by Curry, Edna
Circle of Shadows
by Edna Curry
Circle of Shadows
by Edna Curry
Copyright ©2000 Edna Curry
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters. incidents and events in this story are fictitious and the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead is purely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or publisher.
No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, printing, faxing, E-mail, copying electronically or by any other means without written permission of the author, except for short excerpts for reviews.
Dedication:
This book is dedicated to all the wonderful critique partners who have helped me in the past, especially Vicky Jadwinski and Judi Phillips.
Chapter 1
“Please, ladies, let me finish,” Mr. Johnson said, taking another drink of coffee to wet his dry lips. The lawyer frowned down at the will in front of him, then looked back at the three women sitting in the old-fashioned wooden chairs on the other side of his desk.
“Robert didn’t leave the other fifty-one percent of his shares in the grocery store to you, Sarah.”
“What?” Sarah’s head snapped up and her lips made a wrinkled red O. “But I’m his wife. Who else would he have left them to?” She looked at her daughter, Lili, and her sister, Agnes, as though for support against this outrage. “He has no other family.”
Mr. Johnson avoided looking at the three red-haired women staring at him. He pulled out a wrinkled white handkerchief and wiped his wet forehead.
“He didn’t leave them to anyone,” Mr. Johnson said, pushing up his horn-rimmed glasses. “He sold them—sold them two weeks ago for cash, and set up a trust fund for you, Sarah.”
The small room with its darkly varnished wooden furniture seemed to close in on Lili. She lifted a hand to brush back her long hair, rubbing at the knot of tense muscles along the back of her neck, as she tried to absorb this turn of events.
“Oh, well then, that’s all right.” Sarah nodded, her lips curving in a pleased little smile. “So that’s what Robert meant when he told me that he had arranged everything, that I’d never have to worry because he’d taken care of me. He was so good that way, you know, he never wanted me to have anything to do with business at all. He always said he just wanted to forget business entirely when he came home, and relax.”
Lili scarcely heard her mother’s rambling words. The room seemed to whirl around her as she tried to absorb the shock of what the lawyer had said.
“Father sold the store?” she whispered unbelievingly.
Adams’ Foods had been a landmark in their little town since her grandfather had started it as a general store. Now it was the only grocery store in the tourist town of about two thousand people. She couldn’t imagine her father selling it.
Just sold it—no chance for her to fight—or search out options—just gone, out of her control. Bile rose in her throat. Bitterness towards her stern father tangled her raw feelings into knots and rode roughshod over the grief she had felt for him.
“How can you be pleased to lose the store, Mom?” Her voice sounded raw with pain and anger, even to herself. Lili felt her mother’s hand on her arm.
“I’m sure your father did what he thought was best, Lili.”
Lili couldn’t look at her mother. They were from two different worlds; her mother had never understood her feelings. They had never seen things alike.
“It’ll all turn out for the best, dear,” Aunt Agnes put in.
Lili was really very fond of her aunt. She and her mother had been grateful to have Agnes return from Arizona to support Sarah during these trying days. But at the moment, Agnes’ words rankled and Lili resented her. The two older women sat with their hands linked in mutual support, while she felt very alone.
Odd, she thought, how the three of them could look so much alike, yet think so differently. They saw her father’s action as caring, while she saw it as betrayal.
“Who owns the store now?” Lili asked, her usually smooth, low voice sounding ragged.
“Northern Lights Corporation of Minneapolis. It’s not quite like that, Lili,” Mr. Johnson said, obviously trying to placate her. “As I said, your father left you twenty-four percent, and of course, since you already had the twenty-five percent that your grandfather left you, that leaves you with forty-nine percent. That’s almost half the store.”
“Almost half isn’t good enough, Mr. Johnson. You know as well as I do that if Northern Lights Corporation owns fifty-one percent, they have control. I merely have an investment, now.”
“And a job,” Mr. Johnson reminded her. “You’re still the manager. Under your father’s sales agreement, all employees’ jobs are guaranteed for at least a year, barring something drastic or illegal in their activities, of course.”
Lili wanted to do something more than a little drastic and illegal to whoever owned Northern Lights right now. She swallowed, trying to soothe her dry throat, and took a sip of her coffee, now cold. Her hand trembled, making the remaining liquid shimmer in brown ripples in the white porcelain cup.
Damn Father’s old-world ideas! If I’d been a son, he would have left control of the store to me with no questions asked.
She knew that he would have told a son to take charge and merely provide an income for a helpless mother. Because she was a daughter, even one with a business degree, he had put her in the same helpless-female category. He had given up the store rather than change his old ideas. She pulled her attention back to the people around her.
“More coffee?” Mr. Johnson’s secretary was at her elbow with a fresh pot of the aromatic brew. At Lili’s nod, the woman refilled their cups and discreetly withdrew.
Lili gratefully swallowed the hot liquid, trying to concentrate on the rest of the details of the will as Mr. Johnson explained them. It was only days since her father’s death, and those days had been filled with a whirlwind of decisions.
