"No. But Tim and I talked about it. I'm going to do what he asked me to do.” Aanders’ gaze fell upon the lake. “Sometimes Tim was so smart, it was scary. He told me it'd be easier for me if I always pretended he was walking beside me."

"He's right, you know,” Sadie said.

Aanders sighed deeply. “That's what's so scary."

33

Sadie hurried up onto the porch, opened the door and waved the newspaper at Jane, who sat lost in concentration at the kitchen table. Nan had asked Jane to prepare an obituary for Mr. Bakke. Jane sighed with exasperation, wiped the eraser back and forth over her last sentence. Struggling to find the proper wording, Jane had queried Sadie several times before Sadie walked over to the lodge to buy a newspaper.

Mr. Bakke had spent the last fifty years of his life as handyman and caretaker at the Witt's End Resort. Vina, the twins’ mother, had hired him when he was a young man. He never realized the desire to seek alternative employment. Taking a leave from the resort, he had served four years in the Army with the knowledge his position would remain open until his return.

Vina had treated the shy, unremarkable little man as a son. When Vina passed away, Mr. Bakke pitched in with unwavering vigor to make sure the twin's transition to resort owners went as smooth as possible.

"I've never seen such a buzz over the headlines. People stood five deep at the counter buying copies of today's paper,” Sadie said. The screen door slammed behind her. A muffled bark caused her to retreat and swing the door open to let Belly in. The dog sauntered over to Mr. Bakke's chair and sniffed vigorously before looking toward the kitchen table.

Jane dabbed a tear with the edge of her napkin before rising and walking to Mr. Bakke's chair. Squatting down to pet the dog, she whispered, “You miss him too, don't you fella?” She pressed her cheek against the chair and cried softly. “What am I going to do, Sadie? I feel so empty. He was part of our lives for so many years I can't remember what it was like without him."

Sadie knelt next to her sister. “He's watching you, you know. He knows how you feel. He told me to take care of you. He told me that as he was going through the light."

"You?” Jane laughed. “He must have lost his mind when he hit his head.” The conflicting emotions made Jane cry even harder.

"He told me to throw your clothes away and take you shopping,” Sadie said. “He insisted I buy you a thong."

"Now I know you're pulling my leg."

"It was worth a try,” Sadie said. After helping her sister into her chair, Sadie listened while Jane read through the obituary, pausing from time to time to sniffle and wipe her nose.

"Because he didn't have any family, Nan asked me to make decisions. I've got most of the stuff picked out for the funeral,” Jane said. “I think he'll be happy with what I've selected."

"Of course he will. He worshipped you. His goal in life was to make you happy."

"He didn't take a shine to me until he realized you had no intention of going out with him,” Jane said. “It took him a year to get over your rejection. Poor man. He hardly came out of his cabin for a month."

"But that was forty years ago,” Sadie said. “If you hadn't catered to him back then and made a fool of yourself drooling on his doorstep, he'd have eventually come around and asked you for a date on his own."

"I doubt it,” Jane said. “You totally deflated his ego. But once he got to know me, he realized I was the better catch."

"Bull,” Sadie responded. “He just settled for less. And besides, he was too horny for me. All he talked about was sex."

"Not to me,” Jane said with a huff. “That's because he realized I was pure and worth taking time to get to know."

Sadie's red glitter glasses slid down her nose as she lowered her head and scrutinized Jane. “You need to see a psychiatrist. You've lost your grip on reality.” Sadie spread the newspaper over the table.

The headlines read Local Business Man Indicted on Murder Charges. “Look at that,” Sadie said, slapping the front page with the back of her hand. “That rat Carl took all the credit."

"That's what you agreed to, wasn't it?"

"It was. But you'd think Carl could have mentioned my name in there somewhere."

"I think you're going to have to settle for the fact Carl dropped the lawsuit. He exchanged the lawsuit for your silence."

"That just frosts me,” Sadie said. “I did all the ground work, but he became the hero."

"I'm surprised he was willing to take a chance that people wouldn't find out about his business dealings with Paul."

"Unfortunately, I have to agree with him. If they haven't discovered the information by now, they're not going to find it. I'd still like to see him hang by those itty bitty balls for all the grief he caused Mrs. Fading Sun when her husband was arrested. Those diversity crusaders would love that tidbit of information."

"You've always got that to fall back on,” Jane said.

"You should have seen Carl's face when I told him that very thing. What goes around comes back to bite you. But in Carl's situation, his prejudice ended up slapping him across the face. If Mrs. Fading Sun hadn't mentioned the policy, I would never have put two and two together. At least it will keep Carl in line until the next crisis.” Sadie bit at the inside of her cheek. “If he wins the election, it'll give him power. And power makes him crazy. That's when he'll cook up another scheme to get his hands on this resort."

Jane nodded in agreement. “I'm afraid you're right. Everyone knows he needs money. His wife goes through money like water. You can tell she thought their wedding vows said for better or for purse.” Jane forced a smile. “At least we have the satisfaction that Paul will never see daylight again. Lon said Paul will probably get three life terms for murdering the Fossums. With everybody concentrating on the trial, it gives us time to get things in order. If Nan can come up with enough money to buy the mortuary and the acreage it sits on, that'll be one less thing for Carl to get his hands on."

"Is that hole in your head getting bigger?” Sadie asked, frowning at Jane's lack of comprehension. “Weren't you listening when Nan told us there's no way she's going to get a loan? The bank turned her down flat. That's why she was ready to accept Paul's proposal."

"That poor woman.” Shaking her head Jane said, “She's so embarrassed she couldn't even look me in the eye when we were picking out Mr. Bakke's urn. I told her no one blamed her for what Paul did. It's going to be a tough road until the gossip dies down."

"I heard Carl tell her the same thing after he questioned her. I think he was trying to cover his own ass by seeing if Nan knew anything about his relationship with Paul."

Jane set her jaw and rapped her fist against the table top. “He was worried about his own hide so he faked his concern about Nan. That man makes me so mad I'd like to kick him all the way to Tubuktim."

"You mean Timbuktu,” Sadie corrected.

"No, I don't,” Jane said, glaring at her sister.

Drumming her fingers against the table, Sadie decided not to educate her sister in the finer points of geography and opted instead to help Jane with her project. Pushing a scissors across the table, Sadie said, “There's an article about Mr. Bakke's accident on page three. You might want to cut it out and add it to your scrapbook."

Tears flowed once again. Jane reached for the wadded-up napkin as she read the article. “That's so nice of them to mention he was a well-respected member of our resort staff. If they only knew how important he was.” She slid the scissors across the top of the article. “What would we have done without him?"

Sadie held the scrap book open so Jane could insert the article between two vinyl sheets.