Under The Boardwalk

“I think I’ll take the train,” she said, sounding much more flirtatious than she wanted to.

“Too dangerous. We’re training new engineers before the season starts.”

Gus laughed and then sobered quickly, thinking of how late she’d be here tonight and how she’d have to struggle all summer to make a profit. She’d be baking and decorating faster than the spinning rides in Kiddieland.

Gus couldn’t invite any kind of a friendship with Jack Hamilton—too many people depended on her commitment and hard work. And her current loyalty was to the other vendors. Even after only a few weeks, they were starting to feel like family.

“You’re a busy man, I hear. Too busy to be bothered with lease vendors like me.”

The smile creasing his face and lighting his eyes flashed out like a switched-off bulb. Gus felt a stab of guilt at her bitter words. But they were the truth.

She walked away and shoved through the swinging saloon-style doors into her bakery.

CHAPTER SEVEN (#ulink_887b514b-4169-5c38-b86f-34cf3eb6096f)

JACK’S GUT WAS doing somersaults as he did a walk-through of Starlight Point on the afternoon before opening day. If he’d had to sign anything right now, he wouldn’t have been able to hold the pen steady. The nervous tension was like a vibrating drum in his chest, its rhythms spiking upward through his neck and shoulders.

He had done this final walk-through with his father every year of his life. He barely remembered the early years, but he had seen pictures—him riding in a red wagon behind his father as he pointed out all the changes and new rides constructed over the winter. He noticed everything—even as a child—any new sign, a different paint color on the trim of a building, a cart parked in a new location. And the rides, of course he noticed those. He was still a ride junkie after all these years.

But he was all grown up. His mother hauled Betty around in that red wagon now.

“Want company?” Evie asked, her voice and her hand on his arm equally soft. His youngest sister had always been a quiet force in an energetic house. June had tended toward fiery competition mixed with fierce love and loyalty. Evie was more like their mother. Quietly determined, strong underneath.

“I’d love your company,” Jack said. “But...”

“Don’t worry.” Evie grinned, pointing at her running shoes. “I’ll keep up.”

“Good thing. Or you’re going in the wagon.”

They walked briskly, both of them blessed with the long Hamilton legs. From the front entrance to the farthest Western-themed train station at the tip of the peninsula, it was just shy of one and a half miles. Starlight Point was a deep peninsula jutting into the lake, covered with rides, food, noise and people. A long beach on the lakeside and a curved marina on the bay side made sure the fun didn’t end where the water began.

“Are we going through the hotel, too, floor by floor and hall by hall?” Evie asked.

“That’s your favorite part. When you were little and got to come along, you used to make up stories about all the famous people you imagined staying in the rooms and walking the hallways.”

“In pretty dresses and fancy dinner clothes.”

Jack grimaced. “If you must.”

“Just don’t hide then jump out and scare me. I hate that.”

“Come on,” Jack said. “I haven’t done that since...”

“Last year.”

“Has it been that long? I’ve got some catching up to do. People will think I’ve lost my reckless charm.”

Evie was silent a moment as they passed through a park entrance toward the beach. They clunked through the turnstile and paused to watch the water as they leaned on the ornate iron beach railing.

Jack turned and found his little sister staring at him. “What?” he asked.

“I was thinking how much you look like Dad.”

“Not sure that’s a compliment. Do I look that old?”

“No,” she said. “Not yet anyway. Maybe after a few months in charge of this place.”

Jack laughed and draped a long arm over Evie’s shoulders. She was only twenty-one, and the six years between them made him feel protective of her, made him wonder how and when he was going to tell her the truth about their father’s debt. He couldn’t put it off forever and risk dumping a mess on his family. Like his father had.

“I miss him, too,” he said. “I wish I could go back in time and say some things. Ask some things. If I’d had any idea...”

Evie wiped a tear from her cheek, pulling back to look at her brother. “If you’d known you’d be running Starlight Point this summer, what would you have asked Dad?”

“How to do everything.”

“You already know everything about Starlight Point. You’ve been training to run it since you were born. I thought Dad shared everything with you already?”

Jack frowned and stared at his feet.

“You’ve been his right-hand man,” Evie insisted.

Jack turned his gaze to the water, not sure how much to reveal to his younger sister. Protecting her meant lying to her.

“You know,” Evie continued, “the secret trapdoors, the key to the safe, how to get gum off the midway, what we do with the giant collection of coins we find under the coasters. All that stuff.”

“I know about the coins at least. We donate that money to a local charity. Mom picks one every year.”

“See,” Evie said, smiling and patting his arm. “You’ll be fine.”

“I wish I had as much confidence in me as you do.” He tried to keep his voice light as he took her arm and steered them down the boardwalk toward the hotel.

After his father’s unexpected death, his mother had turned the company over to her three children. They were equal partners and owners. His sisters had unanimously elected Jack the leader and president because June lived out of state and Evie had one year of college left. Jack’s excitement about the leader’s job hadn’t lasted long, but his mother and sisters believed in him. And he had no choice but to keep moving forward.