Saving Simon (Tarnished Saints Series Book 5) (8 page)

“Yes, my father was in a hurry.”

“Are you sure it was him, and not you who was in a hurry to leave?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” She actually took off her sunglasses to look at him, squinting in the hot sun. She no longer looked like a helpless woman who needed saving, but rather like a shrewd shark moving in for the kill.

The phone from inside the marina rang, stopping Simon from responding. He turned on his heel and walked at a brisk pace back to the building, with her following, half-jogging just to keep up.

“What did Mrs. Glover mean when she said you’d tell me everything? And where was she going with her suitcase?”

Simon ripped open the screen door and shoved the key in the lock, not bothering to be courteous and hold the door for her. He walked over to the phone on the counter and picked it up after the third ring.

“Thunder Lake Marina, Simon speaking, may I help you?” he said into the phone.

“Simon, I’m glad I found ya,” came Gus’s voice from the other end. “I called over at Thomas’s place and he said he dropped ya off at the marina.”

“Hi Gus, what’s up?”

“Well, I was just calling to tell ya that there is a woman here in Sweet Water that said she met ya on the cruise. I told her I’d phone ya, but she just floored the gas pedal on her fancy BMW and took off from the gas station like a bat outta hell.”

“She did, did she?” Simon found this interesting.

“She told me her name was Longstockings. Pippi Longstockings, but for some reason I got the funny feelin’ she was telling me a fib.”

“Longstockings, huh?” He looked at Piper when he said it, and she just crossed her arms over her chest and found something of interest to look at out the window all of the sudden. “Thanks, Gus. I gotta go, but I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up the phone and leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest as well. “Well, Ms. Pippi Longstockings, it seems your cover is blown.”

“So that odd man from the gas station called you, I’m guessing?” She uncrossed her arms and raised her chin this time.

“His name is Gus and he’s not the odd one in this town.”

“I guess I should have expected that people in a small town would gossip. I just didn’t think word would get around that fast.”

“We look out for each other in Sweet Water,” he said. “Now, why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”

“My father asked me to come. To . . . check up on Mrs. Glover to see how she was doing with her business. Since her husband’s death and all.”

“It isn’t in your best interest to lie. The first thing you need to know is that people in Sweet Water have no tolerance for outsiders who lie.”

“I’m not lying!” Her eyes opened wide and he could see the green turning a darker shade. Then she hung her head and played with a button on the sleeve of her long-sleeved blouse.

“Try looking me in the eye and saying that now,” he challenged her.

She let out a sigh and ran a hand over the side of her face. “Look, Simon. I am not lying – just not telling the whole truth. You see, I am here representing Westbrook Enterprises. My father sends me to survey failing businesses, and if they can’t be saved, he usually buys them up and resells them quickly.”

“Now that, I believe. Why didn’t you tell me all this on the ship? Why surprise me by showing up here instead?”

“I guess the subject just didn’t come up. Besides, I didn’t know you were going to be here.” She reached out to touch his arm, but he walked behind the counter and hung the key to the marina on a corkboard with hooks holding all the other keys.

“Is that why you ran out on me on the ship without even saying goodbye? Because you knew you were going to be stabbing a knife in my back as soon as I turned around?”

“Stop it! That’s not why. I just didn’t say anything because . . .”

“Because you knew what you’re doing is wrong?”

“It was because I  . . . like you. And you were so kind to me on the ship.”

“Not to mention, I saved your life, or have you already forgotten?”

“I haven’t forgotten. I could never forget. I’m sorry, Simon, but I’m not here to hurt you. I’m only here to do my job.”

“Look, Ms. Westbrook, whatever you do to the town of Sweet Water and the residents of Thunder Lake, you do to me as well. Let’s just get that straight right now.”

Before Piper had a chance to defend herself, the door opened and a family with several young children walked in.

“Hi there, I’m Simon, can I help you?” Simon walked around the counter and greeted the people who were obviously tourists. The kids immediately ran over to the wire racks holding candy bars and gum. The mother followed them, nonchalantly browsing at the wall filled with toe ropes and supplies for the boats, as well as life vests in all sizes and colors and a rack of silk-screened t-shirts that read Thunder Lake or Sweet Water on them.

“Yes, thank you,” said the man. “I’m looking to rent a boat for my family to go out on the water to see the sunset.”

Simon talked with them for a while, suggesting they take a pontoon boat rather than a sailboat or the speedboat, as it would be safer for the children. Then he fitted everyone with life vests, grabbed a clip board from the wall and had the man sign something. He rang up the candy for the kids and bagged it and took money from the man. He was on his way to the door, small-talking with the family, when he stopped suddenly and turned around.

“Pippi,” he called out, startling her when she realized he was talking to her. “Grab me those keys on the board with the red bobber will you?” Then he held open the screen door for the family and they filed outside and headed for the boat.

Angrily, she snatched the keys from the board and walked quickly to the door. “Here’s your keys,” she said, slapping them into his hand. “And don’t call me Pippi again. It’s not funny.”

“Why not?” he asked. “Isn’t that the name you gave Gus? You must have thought it was funny at the time or your wouldn’t have used it.”

“Simon, please!”

“Fine, I won’t call you Pippi.”

He headed out the door and she followed. She watched him professionally prepare the boat for the family and then offer his hand to help each one of them board the boat from the pier. Then, when they left, she walked over to the pier to join him.

“Why are you doing this instead of Mrs. Glover? And where was she going?”

