Page 80 of The Kiss Keeper
“You wanted to try to get my family to sell Camp Woolwich?” she said, glaring at Jake, the man she thought she might…no, she couldn’t go there.
“Where’d you even get the idea Camp Woolwich was for sale? You’ve left us alone for fifty years. What made you think you could get it now?” her grandfather said, his cheeks growing pink with anger.
Charlie turned away, and Hal scoffed.
“Don’t tell me we’re playing this game. Look me in the eye like a man, Linton.”
“You’re no man. You’re the scoundrel who took my land,” Charlie bit back.
Hal chuckled, a dry, sarcastic little sound. “Look at Mr. Sour Grapes over here. It’s been fifty years, and you’re still stewing, and you and I both know that I won this land fair and square.”
Charlie’s eyes flashed with anger. “That may be true, but you stole Bev away from me. We were friends, Hal, and you knew how I felt about her.”
Natalie watched, wide-eyed, as this love triangle unfolded.
Her grandmother’s features softened. “I was never yours like that, Charlie. We were always friends, dear friends.”
“Until this card shark swooped into our lives and ruined everything for me,” he shot back like a sullen teenager.
“You know that’s not how it happened,” Bev said gently.
“And you’re the one who racked up all those gambling debts, Charlie. Not me. If you remember right, I tried to get you to go home and cut your losses,” Hal answered.
A sour look marred Charlie’s expression. “I don’t need advice from you, Hal Woolwich. I’ve made a fortune over the last fifty years in real estate, and losing this piece of land, land that had been in my family for generations, was the only mistake I’ve ever made, and I’m not about to let it go unchecked. I know you’re thinking of selling. Name your price.”
“Wherever did you get the idea we’d want to sell to you?” Bev asked.
“Oh, that would be me.”
Everyone’s gaze bounced to…Lara?
“You?” Leslie exclaimed, staring at her sister.
Lara twisted a strand of hair around her finger like a six-year-old. “Yeah, remember when Gram called and wanted to talk to you about Grandpa last year when he got sick?”
Leslie stared at her sister. “You heard that call?”
“Oh yeah, Les! I can hear everything you do from my office,” the bubblehead answered.
“I didn’t think we were going to tell the kids,” Hal said, turning to his wife.
“I called Leslie because she’s a doctor. You didn’t want to go into the hospital, and I needed her reassurance that it was the right thing to do,” her grandmother said as the family murmured in the background.
Hal raised his hands to quiet them down. “Here it is, everyone. I had pneumonia last year, and your grandmother and I didn’t want to trouble anyone. As you can see, I’m doing much better.”
“What about the cough?” Natalie asked as the pieces started coming together.
“It’s taking me a while to get back to one hundred percent. I pick up a cold here and there much easier these days,” her grandfather answered.
“What I don’t understand, Lara, dear, is why you would tell Charlie Linton about Grandpa? How would you even know to contact him?” her grandmother asked.
“Cinnamon rolls and money,” Lara answered as if that could explain everything.
“Help us understand, dear,” Bev pressed.
Lara nodded. “Sure! I thought that with Grandpa’s deteriorating health, you might consider selling the camp if the right offer came your way. Right now, the Woolwich trust lays out that the profits of a sale would be split between the family, and Marcus and I needed the money to save our podiatric practice.”
Leslie went white. “You took the money? Leo and I have been going out of our minds, trying to figure out what happened. We thought it was an accounting error.”
