6 Maple Leaf Hunter Read online

  I smiled. I knew what it would be, and it tickled me to see that the shot glass he picked out featured the Horseshoe Falls. Darby and I had a shot glass from every place we had visited together. I turned to Mick and asked, “Are we ever going to start a collection of our own? If we are, now would be a good time to start.”

  He grinned and said, “Let’s stick with photos for now. Maybe Lizzie can help us decide what to collect when she’s a little older.”

  Nate pulled a picture frame out of one of the bags. “Look at this,” he said. We all laughed. The frame had a cute moose in a humorous position sticking out from the top. He smiled at Alex. “Get some shots of me and Darby. I want to frame the best one.”

  Darby moved to stand in front of a section of pretty flowers. He struck a pose worthy of a magazine, and I wasn’t surprised in the least when several girls stopped to watch Alex take his picture.

  Nate was like a kid who had overdosed on sugar. He was animated and hilarious as he contorted himself into unusual positions around Darby. I waited for him to put his fingers up in rabbit ears behind his head. I didn’t have to wait long. Darby simply held his pose and his adorable smile the entire time. It was a fun way to end our visit to the Falls.

  Chapter Four

  “Are you sure you want to publish your book under your maiden name?” Amy asked. “Using Susan Hunter won’t keep people from finding out who you are if you’re wanting to use it as a pseudonym.”

  My agent had asked the question before, and I knew she was giving me one last chance to change my mind before I signed the contract on the table before me.

  While I gave the matter a last few moments of thought, I looked over to the glass wall, which offered a view to the hotel hallway. Nate stood there grinning like a Cheshire cat and waving like a fool.

  I almost choked trying to hold back laughter. Darby rapidly came into view, and in quick order pushed Nate down the hallway and out of sight.

  I knew the guys were excited to get on the road and head north to the lodge. Darby’s meeting with Buckets was obviously over, and I knew they were waiting for me to finish up with my meeting.

  We had arrived in Toronto early last evening. After a quick trip to the observation deck of the CN Tower, Nate dropped Mick and me at the Ritz-Carlton before setting off to find the campgrounds for the night.

  Rainbow Kids Publishing had delivered a fruit basket to our room, and Mick had arranged for chilled champagne and chocolate covered strawberries upon our arrival. I felt incredibly special.

  The room was lovely with a view overlooking Lake Ontario. We took full advantage of the large soaking tub, the comfortable bathrobes, and room service. The time spent with Mick was sensual, relaxing, and definitely rivaled our honeymoon in Paris.

  I was still walking on air when I entered the hotel restaurant to meet my agent, Amy, and the publisher’s representative, Joy.

  I had been nervous about meeting the women, but it was all for naught. Both women were friendly, and by the time we had finished talking about children, dogs, and holidays, it felt as if we had always been friends.

  “I’m sure about my name,” I said. “Mick and I have talked about it, and with Lizzie being so young, we think it might be in her best interest not to have her last name on the book.”

  Both women looked puzzled.

  “We feel good about the book,” I said. “And we think Stuck in the Bushes will be a success. Because she’ll be in school when the book comes out, we thought it would be best if we distanced her from answering questions about the author name and her name. We both think it could be a distraction in the future.”

  The women didn’t appear to be convinced, but it was my decision to make, and I was going to publish under Susan Hunter rather than Susan Raines.

  I followed up my comment with, “Besides, with Mick owning Raines Construction, it will be easier to keep my business finances separate from his and even from our family account.”

  This comment made more sense to the women, and they both nodded in agreement.

  “In that case,” Joy said as she slid a pen to me, “unless you have any questions, I think this is where my work begins.”

  If I wouldn’t have been in a public setting, I would have jumped up and down with glee. I had already read the contract, and Mick’s attorney had gone over it as well. I was confident as I signed my name.

  Joy took the paper and handed a check to me. It wasn’t a large amount, but it was a start, and I was thrilled. There would be another check when the book was in print and ready for distribution. Any money beyond that would be in the form of royalties if the book was well received.

