The Inn at Dead Man's Point by SUE FINEMAN Page B

was Katie’s age, and the baby, Johnny, was two. Everyone went into Mattie’s bedroom and introduced themselves, and Cara handed Katie a present wrapped in tissue paper. “Thank you for letting us come to your house for dinner today, Katie.”
    Before long, the whole family was there, sitting down to an Italian dinner fragrant with garlic and tomato and cheese. Mattie was given the seat of honor at the head of the table, and Jenna sat on her right, so she could help her eat. For once, the old lady seemed speechless, but it didn’t matter because everyone else was talking, as usual.
    Al loved his family, but when they were all together, they were overwhelming. Since he was the only one without kids of his own, he’d been given the status of favorite uncle, and all the little kids came to him to be picked up. He ate dinner holding Johnny and then Maria’s little girl, Jeannie. It was a typical Donatelli family dinner, with plenty of talking, laughter, and good food.
    Katie sat beside Sophie, and the two little girls smiled and giggled through dinner. Cara smiled at them. “Jenna, Sophie has been looking for a playmate. She has lots of cousins, but she needs someone her age to play with.”
    “Hey,” said Al. “I need a playmate my age, too.”
    Blade grinned. “Jenna’s right here.”
    Nick laughed, Jenna blushed, and Al was sorry he’d opened his big mouth.
    Ma looked around. “You don’t have a piano?”
    “My mother had one,” said Jenna. “I don’t know what happened to it after my parents died.”
    “That means we don’t have to sing?” said Max, and everyone laughed. Ma always encouraged them to sing, especially Angelo, who had an outstanding tenor voice. Angelo could sing nearly anything, yet instead of going for a career singing, he’d stayed in Gig Harbor with the family. He occasionally sang in benefits, and he’d been on television a few times, but he usually stayed close to home. Now he had a wife and twin daughters, and you couldn’t pry him loose. Angelo had always been close to the family.
    Tony was the only one who lived out of the area, and he flew up every other month or so for a visit. He and his wife lived in California, at one of the hotels she owned, and Tony ran the California division of Max and Company . Al had thought about moving to California, and then he’d found the inn. Now he was committed to staying for at least five more years. It would take him that long to work his way through the improvements he intended to make to the property.
    Some of the kids went into the living room to play. Nobody missed two little girls until Sophie came running in yelling, “Katie went to get Callie and she got stuck.”
    Al and Jenna both jumped up and ran outside, but Katie was nowhere in sight. Sophie pointed to the hill overlooking the beach. Katie was perched halfway down, and Al’s heart dropped down there with her. Most of the trail she was on had washed away, and it was a long drop to the rocks below. If she fell, she could be seriously injured or killed. “Don’t move, Katie,” he called. “Hold real still and I’ll be right down to get you.”
    Angelo ran out to his car and returned with a length of heavy rope while Nick called 911. Al wrapped one end of the rope under his arms. Blade and Vincent grabbed the other end and wrapped it around a sturdy tree.
    All the color had left Jenna’s face. “Trust me, Jenna?” Al asked as he tied the rope. She nodded, but he could almost smell her fear.
    He walked easily down the narrow trail for a few feet, and then it was barely wide enough for a foothold. “Hang onto that rope,” he called. “Katie, hold real still, honey. I’m coming to get you, okay?”
    “O-okay.”
    This damn trail may be wide enough for a cat, but not for a kid and certainly not for a man. He had to build a fence along the top of this hill. He should have done that first, before they started on the roof, but he didn’t know back then that they’d have a