“You have to kiss goodbye,” Becca insisted.
Rowan looked back, trying to come up with an excuse that would appease Becca without putting Zack on the spot. But he crossed the floor, put his arms around her waist and kissed her. Not as drawn out and passionate as some of the ones they’d shared on the porch when Becca was asleep, but not just a peck, either. A real kiss.
Like he meant it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
THE DAY AT camp started with a trip to the pool. All the campers in Becca’s group, including Charlotte, lined up at the end of the pool and waited for the signal. Rowan felt like her chest would burst with pride when Becca, wearing her otter swimsuit, dived into the deep end and swam the length of the pool with no assistance, only a few strokes behind Charlotte and three others.
“Wow, look at Becca go,” Jessie commented. “You’d never know that she just started swimming a month ago.”
“I know.” Rowan beamed. “Charlotte’s doing really well, too,” she added quickly.
Jessie gave a knowing laugh, grabbed a towel and went to meet Charlotte. Rowan followed suit. When Becca climbed from the water, Rowan wrapped the towel around her and gave her a big hug. “You’re amazing!”
The counselor came to them and handed over a blue ribbon. “Congratulations, Becca. You’ve earned your dolphin ribbon.”
Becca couldn’t have looked happier if she’d won the lottery. They ate sack lunches at the day camp area, and then loaded onto the bus that carried them to the reserved overnight campground.
It had been a long time since Rowan had been to camp, but she found it hadn’t changed all that much. A hike around the small lake next to the campground, a game of kickball, a hot dog roast around the campfire. Camp songs and stories, although Rowan noticed none were ghost stories. Probably wise, if they expected a group of seven-to nine-year-olds to sleep tonight.
Now, in August, the days were getting shorter. While some counselors were leading the sing-along, others set up the tents. Becca and Charlotte were assigned to tent number six, along with Rowan and Jessie. By ten, the four of them left the campfire, made a trip to the bathhouse and were heading to the tents when Jessie remembered she’d left her phone at the fire ring. “Go on ahead. Charlotte and I will be right there.”
Rowan and Becca continued down the path and had just cleared the woods at the edge of the lake when the sun dropped behind the mountain. Huge orange and purple streaks painted the clouds and were reflected in the lake. Rowan stopped, spellbound.
Becca’s small hand slipped into hers. “Pretty.”
She squeezed Becca’s hand. “It sure is.” They stood there together until the colors began to fade. The distinctive cry of a loon carried across the water. Rowan had been all over the world, seen many beautiful sunsets, but there was something very special about this one. How many more Alaska sunsets would she see?
Jessie and Charlotte caught up and they found their way to their assigned tent. Becca tucked Zuma into his sleeping bag while Rowan and Jessie blew up the air mattresses. Finally, they all crawled into their bags and whispered their good-nights. After such an active day, it was no surprise when the two girls fell asleep almost immediately. Jessie and Rowan weren’t far behind.
All was dark when Rowan was awakened by a nudge. “Rowan,” Becca whispered. “What’s that sound?”
“Shh, don’t wake Charlotte and Jessie.” Rowan lay still and listened until she heard the distinctive hoot. “It’s an owl.”
“Are you sure?” Becca inched closer. “It might be a ghost.”
So much for Rowan’s theory that skipping ghost stories would make the kids sleep better. “I’m sure,” Rowan told her. “But if you want to come cuddle, you can.”
Rowan didn’t have to ask twice. Within less than a minute, Becca and Zuma were sharing the sleeping bag Rowan had borrowed from Patrick. She smoothed Becca’s hair. “Feel better?” Becca didn’t answer because she’d already fallen asleep.
After breakfast the next morning, the counselors announced an exercise where each girl and her adult partner would use a compass and map to look for a hidden prize.
“A treasure map,” Becca whispered in wonder when the counselor handed her the paper. “Just like in that book Linda gave me.”
“Do you know how to use a compass?” Charlotte asked Becca after she got her map.
