Page 6 of Perfectly Matched: Harbor Falls Romance Collection

To say he was taken aback at Suzie’s declaration was an understatement. Brad took in her wide-eyed gaze, her stiff-armed stance, and was suddenly gut punched. He had some explaining to do, and quick.

But Suzi was not about to give up.

“So, I’ll ask again,”

she said.

“Are you planning to blow up our mountain?”

He turned toward her and lowered his voice.

“What I said was that we needed to level more land. Can we talk about this later? Right now, I need to get on with this meeting. You and I can hash this over back at your place.”

A twitter of voices flitted through the crowd.

But Suzie ignored the chatter.

“Brad, you can’t raze the lodge and blow up the mountain!”

He shook his head and his voice raised again.

“Most likely we’ll clear off a few acres of trees and yes, we will need to dynamite to make way for….”

Suzie stepped forward, shaking her head.

“So, you are going to blow up the mountain, kill several hundred trees, level a piece of local history, and ruin the view from my home and business? A small “mom and pop”

business, I might add, that according to Mr. Consultant here—”

she swept her arm toward the front of the room.

“—is doomed in a couple of years, anyway? Is that what you are thinking?”

“Suzette...”

By now the argument was largely between the two of them. She put up her hand.

“No. Stop, Brad. Stop right where you are. It’s time for you to go. Time for you to cut your losses and get out of town. You are not wanted here. We don’t need your super, mega-hotel slash five-star-restaurant slash spa. We’ve survived on what we have for many, many years and we’ll do quite nicely after you and your ideas are gone. So leave, Mr. Matthews. Please.”

Suddenly it felt like his world was spinning out of control and taking his gut with it. That please did him in more than anything, particularly when he registered the ache in her eyes as she said it. Brad watched the woman who lambasted him—the same woman who held the key to his heart, unfortunately—and knew he needed to back pedal and fast.

“Suzie….”

A male voice boomed up from across the room and Brad angled his gaze that way. The man in the cooking class yesterday. Monroe, he thought his name was. Local football jock, he’d learned.

“Suzie,”

Monroe continued.

“this man’s idea is not a bad one.”

Surprised, Brad watched Suzie swivel toward him.

“You can’t be serious, Greg. What good would this idea do for Harbor Falls?”

“Think about it,”

he urged.

“There are a lot of jobs connected to a project like this and it sounds as though he has considered what is important to our town. It’s not a discount department store or a factory. If we have to invest in something, to keep our downtown the way it is, this could be the better option.”

“For whom?”

Her nostrils flared when she glanced from face to expectant face.

“What about keeping all of our businesses the same? I’m not downtown but I’m still Harbor Falls and I still count!”

She turned, leveling her gaze firmly on Brad.

“Mr. Matthews is only considering one thing, himself. And I can’t believe all of you have fallen for it.”

Her words cut like ice.

Mr. Matthews.

“Suzie, please. Let me explain.”

But she jerked her gaze away and yanked at his heart at the same time. Her eyes looked a little misty and that notion tore at his heartstrings. Dammit. He’d screwed up royally here. He had totally thought he was doing the right thing, for her, for the town, for everyone, but—

“Go back to Asheville, Brad. That’s where you belong. Go back before we all regret it.”

Suzie stumbled away. His heart as heavy as it had ever been, he helplessly watched her head for the door, making an ungraceful getaway by shuffling over empty, metal folding chairs as well as a few Harbor Falls citizens’ feet.

She was one pissed off woman.

No. That wasn’t a pissed-off look. That was hurt. Pure and simple.

Brad released a loud, long pent up breath and glanced back to the crowd, all of whom had witnessed the entire exchange between them.

Dammit.

Yet, he couldn’t do anything about that at this moment. He perused the crowd watching him, and knew he had some more talking to do.

“I understand she is upset,”

he said to the townsfolk.

“but I would sure like to continue this conversation, if we could.”

The mayor nodded.

“Let’s get down to business.”

****

Tucked into an Adirondack chair, Suzie sniffled and swiped a tear from the corner of her eye, then hugged her knees a little tighter under her chin. I am not going to lose everything I have worked so hard for. She stared at the shadow of old Lake Lodge across the way and sighed.

Dusk was falling and a full moon sat low over the water, casting a mellow glow over the scene before her. Quiet. Peaceful. Waves rocked against the old dock pilings where she tied her small motorboat, soothing both her soul and her demeanor. Her trolling motor was great for tooling around and doing a little fishing and she loved early mornings on the lake in her little cove. A few miles down the lakeshore at the park, paddleboats were the thing. Everybody loved those, kids and oldsters alike. Fishing and speedboats generally stayed on the deeper end of the lake near the marina—there was a low speed limit for boats in this residential area—far removed from where she sat right now.

This was another reason why she loved this place of hers, this town. There was a lot to offer. Another reason why she disliked what Brad had proposed to the community tonight.

