Chapter 2
Celia Cole was the widow of Jo Ann's mother's deceased brother. She wasn't a direct blood relation, but to Jo Ann she had always been Aunt Celia, even after her uncle had died.
Celia lived with her son, Andrew, in what had once been a summer resort town. But because life in this little suburb was less expensive and more pleasant than it was in either the city or in those suburbs closer to the city, people began converting summer bungalows into year-round homes, building second out walls, filling the spaces between then with insulation. Almost everyone had erected a wind charger to generate electricity, and there was a small electric plant as well, as a back-up system when the wind wasn't blowing. Most of the time the wind generated so much electricity, that the residents of the town were able to sell back excess power to the electric company and more than make up for whatever they had to pay said company on those days when the wind didn't blow. Heat, light, just about everything in these homes ran on electricity.
Jo Ann was elated coming to live with Aunt Celia for two months. She had always loved this country kind of atmosphere. There were even farms and ranches out here, and Main Street was something out of a movie that depicted scenes of a hundred years ago.
But less than a week after Jo Ann had arrived at her aunt's home, Aunt Celia had been called away because her mother was suddenly taken very ill. Andrew had been Celia's son by a previous marriage, and he had never forgiven his mother for marrying a second time. Not that he had disliked his stepfather. The man had treated him fairly, justly, even giving him a car when he had been a teenager, and had brought Andrew into his business. Andrew's own father had been the kind of man who had never been able to hold onto any kind of job for any length of time. He had deserted Celia when Andrew had been seven, and the boy had blamed himself and his mother for his father's departure, never once understanding that neither of them were at fault. He had felt that if his mother waited long enough, his father would have come back.
But his mother hadn't waited. She had married another man, and Andrew had never forgiven her for this. Though the man treated him like a son, played ball with him, showed an interest in his school work, helped him through college, and then brought him into his own business, where Andrew had done well, subconsciously Andrew hated the man. As a result, he hated the man's relatives. Since Jo Ann's mother was the man's sister, Andrew hated her, and now he was certain he hated Jo Ann. What he wanted was to be able to wreak some kind of vengeance on the Coles. Perhaps what aggravated Andrew most of all was that his stepfather had adopted him and changed his last name to Cole, as well. Andrew felt as if he had lost his own identity.
When Celia announced that she had to hurry to her own mother's bedside, and than she would be gone for a short while, she left Jo Ann in Andrew's care. Andrew was already in his early twenties, and so far as Celia was concerned, he was a responsible man. She was certain he would watch over Jo Ann and make sure the girl didn't get into any mischief. Not that there was that much mischief for the lovely blonde girl to become involved in. She was still too young to be rally dating, and besides, there weren't any teenage boys around for the summer. They had all gone to camp.
But once Celia had gone, Andrew knew his chance to wreak vengeance on the Coles had come, even if Jo Ann's last name was Warner. She was a Cole on her mother's side.