“But good news—my dad is bringing us the key,” he said.
“Yourdad?” Sam asked.
“Yes,” Lincoln said. “Let’s go for a walk. I’ll show you the greenhouses and the hiking trail while we wait.”
Sam hesitated. She loved nature and hiked whenever she had the opportunity, but just then she felt uneasy. Lincoln seemed too relaxed, considering Maeve was missing and the weird surprise that his family was connected to this property. Sam didn’t want to go wandering off with him; in fact, she realized that she didn’t even want to be there at all.
“Let’s go back to the Ocean House,” Sam said. “Call your dad back and save him a trip.”
“He’s already on the way,” Lincoln said.
They walked into the greenhouse, hot and humid from sunlight pouring through the glass and moisture from the sprinklers. Long rows of benches were covered with pots of geraniums and petunias. Baskets hung overhead, artfully planted with summer flowers. A large adjacent annual garden was enclosed with a wire fence. Sam could see cosmos, zinnias, dahlias, and other bright flowers. Several plants appeared to have been gnawed down almost to the ground. Lincoln walked over to examine them.
“Damn squirrels,” he said. “Wait here.”
Sam watched him run into the barn. A few minutes later, he came back with a large black plastic box. He stepped over the wire enclosure and began looking for a place to put it.
“What is that?” Sam asked.
“Pest control. Rodenticide.”
“No,” she said. “Don’t put it there. Animals eat the poison, and it causes internal bleeding, they bleed to death. It’s horrible—they suffer.”
“And they stop eating our flowers.”
“Do you realize that if you poison the squirrels, it will also poison anything that eats them? Cats, owls, hawks?” Sam asked.
“People should keep their cats inside,” Lincoln said sharply. “Outdoor cats don’t stand a chance in the country—too many predators. You can’t worry about everything, Sam.”
Yes, you can, Sam thought. “Lincoln, please don’t do it.”
He completely ignored her and began walking along the rows of plants, looking for a place to hide the black plastic box. She wanted to yank it out of his hands, but he gave her a strange smile that sent prickles down the back of her neck, and she froze.
“Fine,” he said. “I won’t poison the rodents.”
“Let’s go back to the Ocean House,” she said again.
“What’s the difference, there or here? We’re still going to be waiting.”
“I want to see Kate.”
“She hasn’t even been answering your calls,” Lincoln said.
His mood had changed dramatically since speaking to his father. She felt as if something was about to happen, and it scared her. She wasn’t sure she felt it directly from Lincoln or from the garden property, but she knew she wanted to get away from there.
Just then, she heard tires on gravel. The driveway wasn’t visible from here, over by the barn. Lincoln looked surprised. He walked halfway to the lodge, leaned to see around the building, and saw the car that was approaching. Then he hurried back to Sam.
“Come on, let’s hide,” he said.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“My dad and someone I don’t want to see,” Lincoln said. He reached for Sam’s hand and tugged her toward the barn. “Don’t let them see you.”
“Why, what’s wrong?” Sam asked.
“Tell you later,” he said. “Just hide, Sam.” He pushed her into the barn, threw the poison box into a corner, and slid the door closed behind him.
With the door closed, the barn was dark, but slivers of light came through cracks in the boards. Sam’s thoughts were racing. Why was Lincoln so insistent that she hide? Was he embarrassed to be with her? Maybe he was afraid that his father would wonder why he was with her instead of Maeve. Sam felt foolish and annoyed, hiding in a barn, so she decided to just walk out into the sunshine and say hello.
