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Since she’d given him the history of her family business, he figured he owed her the same. “The agency was founded by my uncle Tony D’Alessandro, who took on my dad and his twin as partners in the business before I was even born. Several of my cousins, as well as my brother, work for the agency.”
Her brows drew downward in what might have been a slight frown of disappointment. “You’re not an investigator?”
Now was the time when he should tell her that not only was he not a dashing P.I. like the twin she and her family seemed to idolize, but he was currently unemployed. Again. He cleared his throat. “Like you, I grew up in the family business.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie. He’d worked in the offices of Dee-Dub, as the agency was familiarly known within the family, during his teen years, breaking away after high school to pursue his own goals. It just happened that none of his experiments had led yet to a career in which he wanted to spend the foreseeable future. He knew it wasn’t the investigation and security field.
Shelby’s face lit up again and he was selfishly glad he’d prevaricated. “So maybe while you’re staying with us, you could still take a look at Terrence Landon?” she asked hopefully. “You know, just to sort of get an impression of whether he’s as shady as I think he is?”
He couldn’t stand to see disappointment on her face a second time, especially when he knew what Andrew would do in his shoes. “I’m not promising anything, but I guess I could take a discreet look at the guy while I’m here. That doesn’t mean I’ll agree with your suspicions. Or that I’ll even see enough to form a proper opinion of my own.”
She waved off his warnings with one hand. “Of course,” she said. “Maybe there’s nothing to it at all. But I’d feel better if at least someone took me seriously enough to just get a good look at the guy.”
Aaron leaned back in his plastic chair and studied her thoughtfully. If he was reading her correctly, this was something else they seemed to have in common. Being the family oddballs, the ones over whom all the others shook their heads and clucked their tongues. Even as he wondered what he was getting himself into, he shrugged. “Sure. I’ll check him out.”
This time she was the one who reached across the table. She caught both his hands in hers and squeezed. “Thank you, Aaron.”
Oh, man. He could be in big trouble, he thought with a hard swallow. Something told him Andrew was not going to like this at all. As for Shelby—would she still look at him with such glowing eyes when she found out that he’d just promised something he was in no way qualified to deliver?
And speaking of his brother, just how had Shelby gazed at him?
“Um, you and Andrew …”
She seemed to follow his line of thought easily enough. She laughed again, and every cell in his body responded to the sound. “Me and Andrew? No way. I liked him, of course—the whole family liked him. But as for the two of us—just no sparks, you know?”
Watching her gather their empty cups to toss into the waste can, Aaron wondered if she would say the same thing about him in a few days. As for himself, sparks were already flying. He hoped his impulsiveness didn’t get him burned but good this time.
After extracting a promise from Aaron that he would say nothing about her request of him, Shelby drove away from the station, where she’d come to get away from the resort for a little while. Whenever she needed a break from family and chores, she headed to town for a cherry freeze. She’d never expected to be followed home this time by Andrew Walker’s identical twin brother.
Every time she thought of the way she’d thrown herself at him, she felt her face warm again. And not only from embarrassment. Remembering how his arms had gone obligingly around her, drawing her against that very fine, fit body, she felt a wave of heat climb from somewhere deep inside her all the way to her cheeks. Funny, she’d hugged Andrew when he’d left last year, standing in line with the rest of the family to do so, but she didn’t remember having a reaction anything like this! Was it because there had been so many other people around? Because she had considered herself in a relationship with Pete then, tenuous as it had been? Or because there was some fundamental difference between Aaron and Andrew other than the way they wore their hair?
She couldn’t wait to see how the rest of the family reacted to meeting him.
Turning off the two-lane highway onto the resort’s entrance road, she drove the short distance to the gate booth. The family employed teenagers and senior citizens in part-time positions at the booth. Overnight guests of the resort were issued passes to allow them entrance, but day users of the boat launch, picnic or swimming areas were charged five dollars’ admission per vehicle.
She spoke through her open car window to the seventysomething man currently working the booth. “The man in the car behind me is a guest, Mac. Wave him on through, okay?”
“Will do, Shelby.”
The paved road forked just beyond the gate. Staying straight led to the campground—forty RV and camper sites with concrete pads and electric and water hookups, and a central unpaved area for more basic tent-camping enthusiasts. Half of the RV slots were waterfront sites, while the others were shaded by trees, within view and easy walking distance of the lake. Shelby turned right, driving past the boat-and-trailer parking lot toward the large L-shaped building that housed the offices, marina, a diner and a convenience store offering food and camping and fishing supplies. Behind the boat-trailer parking lot was a grassy compound holding a large pavilion, charcoal grills, tennis and basketball courts, and a children’s playground. The pavilion was often rented out for family and high school reunions, corporate and church functions, and birthday parties. Even a few weddings had taken place there.