  “There’s just one more thing,” Amy said. She handed a slip of paper to me.

  I was confused by the second check I now held in my hand. The puzzled look on my face caused both women to laugh.

  Joy said, “Susan, Rainbow Kids Publishing is excited about Stuck in the Bushes, but we also like Princess Pancake, and we want to publish that book, too. If you accept the advance payment today, we’ll draw up the contract and send it to Amy for you to sign. However, there is one caveat. We’d like you to use the same family from Stuck in the Bushes. We’d like little Margaret to be the Princess Pancake in your story. We think you might have the beginning of a nice series here.”

  My mouth dropped open for a second. I hadn’t heard anything from them about Princess Pancake, and I had assumed they didn’t like the story. It never occurred to me to use the same family from the first book, and I was thrilled Joy thought there could be a series.

  “Oh my gosh, yes! Thank you so much,” I gushed.

  Both women beamed. Joy began gathering her papers and folders and placing them into her briefcase. “Wonderful,” she said as she stood from the table. “Ladies, it’s been a pleasure. Susan, I’m glad we could meet today. I’ll be in touch.”

  Joy left the room, and Amy and I were like two excited kids for a few minutes before discussing the timelines for both books. We walked out together and found Mick, Darby, Nate, and Alex waiting on benches in the hallway.

  Amy hugged me and headed for the elevator. I ran into Mick’s arms and squealed into his neck.

  Alex rolled his eyes and turned away from us, but Darby and Nate were quickly by my side wanting to know what happened. As fast I could get it out, I told them about the advance on the second book and the possibility of a series. Nate grabbed Darby in a bear hug and squealed into his neck. I burst into laughter. He sounded just like me. Alex moved farther away from us.

  After a few more minutes of hugs, kisses, and congratulations, I asked Darby, “How did things go with Buckets? Did you get a contract?”

  “No,” he said. “I think I offended the owner when I asked about the company name. He said one of his Irish ancestors invented the bucket hat. He thinks he can make the hat mainstream again and more popular than a baseball cap.”

  “You have to be kidding,” I said, laughing. “I don’t know anyone who would willingly wear a bucket hat – unless maybe they were fishing.” Thoughts of the bucket had I had worn when we went deep-sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico came to mind. Everything about the thought made me shudder.

  Darby knew why I cringed, and he smiled. “The meeting was pleasant,” he said. “I left samples of my work, but I don’t think I’ll be hearing from them again.” His carefree attitude made it apparent he didn’t really care.

  Mick glanced at his watch and said with a huge smile, “We’re checked out. Let’s go fishing.”

  He was soon maneuvering the RV out of the city. I insisted on sitting up front with him to navigate. Nate had planned to be the navigator on this leg of the trip, but I assured him I was a whiz at reading maps and would have us out of the city in no time.

  It was true. After driving all over northeast Ohio for Slimmers Weight Loss, I was very good with directions and reading maps, but I had an ulterior motive for wanting to navigate as we pulled away from the hotel.

  With the map spread out b
efore me, I directed Mick to make right and left turns until I eventually guided him onto the Gardiner Expressway traveling west. No one realized we were heading in the wrong direction until Nate stuck his head between us to see how we were doing and saw we had continued onto the QEW.

  “I thought you were a pro at reading maps,” he said.

  “I am,” I said. “I know exactly where we are.”

  “Mick, she has you driving back toward Ohio,” he said.

  “Tattletale,” I said.

  Mick shot a puzzled look my way.

  “Your turnoff north is just ahead,” I told him. “Take the next exit and go straight. I thought it might be nice to go out around the city and take a more scenic route.” I stepped out of my seat. “Here, Nate, you can take over.” I showed him where we were on the map, and the route I had set for Mick. He laughed when he saw how far off course I had taken us. I did feel a little guilty. I had added more than an hour to our trip.

