Simple Secrets (The Harmony Series 1) (23 page)

Actually, he had fine feet. Large, well-formed, with light golden hair that snaked up toward his ankles. I noticed an odd spot on the side of his right foot. “You’ve got a nice scar there. What happened? Did you step on a rake?”

He shook his head. “No. Unfortunately, once in a while we get hunters who like to set traps around the lake. Hunting isn’t allowed in this area, but it doesn’t keep everyone out. I check the shoreline as often as I can for traps.” He wiggled his foot. “I found one the hard way.”

“You and I have more in common than I thought.” I told him about living in Fairbury and the fox I’d released from a trap.

“Wow, Grace.” His forehead furrowed with concern. “You took a real chance there. Most wild animals don’t understand that you’re trying to help them. They can be very dangerous, especially when they’re in pain.”

I reached over and ran my hand down Buddy’s back. “I couldn’t leave him there, Sam. I just couldn’t. I took the risk knowing what could happen. Fortunately, it turned out okay.”

“Well, I won’t be taking you with me to check for traps, that’s for sure.”

A family of Canada geese swam past us, the little goslings struggling to keep up. Their soft gray feathers ruffled in the gentle breeze that moved across the deep blue water. A group of ducks squawked loudly from the other side of the lake. From their frantic bobbing, I could tell they’d found a school of small fish. As my eyes drifted a little to their right, I couldn’t help but gasp. “Oh my goodness. I don’t believe it!”

Sam turned his head my way. “What is it you don’t believe?”

“That—that looks like a whooping crane!”

“It
is
a whooping crane. We’ve got all kinds of wildlife out here. Several kinds of owls, eagles, hawks, raccoons, skunks, possums, foxes, deer—almost anything you can think of.”

“Wow. It’s just incredible. I could sit out here forever.”

“I understand, but unfortunately you need to call your father and we both need to talk to Sweetie.”

“Maybe you should do that by yourself. She might feel uncomfortable with me there.”

He sighed and swirled his right foot in a circle. The water rippled around it. “I don’t know. It might seem strange if I approach her alone. Why don’t we start a conversation tonight about the town and its history? We’ll slide Glick’s name in and see what happens. Hopefully, she’ll open up and tell us something helpful.” He stopped moving his toes and fixed his gaze on the duck family that had eaten its fill and was now gliding across the lake. “Maybe we should just tell her the truth. I mean, about your uncle and all. She might be a great help to us.”

I hesitated a moment before answering him. I didn’t want to offend him or make him think I didn’t trust his aunt, but ever since our first meeting, I’d had the odd feeling she was hiding something. “Look, Sam. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I—I know you’re not going to like this, but...”

“You think she’s a suspect?”

I put my hand over my eyes to shield them from the sun and turned to look at him. “I don’t know. I just think we need to keep our...”

“Investigation?”

“It sounds silly when you actually say it, but yes. We are searching for the truth, so I guess it is kind of an investigation. Anyway, I think we need to keep it quiet for now.”

“I trust Sweetie with my life,” he said in a somber voice.

“And I trust my father with
my
life,” I responded gently. “But here I am, asking questions that could end up implicating him in a possible murder.”

Sam cleared his throat and stared at his bare feet. “Okay, okay,” he said finally. “But it would be nice if we could bring someone else into this who knew Glick. We’re shooting in the dark here.”

“Who would you suggest? Emily’s already told us what she knows. She can’t help us any further even though she suspects Glick is dead...”

“You didn’t tell me that,” he said sharply. “Why does she think that?”

“Well, think about it. If Glick was finally about to get himself a wife, why would he leave town? Emily told me she’s suspected he’s been dead all these years.”

“But then why...”

“That’s all I can say about that for now, Sam. Please don’t ask me any more about Emily.” I patted his arm. “I’ll tell you everything when I can. Just trust me when I tell you that Emily has helped us as much as she can.”

“Okay.” He stared at the water for a few moments before suddenly snapping his fingers. Buddy took it as an invitation and moved next to him.

“Fickle dog,” I said teasingly while I scratched him behind the ear.

“I know exactly where we can go,” Sam said. “Levi.”

