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Chapter 1
Placid, 1884
On a day marked by the characteristics of a sad sky and cold gale, an impenetrable chill hovered over the dark and choppy waters. Large mournful ships sat moored along the docks while a thick and dreary fog descended upon the pier. A lone woman stood clutching her shawl, eyes strained to the sea as she awaited the return of her beloved—
“Dammit, Erika, you’re blocking my docking post again.”
Erika Snowden gave a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes before drawing her shawl closer and turned toward the half ox, half man in the fishing boat approaching the wharf where she stood. “Must you always use such foul language, Mr. Colby?”
“As long as you continue to sit on my docking post, I must,” he retorted, gathering up his anchor rope.
“I was not sitting on your post.”
“Oh, well then.” He shot her an insincere look. “My apologies...moaning on my docking post.”
“I was not—” she began again, then broke off abruptly. Her jaw clenched as she worked hard to control her temper as she always did with Jay Colby. She would not allow him to draw her into a public dispute. It seemed as long as she could recall, he gained great pleasure in coercing a person into a heated argument. “You know very well I am waiting for Ryan’s ship.”
His boat came abreast the dock and he easily maneuvered the distance in one large stride, coming to stand next to Erika on the wharf. Immediately she was assaulted by the smell of fish on his person. She placed an index finger beneath her nostrils and looked up at him. Because of his close proximity and great height, she was forced to crane her neck all the way back.
He stood far taller than any other man in town with an equally impressive size and build, which years ago had earned him the nickname of the town’s very own Paul Bunyan, the legendary logger of enormous size and strength whose mythical stories of super power had been recounted numerous times to the ears of Placid’s captivated children. However, it was Jay’s brusque personality that made him the least favored person in Placid. If only he were of no relation to her beloved Ryan.
“Then, as I see it, you’ve got yourself a long wait,” he told her. “With that fog, Ryan’s ship will more than likely be coming in late.”
Erika had already come to that conclusion and eyed the ghost-like clouds surrounding the harbor, which sat on the eastern coast of Lake Huron, and noticed an eerie calm hover over the port. She knew the Francesca, a four-mast schooner transporting Ryan home, would have difficulty navigating through the unrelenting fog.
“That’s assuming he’s even on it.”
This drew her attention unwillingly back to him as she automatically stiffened her spine and placed her hands on her hips. “Oh, rest assured, he’ll be on it.”
Erika knew full well Jay’s snide remark resulted in years of jealousy toward his younger and more adventurous brother.
“I’ll rest just grand, thank you. I’m not the one concerned whether he arrives home tonight or not.”
“I’m not concerned,” she immediately snapped in return.
“Right.” His lip curled in a sarcastic snarl. “Then am I to believe it was for me you were mooning down here on the dock for?”
“Absolutely not! And I’m not moon——” She stopped herself, realizing he was doing it again, trying to lure her into yet another argument. Forcing herself to sound calm, she told him, “I already told you, I am waiting for Ryan.”
“Which could have been accomplished up at your grandfather’s palace since it does overlook the harbor.” He turned and hauled his day’s catch over his shoulder. “Instead of planting your rump on my docking post.”
She had heard his mocking reference to her grandfather’s villa as a palace before, so ignored it and instead told him, “I was concerned about the weather. The harbor isn’t so clear from the house when the fog rolls in.”
“Either way, you’ve probably wasted your time. Whether or not he’s on that boat, she probably won’t make it in this weather.”
“He’ll be on that boat, Jay Colby.”
He sighed wearily, and then turned to go. “Right, as he was so many previous times before.”
“There were logical explanations on those occasions.”
“As I’m sure there will be today.”
“You’re wrong,” she stated, placing her hands on her hips. “Tonight the celebrations for the Spring Festivities kick off and Ryan will not want to miss
his favorite holiday.”
“Well, then. Go right ahead and make your pretty little ass comfortable on that there post of mine as seeing I won’t need it anymore today.”
“Watch your tongue, Jay Colby!” Erika snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. “Mind who you are talking to. I won’t have you referring to my backside in such a vile manner.”
“My apologies, princess,” he said over his shoulder as he turned and headed away from the pier, but just before he did, added, “In future, I’ll try and remember to keep my tongue and your bottom a safe distance apart.”
She gasped and shot a quick glance around the port to ensure no one was within earshot of his vulgar comment. Inside, she felt herself begin to boil. It was hardly possible that big offensive oaf of a man was related in any way to her beloved Ryan. There wasn’t anything she liked about Jay Colby.
Erika released an angry huff at his departing figure and slumped down on his docking post. Just as swiftly, she leaped to her feet as if she had just scolded her backside. She wanted nothing of that filthy man to touch any part of her person. Particularly, her bottom.
* * *
Jay turned the buckboard down the road along the flats where it ran parallel to the coastline. He could hear the incoming tide lapping the frozen shore, even though the fog was so thick he could scarcely make out the lake. He knew the Francesca would not be arriving any time soon. Such was typical of sailors. Their schedules depended entirely on the weather. Something Erika Snowden had a hard time grasping.
Which didn’t really surprise Jay. After all, she had grown up watching her grandfather control nearly everything in Placid. If it so much as tried to move, it wasn’t without his consent.
The morning was already getting late, and unlike Erika, he did not plan to wait around for Ryan’s ship. He was hungry and looking forward to his mother’s steak breakfast. His younger brother would have to find his own transportation back to the farm.
Jay rounded the wagon near a growth of bush along the flats. The wind had picked up considerably on this open stretch of beach causing the trees to roar. In the opposite direction, he could hear the miners hammering and chiseling down at the quarry. Even with the noise levels of both these sounds, the obnoxiously loud clamoring of the construction site from where he was headed nearly drowned them out. When the massive wooden structure appeared in his path, Jay instinctively felt his insides coil.
The blasted monstrosity spanned a good two hundred yards wide and three stories high. And a complete eye sore on the otherwise spectacular shoreline.
As he drew up alongside, he groaned inwardly at the sight of a formally dressed gentleman standing on the first floor scaffold. It was bad enough being forced to speak to Erika Snowden so early in the day, but now her grandfather as well.
The tall, white-haired man turned at the sound of Jay’s approaching wagon. “Come to your senses at last, boy?”
He knew Gerald Snowden was fully aware of his feelings regarding the building of this oversized playhouse, and only intended to irk him with this comment. “I’ve told you before, I’m not interested. I’m only here to pick up my brother.”
“A boy like yourself could use the work.”
Jay clenched his teeth. He knew exactly what type of boy Gerald Snowden thought he was.
“Even your brother has enough sense to take a good paying job when it’s offered.”
“My brother makes his own choices in life,” he said as he glanced beyond Gerald Snowden in search of Garrett Colby. He sighed with irritation when he made no appearance. “Besides, it’s not the work I’m against. Just your building.”
“The resort?”
“If that’s what you’re calling it.”
“You have an issue with my building a tourist attraction that will bring in thousands upon thousands of tourists to Placid?”