The marina lay straight ahead of her, with the boat dock, gas pump, lighted fishing pier and fish-cleaning station directly behind it. To the right of the marina was a large, sparkling swimming pool next to a two-story, sixteen-unit waterfront motel. Across the parking lot from the motel were three of the eight rustic cabins in the resort.
The road made a left turn in front of the marina, leading to the boat launch, a swimming area with a sandy beach, day-use grounds with picnic tables and a volleyball court, five waterfront cabins and the campgrounds. Public restrooms and shower facilities were strategically located in the resort for use by swimmers and campers who didn’t have their own camper lavatories.
Following the circular road back around toward the gate, guests would pass a turn-off marked with a sign that read Private Drive. That narrow road led to three brick houses occupied by Shelby’s parents, grandparents, and aunt and uncle. Her grandparents’ house sat in the center, flanked on either side by the houses built by their sons. Shelby had lived in her parents’ house from birth until she graduated from college four years ago, spending her entire life within the resort compound.
Near the three houses, a small, nicely landscaped compound held four tidy single-wide mobile homes. One of those mobile homes was Shelby’s. The other three belonged to her brother, her cousin Maggie and her cousin Hannah.
Hannah’s home was the newest. She’d had it moved in after her divorce sixteen months ago. She and her husband—“the evil ex,” as he was known in the family—had both worked for the resort … well, Hannah had worked, and Wade pretended to be useful while secretly embezzling and scheming to get his hands on even more of the family’s hard-earned profits. During their two-and-a-half-year marriage, Hannah and Wade lived in town and drove to the resort every day, but after the split, Hannah had needed the comfort of family around her. Not to mention that the divorce had cost her nearly everything she’d earned and saved, so moving back had been a financial benefit, too. Like the others, hers was a two-bedroom mobile home, which would come in handy soon.
Shelby didn’t bother driving around to her place, but parked in front of the office, motioning for Aaron to pull in beside her.
“Let’s get you set up for your stay,” she said when they’d both emerged from their vehicles. “Would you rather have a motel room or a cabin? Because it’s a weekday, we have several motel rooms available—probably one with a balcony looking out over the lake. Each room has a minifridge, flat-screen TV, cable and Wi-Fi, but no cooking facilities. I know one of the cabins across from the motel is unoccupied at the moment, but if you want a cabin, you’d probably rather have one on the water. I think there’s a one-bed cabin there you could use. All the cabins have TV, cable, Wi-Fi and a full kitchenette. We provide linens and kitchenware, but guests supply their own food.”
As she spoke Aaron studied the nearby pool in which several younger kids splashed noisily under the supervision of sunbathing parents, then turned in a circle to take in as much of the rest of the resort and lake as he could see from their vantage point. “That cabin on the water sounds good, if it’s available,” he said, proving he’d been listening while he looked. “I can go back into town for supplies after I unpack.”
She motioned toward the large, multiwindowed main building with its double-glass-door entrance. “We sell a few groceries, just the basics for easy meals. We also have a small grill inside, open until 7:00 p.m. We serve burgers, sandwiches, hot dogs, salads and a soup of the day. Nothing fancy, but not bad. No need to drive back into town for food tonight unless you just want to.”
He nodded. “That sounds great, thanks for the tip.”
“Well, look who’s here!” Bryan Bell ambled up to join them, a gas-powered weed trimmer dangling from a harness strapped around him. A lean fifty-three, with kind blue eyes and thinning sandy hair under a green cap emblazoned with the name and logo of the resort, Bryan was red-faced and sweaty from working in the heat. His sweat-dampened green T-shirt also bore the resort logo—the words Bell Resort and Marina printed inside a stylized, bell-shaped outline. The legs of his faded jeans were covered with grass clippings and dirt. Though everyone fussed at him for attempting too much during the worst heat of the day, her uncle was somewhat obsessive when it came to keeping the grounds trimmed and tidy.
Bryan beamed at Aaron. “Good to see you, Andrew. We’ve all been hoping you’d take us up on our offer to come stay with us. Did you bring fishing gear? If not, I’ll fix you up. Take you out to my secret fishing hole in the morning.”
For the first of what she was sure would be many times, Shelby said, “This isn’t Andrew, Uncle Bryan. It’s his twin brother, Aaron Walker. Aaron, meet my uncle, Bryan Bell.”
Bryan blinked a couple of times, looking as startled as Shelby herself had been. “Twin brother? Huh. Folks say Shelby’s dad and I look alike, but we don’t hold a candle to you and Andrew. Spitting image.”
Aaron nodded patiently. “Identical twins.”
“Well, ain’t that something. So how is Andrew?”
“He’s doing well, thank you for asking.”
“Good to hear it. He going to be joining you?” Bryan asked hopefully.
Aaron shook his head. “I doubt it. He’s pretty busy at work. I’m taking a couple weeks’ vacation.”