“No, but Rowan does,” Becca answered. Rowan was touched at Becca’s faith in her skills. She just hoped she remembered how.
“Listen up, campers,” a counselor called through a bullhorn. “Each map leads to a different cache. Inside you’ll find a token with a number that matches the number on your map. Turn them in here to collect your prize. Make sure your token and your map match, because if you get someone else’s token, it won’t count. You have two hours. Go!”
Rowan read over the instructions. “First we need to find a double-crowned cottonwood tree.” She pointed to the map. “It looks like it’s next to a building.”
“The bathhouse?” Becca suggested.
“That’s the only building I’ve seen around here.”
“Come on.” Becca grabbed Rowan’s hand and took off running toward the bathhouse. Rowan laughed and ran with her. All round them, pairs were scattering, looking for landmarks.
They reached the bathhouse. “Which tree is it?” Becca asked.
Rowan looked around. “Spruce, spruce, birch, don’t know that one, pussy willow... This might be it.”
Becca looked up. “Is it wearing a crown?”
“No, double crown means the top broke off and two tops grew back.” Rowan backed up enough to see the top of the tree. “Yes, it has two crowns. Your turn. Read number two.”
“Go north fifty paces. What are paces?”
“Steps. So, let’s see. We’ll start here against the trunk of the cottonwood and look at our compass. It points north. That direction.” She gestured down a trail that led into the woods. “Let’s count.”
Rowan wasn’t sure how long a pace should be, but hopefully the counselors took the children’s shorter legs into account. She let Becca pace it off. “...forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty.”
Rowan checked the instructions. “Look up at the blue.”
“The sky?” White clouds floated in the spaces between the trees, but that didn’t give them any information.
Rowan eventually spotted a ditty bag hanging from a limb about ten feet in front of them, just past a junction in the trail. “Look!”
“It’s blue!” They ran toward the bag. Inside was another note. “Return the way you came for three paces and then turn west for forty paces.”
Becca looked at the compass. “West is that way. Let’s go!”
Rowan watched Becca devour the clues as they led them all around the campground. Whoever had devised this hunt couldn’t possibly have picked a better activity for Becca. Anything to do with clues, codes or hidden secrets was catnip to her. Her father must have shared her interests, since he gave her the bookshelf with the hidden compartment behind the fancy trick molding.
Rowan stopped short, suddenly remembering where she’d seen molding like that before. And if she was right—
“Rowan, come on.” Becca tugged at her arm. “We have fifteen more paces to go.”
“Just one minute.” Rowan pulled out her phone. “I need to make a quick call to Zack. And then we’ll find your treasure.”
* * *
AFTER CAMP WAS dismissed a few hours later, Rowan pulled into the circular drive outside Thomas Vogel’s big house. The lawn looked freshly mown, and no weeds grew at the base of the twin dwarf Alberta spruce trees that flanked the front entryway. The landscape service must still be coming.
Rowan got out of the car and waited for Becca to join her on the porch. Orange hips were forming on the wild roses that separated the lawn from the forest behind. F
unny that Clarissa would leave this house behind when people from all over the world flocked to Alaska for the summer.
“Why aren’t we going in?” Becca asked.
“Zack is meeting us with the key. We’re looking for some things Zack needs. Paperwork stuff.” Becca had been thrilled with the wooden treasure box containing a roll of animal stickers she’d earned this morning, but the treasure hunt they were about to undertake might be worth much more. “I told Zack about the secret compartment in your bookcase. I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s okay. Daddy wouldn’t mind that you and Zack know about it.”
“Oh, here he comes now.”
Zack stopped his truck behind the jeep and got out. “How was the campout?”
“I got my dolphin ribbon,” Becca told him, “and me and Rowan found treasure.”
“Treasure, huh?” He exchanged amused smiles with Rowan. “I want to hear all about that later.” He unlocked the door, stepped inside and punched in the alarm code.
“Rowan said you want to see my secret hiding place.” Becca followed him in.
