Page 79 of The Kiss Keeper
Finn scanned the room, then held up the hat. “Okay, everybody! This is your last chance to enter to win the first dance with the lobster queen,” the boy cried as the room quieted.
“I’d like to enter,” offered an unfamiliar voice.
Natalie glanced over her shoulder at the stranger. “I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met.”
“No, we haven’t. I work with Jake Teller,” the man replied with a smug grin as the room grew silent, and all eyes fell on them.
“Charlie? My goodness, is that you? What are you doing here?” her grandmother asked, looking at the man as if she’d seen a ghost.
Natalie touched Jake’s arm. “Who is this?”
Jake stiffened. “This is Charlie Linton, my boss.”
“Your boss? Why would your boss come here?” She’d had a feeling that something was up with Jake’s work, but to have his boss track him down on vacation seemed absurd. And even crazier, why would her grandmother know this man?
“I’m here because Jake seems to have lost his way and forgot who was still in charge,” this Charlie replied with a cold bend to his words.
“In charge of what?” she asked, getting sick and tired of not knowing what the hell was going on.
Jake took her hand. “I’ve held something back from you, Natalie. Something I should have told you. I just didn’t know how.”
She glanced from Jake to his boss. “Tell me what’s going on?”
“For starters, this isn’t Jake’s first visit to Camp Woolwich, is it, son?” her grandfather said.
This was getting to be too much. She released Jake’s hand and took a step back. “What are you talking about, Grandpa?”
Her grandfather’s gaze softened. “The first night when your grandmother thought she recognized Jake, it was because he’d been here before—as a camper.”
Natalie inhaled a tight breath. “A camper? When?”
“When I was thirteen,” Jake answered, his gaze trained on the barn floor.
The room went topsy-turvy. Or maybe it was just her mind spinning. “Why didn’t you tell me, Jake, and Grandpa, if you knew, why didn’t you say something?”
“Because once your grandfather and I figured out who Jake was, we knew that coming back here had to be hard for him. We wanted to give him some time,” her grandmother offered.
“Time for what?” Nat asked, trying to make sense of it all.
“Jake’s parents didn’t pick him up from camp after the summer ended because they’d passed away,” her grandmother answered, and the penny dropped.
“Your parents died in a boating accident while you were here at Camp Woolwich?” she said, the words tumbling out.
He met her gaze with his eyes clouded with pain and nodded.
“We’d always wondered what happened to you, dear,” her grandmother offered gently.
“You’ve known who I was from that first night?” he asked, lifting his chin a fraction.
Hal nodded. “Yes, after you all left, Bev and I looked at the camp picture, then checked our records and found a Jacob Teller on the camper log. My wife never forgets a face.”
Natalie’s jaw dropped, but before she was able to get a word in, Charlie Linton cleared his throat.
“I hate to break up this touching moment, but Jake’s not here because he wanted to have a heart to heart Kumbaya moment with you people. He’s here because I sent him to getmyland back.” The man eyed Jake. “Except, it looks like my protégé is trying to keep it all for himself and cut me out of the deal.”
Jake shook his head as his gaze turned cold. “That’s not true.”
Charlie crossed his arms. “What was your plan? Use the girl to get the land then convince her to sell it to you? If I didn’t think you were trying to screw me out of a deal, I’d say it was a genius idea.”
