was your grandfather.”

  She sputtered, “And how would you know? Did he say so?”

  Leif yanked a map out of the drawer and slammed it shut. Leaning across the counter, he snapped, “Do you know how many folks have approached us over the years about selling this piece of property?”

  She shook her head.

  “Hundreds!”

  Cassandra flinched at his sharp tone of voice but said not a word, holding her peace until he had his say.

  “We’re within five miles of the Canadian border, and we’re ideally located for any number of tourist-
type businesses, which makes it extremely valuable.”

  “All the more reason we could make a darned good profit renting out cabins,” she retorted.

  “There’s more to life than making money!” He gave her a disdainful look. “Of course, I wouldn’t expect a city woman like you to understand that.”

  “You act as though it’s a crime to make money and earn a decent living. Give me a good, solid reason why we shouldn’t expand.”

  He moved around the counter and stopped in front of her. “Because I like Gateway the way it is. Because I don’t want hordes of folks tramping around up here, and I don’t care how much money it could potentially make. I’ve survived just fine on Gateway’s profits, without any resort.”

  She followed him through the beaded curtain and down the hallway. “But aren’t you bored with the way things are?” she asked. “I mean, Gateway is lovely, but it could be so much more.”

  Leif paused at his bedroom door. “I was right all along that a city-bred girl like you wouldn’t be satisfied for long with the simple things in life, so, why don’t you just head on back to Chicago where you belong?”

  Before she could reply he entered his room and slammed the door.

  Cassandra stormed down the hallway and muttered, “In your dreams, Wilderness Man.”

  As she paced her bedroom floor, she cursed the pig-headed man, even though her conscience bothered her. He did know Gateway, after all, and maybe he was right about the DNR regulations. But she’d long ago stopped taking a man’s words at face-value. Tomorrow she’d call the DNR and request information. This location would be perfect for a resort. There was enough shoreline property to build not just six cabins but many more. The question was how did she go about changing Leif’s mind?

  She undressed and showered, then climbed into bed with a mystery she’d been trying to read for days with no success. Each night she collapsed into bed and immediately fell asleep, exhausted from the long day’s work. This night, however, her mind wouldn’t stop spinning ideas around. Hours later, she smiled as she drifted off to sleep, thinking about her plans for the morning.