Nate didn’t smile. “Her parents hate me.”
Terri gave a snort of disbelief.
“I’m serious. They can’t stand me. Her dad thinks I’m going to knock over the furniture.”
“Bull in a china shop?”
“Exactly.”
Terri stretched out a few feet from him. Her feet were bare and the grass felt good on her toes. Nate sounded truly upset by this. “I doubt if they actually dislike you. It’s just that you’re not Bob and your parents aren’t the Aldersons. Why don’t you get your mom and dad to come to Summer Hill and court the Hartmans? Or maybe your money uncles could befriend them. Then they might forgive you about Bob and—”
Nate sat up. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He sounded shocked. “Who is Bob? I’ve never heard of the Aldersons.”
“Oh dear.” Terri stood up and reached for her heels. “I think we better go back. Della will be telling everyone that you and I are here doing the naughty. We need to cut the gossip off before it begins.”
“Sit!” Nate ordered.
She obeyed. “Wow. Do you know that you sounded just like Kit? Did I ever tell you that he once stopped three boatloads of people with just his voice?”
“I know all about Kit Montgomery. What I don’t know about is Bob and company.”
/> “I don’t think it’s my place to tell,” Terri said primly. “Stacy is the woman you’re going to marry and she—” She couldn’t endure Nate’s intense glare. She swallowed. “Robert—Bob—Alderson was Stacy’s boyfriend all through high school.”
“High school,” Nate said.
“And college. Look, I really think—”
“So when did they break up?”
“I don’t know!” Terri’s voice was rising. “As you’ve seen, Summer Hill and the lake are separate. I went to school in town but we keep socialization in our own territory.”
“When was the last time you saw Stacy and this Bob together?”
Terri gave a sigh of defeat. “Last spring, Stacy came here to talk to Dad about Widiwick, and Bob was with her. Not long after that Della told us that Stacy was in DC and was having an affair with someone Kit knew. Soon after that she told us about the engagement. I’m sure Stacy broke up with Bob before she met you.”
Nate was frowning. “And his parents?”
“They’re best friends with Stacy’s parents.” She stood up. “I think we should go back.”
Nate didn’t move. “So it’s not me they hate, it’s just that I’m not someone else.”
“I guess so. This is something you should talk to Stacy about.”
“What’s Bob look like?”
“Your height but thin. He played basketball in high school.”
“What’s he do now?”
“I don’t know.” Terri was getting tired of this. “I’m a lake person, not one of the Summer Hill elite. I eat food wrapped in paper, not off two-hundred-dollar plates.” She turned away. “I’m going back to the boat.”
Nate caught up with her. “I didn’t mean to make you angry or to pry into town secrets. I’m just trying to figure out why her parents dislike me so much.”
She could see the puzzlement—and some hurt—on his face and she relented. “They’ll be fine once they get to know you. It’s just that the Hartmans and Aldersons have been friends for years. Lew’s first wife died, but when he remarried, his new wife fit right in. And when she had Stacy, everyone said she’d grow up to marry the Aldersons’ son.”
“You said you didn’t know much about what went on in Summer Hill.”
Terri could feel her temper rising. Enough already! “I couldn’t very well miss the head cheerleader and the star basketball player all over each other all through high school, now could I? Oh! Sorry. I didn’t mean that.”