Lightning Only Strikes Twice (31 page)

“That’s where you’re wrong. Besides the winter sports, the resort will offer summer activities like hiking and trail rides. We’ll need a place for horses and tack.”

“But the mill…”

“Will be restored too. An exact non-working replica. Built as a monument to the town. I’m thinking of making a museum inside. We’ll conduct tours and field trips for schools and the public.”

“You still didn’t answer the question. Why are you doing this? Why the changes?”

“For you.” He smiled, almost giddy to finally share his good news. “I wanted to surprise you. Obviously my father had other ideas and spoiled it for me.”

Annie went silent. Not the reaction he’d hoped for. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d be pleased.”

“I’m thrilled that you’re keeping the valley and meadows as they were. It
is
wonderful that you’re rebuilding the town…”

“But?”

“Something still isn’t right.”

“What is it?”

“I think you’d better ask your father. He was extremely upset with the changes. He acted as though he’d planned something very specific for the property. The way he talked about my grandfather…”

“Well, of course he knew your grandfather. He made the original offer on the land to him, you know that.”

Annie shook her head. “No, there’s something else. He talked as though they’d spent time together. Almost like they were enemies.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because he called my grandfather a cheat.”

****

It hurt to repeat those words almost as much as knowing that Arnold Maxwell didn’t want her near Luke.

For days, she’d wished for a miracle. Proof that they had gone back in time—that they’d shared the most incredible experience together. Now she had it and everything was unraveling like an old sweater.

She wouldn’t force Luke to choose between her and his father. She couldn’t imagine how she’d feel if she had to make that choice.

Luke leaned back in his chair, his brow furrowed. “You’re sure my father called him a cheat?”

“I’m sure.” She sighed. “I don’t know why he’d say such a thing. It’s not true.”

“The only people I’ve ever heard Dad call cheats are his poker buddies.”

“I assure you, my grandfather wasn’t one of his poker buddies.” She would have remembered if her grandfather had played poker.

“I won’t disagree with you. I’ve met most of his buddies—even played a few hands with them. I don’t remember meeting your grandfather.” He frowned. “The only person who can really answer that question is Dad.”

Luke glanced at his watch. “It’s been long enough now. I should see how’s he’s doing.” He stood and held out a hand. “I’d like you to come with me.”

She resisted the temptation to take his hand. “I’m afraid if your father sees me, he’ll get upset again. I don’t want to cause a relapse.”

“What do you mean,
again
?” Luke asked.

“Our conversation triggered his heart attack.” Annie bit her lip. Luke deserved to know. “He’s in the hospital because I almost killed him.”

“Nonsense.”

“I’m not willing to take that chance. Are you?” As much as she didn’t want Luke to leave, she had to let him go. His father needed him.

Annie knew her presence would be upsetting. She wouldn’t risk a setback to Mr. Maxwell’s health.

Luke pulled her into his arms and held her tightly against him. “I can’t let you go. I just found you again.”

For an instant, they were back in White Rock with their entire future ahead of them. She rested her head on his shoulder, basked in his warmth for a moment, then pushed away.

She had a lot to think about. Topping her list was why Luke’s father disliked her. That problem must be resolved before she and Luke could be together. She refused to come between father and son.

“Go. Be with your father.” She gathered her purse. “I’ll go home and search for something to shed light on why he called my grandfather a cheat.”

Chapter Eighteen

Luke walked with Annie to the hospital exit and kissed her one last time.

She responded readily to his demanding lips.

He was torn between his need to hold on to her and see his father. Finally, he let her go. His father was critical. He couldn’t leave the hospital without seeing him.

Tomorrow though, he’d be with Annie. He and Annie could search for answers on how they’d ended up in 1891. He still had no idea how they’d returned home, but suspected the medallions played a role.

More importantly, he wanted answers as to where they stood with each other now. He had a hunch the path ahead had a few rough spots to get through.

