Free ShadowsintheMist by Maureen McMahon Page B

sported an
impressive moustache and sideburns, peppered with gray.
    “Sorry to hear about Mr. Dirkston. I was pretty shocked
myself. Flew him to Chicago just a couple of days before it happened. I never
would’ve guessed that…” He stopped, noting my expression. “Anyway, I’m sorry.”
    “Thank you,” I said stiffly. Then, feeling guilty for being
unreasonable, I added, “It was a shock to all of us.”
    I expected him to go but instead he looked at the ground and
scuffed the gravel with the heel of his shoe.
    “I was wondering if…well…if you know whether you’ll still be
needing a pilot?”
    The question took me by surprise and I realized with
sympathy that he’d probably been on tenterhooks since Leo’s death, not knowing
if he still had a job. I gave him a reassuring smile.
    “Mr. Fenton will be running the show—for a while at least,
until the will has been probated—and he’ll undoubtedly want to keep you on.
After that…I can’t say just yet but I wouldn’t worry if I were you.”
    He seemed relieved and smiled, breaking his angular face
into an interesting pattern of creases and showing a beautiful set of teeth.
    “That’s good to hear, Miz Dirkston. Thanks.” He touched a
hand to his forehead in salute. “You have a nice day, now,” he said and
sauntered off around the building toward the docks just as David reappeared.
    “I hope he wasn’t bothering you,” David said, frowning.
    “Not at all. He’s just worried about his job. It’s
understandable.”
    “I already told him you’d be keeping him on the payroll and
I’ve put him to work around here too. Guess he wanted to get it straight from
the horse’s mouth. By the way, how did it go this morning?”
    I shrugged. “It went as we expected.”
    He didn’t seem at all concerned about the will which
surprised me. If he still felt anything for me, it certainly didn’t include
jealousy. Then realization dawned and I grimaced. No one has told him!
    “David…” I began but his look of quizzical innocence so
disarmed me I couldn’t continue. The others had obviously tried to “protect”
David, just as they had me. What surprised me most was that even his own father
didn’t have the foresight to prepare him for the shock. Like the cowards they
were, they’d left it up to me.
    “Let’s go to lunch,” I said. “We’ve got some talking to do.”
    * * * * *
    David paced up and down, his beige deck shoes leaving
unstable craters in the loose sand. He rarely indulged in cigarettes but now he
puffed angrily, blowing smoke out through his nostrils like a dragon. Little
beads of perspiration dotted his forehead and upper lip and he wiped them
absently with a handkerchief. It was one of the few times I’d seen him this
upset.
    “I can’t believe this,” he muttered. “The old coot must’ve
been mad!”
    I bristled at this attack on my father but I understood his
anger. Hadn’t I reacted in just the same way?
    “No, David, if he were crazy, we’d have grounds to dissolve
the will.” I was trying my hardest to remain calm.
    “Oh, that’s right, Suzanna, make jokes! Don’t you care at
all? Do you have any idea what this means?”
    He stopped in front of the picnic table where I sat, his
hands on his hips, cigarette clamped in one corner of his mouth, his fair hair
lifting in the wind.
    “Yes, I do,” I replied evenly. “And I wasn’t making jokes.
You seem to think you’re the only one who’s been upset by this. How do you
think I feel? Do you think I want to marry Grant Fenton?”
    He continued to glare at me until gradually my words
registered and his expression softened. “I don’t know what to think,” he said. “I
just can’t believe Dad or Colin didn’t tell me about all this before.” He
turned his head and gazed down the beach, dotted with the last of the truly
dedicated sun worshipers.
    I shrugged. “I’m sure they thought they were protecting us.”
This was Giles’ argument and I hoped it would