had been here two weeks earlier than the trip she knew about, for two days that time. Hands shaking, she tried to turn the page back to seek any earlier listings.
“What are you doing?” Nathan’s voice, resounding from the stairwell above her, hit her like a blow.
She heard his footsteps approach as her mind scrambled for an explanation, any explanation that might satisfy him. She arranged a smile on her face and turned toward him.
“I was just…” The words died in her throat as she caught sight of Nathan.
A khaki uniform. A dark tie, worn with a badge and official emblem. She read the words emblazoned on the uniform, stomach twisting.
Nathan Sloane was Lakemont’s chief of police. The scribbled signature at the bottom of the accident report crystallized in her mind. She hadn’t made the connection, and she should have. Nathan was the man who’d investigated Trevor’s accident.
Nathan couldn’t mistake the expression in Susannah’s eyes. He moved slowly to the counter, weighing it. Perfectly innocent people sometimes looked guilty when surprised by a police officer. He wouldn’t have thought twice about that.
But Susannah had reflected more than just guilt. She’d been totally dismayed at the sight of him, and he wanted to know why.
“What are you doing?” he repeated.
He could hardly cross-examine one of his father’s guests, but he had a right to know why she was behind the registration counter. And why she’d been looking at the guest register. She’d quickly put it down at the sound of his approach, but not before he’d seen her searching through the listings.
“Here, you mean?” She straightened the register, aligning it with the edge of the desk. “Jen hadn’t had a chance to get her lunch yet, so I said I’d keep an eye on the desk while she went to get something to eat.” Her smile failed to reach her eyes.
Frustration with his stepsister nearly outweighed his curiosity about Susannah. The least Jen could do was help out while she was here.
“Someone would have come to relieve her in a few minutes. She certainly shouldn’t have imposed on a guest.”
“It’s not an imposition. I offered.” Susannah started around the counter, the loose russet jacket she wore swinging against her body. “Now that you’re here, I suppose you want to take over.” She eyed his uniform. “Or are you off to a different job?”
“I do have to go on duty before long.” He took a casual step so that he boxed her in between the counter, the stairwell and his body. “I guess you didn’t know I’m a police officer.”
She’d regained most of her composure, but her hands were still clenched tightly. As if aware of that, she shoved them into her pockets.
“Not just any officer.” She nodded toward his insignia. “I see you’re the chief of police. I’m impressed.”
For the first time, he felt like smiling naturally at her. “Don’t be too impressed. In a town like Lakemont, that just means I have two patrolmen and a dispatcher working for me. If any police business actually happens, we all have to get involved.”
For some reason, that upped her tension. He could feel it, but he didn’t understand.
“I see.” She seemed to be talking at random, as if to cover something else. “I suppose that means you don’t spend much time at the lodge.”
“I’m here as much as possible. After all, I do live here.” He leaned closer, letting that movement intimidate. “I notice you’re interested in our guest register.”
If he hadn’t been so close, he might have missed the way her lips tightened.
She managed an unconvincing smile. “I’m afraid I was just curious as to how busy the lodge is.”
Neither of them believed that, but he wasn’t ready to contest her statement. Yet.
“Busy enough,” he said. “We don’t do the business of some of the larger resorts in the Poconos, but Dad likes it that way.”
“Speaking of busy, I see Jen is back from lunch.” She took advantage of his turning to look to slip past him. “I’m running into town this afternoon, so I’ll be on my way.”
Someone less suspicious than he was might not have noticed how quickly she scurried toward the front door, as if afraid he might have more questions. Which he did.
He turned back to frown at Jen as she slid behind the counter without looking at him, as if that might make him disappear. He had to deal with his stepsister, but now wasn’t the time.
He saw again Susannah’s head, coppery in the sunlight slanting through the window, bent over the register. What had the woman been up to?
He went quickly out the front door and stopped at the edge of the drive. Susannah drove past him toward the main road. Those were Pennsylvania plates on her car, and it wasn’t a rental. He memorized the number.
Susannah Morgan was hiding something. Whatever her secret was, it had made her uncomfortable with the discovery that he was a cop. It had also prompted her to snoop through the registration log.
He intended to know exactly what that secret was.
“Really, Enid, I’m just fine. Did you help at the charity bazaar this week?”
Susannah held the phone slightly away from her ear while her mother-in-law, distracted, chattered on about the hospital auxiliary bazaar. Enid thought she was visiting with an old college friend, and she had to keep it that way.
Susannah smoothed her hand over the spot where the baby was kicking. She hated lying to Enid, who’d been a part of her life ever since she could remember. But dear, warmhearted Enid had to be protected from anything that might distress her. Her husband and son had always done that, and apparently she was destined to follow the same pattern.
Certainly her mother-in-law would be upset at the knowledge that Susannah had come to the lake to investigate Trevor’s lies. Enid refused to believe they were lies. She’d convinced herself that they’d all simply misunderstood.
So here she was, caught in the trap of hiding the truth to make Enid feel better.
“Goodness, I’ve been talking too long.” Enid interrupted herself. “How are you feeling? How’s the baby?”
“We’re both fine. Don’t worry about us.”
“Are you having a good time with your friend?”
“Yes, just fine.” The knock at the door was a welcome reprieve from expanding on her fable. “I have to go now. I’ll call you again in a couple of days.”
She hung up, levered herself out of the rocker and went to the door.
“Nathan.”
Another person she was lying to. Apparently once she’d started, there was no escape.
He nodded toward the living room. “Do you mind if I come
