And best of all—not a rumrunner.
Seagulls rose and fell on the breezes drifting inland at the Port Angeles Harbor. Large rafts of timber floated on the water, men jumping from log to log with long poles clutched in their hands, guiding their bounty toward the mills along the shore.
Daniel turned and watched as Laurie balanced on one of the logs washed up on shore, carefully placing one foot in front of the other with her arms spread, like a tight-rope walker at the circus.
Laurie tipped to one side and her arms flailed for a moment before she righted herself. She turned and walked back in his direction, chewing her lower lip in concentration. When she came close, she took his offered hand for extra balance, a smile toying at the corners of her mouth. She tugged his arm. “Come join me.”
With a deep breath, he hoisted himself up onto the massive timber, careful not to unsteady her in the process. “What if it rolls? I’m not as light on my feet as those fellows out there.”
“It’s half-buried, it’s not going anywhere.” She released his hand, executed a perfect pivot turn, and walked with confidence along the straight trunk.
Daniel stood with his hands outstretched, willing his feet to stop wobbling on the rounded perch. He tried turning his toes forward to walk along the line, spinning his arms to catch himself. Choosing to keep the larger amount of surface area in contact with the log, he edged sideways down the log, arms splayed.
Laurie laughed, the gentle sound trilling through the damp air. Walking backward, she reached her hand for him.
“Show off.”
“I’ve been practicing all my life. It’s not a particularly useful talent, but I had a lot of fun doing it when I was little.”
“I’ve always preferred to keep my feet on the ground.” He slid his shoes along the log until he could grasp Laurie’s steadying hand.
“And here I thought you were a risk taker. I really don’t know you at all, do I?” She shook her head, her blue hat curving around to her chin.
He stepped closer, grasping her hand and pulling her close under the guise of support. “A risk taker? Like your brother, you mean?”
She ducked her head. “Yes.”
“No. I’m more the make-a-plan-and-stick-to-it type.”
She glanced up, her eyes warming. “Steady. Honest.”
He wobbled and she placed her other hand in the small of his back. “Steady? Maybe when I’m safe on the ground. Of course, I hope steady isn’t just another word for boring.”
She cocked her head and examined him. “No. More like . . . responsible, trustworthy.”
He locked his knees and gazed at her beauty. Her honey-brown hair curled around her chin and her blue eyes danced. He released her hand and reached to touch a freckle on her cheek, rubbing it with his thumb. He wanted nothing more than to reach down and kiss that lone freckle.
“And trustworthy is hard to come by these days,” she sighed.
He hardly dared to breathe as she leaned against him. He put his arm around her back as she rested her head on his shoulder, gazing out across the harbor.
31
The warmth of Daniel’s shoulder remained on her cheek during the walk home. Daniel had wanted to escort her, but she insisted they part ways at the drugstore. Her father would be home by now and she didn’t want him to spoil the evening. Her heart took wings as she walked, swinging her arms as if she might float off at any moment.
And Daniel hadn’t even kissed her.
Finding her father hungry and irritable didn’t squelch the spark of joy growing inside of her. She pulled together a quick dinner, tidied up, ironed clothes for tomorrow, and packed his lunch without a single moment of resentment.
“What’s with you tonight?” Dad gathered the evening paper from the table.
She smiled as she breezed past him with a load of laundry. “The world just seems a brighter place this evening.”
He burrowed down into his chair, the paper on his lap. “Yeah, well, that will wear off. Just read some of this news.”
Laurie put away the last of the dishes and kissed her father goodnight. “At least that’s all far away. Everything and everyone I care about is right here in Port Angeles.”
Her father huffed and snapped the paper closed. “I think I’ll go out for a bit.”
Laurie paused on her way to her room. “Go out? This time of night? What do you need?” She frowned.
He shoved the gray cap down low on his forehead. “None of your business. Get to bed, now.”
A few of the sparkles from her day fizzled as she watched him push open the door and disappear into the night. She left the porch light on and sauntered off to bed. Plumping up the pillows, Laurie fetched her book. Summoning Daniel’s face, she lowered the pencil to the paper. She sketched him with one foot on the ground and the other propped up against the log, gazing across the harbor toward the curve of the spit and the lighthouse in the distance. No bootleggers, no G-men, no storm. Just strong shoulders. Her pencil shaded the curve of his back.
Strong enough to do the right thing.
Daniel sat at his grandfather’s table, his arms resting on the table. “So, how bad is it?”
Granddad leaned against the kitchen counter. “They swept through the records like a tidal wave. The paperwork is in shambles. What they didn’t take with them is strewn around the basement.”
“Brown claims our numbers don’t add up.”
His grandfather shook his head. “He just grabbed as much paper as he could and shoved it into boxes, carrying it off. He wasn’t crunching any numbers.” He scratched his chin. “If you ask me, he wasn’t even looking for numbers. He was looking for names.”
Daniel’s blood chilled. “Names?”
“Who’s using prescriptions to drink and who’s not.”
Daniel leaned back against the chair. “He can’t do that. It’s supposed to be confidential between doctor, patient, and pharmacist.”