“Yes, please.”
“Come on.” She led them up the stairs to her room and showed him the hidden button.
“I never would have recognized it,” Zack admitted. “What happens when you push it?”
She pressed the button, and the molding lifted to expose the compartment underneath. “See?”
“That is so cool. I was trying to remember how long you’ve had this bookshelf.”
“Daddy gave it to me for my birthday when I was five.”
“So almost three years ago. That fits.” He glanced at Rowan with barely contained excitement. “Dad had his first heart attack a little over three years ago.”
“Do you want to see what I hid?” Becca asked.
“Of course.”
Rowan could tell he was dying to get downstairs, but instead he admired each rock and feather as Becca explained where she found it and why she liked it. He raised his eyebrows over Zuma’s “fancy” collar, reinforcing Rowan’s suspicion that those weren’t rhinestones, but his only comment was, “Zuma sure is a lucky puma.”
It wasn’t until she’d gone over every item, returned them to the box and closed the hidden compartment that he stood. “Why don’t you pick out a couple more books to read tonight while Rowan and I go downstairs.”
“Okay.” Becca pulled a pillow to the bookshelf and began sorting through her collection.
Zack and Rowan hurried to the fishing room and examined the base molding. It matched! But the cabinets were built in and spanned the room, wall to wall, so there was no way to reach the same position where Becca’s hidden button was located.
“See anything that looks like a button?” Zack asked.
“Not immediately.”
“I suppose I could just try to pry it off,” Zack said. “Although I hate to tear up such nice cabinets.”
“Let’s keep looking. Do you have the keys? Maybe the latch is inside.”
Zack pulled out the small keys to unlock the glass doors. Together, they emptied all the rods, reels, nets and other fishing tackle to expose the shelf and brackets. Inch by inch, they ran their hands over the surfaces, looking for anything out of place.
“Let’s try the next one,” Zack suggested. “Maybe he only built it into one of the cabinets.”
Rowan started to close the door and stopped. Was that screw head on the hinge inside the cabinet a slightly different color? “Wait.” She touched the screw, and it seemed to give a little. She pressed harder, something clicked, and the molding popped up.
“It worked!” The flashlight Zack pulled from his pocket illuminated a stack of papers with a blue cover.
He lifted the first page and read aloud. “Last Will and Testament for Thomas James Vogel.” He flipped to the end. “Signed and witnessed three years ago. I can’t believe you found it!” He looked up at Rowan with an expression of wonder. “You really are a miracle worker.”
* * *
ONCE AGAIN, Zack sat at the same table in the same conference room at the lawyer’s office, but this time he hadn’t bothered with a tie. This time, thanks to Rowan, he had the cards. Which wasn’t to say Clarissa’s parental rights didn’t carry weight, but the new documents they’d discovered should tip things in their favor. He hoped.
However, he also didn’t have Rowan at his side. She’d wanted to come, but he knew at the first sign that Clarissa wasn’t cooperating, Rowan would abandon her own interests to help him, and that wasn’t fair. Instead, he’d asked if Rowan could take Becca and Charlotte for the day, now that camp was over and school not starting for another four days, and, of course, she’d agreed.
Clarissa was late. Zack shuffled his copies of the documents. The new will left Clarissa the amount specified in the prenup, the fishing collection to Zack and everything else to Becca in trust with Zack as trustee. In the hidden compartments in the other cabinets, he and Rowan had found the trust document and a copy of the prenuptial agreement that Clarissa had signed. They’d also found a note explaining that the will and trust were officially signed and witnessed, but they were duplicates of another set of original documents located in the office safe. Dad must have been afraid they might disappear, but as to why he’d never told Zack about the hiding place—he supposed he’d never know. Maybe that was what Dad had been trying to tell Zack in the hospital.
Clarissa and her lawyer whisked into the room at ten after the hour. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” her lawyer said, as he opened his briefcase and removed some documents before sitting down. “I understand you have questions for us before the custody hearing tomorrow.”
