“I hear you’ve been staying at the lake,” Mr. Alderson said to Nate. “They are quite different people, aren’t they?”
“I like it,” Nate managed to say. “I enjoy my time there and I do my best to help out.”
“Doing what? Baiting hooks for weekend widows?” Mr. Alderson’s voice was smug—and filled with dirty innuendo.
“I think that—” Nate began, and there was anger in his words.
“How’s Terri?” Bob’s voice was loud, drowning out whatever Nate had been about to say. “I always liked her in high school. We tried to get her on some of the sports teams but she always ran home to work. I haven’t seen her for a while. How is she?”
“Great.” Nate gave his first genuine smile since he’d arrived. “She and her dad run the place. Actually, Terri does most of the work. If there’s a problem, she fixes it. Everything from keeping raccoons out of the garbage to saving the lives of people who fall into the lake. Last night we had a party at her house and nearly everyone at the lake came. Brody was singing and Frank played a guitar, then some of the old-timers showed up with instruments and it turned into rock and roll heaven. We...”
Everyone but Bob was looking at Nate in horror.
“That sounds like a party at the lake.” Lew Hartman’s voice showed his disgust. “I’m glad the sheriff was there in case it got too rowdy.”
Mrs. Alderson was staring at Nate. “Terri Rayburn is a very pretty girl, but she broke Billy Thorndyke’s heart. We thought maybe Billy was destined to be President someday, but after Terri dropped him, he lost his spirit.”
Nate kept his head down. If he let himself go, he might tell the woman what he thought of her. I must be a diplomat! he thought. He looked across at Mrs. Alderson and did his best to take the anger out of his eyes. “You seem like someone who knows things. Can you explain Kris Lennon’s strange behavior to me?”
The question seemed to knock the woman off balance. “Lennon? I don’t know anyone by that name. Where...?”
“Crystal Wilkins,” Mrs. Hartman said.
“Oh yes, of course. I’d forgotten about her. And Abby and Rodney. Oh my, but that was a long time ago.”
Within seconds, the four adults started talking over each other as they remembered the Wilkins family.
Bob glanced at Nate and gave a discreet thumbs-up. The subject had been changed, and a new story was being told.
“Years ago, four pretty girls from the East Coast went to Lake Kissel for a month. But Abby Lennon met a Summer Hill boy, Rodney Wilkins,” Mrs. Alderson said, and smiled at Mrs. Hartman. “We went to school with him. Remember how gorgeous he was?” She paused for a moment. “Nearly six feet tall, black hair, blue eyes. Rode a Harley at sixteen. When he walked down the hall, every female stopped to look.”
“Of course, he wasn’t the right sort,” Mr. Alderson added.
“No,” Mrs. Alderson said. “Roddy was pure, primal sex appeal!”
“Mother!” Bob said in mock protest.
“Anyway,” Mrs. Hartman said, “Abby came to visit the year after graduation and she and Roddy fell for each other. They eloped and she stayed in Summer Hill.”
“And Roddy became
a deputy sheriff,” Mr. Hartman said. “He was good at his job. Fair and honest.”
“We all liked him,” Mr. Alderson added. “One night I had too much to drink but I still drove home. Roddy stopped me and—” He shrugged. “He could have put me in jail but he didn’t. My life might have been different if it weren’t for him driving me home that night.”
“Abby and he were a happy couple and they had a baby, Crystal, and...” Mrs. Alderson trailed off.
“When Crystal was three or four, Roddy was in a car accident,” Mr. Alderson said. “It wasn’t his fault. The drunk driver walked away unscathed, but Roddy was badly hurt.”
They all looked at Mr. Hartman. “Roddy’s face was torn up and the left side of his body smashed. For the rest of his life he was always in pain and...”
“And always angry,” Mr. Alderson said.
Mrs. Alderson leaned forward. “We think he was abusive to Abby and the child, but they would never say so. She became the support of the family and...” She looked at the others.
“It was bad,” Mr. Hartman said. “The church tried to help, but Roddy wouldn’t accept charity.”
Everyone grew quiet at the memory.