Wally clicked a button on the microphone and tapped it to make sure it was working. “Hello, fishermen!” he said. “It’s good to see a group of sportsmen all ready to enjoy the great outdoors.” There was a smattering of applause, and he smiled before he went on. “Today is the first unofficial day of the Walleye Fishing Tournament. Today is the day you’ll get time to explore Eden Lake and get acclimated. I know that most of you have fished for walleyes before, but our fishing expert, Sonny Bowman, is going to go through the rules of the contest with you and give you a few tips about walleye fishing. How many of you have fished in Eden Lake before?”
Hannah was glad to see at least a dozen men raise their hands. There were quite a few locals signed up for the competition.
“Our tournament doesn’t officially begin until tomorrow morning, so use today to explore the lake and find your favorite spot to fish,” Wally went on speaking. “Come up here, Sonny, and explain the competition rules and tell them about the prizes.”
Hannah couldn’t help but stare as Sonny Bowman walked up to the podium. He was criminally handsome with sun-bleached hair and a physique that had obviously benefitted from frequent workouts at the gym.
“He’s something, huh?” Andrea whispered, coming up to Hannah.
“He’s certainly handsome.”
“And he knows it,” Andrea added. “He looks good on camera, though, and that’s probably why Wally chose him for the show.”
“But he’s an expert fisherman, too . . . isn’t he?”
“I don’t know. I asked Bill about that. I figured he’d know since he always watches all the fishing shows.”
“What did Bill say?”
“Bill said he’d never heard of Sonny before Wally put him on the show.”
“Really?” Hannah asked. “I thought he was famous?”
“He is now, but we drove to Wally’s flagship store and Bill met Sonny. Bill asked him a couple of questions about fishing and was not impressed!”
“Why? What did Sonny say?”
“He said he had to cut his time short because Wally wanted to meet with him. And he told Bill to find Joey Zee and ask him.”
Hannah reached the obvious conclusion. “So you don’t think Sonny knew the answers to Bill’s questions.”
“That’s right. Sonny could hardly wait to get away.”
“Did Bill find Joey and ask him?”
“He did. And Joey answered every one of his questions and even gave him some fishing tips. He likes Joey, but he thinks that Sonny is a fake. That’s one of the reasons Bill didn’t sign up for the tournament.”
Hannah began to frown. “I thought Bill didn’t sign up because he was going to the big sheriffs’ conference.”
“You’re right, but if he’d really wanted to enter the competition, Bill would have done it. As it turns out, it’s a good thing since they changed the dates on the sheriffs’ conference.”
“So he’s going to the conference instead?”
“Rick Murphy’s going with him. Bill asked Mike and Lonnie to stay here in case there was any kind of an emergency.”
Hannah heard the arpeggio that Andrea used for her ringtone and watched as Andrea pulled her cell phone out of her apron pocket. “Here’s Bill now. He probably wants to know what time I’m coming home so I can help him pack. That man can’t fold a shirt to save his soul! If he had to do it himself, he’d roll them up in a ball and throw them in the bottom of his suitcase.”
Hannah filled the Caramel Pecan Roll platter again as Andrea answered her husband’s call. She was just putting the platter back on the table when she saw the shocked expression on her sister’s face. “Is Bill okay?” she asked quickly.
Andrea gave a quick nod and turned back to her phone. “I’ll leave here just as soon as I can, honey. And don’t be nervous. Your speech is wonderful, and everyone’s going to love it.”
“Problems?” Hannah asked when Andrea dropped her phone back into her apron pocket.
“Not really. It’s just that Bill always gets nervous when he has to give a speech. And this one is a lot more important than either one of us thought it would be.”
“How so?”
“They just called him from the convention center and told him that their keynote speaker had to cancel. And then they asked Bill to be the keynote speaker! They told him it’s going to be televised and everything!”
“That sounds like a real honor, Andrea! Bill’s going to do it, isn’t he?”
“Yes, but you know how nervous he gets speaking in public. It’s a good speech, Hannah.” Andrea gave a little laugh. “I should know. I had to listen to him go through it four times last night!”
Hannah laughed. “Will we be able to see him on television?”
“Yes, KCOW-TV is going to run it as a community service program. You can see him, but you’ll have to record it. I checked with Lynn and they’re going to air it at eight in the morning and we’ll be out here working with Sally.”
“Call Mother and tell her about it. She’ll record it and we can all watch it at the penthouse.”
“Good idea! Mother and Doc just got a new big screen and we can all watch it there.”
Andrea reached into her apron pocket and pulled out her cell phone once again. “That’s probably Bill, telling me that he’s arrived at the hotel.” One glance at the display and she frowned slightly. “It’s Michelle.” She clicked on her phone to answer. “Hi, Michelle. What’s up?”
Hannah refilled one of the buffet dishes while Andrea spoke into her phone. She was smiling as she hung up.
“What did Michelle want?” Hannah asked.
“She invited us to join Lonnie and her at Dick’s bar at five for drinks tonight. She’s going to invite Mike, too.”
“I’ll have to ask Norman first, but that’s fine with me.”
Andrea looked around the room. “Where is Norman? I thought he’d be here.”
“He planned to be, but he got a call from Doc Bennett. He was supposed to fill in for Norman every day this week, but Doc Bennett forgot he had a doctor’s appointment this morning.”
“Doc Bennett’s okay, isn’t he?” Andrea sounded worried.
“He’s fine. This is just a checkup, but he didn’t want to cancel at the last minute. He told Norman he’d probably be through by noon and Norman’s coming out here then.” Hannah reached out to move a platter slightly so that it would be easier for the breakfast crowd to reach. “How about you, Andrea? You can make it out here tonight, can’t you?”
“No problem. Grandma McCann is taking the kids out to a movie tonight, and I wasn’t exactly looking forward to sitting at home all alone.”
“I’ll call Norman when we finish with the buffet and ask him about tonight, but I’m sure it’ll be fine with him. He has to run back to his house to feed the cats, but that won’t take long.” Hannah stopped speaking and began to frown. “It’s not Karaoke night tonight, is it?”
Andrea laughed. “No, Michelle told me that right away.”
“Good! I don’t think I could take another rendition of Alice and Digger singing together. It’s even worse than Mother and Carrie singing Bye Bye Love.”
Andrea looked extremely doubtful. “They can’t be that bad!”
“Take my word for it, they are! If anyone’s an expert about singing off-key, it’s me,” Hannah said, laughing.
“Do you want me to pick up you and Norman?” Andrea said.
Hannah hesitated. “Uh . . . no. I’ll be here already. I’m staying out here for the week of the fishing contest.”
“How about Norman? I could pick him up.”
Hannah hesitated. “Um . . . thanks, but that’s not necessary.”
Andrea gave her a long level look. “You mean you and Norman are staying out here together?”