At Bluebonnet Lake (Texas Crossroads Book #1): A Novel (15 page)

Kate’s heart ached for the Sinclairs. As Angela had said, they’d made mistakes—more than one, it seemed—and now they were facing the consequences.

“I wish there was something I could do.”

“Find us a buyer.”

Angela might as well have asked for the moon.

“Tonight’s dessert is chocolate pound cake.” Olivia had practically bounced to the table when she’d served the main course, and her enthusiasm did not appear to have diminished one iota since then. It was, she told Kate, the result of the morning Kate and Greg had helped her and Brandi investigate potential scholarships. Though both girls were still concerned about the likely closing of Rainbow’s End, it no longer felt like a death sentence to their college dreams. They’d met with their school counselor earlier today, and she’d been impressed with their research and optimistic about their possibilities.

Kate was grateful she’d been able to help the teens, because
her conversation with Angela yesterday had convinced her that Rainbow’s End was doomed. As much as she wanted to believe there was a happy ending, she couldn’t envision it. Greg agreed.

“It would be hard to find two people less suited to be innkeepers,” she had told him while they caught their breath between tennis games. “Angela and Tim may have had good intentions, but neither one had any experience in the hospitality industry. There’s more involved in running a resort than serving meals and changing sheets.”

Greg nodded. “It’s even harder at a small place like this where guests expect the personal touch. That’s probably part of the reason the Sinclairs are having trouble attracting buyers. The large hotel chains have no interest in acquiring a property like Rainbow’s End, and there aren’t too many individuals willing to make the commitment of time and money it requires.”

Though the conversation had been depressing, Kate had welcomed it, for it had taken her mind off the way her heart had raced when she’d arrived at the tennis court and seen Greg waiting for her. It wasn’t love, no matter what Lauren said. Discussing Rainbow’s End had brought Kate back to reality, and she’d remained there, her feet firmly planted on the ground. There would be no more floating with her head in the clouds.

Greg had seemed unaware of her turbulent thoughts, both then and now at dinner. “So, are you going to have some pound cake?” he asked.

Kate groaned at the thought of the decadent dessert. “I wish I’d known. I wouldn’t have eaten all that chicken fricassee.” Delicious as it had been, she would have saved room for dessert if she’d known it was of the chocolate variety.

“There’s always room for Carmen’s chocolate cake.” Greg spun the lazy Susan and picked up the pitcher of iced tea to replenish his glass and Kate’s.

“You need to have at least one piece,” Roy chimed in.

After the other guests agreed that they couldn’t miss something that sounded so good, Olivia turned back to Kate. “It’s even pretty healthy,” the teenager declared.

“Right.” Kate’s response dripped with sarcasm. “Since when are eggs, butter, and chocolate anyone’s definition of healthy?”

Olivia nodded. “Seriously, Kate. It’s low fat and low cholesterol. Carmen developed it when we had a guest recuperating from heart surgery. He needed a special diet, and Carmen couldn’t resist a challenge.”

Though Sally had declined dessert, she tapped her fork on the table to get Olivia’s attention. “I’ve got to try this.”

“Me too.” After that buildup, how could Kate resist? And when she’d taken her first bite, she was glad she hadn’t. “Are you sure this is low fat?” she demanded. Surely nothing this moist and rich could be healthy.

Greg nodded. “You can ask Carmen for the recipe. I know she’s willing to share.”

“I think I’ll do that.” Sally turned to Kate and grinned. “You can guess what I’ll be serving the next time you visit.” Turning back to Roy, she asked if he was planning to eat the extra piece Olivia had left on the Susan.

Kate couldn’t distinguish Roy’s response, but a minute or so later, she heard him say, “I can’t promise you healthy food, but you won’t go hungry either. The last time I went, I ate more than my share of strudel and bratwurst.”

“That’s my kind of food.” Greg leaned forward and looked at Roy. “Where do I find it?”

“The bluebonnet festival. It started on Friday and runs all this week. I’m trying to convince Sally to go with me tomorrow. It’s only a couple hours’ drive.”

