Spent from giving her talk and slipping out on her sister and her own Texas Ranger, Maggie fixed herself some peppermint tea and inspected the refrigerator, stocked with basic provisions ahead of her expected arrival tomorrow. Milk, cheese, eggs, apples, a container of soup and olives. She smiled. Yes, a proper academic retreat was impossible without olives. She’d have them later with the bottle of merlot her hosts had left on the counter.
She sat at the table with her tea. A large bird swooped down from a wooded hillside and landed on the water. A loon? A duck? She couldn’t make out its features. This is what she would do, she thought. She would drink tea and look at the lake between revisions and reading.
There was Wi-Fi at the cabin, and adequate if not great cell phone coverage that she doubted extended into the farther reaches of the quiet lake. She could call Ellen, but she didn’t want to talk to her sister. Ellen was in prosecutor mode, and Luke’s presence would only make it worse. Luke was tight with Sam Temple, and Sam had been shot in the leg that horrible day in the Adirondacks.
Maggie shook her head. “No. Don’t say ‘horrible’ day. Keep it neutral. That day in the Adirondacks.” She smiled. “There.”
She felt better already. Now that she was here, her cabin retreat didn’t feel so provocative and nutty. She knew the note she’d left for Ellen wouldn’t be sufficient, but calling her sister didn’t seem right even if she wasn’t in prosecutor mode—it would be intrusive, a distraction. She and Ellen were close, but Ellen wasn’t having the difficulties eight years after their ordeal that Maggie was.
Ordeal. Another loaded word. Incident would do.
The point being, she didn’t want Ellen to rescue her or try to fix her, and she didn’t want to explain herself.
Maggie decided at least to text her sister. It was more personal than an email but not as intrusive as a call. I’m at the cabin. It’s perfect. Thank you for understanding.
Ellen responded immediately: I don’t understand.
Maggie smiled. Of course her sister didn’t understand.
We can talk when I get back to Texas.
That wasn’t too subtle, was it? Maggie set her phone on the table. She did a few slow, deep, calming breaths. Later in the season, the lake would no doubt be crowded with canoes and kayaks, but no motorized boats were permitted. Swimming was, but the water would be cold by her standards straight through the summer. She liked being here now, with spring blossoming in this beautiful part of the northeast. She wasn’t an outdoorsy type, but she appreciated the incredible scenery.
She heard birds, the breeze soughing in the trees and the ticking of a clock somewhere inside the cabin.
A man came from behind a spruce tree down by the cabin’s small dock, startling her. But she didn't make a sound as he turned, facing the cabin.
Maggie shrank low in her chair. Did he think the place was empty?
“Hello.” He started onto the yard below the deck, in front of the cabin. “It’s Maggie, isn’t it? Maggie Galway. Nice name.”
She held her breath. She didn’t recognize this man. Was he one of Ellen’s friends? A friend of the owners? Did he own a second home on the lake? Did he live there?
He continued toward the cabin. He wore a black baseball cap that covered most of his hair and cast shadows on his features. “It’s okay. I know your friends.”
Maggie swore she heard a Texas twang in this voice. Her imagination or not, she jumped to her feet, grabbed her phone and raced for the back door, leaving her suitcase.
She pushed open the screen door, leaped down the back steps and ran.
Chapter 5
“I considered trying to become a Ranger,” Ellen said as Luke turned onto a narrow, rock-pitted road that wound downhill toward a sparkling lake nestled in the hills north of Saratoga. “There are more women Rangers than there used to be, but I was drawn to the law. I’m one of the few I graduated with who actually loved law school.”
“Lawyers,” Luke said.
“Do I detect a note of disdain in your voice, Luke Jackson?”
“What you detect and what’s there might be two different things.” He kept his eyes on the road, but he didn’t seem to have any trouble with its driving challenges. “Your friends are all lawyers.”
“Not everyone who graduates from law school ends up practicing law, and not all my friends are lawyers. Are all your friends Rangers?”
“Who says I have friends?”
Ellen rolled her eyes. Luke grinned at her, then turned his attention back to the road. It turned sharply to the right, down a steep hill through tall, impenetrable evergreens. She wouldn’t want to navigate such a road in winter, but the cabins at least on this part of the lake appeared to be seasonal. She wondered how many were winterized. Nights still could be cool in May. She didn’t know how Maggie would react if she had to light a wood stove or fireplace to stay warm.
The lake came into view again, the water rippling in a breeze, glistening under the afternoon sun. “Maggie lucked out,” Ellen said. “This is gorgeous.”
“Could you see yourself staying here for a week on your own?” Luke asked.