Sam paused and Jake moved closer to take her hand. “He did his best but he had his own grief to deal with. It was rough for a while, even at twelve I could see that. My uncle and aunt came back for the funerals and tried to talk my grandfather into letting them take us back with them. I wasn’t supposed to hear their conversation but I did. It was the first time I had ever heard adults really yell at each other. My uncle argued his brother would have wanted him to raise his children. I’m sure he was right. But they were living in Switzerland at the time, a temporary transfer for his job, and my grandfather was adamant that we weren’t going to be uprooted from our friends, our school, and everything we knew when we were already dealing with so much. It went on for a long time, they argued back and forth, and I know my uncle wished things could have been different. In the end, we stayed with my grandfather.”
Sam sighed and looked at Jake. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gone on like that.” She looked down at their hands, fingers intertwined, and while she couldn’t quite remember it happening, realized it felt right. That was something she would have to think about later.
“Don’t apologize, Sam. Never apologize for speaking what’s in your heart.” He squeezed her hand and shifted a little closer. “Was it your uncle you went to visit in Switzerland?”
It took her a moment to remember mentioning her trip and was touched he had listened so closely. “Yes, the summer after my parents died my brother and I spent a couple weeks with them. My grandfather thought we needed to get away. I remember fighting him bitterly. I didn’t want to go, I was terrified something would happen to him while we were away. It turned out to be a good trip, though. Spending time with my cousins helped and things seemed almost normal again for a while. My uncle joked Switzerland would never be the same after having so many Taylors there,” Sam smiled at the memory.
“Just how many cousins do you have?”
“Oh, only four,” she laughed, “but I guess when we’re all together we have a way of making it seem like more. We’ve always been close and when they came back to the States I was thrilled…and relieved. It was hard having them so far away.”
“How about your mother’s side of the family?” Jake asked, selfishly wanting to keep her talking to make his time with her last longer.
“No,” she replied wistfully, “my mother was an only child, a surprise born long after my grandparents had accepted they would never have children. They both died when I was a baby.”
“So, that’s your past,” Jake began after a moment, “what about now? You’re in a strange place with no family around. What’s your brother doing? He stayed in Chicago?”
Sam tensed, her eyes clouded, and Jake knew instantly he had said something wrong. Sam turned away and answered softly, “He died.”
Jake desperately wished that he could take his words back. “Oh, Sam, I’m so sorry. I had no business asking you so many personal questions.” It just wasn’t fair, he thought to himself, one person shouldn’t have to deal with so much loss.
“My grandfather died of a heart attack about six months after Danny died. Sometimes I think his heart just simply couldn’t take any more hurt.”
He wanted to hold her and comfort her, to do something to take away the hurt he could see on her face but he knew it wasn’t what she needed. Instead he sat, holding her hand, while dusk began to settle over the lake.
Sam was thankful for his silence. Sometimes she thought if she heard one more ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘what can I do’ she might snap. Of course people cared and were trying to help, but she wished more of them would realize sometimes all she needed was someone to sit next to her and hold her hand. Like Jake was doing right now.
Eventually Sam spoke again, softly. “I still have so many questions. Why did my grandfather build this place and never tell me? Why leave it to me? He has a son, other grandchildren. I feel guilty sometimes.”
He could sense frustration, anger even, in her voice and understood. So much had been taken from her. “He had never spoken to your uncle or your cousins about this place, either?”
“No, no one knew. He left them letters, though. They all got letters after he died, everyone but me, I got this,” she said, lifting her hands and letting them drop. “I didn’t want to read them, they all offered, but it was too hard. They told me a little. He mentioned the lake place but gave no details, just that he wanted me to have it. Same with his money. I didn’t even know he had money, he didn’t tell anyone about that, either. We lived comfortably enough but there was never much extra. According to his lawyer, he had money from insurance policies and from retirement accounts and investments stashed away. He left some to the others but, again, the bulk went to me. I just don’t understand, Jake.”
It was the first time she had used his name, he realized. He liked how it sounded but wished she didn’t seem so heartbroken. “I think sometimes we’re not meant to understand. We just have to accept.”
“I guess you’re right,” and because the urge to lean into his shoulder was so great, she jumped up from the sofa. Time to change the subject, she decided. “Enough of my life story, you must be starving,” she said with an enthusiasm she struggled to feel.
Sensing she needed a distraction, he stood up with her. “I could eat something if you’re offering.”
She smiled, putting her earlier thoughts out of her mind for the time being, and headed to the kitchen.
As they sat together eating the salad she had thrown together along with some cheese and crusty French bread, Sam turned the tables and asked Jake, “So what about your family? Are there a lot of McCabes running around Misty Lake?”
“Enough,” he answered with an exaggerated eye roll. “My parents live in town, my dad grew up here and my mom just a few miles away. I have three brothers, a sister, and more cousins than I care to claim.”
“Big families are nice. Are your brothers and sister all in town?” Sam asked, fighting off the hurt that threatened.
“Yeah, there’re all here. Makes my mom happy. She’s been wanting grandchildren since my sister left for college and lets us know about it on a regular basis,” he said, shaking his head.
