Red Julie (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 2) (7 page)

Alexei paused in the middle of the wooden walkway that spanned a section of the shoreline. He leaned on the railing and gazed at the sea. Olivia stopped next to him.

“For the most part,” he told her. “I’ll be back and forth. Travel is required as part of my work.”

“You travel quite a bit?” Olivia asked.

Alexei nodded.

“What do you do?” Olivia asked.

“I graduated from Harvard a few years ago…the business school,” Alexei told her. Olivia didn’t like Alexei’s Harvard name-dropping, which was obviously intended to impress her and she wondered what kind of business was supplying the wealth to nearly tear down the Victorian and create such a grandiose structure. Clearly this was only one of the Siderovs’ homes.

“Now I’m involved in the family business,” Alexei added.

“Doing?” Olivia inquired.

Alexei smiled. “This and that.”

“I see. Well, if I knew ‘this and that’ paid so well I would have majored in that,” Olivia said.

Alexei laughed and changed the subject. “So, are you spending the summer here this year or do you have to return to work?” he asked her.

“I’m staying for the summer.” She didn’t want to tell him about the antiques shop.

“And after that?”

“I’ll be starting law school at the end of August.”

“Ah,” Alexei replied. “A clever girl, are you?”

“I try to be.”

“How old are you?” Alexei asked.

Olivia narrowed her eyes. “Do you ask that question of everyone you first meet?”

“Only the ones I’m interested in,” Alexei said with a smile.

“It’s not the best opening line,” Olivia told him. “I’m twenty-one.”

“You have a young face. Although a beautiful one.” He tried to hold her eyes as he stepped closer to her, but Olivia looked away, embarrassed.
A young face? What the heck did that mean?

“Where will you be attending law school? Somewhere here in Maine?”

Olivia was confused by what she felt were mixed messages from Alexei. One minute he seemed to be flattering her and the next he gave off an air of superiority that she found unattractive. She didn’t want to tell him the truth about attending law school at Harvard, so she lied. “Oh, just a small school. I’m sure you’ve never heard of it.”

Alexei seemed about to press the point, but Olivia asked, “Where are you from?”

“All over,” he replied.

“Where did you grow up?” she asked.

“We lived in many different places.”

Olivia wondered why he was being so evasive.

“I’m going kayaking this afternoon,” Alexei said. “Perhaps you’d join me?”

Olivia was intrigued, but she felt a hesitation. This was a handsome man and she liked that he was paying her attention, but something felt prickly. Something about him seemed off.

“It’s such a beautiful day. It would be nice to have company. Especially yours,” Alexei said. He held Olivia’s eyes in his gaze.

Oh, why not
, Olivia thought. “I was planning on kayaking this afternoon as well,” she said.

“Excellent,” Alexei replied. “I can pick you up.”

“Not necessary.” Olivia wasn’t ready to give him her address. That felt too much like a date, and she needed more time with him to decide where to go with this. “I’ll be on the river around two. Maybe I’ll see you there.”

They parted ways when they reached Shore Road. Alexei was going in the direction of Olivia’s house, but she turned right and headed back into town. She didn’t want a stranger walking her to her house, so she took the scenic route home. She knew she was being overcautious, but she believed in following her gut. And her gut was urging her not to let this man push his way into her life.

“You know, Liv, people would say you were a rich girl,” Joe told her. He was up on the roof again and Olivia was sitting in the grass near the base of the ladder.

She rolled her eyes at him but he couldn’t see it. “Oh, come on. Look at that place. Those renovations have turned it into some kind of a palace. A Taj Mahal. It’s ridiculous. It looks completely out of place.”

“You’re being critical of the man because he was born into a wealthy family.”

“Yes, I am.”

“That doesn’t seem fair,” Joe went on. “Did you notice that your inheritance from Aggie has made you a millionaire? On paper anyway. If you sold the house.”

“I’m not selling the house, so basically I’m still poor. And I’d never be in his financial league, anyway. Far from it. And the way he name-dropped that he had graduated from Harvard. I don’t know, I can’t pinpoint it, but he seems kind of entitled and arrogant.”

“You’re going to go to Harvard,” Joe pointed out.

“But I don’t brag about it. Jeez. And I’m not arrogant.”

“No?” Joe teased.

“Joe!” Olivia protested. “Why are you defending him? You haven’t even met him.”