  I stepped into the living area. Alex was in the bedroom taking a nap. I sat down next to Darby on the sofa.

  “What was that all about?” he asked with a grin. “Why would you deliberately send us so far out of our way?”

  I glanced at Nate and Mick. They were talking about Niagara Falls and not paying attention to us.

  “I talked with Sam yesterday,” I told him. “She said there were four gold bars stolen from the Pirata exhibit at the mall.”

  “So?” he asked.

  “Don’t freak,” I said softly, “but I think it has something to do with the man who ran into me.”

  He lowered his voice, too, but said incredulously, “You can’t be serious. The man died. If he had gold bars on him, they would have found them right away.”

  “I can’t tell you exactly why I think he was involved, but I do,” I said. “And then that guy giving Alex rocks was too weird. I checked all through the bag thinking the gold was in it, but there were only rocks.”

  Darby shook his head to dissuade me. “Alex said the guy was friendly, and he didn’t seem like the criminal type.”

  “I don’t care,” I said. “It was weird. And then there was the guy trying to get into the RV.”

  “Most likely a drunk,” he said.

  “Maybe,” I said. “But it could have been someone coming to get the gold.”

  “What gold?” he asked. His voice went up an octave. “Susan, your imagination is out of control. This is because we’re traveling, isn’t it? Bad things happen to you when you’re away from home, so you’re making something out of this, too.”

  My feelings were instantly hurt. I punched him on the arm and said, “No, I’m not. There were two construction workers eavesdropping on Sam and me at the mall. They knew Mick and I were going to Niagara Falls and Toronto this weekend. I didn’t recognize the guy who gave Alex the rocks, but when he was taking pictures at Table Rock, I saw one of the construction workers there. Alex said the man asked him for the time and then asked him where he was staying. Who does that? I’m sure he was trying to find out where the RV was. I think they might have slipped the gold in here somewhere so they could get it across the border, and now they need to retrieve it.”

  “Why didn’t they bring it over themselves?” he asked.

  “There’re probably on some sort of no-fly list,” I said.

  “The border isn’t an airport, Susan,” he said sarcastically.

  I knew exasperation was creeping into my voice. “I know,” I said. “But I’m sure they have lists where vehicles belonging to certain people are searched whenever they cross the border. One of Mick’s friends is pulled over for a vehicle search every time, and he travels to Canada several times a year.”

  Darby had made a promise to me a couple of years ago to listen and trust me whenever I felt something was amiss. It was as if a switch flipped, and he suddenly remembered his promise.

  “Ok,” he said. “I’ll buy into your theory for now. Have you searched in here?”

  “Not yet,” I said.

  “Well, we have a six hour drive ahead of us, so we might as well look,” he said. “But you didn’t answer my question. Why send us out of our way?”

  “It’s simple,” I said. “If someone watched us leave the city, I wanted it to appear we were headed for home.”

  It sounded like a dumb idea the moment I said it. If someone followed us to see if we were going home, they were probably still following us.

  “Did you see anyone who looked suspicious in Toronto?” he asked.

  “I didn’t,” I admitted. “But it doesn’t mean they weren’t there. When we get onto less traveled roads, we should keep an eye out and make sure we aren’t being followed.”

  I had a hard time reading the expression on his face, but I knew he was on my side when he slipped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him for a quick hug before asking with a mischievous smile, “You haven’t told Mick about any of this, have you?”

  I shook my head and said, “No.”

  He kept his arm around my shoulders and whispered, “If you see anyone else, or if anything strange happens while we’re at the lodge, you tell me, and we’ll tell Mick together.”

  I smiled and returned his hug. There was no way I was telling Mick any of this.

  Chapter Five

  “Susan, wake up. We’re almost there.”

  It took a moment to come fully awake from the deep sleep. I looked around to see Nate was now driving. Alex had taken the seat beside him, and Darby was sitting at the table working a crossword puzzle. I sat up and snuggled next to Mick.