A prickle of uneasiness made its way down Kate’s spine as Roy expanded on his plans. There was so much to do, he said, that it would be an all-day event. And that was what concerned
Kate. If her grandmother and Roy stayed for the evening concert, they’d be coming back after dark. Sally had trouble with night driving, and Kate feared that Roy might too. The ophthalmologist had told Kate she advised all of her over-seventy patients to avoid driving at night.

“Why don’t I take you?” she suggested. “That way there won’t be any rush to get back. I’ll be your designated driver.” Even though no one would be drinking, the term was still appropriate.

To Kate’s surprise, Sally bristled. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

Kate blinked at the rebuke. That wasn’t like Sally. Her grandmother was normally even-tempered. What was stranger was the fact that the woman who had declared she wanted to spend a whole month with Kate now proposed to take off on her own for a day.

“Of course you don’t need a babysitter,” Kate said, her tone conciliatory.

“But I could use a change of scenery, not to mention those brats,” Greg interjected before Kate could remind her grandmother that the stated purpose of the whole trip to Texas was for the two of them to be together. “Why don’t I drive all of us? My SUV’s pretty comfortable.”

Sally and Roy exchanged a glance. “Okay,” Sally said, apparently liking what she saw in Roy’s expression. “You’ve got yourself a date.”

Which meant that Kate had a date with Greg.

G
reg stared at the road, thankful that the xenon headlights illuminated a wide swath. He’d heard that deer were common in this part of the Hill Country and that they were particularly active around sunrise and sunset. If he’d been planning the trip, he would have left an hour later to avoid potential collisions with wildlife, but Roy had been adamant that they reach the fairgrounds before the festival opened.

Greg wasn’t certain Sally and Roy would last the whole day, but he reminded himself that he shouldn’t underestimate their stamina. Sally had been looking healthier the past few days, and he had noticed none of the shortness of breath that had been so obvious when she and Kate arrived at Rainbow’s End.

As for Roy, the man’s energy levels seemed to have doubled since he’d met Sally Fuller. If Greg wasn’t mistaken, Roy was hoping to convince Sally to stay in Texas for far more than a month. He couldn’t blame him. Under different circumstances, Greg might have been trying to persuade Sally’s granddaughter to remain. But circumstances weren’t different. Greg would be at Rainbow’s End only until he figured out what God had in mind for him next. And probably well before that happened, Kate would return to her job.

Right now she was fiddling with the radio, trying to find a station she liked while Greg kept an eye open for Bambi’s relatives. To his surprise, Sally and Roy had ignored the middle seat of the SUV and had headed for the one in the rear. That put them far enough away that he couldn’t distinguish their words, although the occasional bursts of laughter told Greg they were enjoying their time together as much as he was enjoying being with Kate.

She looked like a Texan today, dressed in jeans, a floral print shirt, and boots. She’d even tossed a denim jacket into the back of the SUV for the unlikely event of a cool evening. Greg had seen the clothes before, but something about her today—perhaps the tilt of her head, perhaps the fact that she’d done something different with her hair—had made his breath catch when she’d walked out of her cabin. The sophisticated, almost brittle woman he’d met that first day seemed to have disappeared. Or perhaps she had never existed. That might have been a mask Kate wore to keep others from seeing inside her, like the mask that had been part of his daily wardrobe in California.

“I give up,” Kate said, switching off the radio. “Isn’t there anything but country music?”

Greg couldn’t help chuckling. The impatience was so typical of Kate. “This is Texas,” he pointed out. “We’re in the heart of country. A big heart.”

Just like Kate. He’d discovered that the true Kate was a woman with a deep capacity for love and an equally deep vulnerability. There was no mistaking her love for Sally. That showed in everything she said or did. And it wasn’t just Sally. Look at how she’d wanted to help the teenagers and the way her heart had opened to Angela Sinclair when she’d heard the woman’s story. Kate might wear the façade of a cool businesswoman, but the reality was far different. She was warm and caring.

“What made you go into advertising?” he asked. Perhaps
he was being foolish by reminding her of work, but Greg was curious.