“She put me in charge until she returns. She’s gone out of town to help her ailing sister.” Simon walked down the pier to the dock, and she followed.

“Where are you going? I’m trying to talk to you.”

“I need to check the moorings and fenders on the boats.”

She wasn’t sure what that meant, but decided he was talking about the ropes that held the boats to the dock and the pads on the sides that kept the boats from being nicked.

She watched Simon check the speedboat and the small sailboat and then stop and stare at a larger sailboat tied up at the last pier.

His face lit up and his eyes became intense when he looked at that boat. It was the same expression she’d seen on his face on the cruise ship when he looked out over the water. He’d told her sailing and water was his life, and she could see that this truly was his passion.

She felt a knot in her stomach and a sour taste in her mouth just thinking she was here to take all this away from him, whether she liked it or not.

Chapter 7

Piper hadn’t had the nerve to ask Simon for the invoices and books from the business right away. Not after everything she’d just witnessed. Simon seemed to be enjoying running the marina, and his passion showed. He loved this place, there was no denying that. So instead of getting right into her work, she just pretended to be doing something on her laptop. She also busied herself making and drinking coffee all day from the machine she found on a table in the corner, as a courtesy for the tourists at the lake.

Simon had been busy the rest of the day, taking care of one person after another, from tourists to the lake residents. It seemed like once word got out that Simon was back in town, everyone wanted to stop over to see him. Suddenly, the near empty slips on the docks were filled with boats.

She loved to see him conversing with the people of Thunder Lake. Though most of the people were just coming to visit, he was a true salesman, not missing an opportunity to sell them bait or new parts for their boats.

Some of the people who came in were part-time residents of the lake who paid to keep their boats at the marina for the summer. Others just docked and either refueled or bought a soda and hung around to chat. But every one of them knew Simon and his family.

She sat in the corner with her laptop opened the entire time, but only looked at it when Simon noticed her watching him. She didn’t know the password for the Wi-Fi, and when she’d asked Simon he told her he didn’t even know if there’d be a connection to the Internet in this area. She wasn’t sure if he was just saying that trying to slow her down, or if it was true. But even if they didn’t have the ability to connect online, it didn’t seem to bother anyone. They were all happy and laid back and in no hurry at all.

An interesting observation, since the only life she knew was one of a big city where people walked around ignoring each other, and everyone was in a hurry. She’d lived in the outskirts of Chicago for the last ten years and still didn’t even know her neighbors. People were not friendly in Chicago the way they were out here in Sweet Water.

Suddenly, Simon started turning out the lights and closing the windows, and she glanced at her watch to realize that it was already half past nine in the evening.

“Time to go,” he told her.

She closed up her laptop and collected her briefcase, meeting him across the room. They were almost out the door when she realized she’d forgotten her purse.

“Wait! I forgot my purse.” She turned around to go back for it, but his strong hand on her arm stopped her.

“I’ll get it, Pippa. It’s dark and I don’t want you to trip. Just wait for me out by your car.”

At first she was going to say something about him calling her Pippa, but she decided not to. He’d told her he wouldn’t call her Pippi, and he hadn’t. And for some odd reason, she liked his little endearment of calling her Pippa instead.

She loaded her things into the car, and he followed her and hopped into the passenger seat without asking.

“What are you doing?” she gasped.

“I was wondering if you’d drop me off at my brother’s house. I didn’t want to call him so late to come get me.”

“Late? It’s only nine-thirty.”

“Well, his kids go to bed at nine now on school nights, and they get up very early to do their chores before school. It wasn’t his idea, because he’d let them stay up til midnight, but things are different now that he’s married. Angel is mother to his kids and he likes having her take care of them, so he just goes along with it.”

“Oh, is he divorced?”

“No. A widower.”

“I’m sorry. How did his wife die?” She started up the engine and turned on the headlights.

“Which one?”

That caught her by surprise. “Well, how many wives did he have that died?”

“Two. The first one died from cancer, and the second one was killed.”

“She was murdered? That’s awful. Did they ever find the murderer?”

“Most people thought my brother Thomas did it.”

“Did he?” she asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

“Let’s just put it this way. He has a shotgun and knows how to use it. Thomas isn’t the kind of guy you want on your bad side. Well, what are you waiting for? The roads are dark out here at night, we’d better get going before the bears come out.”

“Bears? I didn’t know they had bears out here. I’m glad you’re riding with me, Simon.”

Simon did his best not to laugh, feeling a little like a jerk for scaring Piper with his stories of Thomas as well as the bears. Thomas didn’t really kill his wife, and there were no bears in the woods around Thunder Lake, but she didn’t need to know that. Now he had her right where he wanted her. She was in his neck of the woods and not in the big city with her shark of a father calling the shots.

Simon knew the more she thought she needed his protection, the closer she would stay to him. He had to keep a close eye on her and try to convince her not to do anything to close down the marina, and this might just do the trick. If he kept her distracted enough, maybe she wouldn’t find the time to do the job she’d been sent here to do.

While he was still very upset with her, he couldn’t stop thinking of the time they spent together on the ship and the softness of her lips against his. Maybe this time since her father wasn’t here, he’d have a chance to pick up where they left off.

“You’ll have to tell me where we’re going,” she said, driving very slowly in the dark. “I’d put the address into my GPS but for some reason it’s been acting up.”

“Pippa, no one uses a GPS out here in the woods. You go by landmarks and just knowing the backwoods roads.”