“Oh, so the McCabe men are all single?” Hard to believe if they all looked like Jake, she thought.
“My brother Joe married his high school sweetheart, Karen, last year. Mom’s afraid to pester them so she asks the rest of us, every time she sees us, if we know what their plans are as far as children. She doesn’t seem to get the fact that I’m not about to ask my brother if he’s trying to make a baby,” Jake said with a baffled look.
Sam chuckled. “No, I don’t suppose that’s a subject that comes up too often between brothers.”
It was dark when they finished clearing the dishes and when Sam suddenly realized things were starting to feel far too comfortable. Trying to hide her sudden panic, she started to guide Jake to the front door when it seemed he was ready to head back to the sofa. “It’s getting late and I have kids coming tomorrow morning,” Sam began in a brisk tone.
Jake, surprised at the sudden change in Sam, raised a brow questioningly when she handed him his keys. “Sam, I wasn’t planning on moving in, I thought we were having an enjoyable evening.”
“We were. Now it’s over.” She didn’t enjoy being rude but needed to get him out. Nothing could happen between the two of them and she was determined to make that clear.
When he reached for his keys he grasped her wrist and was pleased at the heat he saw rise in her cheeks. He pulled her close and took a handful of her hair the way he had wanted to do since he first saw her that afternoon standing at her workbench. She gasped. He ran a knuckle down her cheek. “Oh, Ms. Taylor, it’s far from over.”
The desire to fall into his arms warred with the voice in her head that said run. She tried to pull back but Jake held on, his eyes darkening as he looked into hers. “Jake…” she protested, on a shaky breath.
He saw the determination, and fear, in her eyes. What was it about
this woman that had him acting like a fool? He released her and ran his hand through his hair. Pulling a card from his wallet he slapped it on the counter. “Call me if there’s anything out of the ordinary. And I mean anything, Sam.” With that, he strode out of the door.
Sam closed the door softly then collapsed against it. Putting a hand against her cheek where he had touched, she allowed herself a minute to imagine. But only a minute. Because she wanted to run after him, she headed to the kitchen. Making dinner for Stu and Molly would eat up part of her night. She knew sleep wouldn’t come easy.
5
Jake twirled his pencil between his fingers and looked across his desk at his brother, Joe. “I still don’t know the real reason for your visit,” and glancing at his watch, added “and before eight o’clock? It seems a school teacher on summer vacation wouldn’t need to be bothering me this early.” He heard the stiffness in his voice but seemed unable to stop it.
“Mom tells me you’re ‘edgy’, says she doesn’t know why, tells me to check up on you, so here I am. You know how Mom works.”
“I’m not edgy. Everything’s fine,” Jake snapped but he knew he wasn’t fooling Joe any more than he was fooling himself. He hadn’t heard from Sam in three days and it was eating at him. He’d been tempted to drive out to check on her but was afraid without a reason she would likely be nothing more than annoyed.
“Tough case you’re working on?” Joe asked, trying to read the look on his brother’s face.
“Nah, it’s nothing. Mom’s overreacting. She’s done that once or twice before, you know,” Jake scowled.
Before Joe could answer, Marc, Jake’s youngest deputy, stuck his head in the door. “Haven’t been able to find out anything about that trouble out at Ms. Taylor’s, Sheriff.” Then, noticing Joe, added “Sorry, didn’t know you had company.”
“It’s ok, Marc. Joe’s not company, Joe’s a pain in the ass. So, no word on anyone raising hell at the lake?”
“Nope, Sheriff, no one’s doing any talking.”
“Thanks, Marc, that’s about what I expected.”
When Marc left, Joe shot a questioning look at his brother. “What’s going on out at the lake?”
“Just some vandalism, thought it might be some kids seeing that they’re on vacation, but we usually hear about it within a couple days if it’s some of the local kids. They like to talk about what they’ve done.”
Joe gave a knowing nod. “I remember bragging about a few stupid things we did as kids. Seems that half the fun is telling your buddies about it after the fact.”
As Jake shook his head at the memories, Joe added, “And about this Ms. Taylor? I take it she’s the new owner of the Taylor place everyone’s been so curious about. What’s her story?”
Jake bristled at his brother’s casual attitude and regretted it when his brother noticed his reaction.
“Hmmm, maybe Mom’s radar isn’t so far off after all?”
Jake gave Joe a withering look. “Get off it, okay? She had some trouble out at her place, I went to check it out. It is my job, if you’ll recall.”
“Fine, fine, calm down,” Joe held up his hands.
Jake ran his hand across his eyes and ordered himself to do just that. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “She’s out there by herself, looks like someone was trying to spook her. She’s tough but she’s been through a lot. She needs a chance at a fresh start, not someone pulling crap like breaking windows and leaving dead animals on her doorstep.”
Joe studied his brother and was smart enough to hide his smirk. So, big brother’s taken with the new girl in town, he thought to himself. To Jake, he asked seriously, “Just the one incident? If it’s not kids, any ideas what’s going on?”