The sky had lightened enough that he could see her smile. “It’s what my grandfather did. I guess you could say I decided to follow in his footsteps. The truth is, Grandpa Larry enjoyed his work so much that I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

And Greg’s father had hated his job so much that Greg had resolved he would never do anything like it. In the years since he’d left home, Greg had occasionally wondered if hating his job was one of the reasons his father had been so filled with anger, but by then their relationship had deteriorated to such an extent that he would not ask for fear of provoking another tirade.

“So your grandfather was a partner.”

Kate shook her head. “He never made partner. I don’t know why not.” She shrugged. “That wasn’t something we talked about.”

Interesting. Another piece of the puzzle that was Kate Sherwood fell into place. Greg had wondered why she was so focused on the partnership. At first he’d thought it was a matter of money and prestige. Now he knew there was more involved. Kate was trying to meet her grandfather’s expectations. He only hoped that the reality would be worth the sacrifices she was making.

“This is wonderful,” Sally said as she and Roy shielded their eyes to stare at the small plane pulling a banner. Not surprisingly, the banner was a promotion for the festival. As Roy had promised, the crowds were smaller than they would be on weekends or tomorrow when school was out to allow the children to attend, but there were still enough people to make the day feel festive.

Sally felt festive herself, and it had nothing to do with those marvelous boots Samantha had made. It was good to see her granddaughter looking so happy, but that wasn’t the reason for
Sally’s mood, either. Her mood owed everything to Roy. As soon as they’d entered the fairgrounds, Kate and Greg had gone their own way, leaving Sally with Roy. Perfect.

First on the agenda was the parade. And, since it was midweek, they were able to find seats on the bleachers to watch the half-hour procession of floats, marching bands, and clowns, culminating with the all-blue float bearing the Bluebonnet Queen and her attendants. Sally had seen dozens of parades in her life, but she couldn’t recall one she’d enjoyed more.

When the crowds had dispersed, she and Roy had abandoned their seats and wandered through aisles of craft booths. Exercising what Kate would call unusual restraint, Sally had bought nothing but a pale blue bandanna with darker blue bluebonnets printed on it, even though Roy had insisted that the matching sweatshirt was an essential addition to her wardrobe. They’d eaten certifiable junk food and drank enough sweet tea to make Sally’s dentist cringe, and through it all, Roy had been at her side.

Not just at her side but touching her. He’d held her hand while they’d strolled, draped his arm around her shoulders when they were seated on the bleachers, placed his hand on the small of her back as they’d made their way through tight spaces. Roy was a toucher, and Sally liked it. Oh, how she liked it. It had been far too long since a man had touched her as if she were a desirable woman.

“I can’t remember when I’ve laughed so much,” she said with a smile. As wonderful as it had been spending time with Kate, this was better, for being with Roy filled a need deep inside Sally, a need she hadn’t even admitted to herself.

Roy gave her shoulders a light squeeze. “Those laugh lines at the corners of your eyes tell me you’ve done a lot of laughing in your lifetime.”

“They’re crow’s feet,” Sally said, reminding Roy of their first conversation. It was amazing to realize it had been only a week
since she and Kate had arrived at Rainbow’s End. “I used to laugh a lot, but not so much the past few years,” she admitted as she and Roy meandered toward the midway. The rides had opened immediately after the parade ended and seemed to be drawing more visitors than the craft booths. “I can’t stop worrying about Kate and the way she’s throwing herself into her work. I shouldn’t be surprised, because she always was single-minded, but I’m concerned. I want her to have more—a real life.”

Roy nodded as if he understood, and Sally suspected he did. After all, he’d raised three boys and now had six grandchildren to worry about. “It’s hard to make the youngsters listen, isn’t it?” The corners of Roy’s lips curved in a smile. “Not that Kate’s exactly a youngster, but you know what I mean. The problem is, even though we want to save them from heartache, we can’t. They have to make their own decisions.”