“Will he keep what we tell him secret?”

“Absolutely. Levi was here when Glick lived in Harmony, and he knew Angstadt very well. He used to be one of his elders but got so disgusted with the way things were being handled he left the church. He was also really good friends with your uncle. In fact, I think Levi was one of the people Ben trusted the most.”

“Well, if you think it’s a good idea, it’s okay with me. He doesn’t appear to have any real connection to Glick. If we’re going to bring anyone else into this situation, it should be someone who has no motive to want Glick dead.”

He nodded. “Okay. I’ll set up a meeting.” That settled, he pointed at a spot to my right. “Look. You can see your dock from here.”

“I have a dock?”

“Just like this one, only not quite as long.”

I followed his finger. Sure enough, off in the distance, I could see another dock stretching out into the lake. It was almost hidden by the natural grasses that grew out of the water. I stared at it for several seconds, feeling unsettled for some reason. “I have the strangest feeling I’ve seen this lake before,” I said. “It started when we first came through the trees, and it’s even stronger now.”

“But didn’t you say you’ve never visited Harmony?”

“Yes. I’ve never been here. I have no idea why it seems so familiar.”

He smiled. “Déjà vu. You’ve been somewhere else that reminds you of this place. Have you spent much time at any other lake?”

“Yes. Near Fairbury where we used to live. My dad took us camping and fishing there.”

“That’s probably it.”

“Does this lake have a name?”

Sam laughed. “Well, the early Indians who settled here called it Trouble Lake.”

“What an odd name. Not very fitting for this beautiful, peaceful spot.”

“Actually, it is. The Indians believed that when they came here and bathed in the water, their troubles were washed away.”

I gazed out on the tranquil scene. “Wow. That’s inspiring. Maybe if I floated for a few hours...”

Sam grinned. “I’m afraid you’d only get waterlogged.”

“That’s probably true.” I glanced at my watch. “I’ve really got to call my dad. It wasn’t fair to drop Glick’s name and then hang up on him.” I reluctantly took my feet out of the water and began pulling on my socks. “When we talk to Levi, let’s start off asking him what he knows about Glick. If we don’t get what we want from that, then we’ll drop the bombshell. But only after he promises to keep what we tell him to himself.”

Sam slid his socks on. “Okay, but I really think we can trust him with the whole story, Grace. I just hope he can point us in the right direction. I sure think it’s worth a try.” He finished pulling on his boots and stood up, holding out his hand to help me to my feet. Buddy ran halfway up the dock and turned around to look at us as if he was wondering why we were so slow.

“The idea of actually telling someone else is a little scary,” I said. “But we only have two weeks. I guess we have no choice.”

Sam nodded. “Let’s get you to a phone. And don’t forget our strategy at supper.”

I followed him and Buddy back to the house. Were we making a mistake telling Levi about Benjamin’s letter? I couldn’t see any other option. At the end of two weeks, I would have to do something. If I couldn’t discover some information that would help my father, the situation could head in a terrible direction. One that I didn’t want to face.

Sam led me to the back of the house and opened a door into a screened-in porch. It reminded me a lot of Emily’s. He laughed at the expression on my face.

“Look familiar? This is where Emily got the idea for her porch. She fell in love with this one and told Abel. He came out and looked at it and built a similar one for her.”

“Does Emily spend a lot of time here?” I couldn’t see Emily and Sweetie as close friends.

“Oh, she probably drops by a couple times a month at least.” Sam checked a large potted plant near the corner windows. Then he picked up a nearby watering can and added some moisture to the huge green fern. I almost laughed. I had a fern in my apartment that looked like some kind of sickly cousin to this one. And I’d thought mine was pretty healthy. Obviously I’d been deluded. “Sweetie and I hire some of the teenagers from the church to help during harvest—and for a few other chores around here. Abel and Emily drop by to make sure they’re working hard.” He flashed me a big grin. “Sweetie and Emily actually like each other very much. Emily loves this house, and Sweetie loves to show it off. I guess when people find something they have in common, anyone can forge a friendship.”

