Page 137 of It Happened on the Lake

As to the tram incident, she didn’t want to think about the gruesome scene the last time she’d seen her brother. So she spun the conversation around again. “I was just asking how you settled on Craig.”

“It was a quick decision,” Beth said, obviously glad not to dwell on Evan’s death, either. “Not much thought went into it. Everyone was going off to college after graduation, and I couldn’t afford it. My dad was of the opinion that girls didn’t need an education to get an M.R.S. degree. He actually said that, so I was on my own. I really didn’t want to leave Almsville, though the twins were driving me crazy. They weresuchpains. I wanted to move out as I’d become my mom’s go-to babysitter.” Beth was walking around the room, eyeing the artifacts and landing on a vintage French edition of the Kama Sutra. “Geez, this was your grandfather’s?” “Yeah,” Harper admitted and sat on the arm of her grandfather’s leather chair that she imagined still smelled slightly of tobacco.

“He really got off on the sex thing?” Beth rifled through the pages.

“I guess.”

“How old were you when he died?”

“Fourteen,” she said uncomfortably. “Right before I started high school.”

“I remember. It was really hot that summer.”

Harper nodded, remembering. More than she wanted to. “You were talking about your brothers,” she said, changing the subject.

“Oh. Right.” After a peek at another illustrated page, Beth closed the book. “Bobby and Billy were into all kinds of sports—football, basketball, baseball—oh, and Bobby took karate. And guess who got to drive them back and forth? Not to mention breaking up their fights—those were really brutal. Have you ever tried to pull apart two twelve-year-old boys intent on killing each other? God, it was scary. So I figured it was past time to find a place of my own, and I ran into Sharon Burroughs—you remember her—she dated Evan briefly—well, who didn’t?—and she was involved in school government, I think, and was on the track team—or was she? Doesn’t matter.”

“She was.” Harper thought about Sharon, a bright, outgoing girl with wild red curls who just happened to be Matilda’s daughter. Sometimes, when Matilda was working, taking care of Gram, she brought Sharon with her.

“Anyway, Sharon and I got an apartment in Southeast Portland right after graduation. That’s when I got a job at a title company, and from there I kind of leapfrogged into becoming a Realtor. I knew Craig, he was working in construction—framing, at the time—and we hit it off. As I said, the boy I loved was gone.”

“But didn’t you go out with Levi?”

Harper knew as much. She’d seen them together, if only briefly.

“Oh. Yeah. I thought maybe I would make Evan jealous.” She gave a sarcastic snort and ran her finger over the top of Gramps’s desk. Coming up with a dusty fingertip, she frowned and rubbed her fingers together to clean off the grime. “But of course, Evan barely noticed. And then after Evan died, it was kind of a rebound thing, I guess,” Beth said on a sigh. “But Levi was just being nice to me, I think. After Evan, I was a wreck . . . well, we all were. And so I cried on Levi’s shoulder, but it just didn’t go anywhere. Not then.” She seemed wistful as she grew thoughtful. “I wasn’t really over Evan, and I think Levi was in love with someone else. Levi never said so, but I could tell. I wanted to be with him . . . maybe anyone at the time, and we made out, you know, but . . .” She shrugged and gazed out the window where, Harper could see, a flock of geese were flying high in the sky, their wavering V heading south. “Levi’s heart wasn’t in it. He wouldn’t even . . . well, you know.”

“Wouldn’t what?”

Beth looked at Harper as if she were stupid. “Go all the way. Duh!” She rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. Not now. We were just dumb kids.”

“Right,” Harper said, though she wasn’t sure she meant it. “So are you friends now?”

Beth’s eyebrows rose, and an enigmatic smile touched her lips. “Yeah, I think so.” She seemed on the verge of saying something more about it but cleared her throat and said, “Anyway, I was talking about moving out after graduation, with Sharon.” Beth glanced at the telescope again, then added, “But the apartment thing with her didn’t last long, not even the six months for the lease. Her mother moved away, and Sharon went with her.”

“I heard they went to Canada,” Harper said.

“Right. Somewhere . . .” Her eyebrows drew together. “I think it’s that place where they have the rodeo or whatever it’s called.”

“The Calgary Stampede.”

“That’s it!” Beth nodded.

“So, out of the country.”

“Umhmm—they had family there or something. Maybe her mom’s brother. Not sure, but I heard that Sharon got married and has a bunch of kids. Four or five or something. Can you imagine? After helping out with the twins growing up, I wasn’t going to have any. Billy and Bobby were brats! Nightmares, both of them. Mom always just said, ‘Boys will be boys,’ but they were horrible.Horrible!And Ialwayshad to babysit. So I wasn’t keen on the idea of having a kid, but Craig talked me into it. And I’m glad he did. Max is great.” She smiled, her eyes bright. “To tell you the truth, I can’t imagine life without him.”

Harper knew the feeling about her own child.

“As for Sharon? More power to her, if that’s what happened. I don’t really know. We lost touch after the first couple of years. We each got married, and life went on.”

“Do you have an address?” Harper asked, rising from the overstuffed arm of her grandfather’s favorite chair.

“Mmm . . . maybe, but it would be like, what? Fifteen years old. Maybe more? But I’ll check my Rolodex, if you want.”

“I think so, yeah.”

“You got it.” She glanced around the room once more with a critical eye. “Okay, I think I’ve seen enough. Let’s get out of here. But seriously, I’m sending Craig over to give you an estimate to fix up the place.” Beth started down the stairs, holding onto the rail as she wound her way down.