Jill Churchill - From Here to Paternity

Jane shook her head. "I think that was just a fortunate coincidence for him. I think the blanket was just because it was so hard to get the snow to stick together. With the blanket, he only had to cover half the body. As for the fruit bowl, I don't know. Maybe just an afterthought. Possibly even Little Feather's idea when she saw what he'd done and realized the blanket looked like a royal cape."

They fell silent for a moment. A waiter approached the table with a box, which he handed to Tenny. "Thanks, Kevin," she said, rising and taking the box around the table to Jane.

"What's this?" Jane asked.

"Oh, just something I thought you'd like," Tenny said, preoccupied.

Jane opened the box and discovered it contained the set of small bowls Tenny had said were being fired to match the bowl Jane had purchased. Surprised and pleased, she thanked Tenny effusively, and as soon as she'd stopped gushing, die party started breaking up.

Leon Whitewing stood majestically. "Well, he sure fooled a bunch of dumb Indians, I'll say that for the bastard."

"Leon, he fooled everybody," Tenny said. "You know, if he'd just told the truth — that he wanted the top of the reservation land so the tribe could build a casino — it wouldn't have necessarily been a bad thing. The tribe could have made a fortune, and the resort would have been the logical place for a bunch of rich gamblers to stay."

Leon grinned. "You got a point there, Tenny."

"I do, don't I?" she said, her face lighting up. "It would be another good reason for people to stay at a ski resort that has almost no ski facilities."

Leon took her arm in a courtly manner. "We've got some things to talk about."

They all said their good-nights and Jane, Mel, and Shelley trudged up the hill to their cabins. When they got to the one Jane and Shelley were sharing with the girls, there was a commotion going on in the living room.

"What's wrong!" Jane asked, alarmed. The girls were squatting on the living room floor next to each other.

Katie moved aside and revealed Willard with a collection of bandages stuck on his muzzle. "Mom, I let Willard out and he caught up with that white cat. It beat him up, then rolled him around in the snow." She was trying to stifle her giggles and sound sympathetic.

"Poor old Willard," Jane said.

He whined in response.

"Well, he'll have tomorrow to recover. We'd all better get to bed so we can get up early," Jane said.

As they filed down the hallway, Shelley said, "Did you see the way Tenny acted about the casino idea?"

Jane started shedding clothing. "I sure did. I think she's getting more interested in the idea of running the resort. What about Paul and the other investors? Are they still interested in buying it?"

"I'm afraid with the casino idea, it probably just went out of their price range. Which is okay with me. As nice as this place is, I don't think I'd ever want to come back."

When they'd both undressed, gotten into their beds, and turned out the lights, Shelley said sleepily, "Jane, there's still one thing I wonder about. And I don't think we'll ever know."

"What's that, Shelley?" Jane asked, yawning.

"What the hell the sheriff's name really is."