“That’s okay. They’re my family now, too, remember?”
He laughed again. “That’s right. I keep forgetting.”
“Shame on you.” Her smile was bright enough to blind him.
“I apologize. Do you want to hear the story or not?”
“I said I did.”
He took a break from paddling and crossed the oars over his lap, turning his full attention to his pretty companion. “My grandfather grew up in the city. His father deserted the family when Grandfather was a small child, and as a result, they were very poor. He quit school early to help support his mother and siblings, worked hard, endlessly really, and eventually opened his own business. Then he worked harder, built it up and opened more businesses, and so on. He was a true American success story.”
“Whenever I hear a story like that, I marvel at the kind of person it must take to overcome those kinds of hardships,” Jada said.
“I can tell you what kind. I spent my summers with him out here when I was a child. Grandfather was a hard old bastard, tough and ruthless, that’s what.”
“Oh, that’s disappointing.”
“Think about it, though. He had to be hard to get where he got.”
“I suppose. It’s just kind of sad.”
Ian smiled gently. “Don’t be too sad. I’m not done with my story yet.”
“Okay. Go on.”
“So, when my grandfather was experiencing his first financial successes, he celebrated by purchasing a small lot outside of town next to a lovely little lake that had yet to be discovered by moneyed city people.”
“This place?”
“Right. It was a small lot, and over the next few years, on whatever time he could spare away from business, he built a log cabin from trees on the property that he felled himself. As time passed and he became even more financially successful, he bought up adjoining lots. Eventually, he owned a huge swath of land that nearly encircled the lake.”
“And what was left, you later bought,” Jada said.
“That’s right. Unlike a lot of successful businessmen, Grandfather Buckley set a monetary goal he wanted to reach with his businesses, and when he finally hit it, he promptly sold out and retired. He was around sixty years old then. He moved out here permanently, and began transforming the property into what you see today.”
“Did he enjoy working out here?”
“He loved it. He told me that he’d always thought the measure of a man’s success depended on his ability to carve out his own niche in the world while having the power to tell anyone who tried to keep him from it to go straight to hell.”
“Good one,” Jada said.
“So back to you being sorry he was a tough man. Well, look around the place. He made this happen, the docks, the paths, the bubbling brooks, the conservation efforts, and yes, the huge house over there. Whenever I take a moment to appreciate the place, I’m reminded that there can be fanciful romanticism in even the hardest, most ruthless of men.”
Jada’s eyes glistened and she slowly looked around the shoreline and toward the house. “You’re right. He was a romantic at heart, wasn’t he?”
“One of the biggest, in part of it, anyway.”
She smiled at him. “I’m not sad anymore.”
“Good, because he lived a long, happy life and on his own terms for most of it. And he died surrounded by family who loved him even though he could be a mean old bastard. The rest of us should be so lucky.”
Ian picked up the oars and began leisurely rowing again.
“That was a great story,” Jada said.
“Thank you.”
“Is it actually true?”
Chapter Eight
IAN BURST OUT LAUGHING. “DAMN, Jada. What do you take me for? Do you think I’d lie about something like that?”
“I don’t know. Would you? It’s kind of tidy. Complete with a moral and everything. In my experience, life is never that tidy.”
“Are you sure your name isn’t Jaded?”
“Haha. Like I’ve never heard that one before. But seriously, you had to make some of that up.”
“Okay, you got me. Grandfather’s father didn’t abandon him. He was a mason and made a good living and even sent grandfather to college. He also gave grandfather the seed money to start his first business and bailed him out more than once in the early years. There. That’s all. The rest of it’s true, I swear. Story’s not as good, though, without the rags to riches beginning.”
“I don’t know. I think it’s still pretty great. I don’t see why we make the most fuss out of those who start with nothing. Sometimes, it can be harder to motivate yourself toward greatness when you’ve got it easy, when you don’t have to fight for every scrap of food and every dollar in your pocket. It’s hard to work for something, when you want for nothing.”
