Page 164 of It Happened on the Lake

And now there was a new one—or would soon be.

Harper swallowed hard and her hand went to her abdomen where, she knew, a baby was growing. She hadn’t been to a doctor, it was too early for that, but she’d skipped not just one period but two. She’d have to tell Dad and Marcia before they guessed the truth. It should have been a time of joy. With the baby’s arrival, Chase would be safe from the draft. Or something like that. But now, it was a time of worry. Fear.

“I’ll take care of you,” she promised her unborn child.

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter against the hot tears that were always there.

Marcia suspected the truth and had confided as much to Harper’s father, a few days earlier. Harper had heard the conversation wafting up the stairs and had crept down to a spot where she could surreptitiously peer through the railing and watch what was happening in the kitchen.

“Something’s up with Harper,” Marcia stated. She was at the kitchen sink, her back to the room.

Dad looked up from his paper. “What do you mean?”

“I think she might be pregnant.”

Harper’s heart went still. Sheknew?

“What? Oh, for the love of Christ, Marcia, why would you even think such a thing?”

From her hiding spot, Harper hardly dared to breathe as she listened to more of the damning conversation.

Marcia was saying, “I’m the one who cleans out the trash in the upstairs bathroom, and there hasn’t been any evidence that she’s, you know, having her period.”

“Marcia!”

“I’m just saying that girl was pretty regular and I could tell, not just by her moods but by what I found, or more precisely didn’t find, in the garbage.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

“Is it?”

“You shouldn’t snoop.”

“Not snooping, Bruce. Being ahead of the game.” Marcia went on spinning so quickly from the sink, Harper was certain she’d be seen. But Marcia hadn’t looked through the archway, instead pinning her husband in her glare. “She spends half her time, maybe more, over at that huge house with all of its rooms and a doting grandmother who has no rules. It probably happened there!” She snapped a terry-cloth towel from a peg near the sink and furiously dried her hands.

“You don’t know that.” Dad laid down his paper.

With a sigh, he said, “She’s going to Olivia’s tonight, and it’s not to meet Chase. She’s taking care of her grandmother. Matilda has the night off.”

“Why?” Marcia demanded.

“No idea. I figure that’s between Olivia and Matilda.”

Marcia asked, “But does Harper know that she’s on grandma duty?”

“Yes. It’s all been decided,” Dad assured his wife. “Harper’s spending the night.”

Harper’s mind was already spinning ahead. Tonight would be the perfect time to meet Chase on the dock because he could boat across the lake.

Marcia scoffed. “I’m just telling you your daughter’s boy crazy, and right now she’s all over that Hunt kid. It’s ‘Chase this’ and ‘Chase that.’ When she isn’t with him, she’s talking about him. As a matter of fact, he’sallshe thinks about.”

“It’ll pass. You remember how things were in high school. Everything was overblown. High drama. So don’t worry about Harper. She’s a smart girl. What’s going on now, it’s just a crush. Besides, Chase is at college, surrounded by other girls. He’ll outgrow her.”

“Maybe,” Marcia allowed, not sounding convinced. “But it might already be too late.”

“I don’t want to hear this, Marcia,” he warned, scooting his chair back. “Don’t borrow trouble.”

“There’s no borrowing it. Trouble’s brewing. Coming our way. In fact it’s already here.”

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