Chapter Fifteen

Tucker Hale was half tempted to punch something.

He wasn’t a violent man, but at times, his hot temper flared and got the best of him, and this was beginning to feel like one of those times.

Having gotten an early morning SOS text from his business manager, he had scrawled a note to Elise, thrown some clothes in a bag and hit the road, headed for Munising, a few hours away from the Keweenaw, from Timberline. The drive had been uneventful, having taken place so early in the morning, but Tucker felt jumpy and unsettled the entire way – both from the events of the night before, and from not having gotten to swim in the lake to clear his head before he left, as was his ritual.

He was glad he had left when he did, though.

Upon arriving at the Munising office of Hale Industries – the catch-all title for the entire logging operation and all its ancillary offshoots – he had learned that one of his most reliable foremen had been badly injured in a fall while securing a mainline, which then snapped, slicing through his guideline and dropping him to the ground.

They weren’t sure of the extent of his injuries yet, but Tucker guessed them to be a grave – broken bones, concussion, internal bleeding and who knew what else. A few inches one way or another, a twisted body, and he could have easily have been killed.

Tucker had stormed into the hospital in Munising – a small operation at best -  and demanded answers, but they weren’t very forthcoming. He suspected that Roger – his foreman – would be moved to a hospital down south before too much longer, no matter if it was serious or not.

Tucker Hale wasn’t a patient man when it came to lack of information, and he wasn’t a patient man when it came to injuries that could have been prevented.

Patience was needed, and there was none of it, hence the need to punch something.

Roger was one of his best, most reliable employees, and if he was hurt due to negligence or laziness, heads were going to roll, Tucker vowed silently.

He finally took a deep breath and unclenched his fist, which was mostly for show anyway. He wasn’t going to punch something, no matter the urge.

“Dan?” Tucker said, calling over his business manager from where they were standing in the emergency room. “The nurse said we won’t get a report for at least an hour or two. Why don’t you go back to the office, and I’ll call you when I know something.”

“Where are you going?” Dan asked, nodding his agreement, already sliding his keys out of his pocket.

“For a drive,” Tucker replied tightly. “Clear my head.”

“Still know your way around here?” Dan joked and Tucker chuckled, knowing it was a dig that Tucker didn’t come down this way very often, but seemed to always be flying off to further and further locations, away from the heart of the company that started right here in the Upper Peninsula. Munising was part of the company’s early success – from when it was started years and years ago – but the times changes.

Progress – and success – demanded a wider and wider reach in today’s market. And so, Tucker traveled further and further to make it happen.

Some days, like today, he wondered what he was working so damn hard for. Who the hell was he leaving this legacy to?

“Yeah, I think I can fumble my way around,” Tucker said with a wry grin, and the two men shook hands before parting.

Tucker thought about just hanging a left out of the parking lot and going to Sand Point Beach, a narrow strip of white sand just a couple of minutes down the road, but instead, he hung a right, caught Highway 58 out of town and then turned at the road marked for Miner’s Castle, a highly recognizable landmark in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Before reaching the Castle road though, he turned off, his truck bumping over the graveled road until he parked in the small parking area for Miner’s Beach. There wasn’t another car in sight, which Tucker took to be a good sign.

He strolled down the wooded path away from the parking lot, descended the stairs, then took a deep breath as he sank onto the soft sand of Miner’s Beach, which, at nine in the morning was completely deserted. He looked left and right, admiring the way the beach seemed to be hemmed in by the huge rock formations, and the bright, crystal blue of the water, heard the sound of the gentle waves hitting the sand.

And right now, he had it all to himself.

He smiled, knowing that Elise would enjoy exploring this beach – it had its fair share of beach glass and rocks, and an inlet for Miner’s River, which was fun to explore. He bet she could get some spectacular pictures here, especially with the sun shining like it was.

He walked for a while, clearing his head, but still worrying about Roger in the hospital. He slid his phone from his pocket every few minutes, but it didn’t ring, making him crazy.

Finally, he gave up the pretense and dialed the number for Timberline, sinking down into the sand where he stood and staring out at the waves, tucking his legs under him, Indian style.

“Hale residence,” Tucker smiled just at the sound of Elise’s soothing voice coming through the line.

He didn’t say anything for a moment, and then cleared his throat. “Hi.”

Oh, scintillating start, Hale, he thought with a mental head slap.

He could hear the smile in her voice, though. “Hi. How are you? Did you arrive safely?”

How long had it been since someone cared where he was and if he was safe?

“I did, thanks,” Tucker replied. “I… I don’t know why I called.”

“Did you forget something?” Elise asked, and Tucker shook his head no, even though she couldn’t see him.

“I’m just… I’m pissed off, I guess, and feeling helpless, and I just… wanted to talk to a friendly face, I guess,” Tucker admitted after a long moment.

“Do you want to tell me what happened? Your note didn’t say.”

Tucker described the accident as it had been explained to him, and expanded on his fears for Roger’s family, for the damage to his business’s reputation, and to just feeling completely helpless that someone got hurt under the auspices of his organization, his business.

“There was nothing you could do differently, even if you were standing right there,” Elise said evenly. “You are in a risk-reward business, and things happen. You can’t take it all on your shoulders, and I know you’ll do everything in your power to take care of Roger and his family, no matter what his medical outcome is. I know you will.”

