The Queen's Lady. Shannon Drake

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      CHAPTER TWO

      JUST AS IT HAD BEEN all those years ago, the Queen Mary was docked at the small private marina just south of town. As Ed’s Jeep traveled across the gravel road with nothing but blackness on either side of it, Beth tried unsuccessfully to suppress a shiver. She couldn’t help but remember the last time she’d been down this road. She’d been with Charlie, on her way to what he’d promised would be a night she’d never forget. Little had either of them known how true those words would be.

      “Here we are,” Ed announced, turning into a small parking lot. “If you wait a second, I’ll get a flashlight and light the way.”

      She did as he suggested, remaining in the Jeep until he’d retrieved a portable lantern from the back. As she climbed out of the vehicle, he aimed the beam of light toward the ground. “Watch your step.”

      Beth stayed close to him as he led her onto the pier and over to the houseboat. “So this is it?” she said, thinking that it didn’t look as big as it had when she’d been a teenager.

      “Like I said, it’s changed since you were last here. Abraham spent a pile of dough remodeling it. Wait until you see all of the conveniences he added.”

      Beth saw what her brother was talking about when they stepped inside. The salon had a white leather sectional sofa that allowed occupants a good view of the water, as well as the big-screen TV built into a cabinet against one wall. Next to it was a stereo system and a VCR. All the windows had custom-made deep blue drapes that matched the carpet beneath her feet.

      “This is nicer than my apartment,” she said, admiring the oak cabinetry in the galley. She fingered the shiny black front of a microwave suspended beneath one of the cabinets.

      “The guy had the bucks to spend and he liked nice stuff.”

      Beth sat down on one of the high-backed stools next to the bar and twirled around. “It’s hard to believe all this was someone’s toy, isn’t it?”

      “It’s your toy now,” he reminded her.

      She shook her head. “It doesn’t make any sense. Why would he leave something like this to two people who haven’t seen each other in fifteen years?” The question had been nagging her ever since she’d received the letter from the attorney stating she was one of Abraham Steele’s beneficiaries.

      He sighed. “Who knows what motivated him to leave any of the River Rats anything? Whatever the reasons for his bequests, the fact remains you own half this place.”

      “Yeah, me, who never liked the river,” she stated dryly.

      “Well, lucky for you, Charlie does.”

      Beth knew all too well how much her ex-husband enjoyed the river. The memory of a fifteen-year-old boy splashing in the water surfaced in her mind. She had gone down to the river to look for Ed, who was supposed to be fishing with a couple of the other River Rats. To her surprise, the boys weren’t dangling their lines in the water. They were skinny-dipping.

      There had been four naked bodies frolicking in the river that day, but Beth’s eyes had only noticed one. Charlie’s.

      At thirteen, she’d had a limited knowledge of male anatomy, gained mainly from science textbooks and baby-sitting ten-month-old Billy Benson. The shock of seeing a nude teenage boy had frozen her to the spot.

      She wasn’t sure how long she had stood there staring at him, but as she raced back to her house on wobbly legs, she knew that from that moment on, she could no longer regard Charlie as the boy next door, the boy who was good friends with her older brother, Ed, the boy who walked her and Lucy to the school bus stop. Things had changed.

      To the rest of Riverbend he might still look like her second big brother, but to Beth he had become something more. Every time he smiled at her, she’d felt warm inside, and when he casually touched her, she’d gotten all tingly. It had been the beginning of an infatuation that would last through high school.

      She shook her head, hoping she could toss the memories aside as easily as she flipped back her hair. “He must be remarried by now.”

      “Do you really want to know the answer to that question?” Ed asked with a lift of one eyebrow.

      Beth didn’t. For fifteen years she’d avoided asking any questions about Charlie Callahan. Ignorance had been bliss while living in another state. But now she was in Riverbend and she needed a few answers. Only a few.

      “I think I should know his marital status, since we’ve inherited a boat together, don’t you?”

      Ed sighed. “All right. He hasn’t remarried.”

      So he was single. The rumor she’d heard a couple of years ago hadn’t been true. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her jangled nerves. “Maybe I should just give him my share of the boat. It’s not like I will have any use for this place after this weekend.”

      “Now, that would be foolish.” He spread his hands. “Look around you. Abraham Steele wanted you to have a share in all of this. As your brother and your lawyer, I can’t let you give it away. Especially if the only reason you’re doing it is to avoid a confrontation with your ex-husband.”

      “I’m not,” she fibbed. “I just don’t want the hassle of dealing with this right now.”

      “You get bequeathed a boat we used to call the floating palace and you don’t want it.” He shook his head in disbelief.

      She looked about the place in bewilderment. “What would I do with something like this?”

      Ed shrugged. “Take off on a river adventure?”

      “No, thank you. I’d probably get seasick. Remember that time Dad took us out on Lake Michigan when we were kids?”

      “Everyone was a little queasy on that trip because the waters were rough. You won’t have to worry about any motion sickness tonight. You’re docked. This boat isn’t going anywhere.” He pulled open the door to the built-in refrigerator. “This is on, but it looks like there’s nothing inside but a few cans of mineral water. Should I take you to a convenience store so you can pick up a few things?”

      She shook her head. “It’s all right. As long as there’s mineral water, I’ll be fine. Besides, if I have food here, you might forget to come get me.”

      “I won’t forget,” he assured her. “Do you need a tour of the boat, or do you remember where everything is from all those parties the River Rats had here?”

      “I didn’t party with the River Rats, or have you forgotten?”

      “Ah, yes. You were always afraid we were going to get caught sneaking onto the boat, weren’t you?”

      “I wasn’t officially a River Rat.”

      “No one was officially a River Rat, Beth. You lived in the neighborhood and you hung out with the rest of СКАЧАТЬ