Love Came Unexpectedly

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She recalled saying that to Grant. Someone else she owed a favor.

Grant came into the office before she hung up. “Hi.” She waggled her fingers at him, hiding her quickly beating heart. “Um, Jessica, I gotta go. Thanks a million for taking care of that matter. I’ll talk to you soon.”

She hung up. She missed Mark and Jessica and little Lori more than she could say. Perhaps they could come for a visit soon.

“Hi, Grant. What can I do for you?”

“Nothing important. I was just taking the boat out for a ride and wondered if you’d like to come along?”

She had yet to be out on the lake, and the idea excited her. “You bet! I’d love to go. But I’m worried about leaving the office empty before nine o’clock in case one of my customers needs something.”

“You don’t have to baby-sit them, Sunny.” He said it as if that was a dumb idea—and, she had to admit, it was a little wacky. “If they need anything, you’ll be back later. Put a sign in the window.”

Still, she hesitated.

“You think that would be okay? I have to go into town tomorrow and I’ve been wondering how to do it. You, know, run some errands, find a laundry and things. I—I haven’t left this place since Thursday of last week.”

It seemed like an eon ago.

“Sure, it’s okay, Sunny. The customers don’t expect you to be at their beck and call every minute of the day. You’re not a prisoner, you have a life. Now let’s go. The sunset is wasting.”

“All right.” That made sense. She grabbed a pair of sunglasses, a straw hat she’d found in the closet that she suspected had been her granddad’s, and her keys. A tumble of things came down from the closet shelf, but she glanced briefly at it, then decided it could wait until she returned. She shoved it to the back of the closet.

A boat ride was just what she needed.

She’d never been on a boat before. She stepped in carefully, Grant’s hand at her elbow.

Though there were people down at the boat dock, they merely waved to her. No one questioned her. After she donned the life jacket he pointed to, he started the engine and she relaxed against the back seat.

Grant steered the boat quietly out to the main channel, then pushed the speed higher. The wind whipped her hair behind her, cooling her warm cheeks and drying the perspiration against her neck. She placed a hand to hold her hat on, feeling the wind against her face.

What bliss!

Grant pointed out some of the more beautiful homes and buildings built into the hills and cliffs.

Staring at them, she noted that these homes ranged from luxurious to humble, and all the way between. Sunny felt stunned. Before this, she had seen little of her community. Did people really live this kind of life?

“Grant, do you live here all year?”

He appeared strong at the helm, sitting with relaxed purpose, the late sunshine shining on his face. He turned from staring ahead of him. “I do now. I didn’t before starting the stable. But I’ve been here two years.”

“In the winter, too?”

“Sure. That’s my quiet time. The lake is much more peaceful then.”

“I imagine so, but…don’t you get lonely?”

“Not a bit. There’s things to do in winter. Catching-up things. Things you put off from summer. Even a few customers. You’ll see.”

Of course…yes…she hadn’t thought of anything past getting the resort open, but she could imagine things she could do in winter. The stipulation said she’d have to live and work here a year. She understood that demand better now. What would it be like then, with no customers?

Well, like other things, she pushed those worries aside, trusting God to take care of them. Sighing, she decided she’d think about that tomorrow, too. At the moment all she wanted was to enjoy this wonderful, unexpected gift of a boat ride.

And the oh-so-pleasant company of Grant.

Chapter Five

Toward early morning, the clouds darkened and moved across the lake, shutting out any starlight. Lightning slashed low, disappearing into the lake, followed by a horrendous boom of thunder.

Sunny jerked straight up in bed, her heart pounding with the shock, just as another lightning flash lit the room for a split second. Then another, and a whooshing crash a short distance away.

What was that? A tree down?

In the black of blackest night, she knew there was no electricity.

Sliding from the bed, Sunny felt her way into the living room, and then toward the kitchen cabinets. She’d noticed a couple of oil lamps there. She fumbled around, knocking her shin, but finally found the lamps. Quickly, she lifted them down.

Now for matches. Were they in the drawer next to the fridge?

She felt a flashlight, and breathed a sigh of relief. She flicked the waning light on, decided it needed new batteries, and began groping in the drawer. There were some in the back, she thought.

Another lightning bolt helped her find the batteries. Deciding she could do with the lamps first, she found the matches. With shaking hands, she lit three matches, muttering “C’mon, c’mon…” before getting the wick to catch.

“Thank You, Lord,” she muttered as the wick flamed high.

As quickly as she could, she replaced the batteries in the flashlight, and then hurried to the windows. Common sense told her to stand away from them with lightning out there, but curiosity as high as the sky sent her there to watch, just the same.

She could see nothing through the blackness.

Lightning illuminated the howling wind bending the trees low over the deck and rain lashing the wood. The chairs tumbled over.

I have to do something, Lord. I must.

She went into the bedroom and grabbed a pair of jeans. Setting the flashlight on the floor, she slipped into them, then grabbed a shirt from the closet. She dressed rapidly.

Please God, take care of my customers…and my docks. Don’t let anything happen to the docks and boats. Don’t let anything important be down.

A wave of fear washed over her. Were the folks in the cabins all right? Were they safe? She could see no lights.

Dummy! Of course not. If her electricity was out, so was theirs. Was Grant’s, she wondered? Were they on the same line?

What was happening down at the docks? Stepping tentatively out on the dark deck, she flicked on the flashlight, walking carefully down the steps. Her sneakers slipped on the rain-slicked stairs. The wind whipped her hair into a tangle and lashed her face, but she paid no mind. The dark blunted her light, making it difficult to see.

The place still held strange aspects, and she hated the need to check on everything. At home, tight in her little apartment, she’d have stayed under the covers. But Sunshine Acres was her responsibility whether she liked it or not.

She walked the short distance to the concrete stairs. Someone stood in the doorways at cabins three and four. She could see movement, something white against the dark.

There was no use in shouting. Whoever it was couldn’t hear her over the wind. But it comforted her somehow, the presence of other people.

Thunder rolled down the lake, shuddering off the hills, bouncing down the water. The lightning was further off now, not so close.

The rain steadied with the dying wind. It smelled fresh, the way rain should. She hurried to the first cabin, which was unoccupied tonight, then to the second. “Are you folks all right?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” answered the middle-aged man who had checked in two days ago. “That’s quite a storm, though.”

“Sure is. Okay…”

She hurried to the next cabin, finding that the folks had disappeared behind a closed door. All the other cabins were closed, as well.

The rain was lessening as the storm center rolled down the lake, but it didn’t matter. She was soaked. She climbed the concrete stairs once more, shivering with cold, her fear receding, then turned to gaze at the docks below her just before she returned to her cabin.

Someone moved at the edge. Who was there? Something…or someone…

Her heart slammed into her chest in jerky beats, and she stood absolutely still, watching.

Movement down at the docks? Someone was watching her! She caught just a glimpse before the person was swallowed under the dock roof…

Who was there? Grant? Or a stranger? Surely Grant wouldn’t be out in this storm….

She was out in it.

She didn’t want to go down there, yet she was drawn down the stairs toward the docks. Standing on the edge of the last step, she listened.

She heard nothing beyond the storm.

But she had seen something. Was her imagination running away with her? She set her mouth and walked out onto the dock, all the way to the end. The rain couldn’t get to her here. She inspected each of the four boats, one huge one, and the rest of various smaller sizes.