“I know.” Sally scanned the crowd, looking for Kate and Greg. The smells of popcorn and fudge mingled with sunblock and perfume, causing Sally to wrinkle her nose. “It’s almost a miracle that Kate came with me. She had the hardest time convincing her boss the world wouldn’t end if she took a month off from work.”

“And look at her now.” Roy pointed in the direction of the fortune-telling tent. Kate stood there laughing as Greg put his cowboy hat on her head. “Greg’s good for her.”

“And you’re good for me. Thank you, Roy. Coming here was a great idea.”

He held up a cautionary hand. “Don’t thank me yet. The day isn’t over. We haven’t been on any of the rides. I have to admit that my roller-coaster days are gone, but can I convince you to ride the carousel?”

He stopped in front of a merry-go-round whose sign announced that it was a genuine Herschell carousel with fully restored wooden animals. Sally smiled, recalling the number of
times she’d taken Kate to visit the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum in Western New York and how Kate used to insist the sign was misspelled because of the double
r
. They’d both enjoyed the exhibits, and Kate had been thrilled when she was old enough to attend one of the annual Victorian teas, but the highlight of each visit had been the opportunity to ride the merry-go-round.

Sally studied the animals as they revolved, noting that although horses predominated, there were two pigs, a couple of goats, and four dogs in addition to two intricately carved chariots, one whose seat back was shaped like a peacock.

“A horse or a chariot?” she asked Roy. When they’d first been courting, Sally and Larry had chosen the chariots, simply because it gave them the opportunity to sit close to each other and steal an occasional kiss. When Kate had joined their family, she’d insisted that chariots were for babies and old folks and refused to consider riding in one.

“What’s wrong with both? I think I can afford two rides.”

“I like the way you think, Roy Gordon.” As Sally mounted the painted pony next to him, she amended her opinion.
I like everything about you.

“You’ll never convince me that cotton candy is health food.”

Greg tugged on Kate’s hand, trying to draw her closer to the stand. “But it’s fun.”

“Messy,” she countered. That didn’t seem to bother the couple who had just bought a giant serving and were taking big bites, heedless of the sticky residue now decorating their faces. “There’s no neat way to eat it.”

“So, live a little. Take a risk.”

The day was sunny and bright, the warmest since she’d arrived in Texas, but Kate felt as if a cloud had obscured the
sun, chilling the air. It was nothing more than her imagination. Kate knew that. Greg was only joking. Kate knew that too, and yet the words hurt. “Have you been talking to Sally?” she demanded.

Her words came out more harshly than she’d planned, and so she tempered them with a shrug. “Sally’s always saying that I should take more risks, only she has more in mind than cotton candy. If she had her way, I’d quit my job and join the circus.” Though Sally was normally lavish with her praise when she saw Kate’s ads, recently she’d told her she hoped Kate hadn’t made a mistake in choosing advertising. And no matter how often Kate assured her grandmother that she was happy, Sally seemed unconvinced.

“The circus?” Raised eyebrows were Greg’s first response. “I can’t quite picture you as a clown.”

“Are you kidding? I’d be the fat lady, especially if I eat that.” Kate pointed to the cotton candy, determined to steer the conversation away from risks.

As she’d hoped, Greg laughed. He held up both hands in surrender. “All right. I give up. Let’s have caramel corn instead.”

“Yes!” Kate pumped her fist in the air. Though it had little more nutritional value than cotton candy, caramel corn was something Kate enjoyed. It wasn’t the flavor as much as the nostalgia. Caramel corn had always been part of her trips to the county fair and firemen’s picnics, first with Sally and Grandpa Larry, then with her friends.

Greg purchased a box and offered it to her. “You won this round, but I’m warning you. You won’t get away so easily next time.”

“Are you going to expect me to eat pickled eel?”

He shook his head as he glanced at the midway. “Not food. Carnival rides. No self-respecting tourist would leave here without riding at least one.”

The throngs milling around the ticket booths and queuing for the various rides seemed to confirm Greg’s assertion. As two children who must have played hooky jostled them, Greg wrapped his arm around Kate’s waist and drew her to the sidelines. “I saw Roy and Sally headed for the merry-go-round. Do you want to try that?”