Better Not Love Me (9 page)

Chapter 16

Part of Amelia wanted the drive home to take much longer, as Marcus hadn't talked and opened up about his life this much in years and she didn't want it to end. She actually drove the speed limit, right at 55, hoping to extend the visit before they got to the cabin.

During the hike around the lake and the drive home, Marcus let the floodgates open. He wasn't getting along well with his father he said, which wasn't something that he talked about to Amelia at all. She knew that at times kids with divorced parents tried to play one parent against the other, but she didn't think that was what Marcus was doing. He wasn't asking her to do anything, he was simply venting.

Amelia also knew that since Marcus was the older child, all the parenting mistakes she and Josh made happened to him first. The learning curve benefited Susanna, not Marcus.

"Why do you think you and your dad are rocky right now?" Amelia asked.

"I don't know, we just don't really talk about stuff," Marcus said. "He just tells me what to do."

"Part of a parent's job is to tell you what to do," Amelia said. "I'll have to side with your father on that one. We've got to look out for you and sometimes that means being direct."

"I know, but I don't know . . . he just asks a lot."

"You mean he expects a lot of you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, so do I. You're a good kid. And if you weren't a good kid I would have traded you in for a new model years ago."

Marcus just rolled his eyes. At least they were still talking. That was good sign. She hoped it continued.

They returned to the cabin in the late afternoon. Amy stood at the kitchen counter, a smug look on her face.

"And where have you been young lady?" she asked. She was chopping fruit and mixing it with Cool Whip for a salad.

Amelia realized that she had forgotten to tell her sister that she would be gone for most of the day. She explained where they had gone and why. She didn't share every detail of what Marcus had told her, but she gave Amy the overview.

"Well, don't sweat not telling us. I covered for you. Just like old times," Amy said.

"Oh, yeah? How so?"

"I told Priscilla and Susanna that you took Marcus to the spa for mani-pedis. I'm not sure if they bought it or not."

"Smooth."

"Hey, you left me no choice in the matter and I had to think quick on my feet."

"Not quick enough, apparently," Amelia said with a wink. "Thank you though, and again, sorry for not giving you a heads up."

"Not a problem," Amy said. "Oh, and one other thing. Since you weren't here to say no, we've been invited to Nate and Chloe's cabin for dinner on the new deck. I accepted on your behalf."

"You didn't!"

"I did," Amy said with a crooked smile. "I knew you'd say no and since you weren't here, this was the perfect way to say yes."

Amelia couldn't believe the gall of her sister.

"Well, I'm not going," she said.

"That's fine. You can sit over here by yourself while the rest of us enjoy the beef brisket that Nate has been smoking on the deck all day long. I'm sure you smelled that as you came in. It won't look weird at all if you don't come. Not at all. Don't worry."

"When are we supposed to be there?"

"Ten minutes ago, I was stalling hoping you'd show up. And look, here you are!" Amy said. "Such a coincidence."

"You're a terrible sister, you know that, right?" Amelia said, shaking her head and walking toward the bedroom to clean herself up and change.

"Oh, you love me," Amy called after her. "I can feel the love behind that glare!"

Amelia tossed her clothes about the bedroom. She had packed just about every outfit she owned, but had planned for days in the sun, not dinner parties. She wasn't prepared and wondered if she really could just skip it. But no, that wouldn't look too good for anyone involved.

Her heart was beating quickly. She was nervous.  Then she stopped frantically looking around the room and tried to calm herself. The search resumed when she dug into the back of the closet and she found the dress she was hoping to avoid.

It's just a dinner with a former co-worker. Nothing else. The kids will be there too, it'll be nice. She repeated this over in her head, trying to convince herself she actually believed it. Why was she so nervous?

* * *

When Amelia stepped onto the deck Amy and Nate were talking quietly by the barbecue, on the far side of the space, while the kids were at the table looking at their phones. Yet they all stopped what they were doing at her arrival.

Amelia had taken a few extra minutes to curl her hair and apply a little make-up. Just a little something around the eyes, but it didn't take much to make her look stunning. She'd always felt plain, but turned heads nonetheless.

