At Bluebonnet Lake (Texas Crossroads Book #1): A Novel (29 page)

Y
ou’re planning to do what?” Kate stared at Greg as he took a sip of coffee. When he’d come back into the diner after making his calls, he’d looked like a kid on Christmas morning who’d just opened the gift he’d been dreaming of. His eyes had radiated enthusiasm, and his smile was one of pure excitement. When he’d heard her news and hugged her, Kate had thought Greg was ready to leave, but instead of heading for the door, he’d ordered more coffee and taken the seat opposite her in the booth.

“I want to invite the whole town of Dupree to an Easter party,” Greg said, his smile announcing that he thought what he was proposing would be as simple as ordering another cup of coffee from Russ Walker. “There’ll be a sit-down dinner for the adults and an outdoor barbecue for kids and teens. And to keep the kids entertained while their parents are eating, I thought we’d have a movie.”

When Greg dreamed, he dreamed big. That was undoubtedly part of the reason he’d been so successful. He was what one of Kate’s college professors had called a visionary. But vision needed an occasional infusion of reality.

“It’s a terrific idea,” Kate said, “but it’s going to take a miracle
to pull it off in two days.” It wasn’t as if they were in New York where almost anything was a phone call away. They were in Dupree, Texas, population 597, and on a holiday weekend to boot.

Greg shook his head. “O ye of little faith. I don’t need a miracle, just some careful planning and a whole lot of help from my friends.” The smile he sent in Kate’s direction left no doubt that she was included in that group. “Trust me, Kate. We can do it.”

Greg’s use of the plural pronoun made her heart beat a little faster. He had offered her exactly what she wanted: a reason to spend the whole weekend with him.

“Count me in.” Kate took a deep breath, savoring the relief that had settled over her like a warm blanket ever since she’d heard Heather’s reaction to her campaign ideas. Though she ought to be exhausted from a night without sleep, she felt exhilarated, knowing that she’d hit the mark. That alone would have made today memorable, but now she and Greg had a party to plan. It might be crazy—it was definitely ambitious—but Greg’s scheme excited Kate more than anything she could recall.

“What can I do?” she asked.

“Tell me what I’ve forgotten.” Greg took a bite of cinnamon toast. Though Kate knew he wasn’t particularly hungry, she suspected he’d ordered it to give Russ Walker a bit more income. That was classic Greg, seeing a need and trying to fill it. Even though she’d seen him wear them only once, he owned a pair of Samantha’s boots, and Kate wouldn’t be surprised if Greg had ordered a quilt he didn’t need from Lauren. Now he was planning to help the whole town.

“What have you forgotten? That’s easy. Logistics.” Kate kept a smile on her face, not wanting to discourage Greg. “There are close to six hundred people in Dupree. There’s absolutely no way Rainbow’s End can handle them all. The dining room seats only forty.”

Greg nodded as if he’d already considered that. “That’s why the kids will eat outside. That’ll also give the parents something that resembles a date night. They’ll have close to two hours without any interruptions.”

Kate had no trouble imagining how the adults would welcome that idea, because Brittany had told her that she and her husband had craved time alone—what she called grown-up time—after Peanut Penelope’s birth.

“I hate to point this out, but there are at least a hundred adults.”

“Oh.” Greg’s face mirrored his dismay. More tellingly, he did not greet the customer who entered the Sit ‘n’ Sip.

Kate wouldn’t let him stew, not when she knew the problem could be resolved with a little planning. “So we have different seating times. Three should work. It’ll make it easier for Carmen too, because she won’t have to have everything ready at the same time.”

As Greg nodded, Kate continued. “Let’s say we seat people at noon, three, and six. The middle slot will be the toughest to fill, but Carmen said some people have a big breakfast right after Easter services, so it could work.”

“That sounds like a plan. I’d been thinking about an all-day event, but you’re right. Rainbow’s End isn’t ready for that.” Greg gave Kate an approving look as he finished his cinnamon toast and washed it down with a swig of coffee. “Any other problems?”

