Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO TOOK HER PLACE
Linda looked at her son as though she had never seen him before.
"How much?"
Eric stiffened.
"Don't."
"How much is Graham Pike paying you?"
"This isn't about money."
"Then why did you just tell me he can give your family a better life?"
Eric looked toward the waiter, who was pretending not to listen.
"Go back inside," he told him.
The young man disappeared.
Linda waited until they were alone.
"Frank built that landing before you graduated high school," she said. "You helped him paint the railings."
"I remember."
"You dropped a whole bucket of blue paint into the lake."
"I remember, Mom."
"Your father laughed so hard he couldn't stand straight."
Eric closed his eyes.
"Please stop bringing Dad into everything."
Linda went quiet.
Frank had been gone for five years.
Some days, she still reached across the bed before remembering he wasn't there.
But she had never used his memory to control Eric.
She had only hoped her son would remember what kind of man his father had been.
"Your father believed that ordinary people deserved a place on the lake," she said.
"And I believe ordinary people deserve to make a living."
The bitterness in his voice surprised her.
Eric continued.
"My construction company nearly went under last winter. You knew that."
"I knew business was slow."
"You didn't know how bad it got."
"Because you wouldn't tell me."
He looked away.
"Vivian introduced me to Pike. He offered a contract worth more than my company has earned in three years."
Linda felt a terrible heaviness settle inside her.
"And the contract involves Cedar Landing."
"It involves the waterfront renovation."
"That's a prettier way of saying the same thing."
Eric exhaled sharply.
"The old launch is falling apart."
"Then repair it."
"With what money?"
Linda had no immediate answer.
Eric seized on her silence.
"That's what I thought."
From inside the ballroom came a burst of applause.
The wedding party was preparing for photographs.
Eric checked his watch.
"Mom, I have to go."
Before he could turn, a woman's voice interrupted.
"Eric?"
Mara Keene stood several feet behind him.
She wore a simple ivory wedding gown, her brown hair pinned back with pearl clips.
Linda had always liked Mara's quiet manner.
She wasn't impressed by expensive things. She taught third grade at a local elementary school and spent most weekends taking Elsie to the library or the lake.
Now her expression was confused.
"Why are you both standing out here?"
Eric moved toward her.
"Everything's fine."
Mara looked at Linda.
"Mrs. Dawson?"
The formality hurt.
Mara normally called her Linda.
"I was just leaving," Linda said.
Mara frowned.
"Leaving? The ceremony hasn't started."
Eric touched Mara's arm.
"Can we talk inside?"
But Mara didn't move.
"What's going on?"
Linda watched her son carefully.
He looked trapped.
And for a brief moment, she felt sorry for him.
Then he said, "My mother has decided she can't support the wedding."
Linda's breath caught.
"Eric."
Mara's face fell.
"Is that true?"
"No."
Eric turned sharply.
"Mom, you told Vivian you'd stop everything."
"I told Vivian I wouldn't let her sell something she had no right to sell."
Mara looked between them.
"Sell what?"
Neither answered immediately.
Then Linda said, "Cedar Landing."
Mara's eyes widened.
"My father's old boat launch?"
"Yes."
Mara turned to Eric.
"Why would anyone sell that?"
Eric's silence answered her question before his words did.
"It's part of a development proposal," he admitted.
Mara stepped away from him.
"You told me the renovation was only for the hotel rooms and restaurant."
"That's the main part."
"The dock isn't part of the hotel."
"Mara, there are details—"
"Details you didn't tell me?"
Linda watched the color rise in Mara's cheeks.
Then another voice interrupted.
"Darling, there you are."
Vivian Keene approached from the ballroom.
At sixty-two, she was an elegant woman who had spent most of her adult life managing the lakefront property her husband had left behind.
Her silver-gray dress was beautifully tailored.
Her smile disappeared when she saw Linda.
"Oh."
One small word.
Enough to explain everything.
"Eric," Vivian said evenly, "I thought we agreed this would be handled."
Mara turned toward her mother.
"Handled how?"
Vivian's gaze moved from Mara to Linda.
"Not here, sweetheart."
"Why is Eric trying to send Linda home?"
"Because we all agreed today would be peaceful."
"Who agreed?"
Vivian hesitated.
Mara looked at Eric.
He stared at the floor.
Then Mara reached for the folded seating chart still in his hand.
She opened it.
Her eyes stopped on Graham Pike's name.
"Why is this man at our table?"
"He's a business associate," Vivian replied.
Mara read the remaining names.
Then she looked up.
"Where is Linda supposed to sit?"
Nobody answered.
Mara searched the page again.
Her voice became very quiet.
"Mom?"
Vivian adjusted the bracelet on her wrist.
"We had to make one small seating change."
Mara stared at her.
Then she turned the paper over.
On the back was a handwritten instruction in Vivian's unmistakable script.
REMOVE LINDA DAWSON FROM THE GUEST LIST. DO NOT DISCUSS WITH THE BRIDE.
Mara read it twice.
May you like
Then she raised her eyes toward her mother.
"How long have you been planning to keep her out?"