Luke entered the intensive care unit and found Arnold Maxwell awake. An oxygen tube was in his nose and he was still connected to the heart monitor and IV.

“About time you showed up.” His dad probably intended to intimidate, but his words came out in a weak rasp. “Where the hell have you been, boy?”

Luke grinned. His father was a fighter. He’d pull through this setback. “Doctor’s orders. I was told to wait until you were settled in your room.”

Arnold Maxwell looked beyond Luke to the doorway. “Where’s that damned girlfriend of yours?”

Luke frowned. “Emmaline?”

“Hell, no! Not that bitch. Took you long enough to see through her tinsel.”

Pulling up the only chair in the room, Luke sat heavily. “I thought you liked Emmaline.”

“I suppose I did, until she started making noises that the two of you were gonna marry. Good thing you dumped her or I would’ve had to embarrass the both of you by splitting it up myself.”

“You knew I was planning to break it off?”

The elder Maxwell coughed.

Luke offered him a sip of water from a cup.

“God, how I hate this.” He waved the cup away. “Of course I knew. I know more than you think.”

Luke pondered that statement a moment. “If you weren’t referring to Emmaline, then who is my girlfriend?” His father couldn’t know about Annie. He hadn’t known what they’d shared at White Rock was real until tonight.

“That Crawford woman.”

Luke’s jaw went slack.

“Close your mouth, son, before these nurses put a damn tube down your throat.”

Luke shut his mouth. Then he asked, “What makes you think Annie’s my girlfriend?”

“She is, isn’t she?”

“Well, yes.” He swallowed hard. Annie was more than a girlfriend. She was the person in his life who’d brought everything into focus. “Until tonight, I wasn’t sure she felt the same.” At least, he hoped she still felt the same.

A nurse entered.

Luke scooted his chair out of the way so she could take his father’s vitals.

“Sure takes the younger generation long enough to make up their minds,” his father grumbled to the nurse.

She smiled and glanced at Luke. “Is this your son, Arnold?”

He grunted and gave a curt nod toward Luke. “Meet my thick-headed offspring, Luke Maxwell.”

“Hi.” The nurse gave Luke a polite smile reserved for the patient’s family. The smile that said,
I know you have to be here, but stay out of my way
. “Your time is just about up. We need to limit visits to ten minutes.”

“In that case,” Luke said to his father, “I’ll let you rest and be back in the morning.” He stood and headed for the door.

“Bring that Crawford woman with you when you come back. I’m not done with her yet.”

Luke walked away from his father’s room, his head spinning with all the revelations he had tonight.

A burning need to rush over to Annie’s home, take her in his arms, seduce her into bed for a night of sweet love, had him nearly running through hospital. As much as he wanted to spend the rest of the night with her, he knew she needed time to sort through everything they’d learned tonight.

He needed time too. A new reality stood before him. He still hadn’t processed it.

From the hospital, he drove straight to his office. There, he wrapped up some details that had been interrupted when he’d gotten the emergency call.

Clearing his schedule took longer than he’d expected. By the time he’d finished, he had delegated or postponed appointments to free him up for the next week.

He’d spend whatever time necessary to be with both his father and Annie. There were a lot of things he needed to discuss with both of them.

****

Annie was on a mission.

She pulled out the old cedar chest where her grandfather kept all his personal papers. One by one, she went through them, looking for specific mention of Arnold Maxwell. Somewhere in these papers was the reason he hated her grandfather.

She was determined to understand how well the two men had known each other.

From Mr. Maxwell’s conversation, his connection to her grandfather appeared to be more than just a business acquaintanceship. His anger over a failed property deal seemed extreme.

Shortly after Grandpa died, she’d gone through most of his things. When she came across the deed and the ten-year-old offer to buy the property, it was an answer to a prayer.

She’d put the trunk aside in favor of expediting the sale to pay off the debts.

At some point, when her grief wasn’t as hard to bear, she had planned to finish going through his personal mementos. Now, that task couldn’t wait any longer.

