His Harbor Girl

by Rekha Ambardar

  Leanna walked on. Bryce’s words about “compromising her virtue” whizzed in her ears. There was irony! What would he do if he knew who Kai really was?

  She’d promised to bring Kai to the island one day. They were going to hike up and down trails and look for creeks and logs chewed by beavers in their natural enthusiasm for building dams. But then she’d have to face the possibility of Bryce seeing Kai here.

  As she entered a shop, her thoughts taunted her like the appearance of a wart on one’s hand. She looked through the postcards, but the fun of browsing was interrupted periodically by the persistent drone of Bryce’s voice, troubling because she still heard it clearly in her mind and saw that half-mocking expression on his face.

  Two hours later, Leanna sat aboard the Queen with the distinct feeling she’d escaped. Marcum helped her with her backpack, which had unobtrusively gained weight after she’d wandered though the shops.

  “How was your day?”

  “Interesting.” Leanna’s voice was as high-strung as new fishing wire.

  * * * *

  By the time they made it back to Pelican Harbor she had put Bryce firmly out of her mind. At least, she thought she had.

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  The next day, being the weekend, customers wove in and out through The Tug. Leanna was kept busy explaining the background of unusual merchandise to some of the customers, and writing up sales slips. She could hear her father in the back fixing a loose floorboard.

  “This ornery thing!” he muttered, hammering in nails with short strokes.

  She smiled. Her father wasn’t happy unless he was fixing something, hammering or sawing or crawling under his truck to check the muffler. He just had to grumble about it first.

  Kai wiped the sides of the glass counter and as far as she could reach, which allowed Leanna to help Kai keep her good mood. Her daughter liked “helping Mommy” in the shop.

  “Would you like to go to Gramps? Looks like he needs help.”

  Kai nodded, her face as sober as a middle-aged owl. “And make sure he doesn’t hit his thumb.” She pronounced it

  “fumb.” She dropped the cloth duster and hurried off with a worried look.

  Leanna went through yesterday’s sales figures on the computer. They were the same as always. She had taught Chester to record them as they occurred, and he’d give the customers a short printout with a flourish. She saw her father’s pride at learning how to use a computer, thanks to her insistence that it would be good for him to learn a new skill.

  Customers peered at merchandise in different parts of the store and Leanna felt a sense of mild satisfaction. Roaring success or not, her job was something she liked. At the same time, she stayed around the people she loved—Kai, her father, and now, Alice, who slowly made herself part of the family.

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  After half an hour or so, Leanna noticed that the hammering had stopped. One more thing had been accomplished. Each day, his arthritis notwithstanding, Chester awoke early and, fortified by several cups of coffee, went about repairing things.

  He came into the store with Kai in tow, carrying Chester’s hammer.

  “I’m helping, Mommy. See?”

  “Just want to make sure that nobody trips on loose floorboards. It just wasn’t setting as it should.” Chester moved over to where Leanna sat near the computer, his hand pressed to his back.

  “Is it your back again?”

  “Yup. But work goes on. Oh, I forgot to tell you—fellow called Nolan Packard came in askin’ for you when you were gone yesterday.”

  “Nolan Packard? What did he want?”

  Leanna’s mind drew a quick picture, if a comical one, of the man in a leisure suit and loads of jewelry and an incredible energy for putting up buildings.

  “Seems he’s thinkin’ of doing up a lot of the buildings on the waterfront and asked if we’d ever thought of sprucing up The Tug. I told him the spruced up version is what he’s lookin’ at and we like it fine the way it is.”

  Leanna couldn’t help smiling at her father’s colorful depiction of his conversation with Packard.

  But Chester wasn’t finished yet. “And I also told him that he should check with you. You’re a college-educated gal. You should give him an opinion or two.”

  “Dad, it’s enough if you’ve told him what you had to. I don’t need to see him.”

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  “Don’t just dismiss it. See what the man has to say.

  Besides, seems like there was something else on his mind that he wasn’t talkin’ about.”

  “Like what, Dad?” Leanna teased. “Like he wants to buy The Tug for a fortune because he suspects there’s buried treasure here?”

  Chester shook his head. “Have it your way. Don’t say I didn’t give my opinion. You put in good money to set up the store.”

  “Yes, I know. Okay, I’ll see Packard and find out what he has to say.”

  A few days later, when Leanna was just about to close the store, Nolan Packard came in.

  “Good afternoon.” He looked hot and rumpled in his dark business suit. It had been stifling all day with hardly a rustle breeze lifting off the lake.

  He must be the classic example of the aggressive businessman who doesn’t dare be caught in a relaxed mode, she thought.

  “Lady, you’re a hard one to catch.” He looked around.

  “You have a nice place here, as I mentioned to your father.”

  “Thank you.” Leanna stared at the jewel-loaded fingers and the chain around his neck. She had never seen a man wearing so much jewelry. “My father said you wanted to talk to me.”

  She got up. She knew what he wanted to talk to her about and what her answer would be.

  As she watched Packard, an involuntary comparison to Bryce flashed through her mind. Give the man a break. It’s not his fault that he doesn’t have the pizzazz that Bryce has, or his personality.

