Deep Waters

to dinner. Local folks with families dined early in Whispering Waters Cove.
    The early evening crowd, which consisted of a couple of truckers, a handful of tourists, and the town's few singles, most of whom were single for a good reason, had begun to settle in for the evening.
    "I want an answer, Winters. I'm not leaving until I get it. Charity's been through a lot."
    "I know."
    "Has she told you all of it? How she took over Truitt Department Stores and single-handedly pulled it out of the quicksand in which my father had managed to sink it?"
    Elias wrapped his hand around the wet beer glass. "I'm aware of the fact that she was the guiding force behind its comeback. Everyone in the Northwest business community knows the story."
    "Yeah, well, you may not be aware of the fact that she had to work night and day to hold the company together. Meredith and I were still in college. We were too young and inexperienced to be of much help back in those days."
    "I know."
    "It was Charity who took over the full responsibility of day-to-day operations. She revolutionized the way Truitt did business from top to bottom. She had incredible instincts for marketing and for managing."
    Elias smiled. "Did she issue every clerk a feather duster? She's very big on dusting the goods."
    "This isn't a joke, damn it. This is my sister we're talking about."
    "Yes."
    "She was obsessed with saving Truitt because she felt she had a responsibility to the family. The stores belonged to Meredith and me, she said. It was our heritage. She saved it for us."
    "That sounds like Charity."
    Davis frowned. "Hell, I don't think she even liked the department store business. She once told me that being responsible for so many people and their jobs kept her awake at nights. If it hadn't been for her sense of duty, I think she would have sold Truitt after Dad died."
    "Yes."
    "Meredith and I, on the other hand, took to the business right away," Davis mused. "We went to work for Truitt full-time right out of college. But Charity was still running things, naturally. The company needed her. Things were booming. And then Brett Loftus approached her with his idea for a merger."
    "I know the rest of the story."
    "Meredith and I thought the two of them were perfect for each other. Hell, everyone thought they were an ideal couple."
    "Loftus was too big for her."
    Davis scowled. "What?"
    "Never mind."
    "Things seemed to be going along just fine until the night of the engagement party. That was a year ago." Davis slanted him a quick, searching glance. "I suppose you heard about that?"
    "Yes."
    Davis winced. "You had to know Charity well to understand what a bizarre scene that was. So unlike her. Completely out of character. She just sort of came unglued. Right there in front of everyone. The rest of us couldn't believe it."
    "She said she went bonkers."
    "She had an anxiety attack of some kind." Davis sighed. "I hate to say it, but that evening was the first time that Meredith and I fully understood what the pressure of running Truitt had done to Charity."
    "You can stop worrying about her, Truitt. She's okay now. She's happy running her bookstore. She says being a small-businessperson is a calling."
    "Well, it's definitely not your calling." Davis narrowed his eyes. "So why are you pretending to operate that stupid little curio shop?"
    "What you don't seem to grasp here, Truitt, is that I'm not pretending." Elias exhaled slowly. "There's something else you should know."
    "What's that?"
    "I'm going to marry Charity. If she'll have me."

    Shortly after seven-thirty, Charity abandoned any pretense of trying to concentrate on the order forms that she had intended to complete. With a groan, she threw down her pen and sagged against the back of her chair. She used her feet to push the seat around in a half circle so that she faced Otis.
    "I keep thinking about that chipped acrylic nail, Otis. Crimson Jennifer."
    Otis, who had been dozing atop the coatrack, opened one eye and gave her a baleful look.
    "I'll bet you any amount of sunflower seeds that Jennifer was having an affair with Rick Swinton."
    Apparently realizing that he was not going to be allowed to nap, Otis opened his other eye and stretched his wings.
    "Everyone keeps saying that Leighton Pitt had the perfect motive to murder both Gwen and Swinton. He lost everything because of them. He even lost his trophy wife. But when you think about it, Jennifer lost everything, too."
    "Heh, heh, heh." Otis made his way from