“A couple other things Sam, er, Ms. Taylor, doesn’t think are related but I’m not so sure. We’re checking into the kids from Project Strong Start. She’s working with some of them, teaching them woodworking. We’ll see…”
Joe watched Jake stare off into space for a minute then shook his head, grinning. “Any plans for Saturday afternoon? Karen wants you to come out on the boat with us, says it’s been too long since we’ve seen you.”
“Saturday?” Jake considered and decided flying around the lake on Joe’s boat might be just what he needed to clear his head. “Saturday’s good. Tell Karen I’ll see her then…and if she wants to ditch you, that’s fine by me.”
Joe gave a whoop of laughter as he walked out of the office. “That’ll be the day, big brother, that’ll be the day.”
Sam breathed in the heady scent of pine and wildflowers as she headed to the shop to start her day. She loved the early mornings at the lake, the quiet that was so different from her mornings in Chicago. Here there was no sound of traffic racing on the nearby highway. The birds greeted her with their cheerful chirping as the breeze tickled the leaves. Occasionally, she would hear the lonely call of a loon though she hadn’t spotted one of the birds yet.
The week was flying by with the camp kids filling her mornings and her own projects keeping her busy well into the evening. She liked it that way. The busier she was, the less time she had to think. Because when she had time to think, her thoughts turned to a certain sheriff and she was determined not to let that happen.
Sam threw an old tennis ball for Rigi as they made their way through the yard. She had been a little apprehensive every morning as they approached the shop, not able to get Monday’s events completely out of her mind. However, there hadn’t been any more trouble and she was trying mightily to convince herself it was a one-time thing.
This morning Sam wanted to finish the cabinet doors before the kids arrived. She was pleased with the way the doors had turned out and the fact that they looked like the originals. That was her goal when doing restoration work. A final coat of varnish this morning and she could install the doors that afternoon. Sam smiled. Completing a project, no matter the size, was incredibly rewarding.
As she walked through the main room to the smaller room in her workshop, she wondered again at the time her grandfather must have put into the planning of the place. Dividing the workshop into two separate rooms meant a designated spot for staining and varnishing and no time lost when a piece was drying. In the small Chicago shop, there was mandatory down time when something was in the finishing stages, as it wouldn’t do to be cutting or sanding one piece while another was drying. Wet varnish and sawdust simply don’t mix.
And remodeling the cabin’s small bathroom was genius, too. No more trips back and forth to the house when she was in the middle of something. Being able to rinse brushes and rags without having to drag them to the house or the hose was incredibly convenient. She sighed and once again started to wonder about her grandfather’s motive for keeping everything a secret.
Nope, she told herself, not this morning. She wasn’t going to get caught up in whys and what ifs…she’d already spent too much time thinking on it without any answers and it wasn’t getting her anywhere.
As she slowly and carefully applied the final touches, she heard the camp van. The kids’ projects were coming along well even if she did have to tell Jimmy every few minutes to slow down so he didn’t lose a finger and convince Mario he’d have plenty of use for the step stool he was working on.
As the kids filed in, she noticed Katie was more distracted than ever, sitting down at Zach’s spot instead of her own and staring out the window. Sam watched her for a moment then called, “Katie, will you come over here for a minute, please?”
Katie’s head snapped around and she looked up as if surprised to realize she was in the workshop. Her eyes flitted from one thing to the next as she made her way across the room.
“Katie, would you be willing to help me out with some staining today?” She needed some distance from the rest of the group, Sam decided, and distance from power tools that, if she remained so distracted, could be a real danger.
Katie nodded and mumbled, “Sure,” obviously not really caring what she did for the next three hours.
Sam led her into the adjacent room, gave her some boards along with a gallon of stain and a brush. “Put this jacket over your clothes, Katie, you don’t want to be covered in stain. Since you’re ahead of the other kids making step stools, I’d like to give them the chance to catch up today. And, I really need these boards stained so appreciate you helping me out.”
Katie nodded and Sam got her started on staining. Katie didn’t need to know the boards were scraps. “Is everything okay today?” Sam asked gently.
Katie was quiet for so long Sam thought she wasn’t going to answer. Finally, she said softly, “I talked to my dad last night, he said he’s better and will be able to leave the hospital soon.”
“That’s wonderful news!”
“I don’t believe him, I think he’s just saying that so I don’t worry about him.” Her voice hitched and her eyes filled.
“Oh, honey,” Sam took her hand, “he wouldn’t lie to you. I’m sure he really is better.” Sam made a mental note to call the camp director and see if she could get any information, she would hate to be giving Katie false hope.
“Do you really think so?” Katie asked, and the desperation in her voice had Sam taking her into her arms.
“I do, I really do,” she soothed and stroked the girl’s hair. She had been cautioned about getting too close to the kids, told repeatedly that her job would be educating the kids on what she knew best, and leaving the emotional counseling to those trained to handle it. Well, warnings be damned. Katie needed her and Sam wasn’t about to turn her back.
She held her and reassured her until Katie seemed to relax and until the volume in the other room demanded her attention. Sam left Katie to the staining and went to manage the chaos in the adjoining room.
Misty Lake: Book One in the Misty Lake Series Page 4