She decided to wear a yellow summer dress she had purchased a few months back, but had yet to show anyone. It had a V in the front. Sexy, but still modest. The hemline stopped above her knees, so her tan legs were on full display. She was instantly embarrassed by the attention she received. She blushed and nearly turned back into the cabin.

"Hot mamma!" Amy exclaimed.

"Yeah, Mom, you look amazing!" Susanna said, sounding surprised at her own words.

"Come. Come," Amy waved her over. "Your empty wine glass is over here."

Amelia joined the adults at the grill.

"Oh, shoot, this bottle's empty too," Amy said. "Nate do you have a spare?"

"I've got plenty," he said with a glint in his eye, as if the words had already been spoken. "You know where to find it."

"Yes I do," Amy said, winking at Amelia.

Amy was then off to find another bottle of wine in Nate's kitchen, leaving Amelia and Nate alone. The kids paid them no mind at all.

"You look very nice tonight," Nate said in a low voice, possibly so the kids didn't hear. "That's a great dress."

Amelia was taken aback at his comment on the dress. She was surprised he even noticed. Most guys would complement the woman and her looks alone, but not mention her clothes even though most women agonize over the outfit. The clothes could be changed, whereas the face and body were much harder. Nate had obviously been around enough women to know the difference.

"Thank you," Amelia said gracefully. "I guess I got a little excited about the prospect of adult conversation."

"You don't have adult conversation with your sister?"

"That’s an interesting idea. She might be older, but she's a bit wacky too. She gets a little tipsy with the wine."

"She does like her wine. I'll keep an eye out."

"You should," Amelia replied with a chuckle.

They both shared a harmless laugh at Amy's expense as she returned with a bottle of red.

"What's so funny?" Amy asked.

"Your sister was telling me you're quite the wine aficionado," Nate said.

"Yes, I'm sure those were her exact words," Amy replied. "But I have been known to tip back a celebratory glass or two on occasion."

"Well, tonight is a perfect night for that," Nate said. "We're celebrating the successful completion of this fine deck. Thanks to Marcus' hard work, it turned out just great."

From the table, Marcus called out, "The credit goes to you Mr. Rosen. I just followed directions." Then added, "You were a good boss, contrary to popular belief."

"Marcus!" Amelia said.

"It's OK," Nate said.

Marcus held up his can of soda and Nate raised his glass of wine in reply and
the boys
shared an informal toast of their efforts.

Nate then turned to Amelia.

"I guess someone didn't get the memo about how much of a jerk boss I am," he said.

"The night is young," Amelia replied, clinking her glass to his.

And just like moments earlier, they shared a genuine laugh that Amelia had to admit, felt pretty darn good.

Chapter 17

"Mr. Rosen?" Susanna asked during dinner. They were all huddled around the outdoor table enjoying barbecued beef brisket with a dry salty rub, roasted corn on the cob, flaky biscuits and fruit salad. A nice summer dinner.

"You can call me, Nate," he said.

Susanna giggled.

"OK, Nate," she said, sounding very mature. "I think I saw a boat sunk in the cove yesterday, by the dock. Aunt Amy said you might know why it was there."

Nate smiled as the memory caught hold.

"I almost forgot about that," he said. "Yes. I do know about it. What did it look like?"

"Well, it was kind of hard to see, because it was pretty deep and the water is really muddy. It was like a row boat, but green. But that might be because of all the seaweed and muck."

"No, it was green—dark evergreen. But I'm sure it was covered in silt from the lakebed too. It's been down there since the 1980s."

"Whoa, that's forever ago," Susanna exclaimed.

"Hey! Watch it, Squirt," Amelia teased. "We old people take offense to those 'forever ago' comments."

"Well, it does seem like a long time ago, Susanna," Nate said. "The boat was owned by Mr. Ellsberg. Now, that’s a man you always called mister. Huge man. He owned the other cabin in the cove with his wife. In fact, he probably still owns it, but he'd be in his late 70s or 80s by now. I haven't seen him or his wife for years. But someone has been taking care of the cabin, even though it's empty."

