Secrets in the Lowcountry--The River (21 page)

After several more t
w
ist
s
and turns,
Taylor’s
w
ords returned him to the present.
“Are you sure you kno
w
w
here you are going?”

“Yep!”

“
W
hat’s
w
ith this ‘yep’?” she asked
, in a be
w
ildered tone
.

He didn’t ans
w
er.
Instead, he halted
.
She managed to squeeze beside him, because the path
had
w
idened
a bit
.
They stood directly
next to
an old live oak
. The
tree had fallen over in a storm
probably 100
years ago, yet
the oak
had managed to
survive and
keep gro
w
ing.

Jeff tur
ned to
w
ard the side
w
ays tree.
Taylor matched his move. For a moment, neither spoke, instead they admired Mother
N
ature
’
s creativity
and tenaciousness
.

The trunk
,
w
ith
a diameter of
at least six or seven feet
a
n
d an
almost flat su
rface on the topside, clear
ed the ground
by about an inch or t
w
o
.
Coming from the same source
in the earth
, another
huge
trunk rose forty-five feet. The canopy of limbs, branches, and leaves
of the latter
sheltered and shaded, almost protective
of
its
prone
t
w
in. To the right
flo
w
ed the Broad River,
w
hich permitted
a gentle breeze to flo
w
through the trees and bushes.

“I haven’t been here in ages.
”
S
he
looked over
at Jeff. “Remember
w
hen
w
e
w
ould
w
alk on the trunk
?
O
nce
I dared you
to
jump off
the end of the trunk
into the pluff mud?”

“
The scars from the oyster shells remind me every time
I
looked at my legs.
”

“
W
hat?”
She
glimpsed
his
w
ell-shaped calves, inspecting them
carefully
. “No scars.”

“No thanks to you,” he retorted.

“Me? I didn’t push you.
”
As
she
scanned
the tips of oysters barely sho
w
ing above the bro
w
n, harmless looking mud
, remorse filled her
. “Kids do the dumbest things. You could have been seriously hurt
from the oyster bed
if you’d have landed on your hands and knees.” She shook her head and turned her attention to him. “I’m sorry.”

“To be honest, I’
d forgotten that incident.”

“Truly?” she asked.

“Truly,” he responded.
Permitting his
w
ords to comfort her, she took a deep breath. “
W
hat
a per
fect
place.”

“Yep!”
He
grin
ned
and she returned his smile
.

“If you don’t stop that ‘yepping’, I’m going to
w
hip y’all
’s
bottom,” she said in a very pronounced Lo
w
country accent.

He placed the thermos on the flat portion of the tree and
peeked
do
w
n her at her five-feet- eight inches from his six feet-one inch.
“You
’re
w
hat?” A
mischievous
mood filled him and his face sho
w
ed his teasing
.

Taylor
stood
very close to Jeff.
H
e co
uld smell
the lemony shampoo she’d used on her hair. Her eyes sho
w
n
w
ith uncertainty, before she
blinked and looked
a
w
ay. She
bent do
w
n, lift
ed the lid, and grabbed the
w
orn
and faded green
cotton b
lanket from
the
basket.
W
ithout facing
him, she handed him the cloth.
“
Make yourself useful.
”

Although her voice sounded
harsh
almost
gruf
f, his mood remained unaffected.
He remembered her hesitation and treasured the memory.
As she un
packed the items, handing
him item
after
item, h
e
placed
each on the blanket.
His attention stayed focused on her.
W
aiting for
her to peek
, but she didn’t
.

He d
w
elled on the expression of her eyes.
Obviously, she had been affected as much as he.
W
hy no
w
?
W
hy not five years ago?
W
hy not fifteen?
He
tussled
w
ith
his anger.
The hand fate dealt him contained too many jokers.
Trying to ease
the tension
, he said, “Are you going to kne
e
l at my feet forever?”
He
hoped he’d succeeded in adding
a
playful
touch
to his
voice
.

She stood up.
“Someone had to unload.
Y
ou
w
ere too busy making thr
eats.
”

Although
she
, too,
attempted to lighten her tone
,
to him her voice
sounded
artificial
and forced
.

Taylor climbed on the tree and straddled the trunk before snar
ing a peach
.
After taki
ng one bite, she said, “David’s,
”
and took
an even larger
bite
.
“I love these.”
W
ith a fe
w
more bites, the peach disappeared
. She tossed the pit into the
w
ater then
casually licked her fingers
,
one at a time.

He jammed his hands in his pockets preventing him taking her hand and doing the
w
ashing himself.
W
ith a great deal of difficulty, he pushed his burning and building desires aside.
“
W
hat did you
w
ant to ask me?”
He cleared his throat, pretending to cough.

She hesitated as if building her nerve.
“I
f Rod isn’t found alive
…
” S
he stopped.

H
e ached to touch
her
and comfort her
but
had just gained control of his o
w
n emotions
. If
he took her in his arms,
he feared
she’d realize
he loved her.
Right no
w
, Taylor
required
a friend
not
a lover. He asked
, as calmly as possible,
under the circumstances
,
“Yes?”

“This is hard
,
talking about him, even saying his name
.
” She cleared her throat.
“
W
hat
w
ill
happen to his offers and his company
?
W
hen I sa
w
Jean this morning, I remembered he’d
promised to buy a couple of properties surrounding Eagle Point
,
one of them belongs to
Jean
’s family.
She never
w
anted her family to sell, but her parents
must have
money to move into an assisted living facility.”

“I’d heard her mom had cancer.”

“Yeah, and her dad’s heart isn’t the best.
”

“
As for your question, much
depends
on
w
hat type of company he had
and
at
w
hat stage the offers
w
ere
.”

“Explain.
”
She bent one leg and slid her foot under her other knee, before leaning for
w
ard slightly.

“Let’s take the company first.
W
as it a privately o
w
ned company?”

“Yes.
I think so.
He
t
old me
only the boss should control the money.”

“Sounds like Rod,” he said,
w
ith a nod.

Taylor fro
w
ned.

“Oh, he’s right.
I
tell my stu
dents
they must either handle the money or make damn sure the person
w
ho is has the
company’s best interest in mind.
” Jeff, feeling more comfortable
w
ith this conversation, relaxed.
He picked up a sand
w
ich, unzipped the bag and removed a thick ham and cheese and mustard and tomato on rye.
“Mary remembered
w
hat I like
.”

“Ho
w
anyon
e can eat mustard
w
ith tomatoes.
” Taylor shivered, looking at the combination.
“Getting back
to the discussion, exp
lain a private company.”

“Do you kno
w
anything about his company?”

“Other people invested
w
ith him.
”

“Stockholders?” he asked, before taking a large bite of his sand
w
ich.

“I’m not sure.
People gave him money for his big project
s
.
He had several irons in the fire.
W
hether he gave them stock, I don’t kno
w
.
” She shrugged.
“
Isn’t
that
standard
?”

Jeff could tell Taylor
w
as out of her element.
Give her a horse, a barn, or a
n
equestrian center to run and she’d beat the opposition by several lengths.
In addition, h
e
noticed
she
’d
only said
Rod’s name
once
.
Almost as if she
w
anted to avoid it.
That
w
as fine
w
ith him.
If he never had to say the name again, he’d die a happy man.