“They do, but I cut them up really, really small, so you should be able to eat them and not bother your teeth.”
Helen motioned Robin down. She bent over and her grandmother kissed her cheek. “You’re such a good girl.”
Robin turned her face and kissed Helen’s wrinkled cheek. “I learned it from the best girl.”
“Get some coffee,” Helen said. “Your mother just brought up more of the little pod things.”
Grandma Helen loved her coffee, but Grace and Robin didn’t love her making it on her old percolator. They’d bought her a single-serve coffee maker, and Helen had grown to love it.
“How many cups have you had today?”
“Enough to keep my heart going,” Helen said with a tiny bite in her voice. “Don’t you worry about me.”
“Have you been painting anything?”
“Just a few watercolors.” Helen’s complaints about aging weren’t wasted on her wrinkles or her glorious sweep of grey hair. They were reserved completely for arthritis and fading eyesight. She’d had to stop painting with oils in her seventies. The fumes gave her an awful headache. She’d switched to acrylics for a time but had eventually settled on watercolors, painting more and more landscapes through her eighties. Though she no longer finished many pieces, she still enjoyed it, and she liked taking her easel outside. She just sat instead of standing.
“And what have you been drawing?” Helen asked. “Anything new?”
Robin smiled. “This and that.”
“Oh?” Helen looked surprised. “That’s good.” Helen had never approved of Robin moving back to Glimmer Lake. She’d told Robin to stay in the Bay Area and keep working on her art. But when Austin had been born, all Robin had wanted was the familiar. She wanted her friends and her family. Wanted cold clear air and wide-open skies.
There was no excuse for stopping her art. She’d just gotten busy.
“Have you been sleeping well?” Robin brought her coffee to the table.
“Yes. It’s finally getting cold.”
“I know you like that.”
Helen was a mountain girl through and through. Her family had lived in Grimmer before the dam was built. Her father had been a rancher who worked in timber during the off-season. She loved the cold weather and the snow.
“Is your little heater working?”
“Perfectly.” When Helen hit ninety and Carla retired, she’d moved into Carla’s old room, which was on the first floor, just off the kitchen. It made for a comfortable living area, but it also meant that most of the house was unused.
“Mom says we need to hire you some full-time help.”
“Oh, I don’t know if I want anyone puttering about the place,” Helen said. “Where would they stay?”
Robin laughed. “Grandma, there’s like seven empty bedrooms upstairs. This place could be a hotel.”
Helen’s eyes sparkled. “That’s a good idea. Do you and Mark want to move in?”
“You want to come live at our house?”
“And leave my view?” Helen gestured to the lake in front of the large bay windows that surrounded the kitchen table.
“I didn’t think so.” Robin smiled. It was an old argument. “But you know Mom is right. You need someone to keep you company.”
“Someone who likes to garden might be useful,” Helen said. “I can’t do as much of the gardening as I used to. And the lawn service only maintains. They don’t know how to prune the hedges properly. And there’s a drip in the bathroom upstairs. I heard it last night.”
“I’ll ask around. Maybe someone Austin’s age would be good.” If they could be responsible. And would actually help out. And not throw parties at the giant, fancy house.
Okay, maybe not someone Austin’s age.
Helen didn’t need nursing. Yet. Once she did, she’d need a woman’s help. But for now she just needed someone to keep an eye on things and make sure she was okay.
“Hey, Grandma.” Robin reached for a brownie. “How old were you when the dam was built?”
Helen glanced away from the window. “What has you thinking about that?”
“Um… Val and Monica and I are doing kind of a history project. I thought I might put something up at the store to draw more customers in. Maybe put something on the website too.”
“Oh, that was so long ago.” Helen waved her hand. “No one wants to hear about that.”
Robin set her coffee cup down. “I do.”
Helen tasted a brownie. “I was twenty when they finished. It took years to build, of course, but it started during the Depression and went through the war. They were government jobs, so they had lots of men working on it over the years.” Her eyes took on a dreamy quality. “For the longest time, we thought it wouldn’t happen. Then all of a sudden it did.”
“Were people in favor of it?”
“Of course not!” Helen looked affronted. “All my daddy’s grazing land was flooded. All the farms and ranches down in the valley. The only people who liked it were people like your grandfather who got permits to log all the lumber from the valley and then had access to more land farther up in the hills. They knew when the new road went in, it would only be a benefit. So the timber people liked the dam. The rest of the town didn’t.”
“Where did people from Grimmer go?”
Helen’s eyes took on a hollow quality, like she was looking at something in a dark room. “People went everywhere. Most down to Bridger City, I suppose. Some up to Sacramento. Lots and lots of boys were going into the army, of course. My brothers all moved away, and three of them were drafted. A few people stayed and built up the new town, but most people left.”
“And you and Grandfather stayed.”
Helen’s face was carefully blank. “I married your grandfather right around the time the town was breaking up. Of course I stayed.”
And were pretty miserable until he died. Robin didn’t say it. She didn’t have to. Her grandmother had been a stunning woman, and Gordon Russell had treated her like a trophy. Robin didn’t try to understand their relationship. It was probably not uncommon for that day and age. Helen was a poor, pretty girl from a decent family that lost most everything during the Depression. Gordon was a rich man’s son who gave her a good life. Robin couldn’t judge.