"It's a landscape company," Amy said. "They blocked me in with their trucks last week."

"I guess that makes sense," he said.

"OK, but why is there a sunken boat in the cove?" Susanna asked again.

"Right. I wasn't there, but my father was, so this is all second hand—but they told me the story. Mr. Ellsberg would fish nearly every weekend morning. He was religious about it. He would row his boat out of the cove and into the inlet just west of here. My dad told me that he'd do it for his daily exercise or just to get away from his wife for a few hours each day. Both could be true. His wife was a little abrasive, even to me when I was a kid. Anyway, he never took the boat out of the water. Even in the winter when the water level of the lake would drop a few feet. An aluminum boat like that should last a long time, but I suspect that when the lake level dropped it rubbed on the shore and eventually weakened the hull. When he arrived at the dock one morning—or so my father told me—Mr. Ellsberg stepped onto the boat, directly on the bottom of the bow. His foot went straight through the corroded metal. He managed to pull his foot out, but by that time he had lost his balance and was on his back. The boat was taking on water too. He swam back to the dock, but by then the boat was fully submerged. My dad was watching from this deck, but by the time my dad got to the water, it was a lost cause."

"But it's only in maybe 10 feet of water," Susanna said. "Why didn't they just pull it up?"

"If I had to guess? His wife wouldn't let him."

Amelia and Amy laughed at that.

"Maybe his wife sabotaged it," Marcus offered.

"I wouldn't put it past her, that's for sure," Nate said. "In the end the damaged boat was probably a goner anyway. Repairing an old boat like that would probably cost more than it was worth."

"Do you fish, Nate?" Amy asked.

"Just with playing cards—Go Fish," he said. "Never really got into it."

"But you've got a boat. I just figured you'd have some fishing stories to tell us," she said.

"Honestly, I haven't spent as much time here as I would have liked. It's nowhere near home and traveling here from Texas takes at least a full day," he said. "And when I was staying here in the summers growing up, I was working on projects to keep the place running. It takes a lot to keep the cabin in one piece."

The dinner continued and the conversations flowed freely for more than an hour. Nate shared what he knew about the lake and the cabins. They avoided any discussions about Mr. Z's or Nate and Amelia's past working relationship.

"Nate, you said your grandparents originally built the cabin?" Amelia asked, as they cleared the table and walked into the kitchen.

"My grandparents were from Wallace, Idaho. My grandfather worked in a mine up that way. They saved up his wages and bought the land here and built the cabin in stages in the 1950s, which is why it's so chopped up. They had to finish off one section and ready it for winter before moving to the next."

"I thought you were from Texas," Amelia said.

"Not originally. I was born right here in Coeur d'Alene."

"Why didn't you ever tell me that?" she said.

"Are you in the habit of telling everyone you meet where you were born?"

"I guess not."

"And you never asked," he said, as he rinsed off dishes in the sink. "I only went to Texas for college. I wanted to get as far away from here as I could and Texas looked like fun."

"I know what it feels like to want to escape a small town," Amelia said. "I felt the same way growing up north of here in Bonners Ferry."

"You never told me you were from Bonners Ferry," Nate said.

"Yes I did, and it is written on all of the Mr. Z's story plaques on the walls of each store."

"I know, I was teasing," he said.

She blushed.

"I'm not used to you being funny. Or trying to be funny," she said.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Ms. Cook."

"Oh, please don't call me that. It gives me flashbacks to the first day we met when you showed up in that fancy suit and gave me a hard time."

"Yeah, I wasn't at my best back then. Sorry about that."

"Or in the following years either."

"That bad?" he asked.

"I'm afraid so."

Amy joined them in the kitchen.

"I'm going to take the kids down to the dock to watch the sunset," she said. "You adults OK cleaning up this mess?"

"I think we've got it covered," Nate said before Amelia could protest.

As Amy and kids left, Amelia realized her heart was racing again and her skin was flush. She was still nervous.

"I don't know about you," Nate said. "But how about we leave this mess for later, grab a new bottle of wine and watch that sunset from the deck? The view's better up here anyway."

"I'm game for that," Amelia replied.