“Oh. Sorry to hear that.” Apparently realizing what he’d just said, Bryan added hastily, “Not that we’re sorry you’re here. It’s real good to meet you, Aaron. Andrew’s family is as welcome here as he is. Nice of him to recommend us to you.”
Aaron cleared his throat. “I was just going to check in.”
“Don’t let me keep you. And that fishing invitation is still good, by the way. I’ll be down at the boat dock at around seven in the morning if you want to join me.” Bryan grinned crookedly. “You’ve just got to sign in blood that you won’t tell anyone about my hidey-hole—well, except maybe your brother. We owe him that much and more.”
“I’ll take you up on that,” Aaron agreed congenially. “It’s been too long since I’ve gone fishing.”
“Who’s that you’re talking to, Bryan?” Dixie Bell, the seventy-nine-year-old matron of the family, had just come out of the office door. Silver-haired and brightly dressed, as always, she peered at Aaron through her rhinestone-enhanced glasses, then clapped her hands together, her lined face lighting up. “Well, as I live and breathe, it’s Andrew. Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, young man. Come give Mimi a hug.”
Claiming that her given name had always been a trial for her, especially combined with her married surname, Dixie had adopted the name Mimi with the birth of her first grandchild, Hannah, twenty-eight years ago. She insisted everyone she particularly liked should call her that. Andrew had been one of the chosen.
“It isn’t Andrew, Mom.”
Speaking at the same time as her uncle, Shelby said, “This is Aaron, Mimi. Andrew’s twin brother.”
Her grandmother frowned and looked over the tops of her glasses, studying Aaron’s face intently. “Are you sure?”
Aaron made a sound that might have been a swallowed chuckle. “Yes, ma’am. I’m sure.”
Mimi still didn’t look entirely convinced. “Twin brother, you say? Andrew never mentioned he had a twin brother.”
Shelby thought Aaron looked less than surprised by that omission. Didn’t the brothers get along?
“I guess the subject never came up,” he said.
“He told you all about us, hmm?”
“Really nice place you have here, Mrs. Bell. I’d like to stay a few days if you have a vacancy.”
“Of course we have a vacancy for Andrew’s brother,” Mimi assured him, patting his arm. She didn’t even seem to notice that he had made no attempt to respond to her question, though Shelby had taken note. “Cabin Eight has just been renovated, a job that didn’t take as long as we expected, so we haven’t booked it for the next week. We’ll set you up in there. You stay as long as you want, no charge. It’s a one-bedroom, but if that twin of yours wants to join you, there’s a pullout sofa bed in the main room.”
“It sounds ideal, but I will be paying for my stay here,” Aaron said firmly. “Your arrangement with Andrew is between you and him, but I’ve come for a vacation and I’ll pay my way.”
Mimi frowned at him in a battle of wills that few people had the nerve to engage with her. Aaron held his own, gazing back at her with a pleasant but utterly determined expression. After a moment, the older woman harrumphed. “Shelby, take him inside and get him his key. Have Lori take his credit card information, if he insists, but give him the senior citizen discount.”
Aaron chuckled. “I’ll accept that.”
Shelby felt a warm shiver slide through her in response to his laugh. She didn’t remember hearing Andrew laugh quite that way. If he had, she certainly hadn’t responded as dramatically.
Having Aaron here was going to be interesting. And not just because he had agreed to keep an eye on the man in Cabin Seven.
She motioned for him to follow her into the office. “Let’s get that key.”
Shelby rode with Aaron in his car to show him his cabin, telling him she’d walk back to the office afterward. Cabin Eight was a pretty little A-frame nestled at the edge of the lake, the last in a row of five cabins of varying styles and sizes. Behind the cabins, a short slope led straight down to the water, with a narrow, graveled beach for walking or bank-fishing. A couple of good-sized trees shaded the cabin’s tiny side yard, where a charcoal grill and concrete picnic table invited casual cookouts. On the other side of a stand of trees was the first of the line of waterside camper sites. An enormous motor home with hydraulic extensions that expanded the interior space was just visible through the ruffling leaves of the trees.
Really roughing it, Aaron thought with a chuckle, looking away from the luxury RV. He’d always preferred camping with a tent and a backpack himself—though he had to admit the little A-frame cabin was appealing. Quaint, his mom would call it. He suspected his mother would already have her camera out, snapping shots of the cabin and the picturesque lake spreading beyond, where wake-trailing boats and rooster-tail-spouting personal watercraft crisscrossed the deeply blue water.
A pretty brunette in a green golf cart parked at the end of the cabin’s short driveway. “I see the dashing P.I. has returned,” she called out with a grin. “It’s good to see you again, Andrew—as long as no one’s trying to bankrupt us again. Please tell me you’re here for vacation, not business.”
“This isn’t Andrew, Maggie,” Shelby corrected with a wry smile for Aaron. “It’s his 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.”