“Did people have a lot of warning?”
Helen frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, when they finished the dam and started flooding the valley. They gave people lots of warning, right?”
Helen’s smile was sad. “How fast do you think a lake fills up? It takes months. Years even. Don’t you worry. Everyone had time to move.”
Unless they were chained up in an old mine shaft.
Robin took a chance and flipped open her sketchbook. “Do you recognize this man? Was he someone you knew?”
Helen reached for her reading glasses, put them on, and froze when her eyes reached the page where Robin had drawn their mystery man.
Froze. As in Robin actually checked if she was breathing.
“Grandma? Do you know him?”
“Where did you see this man?” Helen was barely audible.
“I think… it was in an old picture.” Robin watched her grandmother. Helen definitely knew who it was. Whether she’d say more was another question.
“He was a boy from Grimmer.” Helen closed the sketchbook and took her glasses off. “I think. Don’t remember his name. Nobody important.”
“You didn’t know him?”
“Oh, everyone knew everyone.” Helen waved her hand again. “Grimmer was that kind of place.”
“But you don’t know this man’s name?”
“No.” She took a deep breath. “I’m old, you know. I’ve known too many people over the years. Can’t remember everyone.”
“But this man—”
“Can you be a lovely girl and get me another spot of coffee?” Helen held out her cup. “Then tell me everything that girl of yours has planned for next year. Has she settled on a co
llege yet? Last time your mother came by, she said Emma had early admission to three different ones already.”
And that, Robin knew, was all she’d get out of her grandmother that day.
* * *
“Okay, so Grandma Helen definitely knows who it is.” Robin set her knapsack on the library table where Monica and Val were huddled over some old books and what looked like card boxes. “She didn’t tell me a name though.”
“She doesn’t have to.” Monica slid a picture over to Robin. “His name is Billy. We’re not sure of a last name.”
“Wow, already?”
Val walked around the table. “There was a government photographer up here when the dam was built. Something about documenting it for Congress? We think it’s him.”
Robin grabbed the magnifying glass Monica held out. She held it over the photograph, which was in a plastic sleeve.
A large group of men were standing in front of the half-finished dam. They were wearing jeans and button-down shirts, but all their hats had been removed. All the men wore a grim expression.
“Huh,” Robin said. “They weren’t a happy crew.”
“It might have just been the time period.” Val spread a bunch of yellowing photos over the table, all of them in clear plastic sleeves. “It seems like ‘serious and grim’ was the going expression for most people in pictures.”
“Or they weren’t too thrilled about building a dam that was going to flood their hometown,” Robin said. “Helen was pretty clear on that. Other than timber men like my grandfather, no one wanted the dam.”
“Why did they build it?” Monica asked. “Was it for the electricity?”
“Mostly,” Val said. “And water for farming.”
Robin found the face she was looking for. It was hidden in the back row. He’d been a tall man, younger in the picture than when Robin had seen him.
“He’s younger.” She looked at Val. “You think?”
Val nodded. “He looks a few years younger in the pic than when I saw him, yes.”
Robin looked at the date of the picture. 1942, three years before the dam had officially finished. “And his name?”
“Look at the bottom.”
“Oh right.” There were dozens of names on the bottom of the picture, but counting across the page led her to one name to go with the familiar face.
“Billy G.” Robin looked up. “Do we have any idea what the G stands for?”
Monica shook her head. “Not so far. But we have a name at least.”
“I’m just frustrated that Grandma Helen wouldn’t tell me who he is. It’s obvious she knows him.”
He was handsome. His dark hair was unruly and his jaw was square.
And familiar.
Why did he look so familiar? There was something about him that kept tickling Robin’s memory. Did she know Billy G’s relatives? Did they still live in town, or had they all moved away like Grandma Helen had said?
“I know you guys need to get going,” Robin said. “But I think I’m going back to the lake. I want to see if Billy shows up again.”
Chapter 12
“You’re purposely going to look for a ghost?” Val asked. “Are you insane?”
“Maybe he can talk to me,” Robin said. “He saved our life. I don’t think he’s a mean ghost.”
“Because we all know so much about how ghosts work.” Monica cocked her head. “Seriously, Robin?”
“Why not? What’s the worst that could happen?”
“He could decide he’s sorry he saved you and throw you back in the lake?” Val said. “He could… get stuck to you. And then you’d have an old ghost with you all the time instead of just sometimes.”
“How do you know he’ll still be hanging around the lake?” Monica asked. “Maybe his ghost stays with his bones.”
“It’s worth a try.” Robin handed the picture back. “Oh, also, I have to figure out excuses for everywhere I go now.”
Val frowned. “Why?”
“Because Mark can see me on the Find Your Family app or something. He asked about Bridger City last night. I had to make an excuse about Val needing the hospital.” She looked at Val. “Sorry. But I figured you were the one who looked sick if Mark or Sully happen to mention it to each other.”
“Wait,” Val said. “He’s following you on this app?”