“I will, I just… I don’t like being…”

“Helpless, I know,” Elise said. “Bit of a control freak thing going on there.”

Tucker grinned at her astute observation. “Oh, pot calling the kettle black?”

“You don’t know I’m a control freak,” Elise shot back.

“Are you?”

Elise thought for a moment. “About some things, yes, but others… life happens, and if we try so hard to control everything about it, it will crush our souls and swallow our lives right up.”

“That’s…” Tucker swallowed, suddenly thinking back to her veiled references to her foster care upbringing, to knowing how she could believe that about her soul. “Sad, but true, I guess. I hope you don’t feel any soul crushing at the moment.”

Elise sighed, a contented sigh. “Betsy is working on an English essay I assigned her, Rose is baking blueberry muffins in the kitchen, the sun is shining on the water and I’m talking to a new friend on the phone while walking on a beach in the middle of God’s country. No, no soul crushing here.”

Tucker smiled at the complete image she painted, content and feeling a bit more even keeled as he pictured it. “I’m glad I called. I needed that, something else to focus on.”

“My pleasure,” Elise replied. “Where are you?”

He took several minutes to describe the pristine beach around her, and Elise made him promise to take her and Betsy to it the next time he had a business meeting in Munising. “It sounds beautiful,” she said, and he smiled.

“It is. I know you would love it. I know how much you like walking on the beach, especially in the evenings.”

“How do you know?”

“I watch you. I mean,” Tucker hastily interjected, “I don’t watch you, I’ve just seen you. That wasn’t meant to be as creepy as it sounded.”

Elise laughed, a deep, throaty laugh that made his belly tighten. “Dirty old man, spying on the girl on the beach having quiet time.”

It was Tucker’s turn to laugh. Why was it always so much easier to let your guard down when the other person was so many miles away? “Dirty old man? Is that how you think of me?”

“Of course,” Elise said with a teasing tone.

“Ouch.”

“Do you have better phrase in mind?”

Tucker thought. “Foxy older dude.”

“And sooo modest,” Elise shot back. “And I’m not a girl.”

“To me you are,” Tucker said. “You are such an old soul, and yet, when I look at you, I’m reminded of just how young you are.”

“I’m an old soul?”

“I think you would be even without your upbringing, but I think your… past has made you much older than anyone your age should have to be.”

“I like being an old soul,” Elise replied. “I’ve never had much patience for silliness and parties and time wasting. I’m just… boring.”

“You aren’t boring,” Tucker replied. “Not to me. At all.”

“Thanks,” Elise said softly. “You aren’t boring either.”

They sat in silence on the phone, both of them staring out at the same wide expanse of water, so many miles between them but still feeling connected.

“Actually, I have a confession to make,” Elise said after a long moment. “I’ve seen you too,” she admitted shyly.

“Where?”

“On the beach, in the mornings, during your swims,” Elise said. “Every morning, without fail, I know if I look out I’ll see you doing laps. Don’t you get cold?”

“Yes,” he admitted with a laugh. “But I have to do it. It keeps me sane, clears my head. Makes me feel alive.”

“I’d like it noted, sir, that at least when I’m walking on the beach, I’m properly attired,” Elise said with a grin in her voice.

Tucker laughed out loud at that. “Sometimes I wear a Speedo, sometimes…”

“Yes, sir, I know,” Elise replied, blushing at the memory of looking out a few mornings ago to see Tucker emerging from the water, not a stitch of clothing on. She’d gaped, open mouthed for a long moment before fleeing the window in case he saw her gawking. “I’m aware.”

“I apologize,” Tucker said, not sounding sorry at all.

“I’m an impressionable young girl, and that could have scarred me for life,” Elise shot back, still grinning.

“Oh, I’m sure I could find other ways to shock you, given the chance,” Tucker replied. They were both silent for a moment, absorbing the sexual undertone in his reply, then Tucker cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed. “I mean…”

“Impressionable and a young girl, now,” Elise said. “I’m going down in your estimation by the minute,” she said.

He shook his head no, though she couldn’t see him. “On the contrary. Your innocence and youth are refreshing. It’s easy to be jaded at my age.”

And what age is that, sir?”

“Thirty six, and don’t call me sir.”

“Anyone that old sort of demands to be called sir,” Elise shot back without hesitation.

“Oh, it’s going to be that way, is it?” Tucker replied. “Little imp. Child. Impressionable, headstrong girl.”

They were both laughing now, more comfortable and at ease with the miles between them than if they were together, as though the distance created an extra barrier of security, of comfort… of flirtation.

And both of them knew this was more than camaraderie – this was flirting.

And yet, neither one seemed to mind.

“I should go,” Tucker said with reluctance. “I wish I could stay here all day and talk to you, and…”

“We’ll go sometime, to Munising, with Betsy. I’ll bring my camera, we’ll make a day of it. But right now, you need to be with Roger,” Elise said, bringing him back to reality. “Go.”

“Elise…”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you,” Tucker said, his voice full of sincerity. “I… I needed this. To get my brain back on track. Thanks.”

“My specialty,” she said lightly. “Call and let Betsy and I know your plans, and when you might be home. Until then, no streaking on any beaches, yes? We don’t want you scaring the natives.”

Tucker was still laughing as he hung up.

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