“Exactly. And you talked to him for a few minutes. You should give him a chance. Get to know him before passing judgment. There aren’t exactly a bunch of suitors banging down your door.”

“Ugh. How rude,” Olivia said.

“Just sayin’.” Joe straightened the shingle and nailed it into place. “So, are you going kayaking this afternoon?”

“Yes,” Olivia muttered.

Olivia had on her cutest bikini and a soft blue fitted t-shirt. She chided herself for doing it but she had put on some pink lip gloss. She put on her life preserver, got into the kayak, and slipped into the ocean river that cut along behind Ogunquit beach. She moved her paddle smoothly in and out of the ice cold water, gliding the kayak over the surface. White puffs of clouds dotted the bright blue sky. She passed sea birds and marsh grasses. The contrast of nature’s greens and blues was breathtaking. The stress and worries of the past few days moved to the back of her mind. She stopped stroking and let the kayak drift in the current. She closed her eyes and leaned against the seat back, the sun warming her skin.

“Don’t fall asleep or you’ll drift out to sea,” someone called.

Olivia startled and turned toward the voice, shading her eyes from the glare of the sun. Alexei stroked swiftly across the river, closing the distance between them. He was lightly tanned and his pearly white teeth gleamed in the sun. Olivia was sure they must be veneers. No one had such perfect rows of teeth. Either that or he had spent a fortune on braces and whitening products. She watched his arm muscles ripple as he moved the paddles in and out of the water. As he approached he flicked some water at her off the end of his paddle.

“Hey,” Olivia protested, but she gave Alexei a smile.

“There’s a beautiful spot up ahead. Why don’t we paddle there and take a swim?” Alexei suggested.

“It’s early June, Alexei. The water’s freezing,” Olivia told him.

“But it’s so hot today. It will feel good to cool off.”

“We’ll see,” Olivia told him as she started to paddle up river.

When they reached the area of dunes near Footbridge Beach, they landed the kayaks and pulled them up on shore. Olivia straightened and caught Alexei’s eyes lingering over her body in a way that made her uncomfortable.

“So, ready to jump in?” she asked and stepped into the sea up to her ankles.

“Not so fast,” he told her. “I think I know a way to heat things up a bit more.”

Alexei took Olivia roughly by the arm and spun her around to him. He pressed in close to her and ran his hands over her shoulders before putting one hand on her back and pulling her to him. His other hand touched her left breast. He leaned down and put his mouth over hers. Olivia put her hands on his chest and pushed hard against him, and at the same time she jerked her head to the right to remove his lips from her mouth. The result wasn’t so much pushing Alexei away as pushing herself back from him. But as far as Olivia was concerned, she had achieved her goal of disengaging from Alexei. Olivia retreated a few steps into the water. It was so cold her ankles ached, but she was determined to keep distance between them. She glared at him.

Alexei grinned at her. “Ahh…what? Come here.” He reached his hand to her.

“I don’t think so,” Olivia told him. She held his eyes, her face stern.

His expression hardened. “You prefer to be cold?”

“I prefer to be treated respectfully,” Olivia said.

He waved his hand in the air, dismissing her words, and shook his head. “When a man finds you attractive, you should respond. You act childishly.”

Olivia’s eyes widened. “You act like a spoiled brat. Do you always get what you want?”

“Of, course. Why wouldn’t I?”

Olivia turned and dove into the ocean. She swam under the surface for several yards, her skin tingling with pain from the icy sea. Her feet numb, she stood up, shook the water from her hair, and walked to her kayak.

“Olivia,” Alexei said.

“Time to go,” Olivia replied.

“Come back. Stay.”

“You talk to me like you’re issuing commands to a dog,” Olivia said as she pushed off from the shore and paddled away without looking at Alexei. She was furious. How obnoxious could a man be? So self-centered and egotistical. The paddle slashed at the water and moved the kayak up the river.

She banked the kayak at the Sea Shore Hotel on Ogunquit Beach, where she had arranged with the owner to keep her kayaks. She latched it to one of the pilings on the hotel’s dock and nearly jogged up the street to the center of town, propelled by her lingering anger.

As Olivia rounded the corner to the market, she crashed into Brad, who was just coming out of the store with a grocery bag full of cartons of milk.

“Whoa, woman in a hurry,” Brad said.