“First, we want to provide you with copies of newly discovered documents.” Teagarden picked up a stack of papers and handed them over.
“What documents?” the lawyer asked as he accepted the stack.
“A will and a trust agreement dated three years ago that revoke the previous will.”
“But that’s impossible,” Clarissa burst out. “I—” She stopped talking when her lawyer put a hand on her arm.
He frowned as he glanced over the first page, and then flipped to the dated signature page. “Where did these come from?”
“They were in a secure location in Thomas’s fishing collection room. A copy of the prenuptial agreement was also present.”
“Where?” Clarissa demanded. “We looked through the cabinets there, and all we found was fishing equipment. Remember, Zack?”
“Yes. But it turns out those cabinets had a hidden compartment.” Zack explained how they had found the papers. “I’ve got pictures if you need them.”
The lawyer ignored him as he skimmed over the terms of the will in his photocopy, frowning. “May I see the signature page of that document?”
“Of course. We’ve already checked the signature and witnesses, and they appear to be in good order.” Teagarden set the will Zack had recovered on the table between them and the lawyer flipped to the end to examine the inked signature.
“These aren’t real,” Clarissa declared. “They can’t be.” The look she gave Zack held more confusion than anger. “Why are you doing this, Zack?”
“The terms are clear,” Teagarden said smoothly. “The corpus of the estate is to be held in trust for Becca, with Zack acting as trustee,” Teagarden said. “Thomas obviously wanted to provide for Becca.”
Clarissa’s face crumpled. “But what about me?”
Zack had no answer. The prenup, invested wisely, would have yielded enough to support Clarissa in a modest lifestyle for the rest of her life, but she’d already spent a big chunk of it.
Clarissa turned on Zack. “You just want to keep all the money, and Becca, too. Well, you can’t have her. I’m her mother. We’ll see what the judge says at the hearing tomorrow.” She flounced out of the room.
Her lawyer hastily began stuffing papers into his briefcase.
“We’ll need that original will, please,” Teagarden said, before it joined the copies.
Clarissa’s lawyer handed it back. “You’ve certainly blindsided us here. We may need to reschedule the hearing.”
“Understandable,” Teagarden agreed.
“I’ll be in touch.” With a nod to Zack, he left the room.
Zack blew out a breath. “That didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.”
“Oh?” Teagarden seemed amused. “I wouldn’t worry. I suspect we’ll be hearing from them shortly.”
* * *
TWO LITTLE GIRLS romping with baby goats—did it get any cuter? Rowan had recruited Becca and Charlotte to tie ribbons on a few of the kids and play with them while she captured shots of the goats for the website, but she couldn’t resist photographing the girls as well as they played and laughed.
Rowan laughed, too, but she wasn’t able to keep her mind off of Zack and his conference today. Finding the documents that left the bulk of their father’s estate to Becca with Zack as trustee would take away any financial motivation Clarissa might have to retain custody, but it wouldn’t guarantee that Clarissa would allow Becca to stay in Alaska with Zack.
“Rowan, look!” A spotted kid with a red bow had jumped onto Becca’s narrow shoulder and somehow balanced there, teetering but not falling.
“Love that!” Rowan snapped several shots before the goat jumped down. A surge of love warmed her heart. No matter what Zack said, Rowan was going to that custody hearing tomorrow. Becca was too important to leave anything to chance. Besides, Rowan had a plan. Now she just needed to sell it to Zack.
Hearing a vehicle, she looked up to see Zack’s truck pull up near the farmhouse. She waved to let him know they were over by the tasting room. He waved back and walked toward them.
Halfway to the goats’ pen, he pulled his phone from his pocket and stopped to answer it. He nodded and shifted his weight, nodded again, and then a slow grin spread across his face. He laughed—she couldn’t hear the sound, but she could see it—and then he hung up.
Harlequin Heartwarming June 2021 Box Set Page 47
