Page 30 of Sunset Tides
The old “I didn’t want to worry you” was a classic martyr mother tactic, and Claire was an Olympic gold medalist in martyring.
Getting Lillian involved would be good. It might even free up some of Lucy’s time so she could also keep an eye on Rob. She didn’t know what he was up to, but she didn’t like it – and she wouldn’t let him get away with sneaking around, either.
Lucy continued meeting with Rob over the next two weeks, sporadically hopping into his car and expertly steering him away from any businesses that might be vulnerable to his schemes.
He never caught on to what she was doing. He was a dunce, and kept wasting his time in trying to get to know her.
Lucy avoided answering most of his personal questions. She had no intention of letting him in or giving him a hint to how she worked.
Rob, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have any hang-ups. He was more than willing to talk about himself and his past, and since he was seemingly the loneliest man on Orcas Island, he kept offering to help her prepare for the auction.
Lucy declined all of his help until the day before the event, when Rob showed up at Grindstone and asked if she was up for a drive.
“I can’t,” she said. “I have a lot of last-minute things to do.”
Though she’d had two weeks, time had gotten away from her, as it always did. She’d planned too much and was starting to feel the pressure.
“Let me help,” he said. “I know almost as much about the auction as you do.”
She eyed him warily. Was that a hint he’d been doing his own research?
“You talk about it so much,” he added.
Well, she’d had to talk aboutsomething.“Oh. Yeah. Sorry for boring you.”
“It’s – I wasn’t bored, I’ve enjoyed it. What can I do to help?”
She shook her head. “You wouldn’t be good at it.”
A smile cracked on his face. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” she said, digging through a stack of boxes until she found the one she was looking for.
She dragged it onto the farm shop counter and let out a breath. When she looked up, she saw him staring at her, arms crossed.
The sight of him made Lucy burst out into a laugh. She hadn’t meant to poke at his competitive streak. He looked quite determined.
“Why don’t you try me?” he finally said.
She let out a sigh, opening the lid to the box. “Fine. I printed out these pamphlets to explain the auction situation to people on the islands. I meant to get them mailed out, but I missed the deadline, and then I figured it would be better to hand them out in person, but now I’m a little short on time.”
He smirked. “You think?”
“See? This is why I don’t ask you to help. I don’t need your attitude.”
He rushed to correct himself. “Oh, come on. Please? I can do this. You think I haven’t gone door to door before?”
“Doing what? Selling timeshares?”
“Worse. Selling knives no one wanted.”
Lucy cringed. “Sounds like a pyramid scheme.”
“It was.” He grabbed a pamphlet from the pile. “I bet I could hit more houses than you can.”
Lucy snatched the pamphlet out of his hand. “Yeah, right.”
“I could. I’ll bet you twenty bucks.”