  Darby and I had searched the entire RV on the premise of looking for a misplaced book, but we didn’t turn up any gold. We made pizza snacks for Mick and Nate before playing several rounds of gin rummy. After I won every game but one, I grabbed a book out of my bag and sat on the sofa to read. An attack of the yawns kept me from reading for very long, and I slipped under a lightweight blanket to grab a catnap of my own. I had obviously been asleep for a couple of hours if we were already to the campground.

  “I’m surprised I slept so long. Why didn’t you wake me sooner?” I asked.

  “You’ve had a busy weekend and an exciting morning,” he said. “You slept through it when I was pulled over for speeding about an hour ago. I figured you needed the sleep if you didn’t wake up for all of that excitement.”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t wake me,” I exclaimed. “How fast were you going? Did you get a ticket?”

  Darby snickered.

  “I was doing twenty-seven in a twenty-five,” Mick said with a grin. “I guess it wasn’t fast enough for the officer to use his siren. He only used his lights, but he did let me off with a warning.”

  I smiled. There plainly wasn’t any real excitement.

  “Where exactly are we?” I asked.

  Darby looked out the window and said, “We just went through the town of Silver Run. The turnoff for the campground should be in about ten minutes.”

  “I thought you might want to get awake and get your wits about you before you meet Dan and Emily,” Mick said.

  I scrambled to my feet and looked around for my purse. I definitely wanted to use the RV’s bathroom to wash my face and brush my hair. I leaned down to give Mick a kiss and said, “Thank you.”

  Darby called after me as I headed for the bathroom, “Other than Mick speeding, it’s been smooth sailing, and we haven’t seen much traffic at all.”

  I turned around just in time to catch his wink. I knew he was letting me know we hadn’t been followed.

  A few minutes later, I came out refreshed. Nate was slowly navigating a loose-gravel road leading to the campground. The forest was heavy here, and there wasn’t any sign of water.

  “What’s the name of this place again?” I asked.

  Nate called over his shoulder, “The sign said Big Bear Hunting and Fishing Lodge and Campgrounds.”

  “That’s a mouthful for the receptionist,” I said.

  “I don’t think
there will be a receptionist here,” Mick said. “Dan gave me the impression it’s only him and his wife running the place.”

  How could just two people run a lodge and campgrounds? I couldn’t imagine they wouldn’t have a full staff. Mick must have misunderstood his friend.

  “I’m starving,” Alex said. “Will there be any food there?”

  “They were expecting us to arrive between five and six,” Mick said. “Dan said they’d have dinner waiting.” He looked my way and smiled before saying, “Even though we’re running late, I think they’ll still have dinner for us.”

  We crested a hill to see the Ottawa River in the distance before us. The view was breathtaking with the semi-setting sun glistening on the water and the lodge peeking through an opening in the trees.

  The descent to the campgrounds was steep, but the road made a couple of long sweeping curves back and forth to accommodate the incline. Nate continued to drive cautiously as he made his way to the parking lot below the lodge.

  When we exited the RV, we were facing the river. A freshly mown grassy area led down to the water. Beyond the grass, a small sandy beach was to our left, while a long wooden dock ran parallel to the land on our right. The temperature was comfortable, but there was a definite chill in the air, and I suspected it would be cold when the sun set.

  After surveying our surroundings for a few moments, Mick led the way across the lot to the steps leading up to the lodge. A man appeared at the top of the stairs. I guessed him to be Mick’s friend, Dan. A short, plump woman stood by his side.

  Mick ran up the stairs and gave his friend a bear hug. He then hugged the woman, and I heard her say, “Mick! I haven’t seen you since our wedding. You look fantastic. How are you?”

  Mick’s smile had taken over his entire face. I knew he was happy to reacquaint with his friends. “I’m great,” he said. “Emily, Dan, this is my wife, Susan. Susan, this is my old buddy, Dan, and his wife, Emily.”