Page 28 of Dangerous December (Northern Pines Suspense #8)
“Oh, he’s doing more than that. He has a lawyer going over the will in great detail.
I have a feeling he’ll demand documentation of exactly how you two are meeting your mother’s wishes—but he’ll wait until the very end of the six-month period to do so, hoping to catch you when it’s too late for you to make corrections. ”
“I like him less the more I hear,” Beth murmured. “I told you about him stopping by one day. He said Sloane House would fail, and he offered me cash to just give up.”
“But you said no.”
“Of course. I want to help those people, not walk away. Keeping the place open as long as we can is the biggest help of all. Stan has no claims unless Dev and I fail with the boarding house...correct?”
“Absolutely. His lawyer has talked to me about what he terms the vague, subjective nature of the parameters defining the success of the boarders in the ‘real world.’” She shrugged.
“I think the man has comprehension problems if he doesn’t understand the terms ‘gainfully employed’ and ‘independent living,’ but maybe that’s just me. ”
Beth bit her lower lip. “About that...Carl is trying, but he hasn’t come up with any employers interested in a guy with chronic health problems. I’ll be looking into his disability benefits this week.”
“Good. But also try to get him to ‘think outside the box,’ as it were. I think he’ll surprise you.”
“Frank is still in the hospital.... but he should be out soon. We still have until March.”
“You do have that extra six-month extension, but I’d try not to use it if at all possible. Stan is going to pull every string he can, and I’d rather not give him any chance at taking you two down.”
“‘Taking us down.’” Beth shivered as she and Dev walked to the end of Hawthorne, then headed toward Main. “What an awful term.”
“Don’t think for a minute that Stan would hesitate. I think he was more interested in his newly inherited estate than my aunt’s death when she passed away. I was just a kid, and even I saw that avaricious gleam in his eyes.”
“How sad, if he didn’t even love her. A wasted marriage to the wrong man.” Her words were barely out before she caught the irony of what she’d said, but Dev didn’t seem to notice.
“It happens way too often.”
“I always thought your parents seemed happy together.” At Dev’s dry laugh, she looked up at him. “Well, I suppose they were a little too busy to be parents, but they seemed to get along well. Not that I mean to pry.”
“It’s no secret. They were happy enough with each other. Their problem was having a son who didn’t conform to expectations, as you well know.”
“They should have been happy that you found a career path you wanted.”
The dimple in his left cheek deepened. “I always thought a dozen siblings would have been nice, so I could get lost in the crowd. Maybe I would have ended up following in Dad’s footsteps if he hadn’t harped on it so much.”
Their hands brushed as they walked and she veered away, but he caught her hand and held on for a few strides, then released his hold when they reached Main.
The stores weren’t yet open and the streets were nearly empty, save for the cars nosed to the curb in front of the Dancing Lily tearoom, which offered scones and French pastries during the morning hours.
“Do you have time for coffee?”
She looked up at the old-fashioned clock jutting out over the door to Ray’s Barbershop.
The hands, shaped like scissors, were always at least twenty minutes fast, so it had to be close to ten.
Still, she wavered before shaking her head.
“I need to get back. The Happy Frogs day-care group is coming for a tour, so I need to get ready.”
“I bet that’ll be wild.”
“It is, but I love it. Kids that age are so precious.”
She hadn’t meant to sound wistful. She usually took care to keep her inner longing well hidden from family and friends, because they’d invariably urge her to date more—as if that would instantly lead to white picket fences, apple pies on the sill, and two or three perfect kids.
Only her mother and Dev knew the score in that regard. No happily-ever-afters, no stair-step kids with her long auburn curls, all lined up in their Sunday best for church each week.
They continued down the block, past the quilting shops, the high-end galleries, and the boutiques with price tags carefully hidden from the stares of passersby.
“So how come you haven’t remarried yet?”
She’d hoped he’d missed the wistful tone in her voice, and she’d just breathed an inner sigh of relief. Now, his question gave her a sucker punch in the middle.
“I...date. Occasionally. I’ve met wonderful guys and enjoyed their company, but I like my life as it is.
I’m content, aren’t you? We both ended up with what we wanted, or we’d be leading totally different lives right now.
” She was babbling and couldn’t seem to stop.
“I mean...being single means you can do what you want, when you want, and not answer to anyone.”
At his continuing silence as they took a right and the Walker Building came into view, she ventured a quick glance at him.
At least he wasn’t laughing...or worse, radiating sympathy for the pathetic ex-wife who apparently had no life.
He stopped in front of the building, where a new forest-green sign was leaning against the front. “What do you think of the sign?”
Old-fashioned gilt letters swirled out the name Sloane Sports —nearly identical to the style of the sign over at the boarding house. “It’s beautiful. Great name, too...easy to remember.”
He stared down at her, his eyes intent and searching her own. “I really enjoyed walking with you. Maybe another time?”
“Just holler if you see me. I try to get out every day, rain or shine.”
He strolled away and she continued on to her store, reining in the temptation to look back.
Just a walk. A casual conversation.
Nothing more than she’d enjoy with anyone else in town...yet she could still feel the tingle in the hand he’d held, and still felt that little sense of loss when he’d released it.
There was no use denying it to herself. The old chemistry was still there, at least for her. It fanned brighter every time she ran into him, no matter how brief and innocuous the meeting. But she wouldn’t let it go further.
How hard was it going to be, with him establishing his business just down the street?
Her heart caught painfully at the thought. What would it be like when he brought a girlfriend back to town someday, or even a wife?
She closed her eyes. Said a little prayer.
Then she hurried on to her meeting with the Happy Frogs, and hoped she’d someday be able to forget her feelings for Devlin Sloane.