“I’m so sorry, Brad. I wasn’t paying any attention,” Olivia apologized. “I’m just distracted.”

“By the look on your face, it’s not anything good that’s distracting you.”

Olivia made an even sourer face.

“Oh, that’s much better.” Brad smiled, but when she didn’t respond to his joking his smile disappeared. “You’re shivering. How about some coffee? Or maybe some tea. My mom says tea makes everything better.”

The corners of Olivia’s mouth turned up into a tiny smile and she nodded in agreement. They crossed the street to Brad’s store.

“Here, sit outside in the deck chairs and warm up in the sun. I’ll go in and make you something. What’ll it be?” Brad asked.

“Surprise me,” Olivia answered as she settled into one of the chairs.

Brad stared at Olivia for a few seconds. “Okay, judging by the situation here, I have determined just the thing to make you feel better.” He grinned and headed into the store, but paused and looked back at Olivia. “I will work my magic,” he said in a silly, deep voice. Olivia smiled and shook her head in mock disgust.

It felt good to lean back in the chair and let the sun warm her. The sun dried her swimsuit and she stopped shivering.

Brad emerged from his store carrying a sweatshirt and wooden tray. The tray was lined with a placemat and on it was a china pot of tea, a cup and saucer, a silver bowl of sugar cubes, a pot of cream, and a small plate cradling a scone and some raspberry jam. A silver teaspoon and knife were tucked into a blue linen napkin. Olivia sat up straight and her eyes widened. Her face brightened. “What’s all this?” she marveled.

“We aim to please,” Brad said. He handed Olivia the sweatshirt and set the tray on the side table next to the deck chair she was sitting in. He poured tea into her china cup. “Enjoy. I have to go in and get my two employees going, but I’ll have a few minutes to sit after that if you have time to stay.” Olivia nodded as she slathered the jam on her scone and took a chomp out of it. She laughed and wiped her mouth with her napkin.

“Yum,” she managed.

“I’ll bring you another one when I come back,” Brad laughed.

Olivia and Brad sat side by side in the deck chairs on the patio next to his store and watched the cars drive by and the tourists strolling along the main street, browsing the shop windows. Olivia had filled him in on her kayaking adventure.

“So this Alexei guy is quite the charmer,” Brad said.

“Ugh,” Olivia answered.

“You’ll make a good lawyer, Liv. Very articulate and verbal,” Brad teased.

Olivia ignored him. “How can anyone think that a person wants to be groped a few minutes after meeting? What about finesse? What about wooing? No, just act like a caveman.”

“Ah, the lost art of wooing,” Brad said. “That’s not a word that comes up often.”

Olivia rolled her eyes at him. “You know what I mean.”

“I’ll have to remember that. Wooing.” He smiled at her, his blue eyes twinkling.

Olivia felt warmth flow through her body and it wasn’t the sun that was heating her.

“Hey, you two,” someone yelled, and they looked up. “Must be nice to be able to just sit around all day soaking up the sun,” Joe called to them from his pickup truck. He was waiting in traffic on the street in front of them. Olivia waved.

“Can’t fault people for knowing how to enjoy life,” Brad called back to Joe.

The traffic started to move and Joe followed the cars up Route 1 to Wells. He waved.

“Joe’s okay, huh? While I was working on the store to set it up, he would come by some nights to lend a hand. We’d sit outside afterwards and talk. He sure misses Aggie. I haven’t had much chance to have a good conversation with him since I opened the store. How’s his place in Wells coming?” Brad asked.

“The Wells place will be done soon. Then he’ll be on to the next project. He keeps real busy,” Olivia said. “I’m lucky to have him.” They watched the traffic.

“Do you have employees in the evening working at your store?” Olivia asked Brad. “Can you get away? Want to come to dinner tonight? Joe and I were planning on making some cornbread and chili. Meat chili for him and vegetarian for me,” Olivia said. “We can all catch up with each other.”

“That would be great,” Brad said. “I’m getting tired of my own cooking.”

Someone coming towards them from across the street caught their eyes and they looked up. They stifled groans. Bustling at them was Magdalene Streeter. Her hair was cut short and the effect of the combination of the length and the bright red color created the illusion of flames shooting out the top of her head. She was panting from the exertion of moving her bulk. She had on a long flowing dress that barely contained her, the flesh bulging in ripples, creating hills and valleys all over the fabric.