Granddad lifted his hands. “I don’t understand why he’d even care. When someone comes in with a prescription, the Volstead Act doesn’t apply.”
A headache simmered behind Daniel’s eyes. He pushed fingers against his temples. “I thought he was just trying to lay in a case against me. Why would he care who is buying the liquor? It doesn’t make any sense.”
His grandfather walked around the table and refilled Daniel’s coffee cup. “For the sake of our business, we need to call off his dogs.”
“I hate the idea of buying him off.”
“What choice do we have? If Brown continues digging, he’ll find something that will either shut us down or lock us up. Or both.”
“He’d have to fabricate something.”
“You think he wouldn’t?”
Daniel closed his eyes. “No, you’re right. I just wish I knew what he was up to. Why is he targeting me?”
“Other than his obvious interest in Laurie Burke?”
Daniel opened his eyes and stared at his grandfather. “He pressured her into giving him my name.”
“So you said. But it’s clear that he has his eye on her.” Granddad picked up his breakfast plate and walked it to the sink. “And you are the competition.”
Daniel looked down at his plate, still full. He couldn’t seem to summon an appetite this morning.
“And Daniel, one other thing.” He ran some water over the plate and turned to face his grandson. “How come he let you go so quickly?”
“That bothered me, too. He claimed he needed time to go over the paperwork.”
“Perhaps a certain young woman intervened?”
Daniel pushed his chair back from the table and stood. “Laurie said she explained her mistake to Brown.”
Granddad’s forehead creased. “I just hope that’s all it was.”
Daniel froze, his hand reaching for his plate. “What do you mean?”
“That girl has a heart of gold, Daniel. She’s protected her father for years. Now, as you explain it to me, she’s protecting her br
other.” The older man rolled up his shirtsleeves as the sink filled. “She was willing to sacrifice you to protect Johnny, right?”
Daniel scraped his plate into the wastebasket. “Something like that.”
“What is she willing to give up to protect you?”
The words sank into Daniel’s stomach like a lead weight.
32
The warm lump on the bed snored, face plastered into the feather pillow.
Laurie shook her father a second time, her jaw aching from gritting her teeth. “Dad, you have to get up. You’ve got early shift this morning.”
She headed for the kitchen. The coffee gurgled in the percolator, but she added some bacon to the frying pan along with the eggs. Maybe the smell would rouse him from his liquor-infused dreams.
She banged the pan against the stovetop and glanced at the clock. He wouldn’t make it to work at this rate.
She spotted Johnny walking up to the porch moments before the doorknob rattled. Shadows circled his eyes, but somehow he still managed a grin as he strolled into the kitchen.
“Hey, Sis. Breakfast ready?”
She turned the bacon. “Why are you here? You’re not on morning shift today, are you?”
“Nah. But, I thought you might need a hand this morning.”
She wiped her hands on her apron, her curiosity nearly as strong as the coffee she poured for him. “You came to help cook breakfast?”
He chuckled as he took the cup. “That would be interesting, wouldn’t it?” His smile faded. “No, I saw Dad last night. I figured he was . . . how shall we say . . . sleeping in this morning?”
She frowned. “Where did you see him?”
“My house.” He took a sip and grimaced.
Laurie sank into one of the kitchen chairs. “Why would he go there?”
Johnny went to the cupboard and got a plate. “You made enough food for me, right?”
He dished up some eggs and a couple of pieces of toast. “Fix up his thermos with some of that oily sludge you call coffee, and I’ll go drag him out of bed.” Johnny shoveled the eggs up onto the bread and consumed them in a few bites.
“Why was he at your house, Johnny?” Laurie’s voice barely registered over the sound of her brother’s chewing.
He stared at her across the table a long moment before answering. “Look. I help him get what he needs. I knew you’d be mad—but Laurie, he’s going to drink regardless. Better that he gets clean stuff from me than the rotgut stuff other people sell.”
The floor seemed to drop away. She shoved her chair back. “Get out.” Her voice rattled, low and hoarse, as if her throat were full of sand.
His eyes rounded.
“Get out.” She pushed against his shoulder, knocking him slightly off balance. Her chest squeezed until she could barely draw a breath. “I want you out!”
He shook off her arm like she was an irritating child begging for a piggyback ride. “Are you going to haul him to work?” His brow furrowed, giving him a pinched look around the eyes. “Get the coffee.”
He stomped off down the hall, leaving Laurie standing in the kitchen alone. Turning around, she banged the pan against the stovetop, appreciating how the loud noise echoed in her empty heart. She bashed it twice more for good measure before daring to pick up the glass-lined thermos. Without bothering to pre-warm it, she dumped in the coffee and shoved the cork into its throat. Someone needs to invent a cork for the drunken throat.
“A good daughter would add a slosh of whiskey to that,” her father’s voice slurred from the hall, where he leaned against Johnny’s arm. He turned his head and spoke into Johnny’s face. “She don’t know nothing, do she?”
Johnny gagged. “Dad, don’t do that. Your breath is awful.”