Ian’s heart gave a hard thump. Was she talking about him? “Yeah, well, most people don’t see it that way.”
“They probably just haven’t thought about it much. If they did, they’d see that it’s so.”
He admired her certainty, even as he doubted that she was right. He realized he’d arrived at the spot near the south shore that he’d been heading for and secured the oars.
Jada needed no instruction from him on preparing the rods and reels. She baited her own hook with one of Mrs. Best’s famous stinky dough balls without comment or complaint. Then she made an expert cast, leaving Ian impressed, though he didn’t embarrass her by saying so.
He launched his own baited hook a good distance away then opened a couple of beers and handed one to Jada.
She took a long drink from the icy bottle and sighed. “That’s delicious. I don’t recognize the brand.”
“I special order it from Germany.”
She inspected the bottle and label, then took another drink and looked off toward the house. “Hey, I still don’t know why you call that behemoth a cabin.”
“It’s because, technically, it is the cabin. Or, it’s where the cabin once stood. It sat where the theatre and bowling alley are now. Grandfather lived in the cabin while they built the new house, and they didn’t tear it down until a section of the new house was livable enough to move into.”
“Oh, too bad. He should have kept the cabin as a reminder of his beginnings.”
“I thought so too, but I was just a kid and he wouldn’t listen to me. He said that rise there was the best place to build on the entire property, and he wasn’t going to put his dream house on the second best spot just to keep a ramshackle cabin that nobody would live in again.”
“Funny. So the building’s gone, but the name lives on.”
“There you have it.”
They sipped their beers. Ian’s bobber shook. He was getting a nibble, so perhaps all the fish weren’t napping after all. The shaking stopped. Apparently the fish wasn’t hungry enough to do more than taste.
“So, um,” Jada said, hesitancy in her tone, “I didn’t realize you’d be coming out here with me. Not that I’m not glad to see you, I am, but I know you’re busy and I’m surprised to find myself hanging out with you.”
“I hadn’t planned to come, but Sullivan pointed out that I’d be housebound all weekend because of the press and we’re not likely to learn anything about the fake marriage license until Monday anyway, when government gets back to work.”
“What do you think happened? Why you? Or why me? It doesn’t make any sense. I try to figure it out, but I’ve got no clue. Do you have any theories?”
“My guess is one of us has an enemy who wants to make life difficult.”
“I didn’t consider that. Hmm. I don’t think I have any enemies, Ian. Not that everyone loves me on sight, but I can’t imagine who would have an ax to grind with me. I don’t mix it up with people.”
Ian ratcheted in his line a few clicks. “It’s far more likely that if someone’s bent on revenge, it’d be someone with a grudge against me. Unlike you, I’m always mixing it up.”
Jada smiled. “Kinda goes with a shark’s territory, I guess.”
He returned her smile. “I’m not a shark. I’m just misunderstood.”
“You’ve got pretty sharp teeth for a non-shark.”
“They’re caps.”
Jada laughed, a bright and cheerful sound that made something in Ian’s gut tighten. God, he wanted to kiss her so badly it hurt. He took a long swig of beer instead.
They chatted more, keeping the topics light and fun. Jada drank two beers before saying she’d had enough, and admitted she couldn’t hold her liquor, which charmed Ian so much he couldn’t quit smiling and was certain he looked half-daft.
Jada caught a small fish, which Ian released back into the lake for her so she wouldn’t get slimy and mess up her new clothes. Ian almost caught a fish, but let it slip the hook so Jada wouldn’t have to worry about splashes.
The sun had dipped behind the big house when Ian thought to check his watch. He was shocked to see they’d been out for several hours.
“We should get back,” he said with regret. “Mrs. Best will have dinner ready in a while. We’ll have just enough time to get cleaned up.”
He was pleased to see that Jada appeared as sorry to end the excursion as he was, taking her time breaking down her equipment. She even took her time cleaning her hands with the pre-moistened towels he gave her.