As she ended the second hour of her search, she stood, arched her back and rolled her head from side to side. She’d read and re-read every sheet of paper in each of the folders.

Every spare surface of her grandfather’s bedroom floor was stacked with files laid out according to the content. Correspondence in one, tax notices in another, and actual property details in a third. The chest stood empty except for an old cigar box filled with trinkets her grandfather had saved.

Annie lifted the box out of the chest and lovingly smoothed the worn top with her palm. She remembered when Grandpa showed her the contents shortly after she came to live with him. She was seven, maybe eight. Still unsure of her place alone in the world, with an old man for her only parent.

As she looked back on that moment, she realized that in his own way he was trying to connect to a lost child by sharing a piece of himself.

She sat on the bed, cradling the box on her lap, allowing that connection wrap warm memories around her.

“Oh, Grandpa,” she whispered. “How am I going to find my way out this mess?”

The answering silence was broken only by the sound of a car driving past on the street outside.

After a moment, she opened the box. The bitter scent of old metal and aged paper wafted up.

Inside, were Grandpa’s Korean War medals and insignia along with his honorable discharge papers. She removed these and placed them on the bed next to her. The other items were the wedding ring he never wore, even when his wife was alive, some tie clasps, and a yellowed envelope.

Annie hadn’t remembered seeing in the envelope before. She lifted it out and carefully opened it.

Inside were five poker cards.

A cold chill ran down her arms.

Luke said his father played poker—he called his poker buddies cheats.

She slid the cards out of the envelope. They were old. Really old. The waxy surface barely held them together. She laid the cards carefully on the bedspread next to her grandfather’s war medals.

A three of hearts. Four of hearts. Five of hearts. Six of hearts. And the ace of spades.

If she remembered correctly, the hand was almost a straight flush, but without the deuce or a seven, it meant nothing.

Had these cards belonged to Grandpa? If so, why had he kept them all this time?

She picked up the cards, placing them one by one back inside envelope. As she did, she spied inky squiggles on the ace of spades.

Holding the card by the edges, she leaned closer to the light. She could barely make out the letter U.

The flowery twirl on the tip of the U looked like her grandfather’s handwriting. She’d been reading his journals off and on since his death. His script had been hard to decipher at first, but once she got used to it, reading the journal became easier. This lettering was definitely made by her grandfather’s hand.

Not only had he kept the poker hand, he’d written on the card. Why? A better question was, why save the cards all these years? Especially when he didn’t play.

She slipped the ace into the envelope with the others. Tomorrow she’d take them to her office. She’d borrow that old table with a large, lighted magnifying glass used years ago for designing forms. Under the light, she could decipher the rest of the writing.

Learning what was on the card might reveal why her grandfather had saved them. It might even be a clue to resolving the mysterious link between her grandfather and Arnold Maxwell. Certainly, nothing else she’d gone through tonight had offered any answers.

She cleared away the clutter, put the file folders back in the chest, and headed for her room.

Her clock showed after midnight. As she undressed for bed, she resolved to continue reading her grandfather’s journals. His journal was the last place she could hope to find more about his relationship with Mr. Maxwell.

Of course, Luke may have discovered some answers, too—if he’d been able to talk with his father.

She hoped Mr. Maxwell was going to recover. Whatever differences had come between him and her grandfather shouldn’t be allowed to harm his health. She’d search for everything she could find to clear up the misunderstanding.

The most important thing she’d learned since her grandfather died, and during her time with Paul and Elizabeth, was family comes first.

If the problems between Arnold Maxwell and Grandpa were too great to overcome, she’d let Luke go. No matter how broken her own heart, she refused to make him choose between her and his father.

****

The next morning, Annie was gathering her jacket and keys to leave for work when a knock sounded at her front door. Not sleeping well the night before had put her behind schedule. She didn’t have time for visitors, but she unlocked the door thinking it might be her neighbor inquiring about the excitement at her house yesterday.