Once a Widow by Lee Roberts Read Free Book Online Page B

anchor.”
    “I will,” George Yundt said. He looked helplessly at the beer bottles he held. Then he placed them upright in the ice chest, hoping they would not tip over.
    “Be careful,” Watson shouted over his shoulder.
    George Yundt left the cabin, rain pouring inside as he did so, and made his way along the deck to the bow, where he knelt by the anchor in the wind and rain. Watson throttled the motor and edged the boat toward the island. They were in calmer water now and as they approached the overhanging bluff it seemed that the wind was high above them. Twenty feet from the shore Watson cut the motor, knowing that he could not go in any closer without danger of beaching the boat. He had often still-fished for bass near the island and was familiar with the area. Through the windshield he saw Yundt lowering the anchor and he turned away from the wheel wiping sweat from his red face with a freckled and hairy forearm.
    Lew Sprang gave Watson his thin smile. “We’re lucky, Mort. We never could have made it to the harbor.”
    “Sure, we would have, but this is better. We’ll just ride it out.” Watson moved to the cabin hatchway. “I’d better throw out the stern anchor, too.”
    “Never mind,” Sprang said. “George is doing it.”
    “Smart boy,” Watson replied. “I’m glad we asked him to come along.”
    “I think he enjoyed it,” Sprang said. “He’s a good boy, in spite of his family background. He’s doing fine at the bank, too.”
    “I knew his dad,” Watson said. “A no-good if I ever saw one. And his mother was no better. After they got divorced and left town the boy would have been a county charge if Louise Yundt hadn’t taken him in. She died of cancer, didn’t she?”
    Sprang nodded and sighed. “Yes, four years ago. I handled the estate—what was left of it. She loaned all her savings to George’s father.” He sighed again. “She may as well have burned it. I felt sorry for the boy and tried to help him. Never had any kids of my own, you know, and—” He stopped abruptly as the young man entered the cabin.
    Watson said to him, “Thanks, George.”
    “Sure.” George, grinned at the two older men. “A little wet out there.” He brushed water from his face and gazed down at his soaked shirt and slacks.
    “I’m afraid we can’t do anything about dry clothes,” Watson said, “but this shouldn’t last long. I’ll bet you a dollar that the sun will be out in an hour.”
    “Make it five,” Lewis Sprang said quickly. “This will last longer than an hour.”
    Watson turned and grinned at the lawyer. “Still greedy, huh? I was betting George, but I’ll take you on, too. Let’s make it ten.”
    “Twenty. I know Erie weather.”
    “Okay,” Watson said, and laughed. He was feeling good, now that the danger was over. He had really been worried out there, before he’d seen Snake Island ahead. He turned to Yundt. “You want in on this?”
    George smiled. “No, thanks.” He removed his shirt and hung it over the wheel. His torso was compact and muscular, in spite of the thin layer of fat.
    Sprang looked at a gold watch strapped to a thin tanned wrist. “It’s twelve-ten right now. If the sun doesn’t show by one-ten, I win.”
    “Right,” Watson said. “Let’s eat.”
    The three men ate and drank and when they were finished the wind had died and the small cruiser rode gently to her anchors. Out beyond the little island, on the windward side, the lake still boiled sullenly and the sky remained a leaden gray. The old lawyer leaned back on the bench and said, “How about some three-handed poker?”
    “Don’t count me in,” George Yundt said quickly. “I don’t gamble.”
    Sprang puffed on a cigar and nodded approvingly. “And you’re right, son. A banker should never gamble.”
    “I’m not exactly a banker, sir—just a teller.”
    Sprang lifted a long finger. “You’ll be a banker some day, and a good one.”
    “I hope so, sir,” George said modestly.