A dozen, but one stood out ahead of the others. “The kids. Who’s going to watch them while their parents are eating? It would be disastrous to leave them alone.”

Wrinkling his nose, Greg stared out the window for a second. “I don’t suppose Angela and Tim would do that.”

“I think you’re safe with that assumption.” Kate had heard Tim announce that children should be seen and not heard and that, when it came to Rainbow’s End, they should not even be seen. “We definitely need adult supervision for them. Let me
think about it.” She drained the last of her tea. “Meanwhile, we’d better start spreading the word.”

Greg beckoned the diner’s proprietor who’d been standing behind the counter, waiting for customers to arrive. The last had taken coffee to go, leaving Russ alone. “Hey, Russ, come on over and pull up a chair. We need your help.”

Though he looked skeptical initially, as Greg explained what he was planning, the man’s face relaxed, the furrows that had seemed a permanent fixture between his eyes almost disappearing.

“So what you’re saying is that Rainbow’s End is going to host an Easter party for the whole town.”

Greg nodded. “Exactly.”

Not exactly. The party wasn’t Angela and Tim’s idea. They were simply providing the locale and profiting handsomely from it. But Kate had no intention of contradicting Russ’s assumption, not when it was clear that Greg didn’t want anyone to know he was paying for the party. Her heart warmed at the realization that while almost everyone she knew would have wanted credit for such a generous gesture, Greg felt no need to advertise it.

“I was hoping you’d spread the word,” Greg continued. “Kate and I will talk to the other merchants, but we need a central place for the sign-up. Would you handle that?”

“You bet.” Russ wiped his hands on his apron in what Kate had come to realize was a reflex, having nothing to do with whether or not his hands were wet. “Wait until my wife hears about this. She won’t believe her ears.”

Samantha was just as enthusiastic, but it was Lauren’s reaction that touched Kate’s heart. The thin brunette’s smile was so broad that Kate wondered if her cheeks hurt. “This is the answer to prayer,” she told Kate and Greg. “I know Easter is supposed to be a joyous occasion, but I was dreading it. You see, my husband always made holidays special for Fiona. This will be our first Easter without him, and I didn’t know what to
do. Going to Rainbow’s End is the perfect solution.” She wiped a tear from the corner of one eye. “How can I help you? Fiona and I’ll do anything we can.”

It was the opening Kate needed. “I’m a little worried about the kids. You know what happens when you get a lot of them together.”

Lauren pretended to wince. “Were you thinking murder and mayhem?”

“At least the latter.”

Nodding, Lauren glanced at her phone. “Why don’t I organize a Mommy Brigade? I’ll make sure there are enough adults there that you don’t have to worry.”

“Thanks.”

Lauren shrugged. “It’s the least I can do. I know the other mothers will say the same thing.”

When they’d completed their circuit of the shops, Greg turned to Kate. “I thought I’d take a run into San Antonio. I need to arrange for a projector and screen.”

That was one of the problems that had been nagging at the back of her mind. “I know you want to show a movie, and I think it’s a great idea, but there’s one not-so-little problem. It’ll be daylight. That’s not exactly ideal movie-watching conditions.”

Greg shrugged. “So we’ll get a tent.”

“With black-out walls?”

“Sure, why not?” He seemed to believe that everything was possible. Perhaps it was, with enough money. “Want to go with me? I might even be persuaded to buy you some nachos.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

They headed back to Rainbow’s End to tell Sally what Kate would be doing and to have a brief meeting with Carmen.

“Do you need anything—special food, more equipment, extra help?” Greg asked the chef.

Carmen shook her head. “I already took care of that. KOB
will be the waitstaff for the adults, and they’re enlisting some of their friends to serve the kids. I got a hold of one of the teachers, and she’s going to send some food science students to help with food prep. They’ll get extra credit instead of pay.”

Greg shook his head. “I think we can pay them. After all, they’re giving up a holiday.”

Carmen flashed a warm smile at Greg. “It’s a nice thing you’re doing, Greg.”

He shrugged. “Rainbow’s End is throwing the party.”

“Like I said, it’s a nice thing.”