  “I’ve invested in property around Pelican Harbor, and I’m giving it a face lift. To keep pace with the rest of the 46

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  waterfront, I’d like to remodel the outside of your store, for a nominal fee.”

  Leanna was silent for a few moments. “That’s an attractive offer. But I like to pay my own way for any remodeling done here. And, at the moment, I’m not interested in remodeling outside.”

  “Don’t you want to hear what the nominal fee is?” He looked puzzled.

  “No, I’m afraid not. Thanks for the offer.”

  “Then, I’ll make another offer. I’ve put up an apartment building for which I need a manager. I’d like to offer you the job.”

  “Why me?”

  “From what I’ve heard, you’ve made a go of this unique store.”

  Leanna hoped that the store would be viable, but she also needed extra income. She considered his offer; this was one that she could use.

  “What do you say?” Nolan asked, and flashed her an encouraging smile.

  “I might just take you up on that. I’d like to think it over and let you know in a few days.”

  Packard smiled. “Fair enough. And I hope we can get to know each other a little better.” Leanna did not reply. For her, this was a business proposition, nothing more. She’d have to let him know that before too long. And another thing, maybe this way she could avoid seeing Bryce. Being busy, she’d have to stop taking tourists to the island.

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  Chapter 4

  Leanna closed the file folder marked “Apartment Leases”

  and locked it away in a steel cabinet next to her desk.

  A strong breeze blew in through the window behind her and she basked in its coolness; it had been humid and hot the last several days. She watched the holiday-makers in their colorful summer wear skipping along the beach in the distance, and wished she could do the same.

  Ever since she started work at the Lakeview Apar
tments office, her mind revolved around her work like many-colored glass in a kaleidoscope. Her new job was enough to keep Bryce out of her mind. But every time she looked toward the lake, a question would always pop into her mind like a dart on target. What was Bryce up to?

  “How’re things going?” Nolan came in with a Cheshire cat grin slowly illuminating his face.

  “I had a young couple stop by to look at the apartments, even though there wasn’t one vacant. Luckily, Mabel was willing to open up hers. They liked it and asked me to keep them posted if one should come vacant.”

  As he listened, Nolan seemed to be more interested in staring at her well-fitting pant suit, which made her squirm inside.

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  “Nolan, are you listening? I thought you would be delighted.”

  “Of course. Who wouldn’t be? To watch you.”

  “Maybe I should make it clear that this is a ‘strictly business’ arrangement. For what you’re paying me I’ll do the job well.”

  “Of course you will. I have no doubt about that. But can’t we be friends, too?”

  “You mean more than friends.” Leanna gave him a cool, level look.

  Nolan threw himself in an armchair in the corner of the room.

  “You’re not seeing anybody, are you?”

  “Actually, there is somebody else.” There was and wasn’t—Bryce.

  “Now what do you mean by that?”

  “Only that there is somebody.”

  “Around here? I’m surprised.” She saw his eyebrows lift in disbelief.

  “Nolan, what does it take for you to get the message?”

  “I just don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

  “Have things gone your way all your life?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “You’re impossible!”

  “Too bad you think so.”

  “I’m here to do the work. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to put lease agreements into the computer. Do you want a report or not?” She quelled a surge of annoyance.

  He got up and waved both hands. “Go on. Do what you have to do.”

  Leanna’s face broke into a grim smile after Nolan left.

  She’d given up part of each day managing The Tug for this.

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  And it wasn’t only for the money. She wanted to be part of the development trend that was sweeping Pelican Harbor.

  She and Chester were respected members of this community and this was the only town she’d known and loved, except for her stint in college.

  Chester had been the classic sailor, always in demand. He had that hail-fellow-well-met quality about him that people liked. Leanna had resented his being away so much, but no one else knew that, except perhaps Alice, with her eagle’s eye for people’s feelings. She was as sharp as radar for picking up a sensitive spot in others.

  Nolan’s constant badgering aside, managing the apartments gave Leanna an opportunity to have a pulse on the ebb and flow of people coming and going, and what it meant for her business. Not the least of it was being as close to Kai as possible. Thankfully, she didn’t have to go elsewhere to look for work.

  Now that Leanna had gotten her life into some semblance of order, she could give Kai more attention. In a few months she’d start kindergarten, a new and wonderful experience for her.

  Bryce’s presence was like a keg of dynamite in both Leanna’s life, and Kai’s. She’d come to a cool decision about keeping Bryce out of her life and herself away from him, but how was that all going to work out?

  The ear-piercing twang of the phone jostled her hand off the computer keyboard and she reached for the receiver.

  “Hello? Dick? What a surprise.”

  “The Queen is making a morning run to the island. I have a woman who’s going over to the island.”

  Leanna wondered what Dick’s point was and waited patiently for the rest of the story.

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  “She’s a reporter who’s here to interview Bryce Robertson.”

  Leanna’s heart gave a maddening lurch. Bryce was well known in scientific circles and surfaced every now and then on the six o’clock news on the topic of selective breeding in mammals and various other erudite subjects.