“It’s not really following,” Monica said. “We have it activated on our family plan too. For security. You don’t have that app for your boys’ phones, Val?”
Val threw up her hands. “I never know what’s going on with my phone. Jackson usually does all that. Do you think he’s been hiding stuff?”
“He’s a fourteen-year-old boy,” Robin said. “Of course he’s hiding stuff.”
“Probably stupid, mostly innocent things,” Monica said. “Don’t panic. But I’m not exactly surprised that he hasn’t told you about it.” She held out her hand. “Unlock your phone and I’ll show you how to turn it on.”
“And while you’re doing that,” Robin said. “I’m going to the lake.”
“Wait!” Monica said. “Give me a minute with Val and I’ll come with you. She’s got stuff to do, but I don’t want you going alone.”
While Monica showed Val the necessities of twenty-first-century parenting, Robin pulled out her phone and called Mark.
“Hey.” He sounded surprised. “You aren’t at the shop today. I came by with lunch, but you were gone.”
He came by with lunch? That was… weird. “Sorry I wasn’t there. I went to visit Grandma Helen this morning. Didn’t know how long I’d be.”
“Is that why there’s a mess in the kitchen?”
“I’ll clean it up later.”
“Nah, I got it.” She could hear him doing dishes. “Did she like the brownies?”
“Yeah. She did.”
“Did you save any for me and Emma?”
“They’re in the breadbox.”
“Yes!” She smiled when she heard the victory in his voice. “I’m eating all of them before the kid gets home.”
“Speaking of that, I wanted to go up to the lake with Monica.” She thought quickly. “She lost a bracelet, and she’s thinking the EMTs might have taken it off when they got her out.”
Monica looked at her and Robin mouthed, I’m sorry.
“A bracelet?” Mark sounded skeptical. “Kind of a needle in a haystack, don’t you think? How are you going to find a bracelet on that beach?”
“It’s not that big. And she at least wants to try. I offered to help. Can you pick up Emma from the library?”
“Yeah, sure. What am I cooking tonight?”
Mark would cook, but Robin had to plan everything out and make sure all the ingredients were on hand. She’d tried to get him involved in meal planning years ago, but he’d complained that he liked to be spontaneous when he cooked. That led to various interpretations of pasta and jarred sauce three times a week, so Robin had taken it over and held his hand.
At least he cooked. Most of the married men she knew did nothing to help around the house.
“There’s ground beef in the fridge,” Robin said. “I thought you could make meat loaf.”
“You got it.”
“Okay, bye. I’ll see you later.”
“See you.”
She ended the call and walked back to Monica and Val. “Okay. Who wants to go ghost hunting?”
* * *
Robin sat on a large granite rock on the edge of Glimmer Lake and stuffed her hands under her arms. “It’s cold.”
“Yeah, pretty cold.” Monica’s teeth had chattered a couple of times.
“Do you think we should move back into the woods?” Robin asked. “M-maybe he won’t come out in the open.”
“I know nothing about ghosts. Maybe he can’t come out when it’s daytime.”
“I saw him during the day by the sheriff’s station.”
“Okay” —Monica turned to Robin— “speaking of the sheriff, were you getting vibes from him and V
al?”
“Vibes? Like… what do you mean?”
Monica raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
“What? I didn’t notice anything. Like they’re mad at each other? Why would they be mad at each other?”
“Not mad!” Monica huffed out a breath. “Like vibes, Robin. Like his boy parts would like to hang out with her girl parts, and maybe they already have?”
Robin’s eyes went wide. “What?”
“You don’t get that at all from them?”
“No! I mean, I haven’t looked.”
Monica rolled her eyes. “That’s ’cause your own girl parts are probably desperately in need of attention.”
Robin’s mouth dropped open, and Monica reached over and tapped her chin. “Do that the next time Mark is naked. You’ll both have fun.”
“Monica!”
“What? I can tell it’s been way too long. You’re super uptight lately. What is going on with you guys?”
“Why are we talking about this?”
Monica threw her head up and groaned. “Because we’re sitting on the edge of the lake waiting for a ghost to magically appear, and I’m cold and I’m bored, and also you’ve been kind of bitchy lately and I think you’re not getting laid enough.”
“When am I supposed to get laid? He’s in bed at nine thirty and awake at five in the morning. We’re never awake in bed at the same time.” She could feel her cheeks burning.
“Aha.” Monica’s expression was triumphant. “So you are orgasm deprived. I knew it.”
“I’ve been orgasm deprived for like five years.”
Monica’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Five years?”
“I mean… we’ve had sex. It’s just been kind of… blah.”
“Oh.” Monica put her hand on her chest. “Blah is not okay.”
“I don’t know.” Robin could still feel her cheeks burning. “Isn’t that just kind of how it is? We’ve been married for twenty-three years. Everyone has dry spells.”
“Not five-year dry spells. That’s just wrong.” She patted Robin’s hand. “You need to make time for sex.”
“Says who?”
“Says your body. It’s not healthy to go that long without an orgasm. And I promise Mark’s not happy either. He’s probably just trying to ignore it.”
Suddenly Psychic: Glimmer Lake Book One Page 10
