Take a Chance on Me(78)

“So do you.”

He did? Darek fought a strange swell of warmth.

“I wouldn’t trust this property to anyone but you, Darek. You know the forest; you know fires.” He turned to his son. “This property is over one hundred years old. It was the hottest place on the shore fifty years ago. We used to have dances right there, in that old pavilion.” He pointed to the broken shelter, the one Darek longed to tear down. He’d forbidden Tiger from playing under it, had roped it off, away from guests. A yellow flag fluttered in the breeze, connected to the rope.

“Your great-great-grandfather built the lodge with his own hands, and your mother and I got married right there, on the point.” His father looked up to the sky then, to where a dark, smoky cloud rolled over the lake. A haze had settled over the forest, probably blown all the way to town, turning the air to ash. “Do whatever it takes to save Evergreen Resort, Darek. I’m trusting it into your hands.”

Casper was watching them, had his ear protection removed and hanging around his neck.

“Don’t worry, Dad; I got this.”

His father clapped him on the shoulder, squeezed. “Evergreen is in the good hands of my sons. By the way, I was thinking, with your men staying here, we might be able to scrape up enough for a down payment on Gibs’s place. He’s back from the hospital but staying at the care center for a while. I thought I’d stop by, see what he says—”

“Darek!”

Darek looked up and frowned at the sight of Diane Wolfe striding down the path.

“She’s got her game face on,” his father said.

Indeed, this seemed a business visit—he’d seen that expression before. Like the time the Holloways had sued for custody. And twice after that, when they’d accused him of neglect.

He ignored the knot in his chest, tried to keep his voice cool. “Hey, Diane. What’s going on?”

“Hello, Darek. John. Casper.” The social worker, never a woman to flinch, came out hard and fast with her words. “There’s been a complaint, Darek.”

Nice. “What now?”

“I have to say, there are grounds. Tiger looks pretty beat up.”

Beat up? He felt his father’s hand on his shoulder. “He fell. Off the top bunk a couple weeks ago. And then at the Fourth of July fireworks. But he’s fine now.”

“We have pictures. And then there’s the complaint from yesterday.”

Darek stepped out of his father’s touch. “What kind of complaint?”

“Brawling. Violence. The allegation is ‘egregious incident involving a child.’ It alleges emotional trauma—”

“Tiger was fine!” Darek throttled his voice to low. “Listen, he was a little scared, is all.”

Her lips tightened into a thin, unforgiving line.

He took a breath. “Diane. Nan hates me. You know this. She hates the fact that Felicity died and I didn’t. And she’s been trying to take Tiger from me since the day of Felicity’s funeral.”

“I have to investigate every complaint, Darek.”

“You tore our lives inside out last time. Tiger had to stay with a foster family—do you know how crazy that made him? He started wetting the bed again and—”

“These are serious neglect and egregious emotional injury allegations, Darek. You know you have to cooperate. I advise you to simply submit to another home study—”

“So you can what? Observe me as I feed my son, put him to bed? Read him a story? Explain to him why his grandmother thinks I would hurt him? Diane, it’s me. You know me. For pete’s sake, you go to my church.”

“We’re not saying you’d hurt him—just that there may be neglect.” She shot a look at John, her face pinched. “Especially this time of year.”

“What, you think running the resort will result in my forgetting I have a child? If anything, Tiger is better cared for with all of us home. No. This is stupid. I’m done cooperating. Back off, Diane. And tell Nan that if she ever wants to see Tiger again, she’ll have to stop accusing me of hurting my own son!” He didn’t care that his voice rose, reverberated through the forest. “Get off my property!”

She stood there.

He looked toward the empty parking lot. No wonder Nan was late bringing back his son. He tore off his gloves, dropped them in the wheelbarrow. Stalked past her.

“Where are you going?”

Darek turned around, walking backward. “I’m going to get my son before his grandmother skips town with him.”

Diane narrowed her eyes. “I’m warning you, Darek—”

“You’d better not be here when I get back.”