  “Okay. So?”

  “She’s got to get to the old Park Service patrol cabin, which is now being used by Robertson and his research group.

  Thought you could give her directions.”

  “I could stop over at your office and talk to her.”

  “You know the ins and outs of the island. That’s why I thought of you. Or else, I wouldn’t have bothered you.”

  “Glad to be of help.”

  Why did you offer to go to the Park Service office?

  Because I’m helpful. Try again. Because I wanted to see what the woman looks like.

  The conversation with herself gave her footsteps a kind of drumbeat like percussion accompaniment as Leanna got into her car and drove off to the Park Service office. Shame on you, she thought.

  As she drove, she snatched peeps into the rearview mirror and straightened her bangs with her fingers, then messed them up in disgust. Nothing smacked more of insecurity than frequent peeks into the mirror.

  When she reached her destination, she saw a blond woman in an expensive-looking pantsuit, carrying a black briefcase as she waited with Dick in the parking lot. Leanna introduced herself.

  “Sara Hutchinson. How d’you do?” The woman held a small voice recorder in her hand. “What a nice little place.

  Out of this world.”

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  Leanna smiled. “Yes, we like it. Are you from a newspaper?”

  “The Environmentalist, a trade journal. Actually, I’ve interviewed Mr. Robertson before, but not like this.” She nodded her head in the direction of the island. “I need to know how to get there.”

  “The Park Service patrol cabin is not far from a collection of small shops. Once you get off at Chippewa Bay there are signs posted all around.” Leanna could see that Sara had her mind on other things. She seemed more interested in checking the condition of her lipstick. “Follow the signs,” Leanna repeated. “Find the shops and you should see the patrol cabin from there.”

  She turned toward Dick. “I didn’t know the patrol cabin was being used.” How could she? She’d been too busy trying to escape the very attractive clutches of Bryce Robertson.

  “You’ve met Mr. Robertson?” Sara turned to her in apparent disbelief.

  “Yes.” Leanna sounded non-committal.

  “He is remarkable for his work and talent and extremely bright.” Sara sounded awed.

  For a hard-boiled female writer for technical journals, Sara Hutchinson seemed enormously moonstruck.

  “Does he know you’re going over?” Leanna asked.

  “I called him a week ago. He may have forgotten by now.” Sara gave a nervous giggle.

  “Maybe you could give him a call, Dick.”

  Dick agreed and invited Sara to talk to Bryce.

  Leanna had done her bit in cheering Sara on with her assignment. “You’re in good hands now,” she told Sara.

  I must look like a rat caught in a swamp. And here was Sara Hutchinson dressed in a business suit, although totally inappropriate for the safari-like conditions on the island.

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  The prospect of interviewing Bryce had obviously claimed Sara’s interest. She had no more time to waste on Leanna, who couldn’t help grinning to herself at Sara’s bushy tailed eagerness. It seemed at odds with the raw ambition that leapt out of her otherwise ordinary face.

  Glad it’s not me. Leanna knew all about ambition and giddy-headed infatuation. Been there, done that.

  Besides, Sara would keep Bryce busy and out of her way.

  Wasn’t that convenient for her? Yes, she told herself with dismal assurance , it was.


  “Good luck,” Leanna said and meant it as she walked out the door.

  Back at The Tug, Alice and Kai were minding the store.

  Kai was brushing her doll’s hair with single-minded concentration. Earlier that day, Leanna had promised to take her to Cecily’s house and was rewarded with a wide smile and a hug.

  Alice’s forehead furrowed with concern. “What took you so long? We were worried.”

  Kai dropped the cloth duster and ran over to get a hug.

  “Hello, sweetie.” Leanna enveloped Kai in her arms.

  “Miss me?”

  Kai nodded vigorously.

  “I stopped at the Park Service office. A reporter who wanted to go over to the island needed directions.” Leanna let go of Kai and moved away to put her purse in a cabinet under the counter.

  “A reporter?” Leanna understood Alice’s query. There hadn’t been any of those going over to the island in a longtime.

  “She’s going there to interview Bryce.” Leanna tried to ignore the grinding feeling in her stomach. Jealousy?

  “Oh?” the word was loaded with meaning.

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  “Now, Alice, what’s on your mind? Spit it out,” Leanna said with a laugh. If she knew worrywart Alice, she’d be reading dire consequences into that piece of information right about now.

  “A woman with an attractive man like Bryce. All alone on that island. My dear, I don’t have to spell it out.”

  “Alice, when are you going to understand that I no longer carry the torch for Bryce?” To avoid looking up, Leanna sifted through receipts they had taken in sales that morning. She hoped Alice would swallow what she’d just said.

  “Is that why you have that mopey look on your face each time somebody mentions his name?”

  Leanna did not reply as she felt the crisp pieces of paper crumple under her fingers.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to rub it in, but I don’t want you getting hurt just when your life is picking up again.” The smile faded from Alice’s face.

  Leanna looked up, her voice light and clear. “You and me both.”

  Alice moved toward the back where gift boxes had been piled to be put away. She picked up a few then turned around.