Sally echoed Carmen’s sentiment and promised that she and Roy would help spread the word. “We’ll go door-to-door if we have to, but we’ll make sure everyone knows what’s happening.” Giving Kate a quick hug, she said, “You kids have a good time in San Antonio.”

They did. As Kate had suspected, there were no tents available with room-darkening walls. Though Greg was clearly disappointed, once Kate discovered a fabric store that carried special fabric for making window shades, they developed Plan B. They’d already decided that the kids could sit on the ground to watch the movie, so they simply moved the event indoors. Into the lodge, to be precise. By moving the furniture out, they could accommodate a hundred people at a time, and if they tacked the black-out fabric over the windows, they’d have a relatively dark venue.

“It won’t be elegant,” Kate told Greg as the clerk began measuring the fabric, “but it should work.”

“The kids won’t notice anything once the movie starts.”

“How did you manage to get it?” Kate had caught her breath with amazement when he’d told her the name of the film he planned to show. “I know it hasn’t come out on DVD yet.”

And, since Dupree’s theater showed only older movies, unless the kids had gone to San Antonio, it was unlikely any of them
had seen it. The third in an action figure series, this one was reported to be the best yet and had become a blockbuster. Kate knew that Greg had enough money to buy almost anything, but you needed more than money to score a coup like this. You needed contacts.

Greg shrugged as he handed the clerk his credit card. “Drew arranged it. He’s got contacts in LA.”

In a day of surprises, this might not be the biggest, and yet Kate was almost shocked that Drew had agreed, given the way the men had parted. Unless, of course, Greg was paying for the favor. “What did you promise him?”

Greg’s shrug confirmed Kate’s assumption. “What he wanted—some ideas for a new release. I should have given them to him when he was here.” A frown crossed Greg’s face. “Drew’s on shaky ground with the new owners. I don’t want him to lose his job.”

Kate could understand that, and yet Drew’s arrogance still rankled. “You’re kinder than I would have been.” She slid her sunglasses on as they exited the store. Though Greg had apparently forgiven Drew for his harsh words, Kate could not forget the way he’d attacked Greg.

Greg tossed the bolts of fabric into the back of the SUV alongside the projector and screen. “Basically Drew’s a good guy. He’s just gotten his priorities a bit mixed up.”

That was something no one would say about Greg. His priorities were crystal clear, or so it seemed to Kate. Right now his priorities were giving a small town in Texas an Easter to remember at the same time that he helped Angela and Tim Sinclair hold on to Rainbow’s End for a little while longer.

Greg drove for a few minutes and was discussing where they should stop for lunch when he swung the vehicle into a video store parking lot.

“What are we doing here?” Kate asked. “Last time I checked, they didn’t serve nachos.”

“You’ll see.” He clasped her hand in his, swinging it as they walked through the parking lot. Once they were inside, Greg studied the overhead signs, then steered her toward the aisle marked “musicals.”

“See if you can find a copy of
South Pacific
,” he said. “Drew’s sending a new legal thriller along with the action flick, but I thought we could have a double feature after the last dinner seating, just in case anyone wants to make it a late night.”

Greg was right. It would be the perfect ending to what promised to be a wonderful day. “I can guarantee at least two adults will stay for
South Pacific
.” When Greg raised an eyebrow, Kate answered the unspoken question. “Sally and me.”

There was no doubt about Sally. Though she’d watched it often enough to have memorized the dialogue as well as the songs, she claimed she would never tire of it. Kate’s reaction would be different. She knew that while the movie was playing on the big screen, her mind would be replaying the bluebonnet festival, that unforgettable ride on the Ferris wheel, and her first kiss with Greg. It would definitely be an enchanted evening.

Easter was as close to perfect as a day could be. Kate attended the sunrise service with Sally, then, when Roy declared that he was taking his best gal out for Easter breakfast, she returned to Rainbow’s End, leaving Sally with the man who made her giggle like a youngster. Kate had planned to help Carmen but discovered that KOB and the food science students were already in the kitchen, peeling what looked like a hundred pounds of potatoes and basting more hams than Kate had ever seen.