“I guess so.” Spending time in Harmony had begun to change the way I looked at people. I was beginning to see that I didn’t have everything and everyone all figured out after all. I watched Sam examine some of the other plants and couldn’t help but once again compare him to the men I knew in Wichita. Sam was intelligent, compassionate, courteous—and he really listened when I talked. My last date had spent the entire evening talking about himself. The only chance I’d had to speak came when he occasionally took a breath, and even then I’d felt he was just waiting for me to finish so he could launch into another boring story about his supposed success as a copywriter at another advertising agency in town.

“You’d better call your dad,” Sam said after inspecting several of the pots scattered around the room.

I nodded. “My dad and your aunt in one day. It’s a lot to face.”

“Well, at least it should be interesting,” he said as he opened the door into the main house.

I walked past, brushing against him as I stepped up into the kitchen. He smelled of aftershave and the outdoors. My mind went back to our kiss in the truck, and I felt my cheeks grow hot. I hurried ahead of him so he wouldn’t see how much he affected me.

“Why don’t you use the phone in the study?” he said. “It’s down the hall and to your left.”

Without turning around or acknowledging him, I followed his instructions. The first door on the left opened into a beautiful room lined with tall oak bookshelves. Against the back wall, long windows looked out on the orchards. Two leather, high-backed chairs sat near a wood-burning fireplace in the corner of the room. An intricately carved wood mantel above the fireplace held several framed pictures. I moved closer so I could see them. In the first, a young boy held the hand of a handsome woman who smiled at the camera. I realized with a start that the boy was Sam and the woman was Sweetie. Sam’s long blond hair almost covered one eye. Although he smiled for the camera, his eyes held a deep sadness. The picture must have been taken not long after he came to live with his aunt. I stared at Sweetie’s picture. I guessed her to be in her late thirties. Curly amber-colored hair cascaded down to her shoulders. Her large dark eyes held the guarded look I’d come to know. The next picture was a head shot of an achingly beautiful woman with sandy hair and bright blue eyes. Sam’s features were unmistakable. His mother. I stared at her for several seconds. A quick look through several of the other framed photographs showed no shots of her with a man. Where was Sam’s father?

The rest of the pictures were of people I didn’t recognize, although I suspected that a portrait of an elderly couple was of Sam’s grandparents. The very last picture caught my attention. A young woman with blond hair piled up on her head smiled at the camera. Although I almost couldn’t believe it, I realized it was an earlier photo of Sweetie. She had to have been in her late teens or early twenties. She was breathtaking. In her large, luminous eyes I detected no hint of the hardness that would change her. I saw only happiness. This picture must have been taken before her father’s accident. Had that loss changed her into the gruff, suspicious woman she had become? Or could it have been something else? Had Jacob Glick’s touch of evil driven the hope from her life?

I found the phone on top of a large mahogany desk. I slid into the leather chair behind the desk and dialed my dad’s number. He answered on the first ring.

“I’m sorry I had to hang up so fast, Dad,” I said quickly. “We were having lunch at the pastor’s house and...”

“Why in the world did you ask me about Jacob Glick? Where did you hear that name?”

My dad’s sharp tone startled me. I thought back quickly to my conversation with Sam. I needed to sound nonchalant without actually lying to my father. “I’ve been hearing lots of names, Dad. His was just one of them. It seems he wasn’t a very nice man.”

I waited quietly for my father to respond but was greeted with total silence. “Dad?” I said finally. “Are you there?”

“Is that man back in Harmony? Has he approached you, Grace Marie?”

My dad had called me by both my given names—a sign that at that moment he was as serious as he could possibly get. And he’d asked if Glick had come back to Harmony. He had no idea the man was dead. My knees felt weak. If I hadn’t already been sitting down, I think I would have collapsed. I trusted my father, but a little corner of my brain had held on to a small pocket of fear—fear that my father had been someone else once. Someone I didn’t know. I knew now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was completely innocent of Glick’s death.

“N–no, Dad. He’s not here. I guess he left not long after you did.”

“Well, thank God for that. He was a terrible man. He’s the only person I ever hit, Gracie. I’m not proud of it. I don’t believe in violence. Never have. But that man...”

“What did he do?”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I’m twenty-three years old, you know. Not a baby.”