LITMIR.BIZ

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brother, Aaron.”

      Maggie laughed heartily. “Right. One of your practical jokes, Shelby? Trying to convince me he’s undercover or something? A different name to go with the more casual clothes and longer hair—which I approve, by the way. Looks good.”

      Although he should be getting tired of identifying himself to these people, Aaron couldn’t help but smile in response to Maggie’s teasing tone. “Thanks. My brother is always after me to get a haircut.”

      Maggie frowned a little, as if something in his voice or behavior surprised her.

      “It’s not a joke, Maggie. This really is Andrew’s brother, Aaron,” Shelby insisted to her cousin. “He’s going to stay with us for a few days.”

      Tilting her head, Maggie studied him intently. Aaron figured he might as well return the favor. Maggie didn’t look much like Shelby, though there were some vague family resemblances. Her hair was straighter, darker—walnut-brown with golden streaks that could have come from the sun or a bottle, for all he knew. Unlike Shelby’s bright blue eyes, Maggie’s were hazel, framed in thick, dark lashes. Definitely attractive, but he still found himself more intrigued by Shelby.

      “You’re Andrew’s brother,” Maggie said.

      Shelby shook her head with an exasperated sigh. “That’s what I just told you. Geez, Mags.”

      “Well, how was I to know you weren’t kidding? I mean, they look exactly alike. Mostly.”

      Exactly, mostly. Aaron had to laugh at that. “It’s nice to meet you, Maggie.”

      “Back at you, Aaron. Is Andrew here, too?”

      “No, he’s working in Dallas.”

      “Oh. Well, tell him I said hello, will you?”

      “I’ll do that.”

      With a wave, she started the golf cart again and headed down the road into the camping area.

      “So, can I expect a variation of that conversation with all the rest of your relatives?” he asked Shelby.

      She pushed a hand through her blond curls and gave him an apologetic smile. “I’ll try to spread the word before you run into the rest of them. They will, however, treat you like an old friend, just because you’re Andrew’s brother.”

      He was unable to completely suppress a wince. “Yes, well, I’ll be sure and tell him everyone says hello.”

      And he would not tell the Bell family he’d learned about their resort from a brochure he’d found lying next to Andrew’s trash can.

      Shelby studied him a bit too closely for comfort before stepping onto the tiny front porch to unlock the door of the cabin. “Andrew stayed in the motel when he was here last summer. He said he didn’t need a kitchen because he didn’t cook, that all he needed was a bed and a table for his computer. But then, he was working, not vacationing.”

      Aaron tried to remember when his brother had last taken a vacation. Had it been their hiking trip with their cousin Casey in Tennessee just over a year ago? That would have been before whatever job Andrew had done for the Bell family. It seemed like especially the past six months or so—since around Christmas, perhaps—Andrew had done nothing but work like a demon. And criticize his brother for not doing the same, of course. Even though Aaron had worked damned hard for the commercial real estate firm where he’d spent the past year, and had been successful enough in it that he could get by for a few months before running through his savings, his heart just hadn’t been in that career, something Andrew had predicted from the start.

      “I like to cook sometimes. Nothing fancy, but it usually turns out pretty good.” He looked around the interior of the cabin in approval.

      Though small, the space was well designed. The open living space was separated from the kitchen by an eating bar with two tall stools. A door to his left probably led into a bathroom, and a flight of wooden steps led up to the sleeping loft. A sofa, an armchair and a wooden rocker provided plenty of seating, and a flat-screen TV hung on the wall. The furniture looked new, as did the gleaming wood floor. A sliding glass door at the back of the room provided a view of a back deck and the lake. Two teenagers on Jet Skis sped past as he looked that way, but the cabin was insulated well enough to mute outside sounds.

      “This is nice.”

      Shelby smiled. “It’s the smallest of the cabins, but one of my favorites. We get a lot of honeymooners in this one. You lucked out that it’s available now. It took some water damage in that big spring wind storm last month, and we didn’t expect it to be available again until the first of July.”

      He glanced around again, seeing no evidence of damage. “I remember the reports of that storm. Cut a swath across this part of the state, didn’t it? Was there much damage to the resort?”

      “Luckily, no. A lot of stuff was tossed around, but this cabin took the only real damage when a large tree limb fell on the roof. It looked really bad at first, but most of the damage was cosmetic. Fortunately, the cabin was unoccupied at the time, and we’ve had a tree service out since to take down any other branches that pose a hazard.” She laughed and shook her head. “Uncle Bryan wanted to climb the trees and take the limbs down himself, but the rest of the family overruled him on that. He’s very territorial about the grounds.”

      “I assume everyone in the family has a specific job here?” It was that way at D’Alessandro-Walker. Various family members worked in management, investigations, customer service, administrative and IT jobs. He’d tried most of them himself.

      Shelby nodded. “Uncle Bryan and my brother, Steven, are in charge of the grounds and general maintenance. My dad mans the marina. Mom and Aunt Linda run the store and the grill. Maggie hires and supervises the housekeeping staff, and Hannah works in the office, taking reservations and handling promotion. My sister, Lori, helps out when she’s home from college, and my grandparents stay busy wherever they’re needed. They never let us forget they were the ones who started this enterprise,” she added with a crooked smile.

      “You didn’t mention what your job is,” he reminded her.

      “I keep the books. I’m a CPA.”

      That surprised him. “You look too young to have earned a CPA.”

      “I’m almost twenty-six. We were all expected to attend college,” she explained. “Most of us majored in business courses, though Lori keeps changing her major. I think she’s had three so far. None of which would be particularly useful for working in the family business. Which, I suppose, is her point.”

      Aaron thought it possible he shared a bit in common with Lori, though he chose to keep that observation to himself. “Will Lori work for the resort when she graduates?”

      “I don’t know. She won’t commit yet, though she’s always willing to fill in during holidays and summer breaks. She’s running the office while Maggie’s away for a few weeks. Steven—” Shelby gave a little sigh. “I think Steven might have liked to try something else, had he not felt so much pressure to help out around here. Just about the time he earned his business degree, the local economy took a hit and it became even more important for us to keep a tight rein on the resort expenses, salaries, benefits, that sort of thing. That was why it hit us so hard that the evil ex was willing to clean us out if he could’ve gotten away with it.”

      Even more reason for the family’s gratitude toward Andrew, Aaron mused. “So, did you ever think about leaving the family business yourself?” he asked casually.

      She adjusted a lamp into a more secure position on a rustic end table. “Not really. I’ve always known this is where I belong. My family’s a little different, but then so I am. We’re close and we get along very well, for the most part. I like my work, and the people we meet here in the resort. Well, most of the people,” she added darkly, glancing toward the tiny round kitchen window, through which Cabin Seven was just visible.

      Following

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