“For now, just continue at the store as before,” the lawyer instructed. “I’ve informed Northern Lights Corporation of Robert’s death, so I’m sure they will soon be in touch with you. I’ll notify the bank that you’re in charge, so you can sign checks and so on.”
“Thank you.” Lili listened to the rest of Mr. Johnson’s details in an unbelieving haze. Her head ached, and more than anything, she wanted to escape.
“Here’s a copy of the sales agreement with Northern Lights, Lili.”
Numbly she took the envelope he was holding out to her. She looked at him. “Is there anything else?”
“Not at the moment. I’ll be in touch. Call me if you have any questions.”
“Then I’d better be getting back to the store,” she said, rising and holding out her hand to Mr. Johnson. “I’ve already taken too much time off.”
Sarah looked up in surprise, then frowned at Lili. “The store can operate fine without you for a few more hours. We have fifteen employees, for heaven’s sake. You’re just like your father. All work.”
Lili bit back a retort that her mother was just the opposite, with no interest in the store, only in her home, church and social affairs. She strode out, reminding herself her mother had been through enough this month and didn’t need a sassy daughter, too.
Free of the repressive atmosphere of the law office, Lili changed her mind about returning to work. The very thought of returning was repugnant. She got into her little red Chevy and left town, driving aimlessly until she found herself at the lookout on the high bluff near the lake. It had been one of her favorite spots to go to think things out since childhood.
Parking, she walked through the deserted lot to the guardrail at the overlook. She sat on the wide wooden fence, hugging her arms around her knees. The buds on the trees were just beginning to leaf out, and the sweet smell of blossoms on nearby wild plum trees filled the air. An early morning shower had dampened the ground and left everything bright and fresh smelling. How could the world look so right and beautiful, when hers had just fallen apart?
Grief for her father was mixed with anger toward his actions, which were directly to blame for this awful predicament. Tears began to fall, as she gave vent to her frustration.
She felt so alone. Her mother would never understand because she thought, as Robert had, that women should work only until they married. After marriage, they should stay home, raise babies and leave business dealings to the men.
Lili’s father had agreed she could go to college only because she’d had no marriage in sight, and because she had always been able to sweet-talk him into indulging her whims as long as he considered them harmless. For important things, he never sought her opinion; he did as he pleased, as he had with the store.
If only he’d told her what he planned to do, perhaps she could have talked him out of it. She’d always assumed Adams’ Foods would remain in her family forever. For as long as she could remember, she’d dreamed of the day when she would be the owner of their heritage. Now because of his old-fashioned attitudes, he had thrown away her dream and sold the store to Northern Lights without giving her a chance to run it.
In retrospect, she knew he’d never taken her seriously. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Why did he think she’d spent all those years in college? And worked at the store during her teen years when she could have been out having fun? Or spent the past five years training with the major grocery chain in St. Louis?
Why, Daddy? Didn’t my dreams count because I was a girl?
Finally Lili blew her nose and dug into her purse for the copy of the purchase agreement Mr. Johnson had given her. She read it carefully, looking for loopholes.
At last she found one. Both she and Northern Lights Corporation had the right to sell some or all of their shares provided the other was given first option.
She would get a loan, and buy those shares back, or at least enough of them to regain control.
Excitement bubbled through her. Lili stared at the signature on the bottom of the paper in her hand, but it was illegible. The first letter looked like a ‘K’ but she couldn’t be sure. Northern Lights Corporation, and an address in Minneapolis were typewritten, but not the name of the person who had signed it.
“Well, Mr. NL Corp., whoever you are, I’ve decided to stay and fight for my rights. You may own majority shares, but I’m still in the running. Adams’ Foods is going to remain under the control of an Adams even if I am only a woman and Father didn’t think women knew anything.”
Lili straightened her shoulders and drove back toward the darkening town. The store was closed. She must have spent more time at the lookout than she’d thought.
After this awful day, what she needed was a relaxing swim. She always kept a swimsuit and towel in a bag in her car, ready for a swim after work. She headed across town to the motel where an indoor heated pool was open to the public for a fee.
When she walked into the pool area, she saw the water was empty except for a family with several small children.
She stepped carefully across the wet cement, ducking a spray of water that one boy splashed at another.
Fluorescent lights and the boys’ echoing laughter made the large room bright and cheerful.
Just the thought of gliding through the cool water had Lili feeling better already. In the dressing room, she slipped quickly into a blue one-piece bathing suit. She covered her long hair with a matching cap, hoping to keep most of it dry since the night felt cool and she didn’t want to get chilled going home. Lili swam laps vigorously until she felt her tension slip away. By then the family had left and another lone swimmer had joined her in the pool. Lost in her angry thoughts, it was some time before she noticed him watching her.
He deliberately kept pace with her, sending her a friendly smile, bright flecks of green flashing in his hazel eyes. His wet hair appeared a dark brown, making her wonder if it would be lighter when it dried. His arms flashed smoothly as he swam, making her notice his wide, muscled shoulders. A rich tourist, she decided, eyeing his deep golden suntan and smooth un-calloused hands. Had he been vacationing somewhere in the sun?
