he asked. “What’s up?”
“Mind if we come in for a second?” Frank asked, adding, “Brother.”
Pete gave a nervous sideways look to Lena. She knew these lodge people had their own special code of language. What exactly Frank meant by calling Pete his brother, she had no idea. For all she knew, Frank was telling Pete to hit Lena with the bat.
Pete said, “I was just going out.”
“I see that,” Frank said, eyeing the bat. “Little late for practice, ain’t it?”
Pete handled the bat nervously. “I was just putting it into the van. Got a little nervous about what happened at the diner,” he said. “Thought I’d keep it behind the bar.”
“Let’s go inside,” Frank said, not giving Pete a chance to respond. He walked up the front steps and stood at the front door, waiting for Pete to catch up, hovering over the other man as he fumbled with his keys in the lock.
Lena followed them. By the time they reached the kitchen, Pete was noticeably on guard. His hand was wrapped so tightly around the bat that his knuckles had turned white.
“What’s the problem here?” Pete asked, directing his question toward Frank.
“Will Harris had a problem this afternoon,” Frank said. “Somebody threw a rock into his front window.”
“That’s too bad,” Pete answered, his voice flat.
“I gotta say, Pete,” Frank said, “I think you did it.”
Pete laughed uncomfortably. “You think I got time to run down and toss a brick through that boy’s window? I’ve got a business to run. I don’t have time to take a crap most days, let alone take a trip.”
Lena said, “What makes you think it was a brick?”
Pete swallowed hard. “Just a guess.”
Frank grabbed the bat out of his hand. “Will’s worked for your family for nearly fifty years.”
“I know that,” Pete said, taking a step back.
“There were times when your daddy had to pay him with food instead of money because he couldn’t afford help otherwise.” Frank weighted the bat in his hand. “You remember that, Pete? You remember when the base closed and y’all almost went under?”
Pete’s face flushed. “’Course I remember that.”
“Let me tell you something, boy,” Frank said, putting the tip of the bat squarely against Pete’s chest. “You listen to me good when I tell you this. Will Harris didn’t touch that girl.”
“You know that for a fact?” Pete countered.
Lena put her hand on the bat, bringing it down. She stepped in front of Pete, looking him in the eye. She said, “I do.”
Pete broke eye contact first. His eyes went to the floor, and his posture took on a nervous stance. He shook his head, letting out a heavy breath. When he looked up, it was Frank he spoke to. “We’ve gotta talk.”
13
Eddie Linton had purchased acreage around the lake when he first started making money from his plumbing business. He also owned six houses near the college that he rented out to students, as well as an apartment complex over in Madison that he was always threatening to sell. When Sara moved back to Grant from Atlanta, she had refused to live in her parents’ house. Something about moving back home, living in her old room, smacked of defeat to Sara, and at the time she was feeling beaten down enough without the constant reminder that she did not even have a space of her own.
She had rented one of her father’s houses her first year back, then started working weekends at the hospital in Augusta in order to save up a down payment for her own place. She had fallen in love with her house the first time the realtor showed her through. Built in a shotgun style, the house’s front door lined up directly with the back door. Off to the sides of the long hallway were two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small den on the right, with the living room, dining room, another bathroom and kitchen on the left. Of course, she would have bought the house if it had been a shack, because the view to the lake was phenomenal from the deck off the back. Her bedroom took full advantage of this, a large picture window flanked by three windows that opened out on either side. On days like today, she could see clear across, nearly to the university. Some days, when the weather was right, Sara took her boat into the school dock and walked to work.
Sara opened the window in her bedroom so she could hear Jeb’s boat when