She hated crying and didn’t do it often. She felt damn proud of herself that she’d held her tears in all the way home from town and for at least a full five minutes while sitting there.

Then little by little they started falling, and she had started unraveling.

How long had she been sitting there, anyway?

It didn’t matter. What mattered was that yet again she had made a damn fool out of herself in front of the entire town, and she was confused as hell about the real reason Brad was here.

His coming back wasn’t really for her, was it? It was for the lodge. It was so he could create his own business and make inroads in the community. His coming to Harbor Falls was in no way connected to making her his—maybe even she was a way in for him, a means to his end.

What a damn fool she had been.

She thought about that for a minute, still staring at the image of the lodge in the distance. It all made sense. Eighteen months had gone by—why did he wait so long to come after her? He was getting his plan together, that’s why. The man she just described in her head was not the Brad she knew eighteen months ago. He wouldn’t have used her like then then, and he wouldn’t now.

Would he?

Sniffling, she pushed her hair away from her forehead and lifted her gaze to watch the mountain opposite the lake. If she searched really hard, she could see the silhouette some of the smaller cabins, too, tucked in the trees around the lodge. She supposed Brad bought those as well—he said so, right? They were part of the original property. All had been deserted for years. She’d heard so many stories from the locals about the past, about how Falls Lake Lodge was a sought-after summer destination place in the fifties and sixties, kind of like a southern Catskills. She chuckled, imagining the setting to be like the 80s movie Dirty Dancing.

Would it have been like that?

Could it be again?

Nonsense.

Times were different now.

You had to have money to stay back then, she was certain. Maybe that’s why it all went away. The late sixties and seventies were different times. Priorities changed. Families didn’t, couldn’t, take off a whole summer to play golf or take Merengue and Mambo lessons. It all when went away before she was born but she’d heard the stories from her parents and older family members.

When she was a teenager, she and some friends had camped on the site, braving ghost stories and mountain folklore. They even broke into the old lodge one evening—her parents would have killed her had they found out or had she gotten caught for trespassing. They spent the night on the ballroom floor in their sleeping bags, sleeping very little, while daring ghosts and goblins to roll down the winding stairway to haunt them.

That didn’t happen, of course. The only heebie-jeebies they got were the ones they brought on themselves. That and a few bottles of god-awful strawberry wine.

The lodge was magnificent, however, and made a lasting impression on her. To this day she would sit, right where she sat at this moment, to look and wonder. She could only imagine what it had been like in its heyday. Back then she saw through the dust and cobwebs. She marveled at the rich pine plank floors, huge log beams, the incredible stairway and landing, chandeliers made from curvy wood branches and deer antlers, and a stained-glass window to die for on the second floor landing. Often, she had daydreamed of what it could someday be again.

Gone.

If Brad had his way, it would all be gone. And she might as well say Sweet Hart Inn would be gone, too.

“Damn him,”

her whispered curse floated on a breeze. She swiped her nose.

“And I was just beginning to get used to the possibility of having him around.”

The drone of an engine came closer, moving steadily toward her home. The Harley. Unmistakable. Shit.

She didn’t want to see him.

The house was dark. She couldn’t remember whether she’d locked up or not. Had she given Brad a front door key? Honestly, she didn’t care. He was a big boy and could fend for himself. He could sleep on the porch glider for all she cared. And she’d gladly charge him a nightly rate for doing so.

She slinked down in the Adirondack and remained perfectly still. She wasn’t in the mood for company or conversation from anyone, least of all him. Her brain and her heart were confused and working overtime trying to figure out her next steps. She needed to be alone. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d spent the night in this chair overlooking the lake. She might as well enjoy the view while she had it.

****

No lights illuminated the windows or the porch of Sweet Hart Inn. Brad glanced around while tucking his helmet onto the bike seat. Suzie’s Mazda was parked further up the drive, near the back of the house. He moved toward the front porch, listening for any sound that indicated she was home.

Perhaps she’d gone to the meeting with a friend and they weren’t home yet. No, couldn’t be, he reasoned. Her Mazda was parked on the street in front of the town hall before he’d entered the meeting. But maybe she’d come home and then went out again. Wouldn’t she leave a porch light on or something?

He took the steps to the wrap-around porch, his boot heels echoed against the night. He reached for the screen door, opened it, and jiggled the door’s brass handle. It swung open. Would she go somewhere and leave her house unlocked? He couldn’t imagine anyone doing that. Not in this day and age. Not even in Harbor Falls.

He locked the front door behind him and took a quick walk through the foyer, the dining room, and then the kitchen, and finally toward her private quarters. The door there was left ajar and the room was dark.

The house was empty.

Where was she? He really needed to talk with her. She had misunderstood. He had to set things right.

He glanced out the back door. The large upper windowpane expertly framed a serene picture of a lake, moon and mountain.

Breathtaking.

He’d bet his inheritance that Suzie thought so, too.