Met Her Match (Summer Hill 2)

Nate started to speak but the timer went off for the pizzas and he got up. “Shall we go to the dining room?”

“They have a rug in there that costs more than I made last year.”

They looked at each other and when a flash of lightning lit the room, they smiled. “I’ll get the towels,” Terri said and ran down the hall.

By silent agreement, they had decided to eat while sitting by the windows and looking out. They’d have to move some furniture and they’d have to cover the white upholstery in case food was dropped, but they could enjoy the storm.

When Terri returned with an armload of towels, Nate had moved two chairs in front of the big window. Terri covered the pristine surfaces while he sliced the first pizza.

Minutes later, they were seated in front of the window. The lights were off so there was only the hazy gray of the rain. They set their wineglasses on the sill, their plates on their laps.

“So tell me all,” Terri said. “Start when you went back to Dartmouth and majored in something besides beer. What I want to know is why you chose business. From what I’ve seen, you’re not a person who sits still.”

“Was that a compliment? I’m the guy you have to babysit. Remember? I squeal at live bait. I only eat off fine china. Never been on a boat that didn’t have a crew. I—”

“But I was right on most of it. Are you going to tell me about Kit or just whine that I

misjudged little ol’ you? And by the way, I got the rugby smack on.”

Nate grinned. “You got a lot of it right. I majored in business because I have a natural aptitude for it. Ask me to add, subtract, multiply something.”

“Okay—2,782 times 671.”

“Mmm, 1,866,722.”

“I’m impressed. I guess. If you’re right.”

“I am,” he said, his mouth full. “How many houses do you look after and do they all leave food for you?”

“I look after many of them, but only about eighteen or twenty at a time. A lot of people leave things for me. It’s an enticement. A bribe to get me to spend time in their house. Empty houses get into trouble. A couple of years ago some of the kids who work here during the summer got hold of the keys and began using the cabins for...uh, parties.”

“That ol’ sex thing again, huh?”

“That’s right. If you’re so good at math, what made you run away with Kit?”

He looked out the window for a moment. “I think it was my mother introducing me to a very pretty girl.” He looked at her. “You ever have one of those moments when you can see the world with crystal clarity?”

“Yeah. At Uncle Jake’s funeral. When I saw my father crying and saying he couldn’t run this place alone, I knew what I had to do.”

Nodding, Nate looked back out the window. “That’s exactly how I felt. I could see my future. I looked into that girl’s eyes and I saw everything. I would go into business with my uncles, and in a couple of years I’d marry the girl standing in front of me. I could see three kids—it was like I even knew their names.” He took a breath. “I panicked. I don’t know why. It wasn’t as though what I envisioned was awful. It just seemed like the end. I threw some clothes in a bag and flew to Maine to be with my Montgomery cousins. They always seem to be sure of what they want to do in life, so I hoped some of it would rub off on me.” Nate was silent as he looked at the rain.

“I take it that being there didn’t help you to decide.”

“No.” Nate gave a low chuckle. “But then, Uncle Kit arrived. All of us—kids and adults alike—were in awe of him. For all that he was part of the family, none of us knew much about him. We used to make up things, like how he was the prototype for James Bond, that sort of thing.”

“I can believe that,” Terri said. “Does he ever slump?”

“No, never. No matter how tired he is or how defeated, he carries himself in a way that makes people follow him, believe in him.” There was awe in Nate’s voice.

He picked up another slice of pizza. “I’d been there about a week when one day we were in the big living room of the old Montgomery house watching some football game and arguing over who should win. But I was standing against a wall, my mind full of the question of what I was going to do with my life. Kit came in, looked around and stopped at me. He said, ‘Come with me.’ I followed him outside and...” Nate shrugged. “He asked if I’d like to work for him. Even now, I’m astonished that I didn’t hesitate for a second. I said yes. The next day we took off in a government helicopter.”

“And you stayed with him for twelve years.”

“Yes. Technically, I worked for the CIA, but actually, I was Kit’s...”

“Assistant?”

“Yeah, right. I was his whatever he needed. Bodyguard, human calendar, the buffer between his temper and people who wanted to remove his head. We went everywhere. We stayed in five-star hotels and in tents full of scorpions.”