Met Her Match (Summer Hill 2)

“Where is everyone?” came a familiar voice down the hall.

“Go out the door,” Terri hissed.

It took only three long steps and Nate disappeared out Terri’s bedroom door.

“In here, Dad,” Terri called as she got out of bed and pulled on her jeans. She had on a bra and T-shirt before her dad got to her bedroom. “What are you doing here so early?”

Brody was looking around the room and at the bed. “Where’s Nate?”

“I have no idea.” Terri’s voice was a model of innocence.

Brody opened the curtains to let the early morning light in and he let out a sigh of relief. “There he is. Where’s he going?”

Terri went to stand by her father and saw Nate in her boat going toward the east shore. “Probably to the old dock. You can see that it has something on it.”

“Yesterday some kids overturned a couple of boats. I told them to clean up, but they’re not afraid of me like they are you, so they didn’t get it all.”

They stood side by side as they watched Nate maneuver the little boat near the big white objects. He tugged but they didn’t move.

“Cut the lines,” Terri said aloud.

“There are probably a thousand ropes caught on those old posts. He’s going to do it the right way.”

Nate stood up in the boat, pulled his shirt off, then eased over the side into the water.

“He can’t do that!” Terri started out the door. “I need to warn him about how deep the lake is there.”

Brody caught her arm. “I think your young man can take care of himself. Look! He’s come back up and he’s putting things in the boat. That’s great. That place needs a cleaning. I’ve been meaning to do it for years.”

When her father turned away, Terri saw the pain on his face. The night of the storm that took the big dock down was the night her mother went away. After that, there had been a couple of years when Brody had been grieving so deeply that he could barely function. His partner, Jake, had done most of the work around the place but that didn’t include replacing an old dock.

“I have a truckload of food and booze that Nate had me get,” Brody said. “Where do I put it?”

Terri was glad to change the subject. After yesterday in town she’d had all the reminders of the past that she could stand. She slid the door open. “I’ll help you unload in a minute, but I’m going to watch to make sure Nate doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“Good idea,” he said, and they went to the chairs outside. Nate dived underwater, then came back up with some pieces of garbage and tossed them into the boat.

Terri waved at him to let him know they were keeping guard, then sat down beside her father.

“You know, don’t you, that you’re getting in over your head with this guy?” Brody said.

“I do. I didn’t but I do now. What’s that saying about it being better to have loved and lost?”

“Than not to have loved at all. Yeah, I heard it, but as one who lost I’m not sure the pain is worth it.” Brody’s words were gloomy, but then he grinned at his daughter. “Except for you. I wouldn’t have you if I hadn’t loved. So how’s he getting along with his fiancée? The girl he’s going to marry.”

Terri did not want to talk about that! Her dad had said his piece and no more needed to be said. “I hear Della got a release from the hospital just so she could come to the party. Are you going to ask her out?”

Della Kissel was at least fifteen years older than Brody, but she’d had a crush on him since the first day she saw him.

“I’ve had enough teasing about that from Frank, so don’t you start. Did you know that he agreed to bring chicken and beef for the party? And I think he’s planning to help cook.”

Terri looked at her father sharply. “What’s he up to?”

“I have no idea. But you know Frank—he always has a reason for whatever he does.”

“He’s not going to bring up the past again, is he?” Terri asked softly. “That thing about finding out his version of the truth? We know what happened.” Nate had nearly filled the boat with rubbish that had been trapped under the lake’s surface.

“I think I made it pretty clear to Frank the last time he started asking questions that I wanted him to stop. He swore that he would. But now he seems to want something from Nate.”