What did she care? She had more important things on her mind than how a passing, handsome stranger kept his winter tan.
She stopped at the ladder in the shallow end of the pool for a breather, and watched him do another lap. As he returned, he met her eyes, smiled a greeting and pulled up beside her. She tried to ignore how her heart speeded up as he drew near.
“Do you swim often?” he asked.
“Yes, after work in the evening, whenever I can.”
Then you’re not a guest in the motel?”
“No, I’m just a local yokel.” She smiled at her own attempt at humor, hoping he wouldn’t consider it too silly. His nearness was surprisingly disturbing. What was the matter with her? She didn’t normally react to men this way. However, this one had an aura of magnetism and authority about him. “Are you a guest?” She mentally kicked herself for asking the stupid question.
“Yes, I’m here for a few days on business. The pool looks so inviting, I’m surprised more people aren’t using it.”
“I’m sure it was busier earlier. There are several classes of swimming lessons right after school. And it’s usually full of mothers and children around the dinner hour.” Lili pulled off her swim cap and shook out her long hair, running her fingers through it to smooth out the tangles. Luckily it was only damp around the edges and hadn’t gotten completely wet.
“Then I’m glad I came late. What an unusual hair color! Not red, not blonde—is that what they call strawberry blonde?” he exclaimed, staring, then apologized, “I’m sorry, it’s lovely.”
Lili smiled. People always stared the first time they saw her hair, and no one ever believed it was her natural color. She had given up explaining it in grade school, and now ignored or laughed off such remarks. “So I’ve been told.”
The young, dark-haired desk clerk made her way carefully across the wet cement, and called, “Oh, Mr. Mills, there’s a phone call for you.”
“Be right there.” He climbed up the ladder and grabbed his towel from one of the lounge chairs.
Lili watched, mesmerized by the sight of his long, bare muscular legs and slim hips as he stood on the wet cement above her. He rubbed himself dry quickly, his mind obviously on the phone call. He turned back to her and looped the towel around his dripping trunks. “Nice meeting you, Miss—ah?”
She tore her gaze from the hand tucking the towel in below his bare midriff, and smiled at him. “Lili,” she supplied.
“Same here, Mr. Mills.”
“Ken.”
She watched him wave and turn away to follow the desk clerk through the door into the lobby. With a sigh, Lili returned to the dressing rooms and stepped under the shower.
Quite a hunk, she thought as she drove home. Too bad he was just someone passing through. She hadn’t met an interesting man for months.
***
Back at the motel, Ken hung up the phone and hurried back to the pool, but Lili was gone.
Damn! He should have asked her if she would have a drink with him before he’d left, instead of assuming that she’d still be there when he returned. He hadn’t seen a woman like her in ages, so fresh and natural.
Then he laughed at his own choice of words. Natural? With that hair color? It looked so unusual, it had to have come out of a bottle. He remembered the way her long slim fingers had raked through its silken strands, smoothing out the tangles. He’d felt tempted to do the same. The red highlights had glittered under the pool lights. His sister, Jill, dyed her dark hair blonde, and it always
had a harsh look to it. Lili’s hairstylist must be a magician to keep it so soft and shiny.
She was too young for a man in his mid-thirties, he told himself, thinking of her clear skin, fresh and free of make-up after her swim in the pool. Her eyes had been the same bright shade of sky blue as her suit and cap.
He remembered that lovely figure, perfectly molded under her one-piece suit. He wondered what it would feel like to span that narrow waist with his fingers, just to see if it was really as small as it looked. Most girls insisted on showing off every inch of bare skin possible in the skimpiest bikini.
When he’d first seen her doing laps across the pool, he’d thought she was about seventeen, until she’d looked at him. Then he’d seen the enormous depth of pain and frustration in those eyes, and decided she was closer to twenty.
He shrugged and shook his head as he went to the dressing rooms to shower and put on his clothes. The bartender would surely have carded her if she had agreed to have a drink with him. When was the last time he’d dated someone young enough to have that happen?
He would have liked to find out the reason for so much pain in such a young, pretty girl. Perhaps he could take away some of that pain in her eyes with a pleasant evening. Who was he kidding? His reasons for wanting to spend time with her weren’t that noble. She turned him on, that’s all.”
Sighing in frustration at the direction his own wayward thoughts were taking, he went down to the bar alone.
Chapter 2
“Lili! Thank goodness you’re here!” Anna nearly shrieked her frustration when Lili walked into the break room of the grocery store late the next morning.
“Are things that bad?” Lili responded with a wry smile. Wrinkling her nose at the delicious aroma of black coffee, she hung up her coat, then poured herself a cup. This was her first day back on the job since her father’s death, and the problems were waiting. She shuddered and straightened her shoulders. Father was gone. His shoes might be big ones, but she would fill them as best she could.