Laurie secured the metal cap over the cork and thrust the container at Johnny. “Here. He’s all yours. You two deserve each other.” She retreated to her room, listening as Johnny dragged their father out the door.
33
Daniel kept an eye on the window as he organized the morning’s prescriptions. When Laurie appeared, his heart jumped. The haunted look around her eyes and the sluggishness in her step tugged at him. He hurried to unlock the door even though ten minutes remained until opening time.
She pointed at the window where the show globe still hung, casting its bluish hue over the floor. “You haven’t changed it yet.”
He smiled, bowled over by the simple tilt of her head while she spoke. “It’s difficult to improve upon perfection—you already said it was your favorite color.”
Her yellow dress fluttered in the wind, its blue flowers matching her cloche. She reached out and touched his sleeve with a gloved hand. “You don’t have to keep it that way for me. I’d love to see some of your different creations—it’s artwork. In a bottle.” A shadow passed in front of her face after she said the word.
“For you—anything.” It took every bit of restraint to keep from pulling her into his arms right there on the sidewalk in front of the world. “How about some breakfast? Coffee?”
She glanced down at the sidewalk, pulling her toes back from a crack that ran the width of the concrete. “I’ve already eaten. But coffee sounds nice. I’m early, again, so I have some time to sit and visit.” She cast a shy glance up at his face. “If you’d like to, that is.”
He reached for the door. “I’d like nothing better. Well, maybe a whole day of visiting . . . but I’ll take what I can get.”
She laughed in time with the jingling of the door and walked inside, heading straight for the fountain counter.
Granddad, stocking supplies at the pharmacy counter, cast a wide smile at the pair. “Laurie, it’s good to see you this morning.”
She hurried to him, her face creasing. “Oh, Mr. Larson—how can you say that after what I put you through yesterday?”
Daniel’s grandfather waved his hands dismissively. “Daniel explained the whole thing. I’m just relieved to have it cleared up.”
“But you lost a whole day’s business and then to have those men going through your store—”
“It would take more than a bunch of government turkeys to shut down this store. We’ve been here practically since the town began.” He squeezed her shoulder. “If you want to make it up to us, let’s see you in here a little more often. We miss your smiling face.”
She blushed and nodded. “I think I can do that.”
Daniel guided her to a stool. “Just coffee this morning? Maybe a pastry?”
She nodded. “That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”
He filled her cup and another for himself and then leaned on the counter across from her, where he could watch her beautiful face. I had her in my arms last night—why didn’t I kiss her? Warmth rushed through him at the thought. “You got home all right?”
“Of course.” Her lips curved upward. “I’ve been walking home by myself since I was five.”
“But that was before we knew the town was full of dangerous rumrunners.”
She lifted her cup and looked at him from under her long lashes. “One fewer than I previously believed.”
He touched the fading bruise on his cheekbone. “I guess I’m losing that swashbuckling appearance. My masquerade is finished.”
“You never did tell me how you got that.”
He lifted his own cup. “You know what they say about these port towns—full of all kinds of shady characters.”
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. Maybe someday.” He pushed his cup along the counter until it sat beside hers, gathering the courage to reach for her fingers. “How is your father doing?”
She stiffened. “Why do you ask?”
“You haven’t picked up any prescriptions for him lately. Is his shoulder doing better?” Daniel chewed on the inside of his lip. He should have known better than to ask that question.
She locked her gaze on the marble counter. “I don’t think he’s in much pain.” Her jaw twitche
d.
Daniel topped off her coffee. “I wish he’d talk to his doctor about some of the other options.”
“Me, too.” She dropped a sugar cube into the cup and swirled it with her spoon. Her voice lowered. “You know—don’t you? I can see it in your eyes.”
He laid his elbows on the counter, leaning forward so he could keep his voice low. “Yes. Johnny told me about your father’s situation.” Granddad had retreated from sight. Daniel reached for her hand. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. He is the one with the problem—not you.”
She ran a fingertip along the side of his hand. “It’s not that easy. If he keeps drinking like this, he’s going to lose his job. And then what’s going to happen to us?”
“Would it help if I talked to him?”
She shook her head. “No. It would only embarrass and anger him.”
He blew air out through his teeth. “I wish there were some magic concoction I could blend up and send home with you that would just take away his longing for booze. But unfortunately . . . ”
Laurie’s brow furrowed. “Did Johnny tell you where my father is getting his liquor?”
Daniel thought carefully before responding. “Do you know?”
“Johnny’s supplying it. Can you believe that?” Laurie pulled her hand back. Her face flushed and tiny lines formed around her mouth. “Why would he do such a thing?”
“Did you ask him?” Daniel reached for a cleaning rag to wipe the counter, uncomfortable with the fact that he knew the answers to her questions.
“Of course.” Her eyes flashed. “He said he was afraid Dad would get some of the tainted stuff.”
Daniel nodded. “That makes some sense. That’s why Granddad carries it in the store.”
She squeezed her hands around her coffee cup. “By giving him the booze, Johnny’s just encouraging him to drink. We should be trying to keep it away from him. Sober him up and maybe he’ll listen to reason.”
Mistaken Page 18
