At Bluebonnet Lake (Texas Crossroads Book #1): A Novel (31 page)

S
o this was how the other half lived.

Kate settled into the comfortable seat, running her hands over the fine leather, noting that the trays were made from wood, not plastic or metal. And then there was the sheer luxury of being the only passenger in a cabin designed for ten. Her eyes took in the deeply piled carpet, the textured wallpaper, and the elegantly appointed seats. Here there was no locked cockpit, merely a heavy curtain separating the pilot and copilot from their passengers. Or, in this case, their passenger. Singular.

She fastened her seat belt as they began to taxi, reflecting on how different this had been from the day she and Sally had traveled to San Antonio. Because Kate was flying from general aviation rather than one of the normal passenger terminals, there had been no long line for security, no even longer walk to reach the gate. Instead, she had entered the small terminal and been greeted by the copilot, who introduced himself as Jake. Jake escorted her out the door, across a short expanse of tarmac, and up the stairs to the plane, pausing briefly to introduce her to Brad, the pilot. Within minutes, they were airborne.

Though Kate had never liked the word
surreal
, that was the only way she could describe the experience. Greg had probably done this dozens, perhaps hundreds, of times, but it was her first flight on a private jet. Pure luxury, even if she had left Rainbow’s End so early that she’d had to skip breakfast.

She should have asked Greg for one of his energy bars, but Kate hadn’t wanted to do anything that would remind him of the trip. He’d been quieter than usual when they’d played tennis, and though Sally had done her best to pretend nothing was wrong, Kate had felt the strain between them. When this day was over and she was once more back at Rainbow’s End, she would do her best to make up for today, but first she had a pitch to make and a client to convince.

“Hungry?”

Kate nodded as she looked up. They’d reached their cruising altitude, and Jake had emerged from the cockpit. “Come up here.” He showed her the small galley stocked with an assortment of juices and pastries.

“We didn’t know what you wanted for breakfast.” Jake pointed to a drawer. “There’s cold cereal there, and milk and yogurt in the fridge. And of course, there’s peanut butter and bread. We even have a toaster.”

Kate’s eyes widened. “You did all this for one person?”

“The Prestons take good care of their guests. But don’t worry if you can’t finish everything. Brad and I’ll eat whatever you don’t want. It’s one of the perks of the job. And if you let me know what you’d like for dinner, I’ll arrange for that.”

Feeling distinctly pampered, Kate wondered if Jake would expect her to order a five-course meal. “I’m not fussy,” she told him. “Anything other than sandwiches would be good.” Heather had said she was planning a working lunch with the new owners of Aunt Ivy’s, and knowing Heather, that meant platters of sandwiches, salads, and cookies.

Jake nodded. “Fine. I’ll see what catering suggests.”

After helping herself to a container of yogurt and a Danish pastry, Kate settled back in her seat and opened her laptop. Though she’d gone through the presentation half a dozen times, she wanted one last run-through before she reached New York.

She knew the clients would expect PowerPoint slides, and there would be some, but instead of the usual “why you should choose Maddox and Associates” introduction, she had created a short video to kick off the day. Her voice wasn’t as dramatic as a professional narrator’s, but the video would give Hazel and Ike Preston an idea of the TV spots she envisioned. Once they’d seen that, she would segue into the more mundane aspects of the proposal, including the other forms of advertising she was recommending.

When she’d watched the video for what felt like the hundredth time, Kate clicked through her PowerPoint slides, reminding herself of the points she planned to make with each one. At the end, she sat back, pleased with what she’d accomplished. It would be a good day. Greg was wrong; this wasn’t a mistake. And, despite what Sally had said, Grandpa Larry would be proud that Kate was being considered for a partnership. He’d told her to aim high, and she had.

The flight went quickly, and before Kate knew it, she was once again buckled into her seat, waiting for the plane to touch down in New Jersey. Rather than confront the congestion that defined Newark airport, they landed at the smaller Teterboro field, and once again, nothing had been left to chance. A limousine was waiting to take Kate into Manhattan. It was a decidedly easier way to travel than her normal commute on the PATH trains under the Hudson followed by the New York subway system. And, fortunately, since the worst of the rush hour had ended, there were no delays.

“Good morning, Trudy.” Kate greeted the receptionist as she
walked through the main door to the Maddox and Associates offices.

The perky redhead nodded toward the larger of the firm’s conference rooms. “The clients are here, but Heather wants to see you in her office first.”

Kate had expected that. Either Heather or Nick always had a last-minute powwow with her before a major presentation. This was the first time neither of the partners had seen her full pitch, so it was only natural that Heather would want a few minutes with Kate to reassure herself that everything was ready.

Her dark hair sleeked into her signature French twist, Heather smiled as Kate entered her office. While Heather always wore the latest clothing style, her hairstyle never varied. She’d once told Kate she was convinced that an unchanging hairstyle was the best way of not dating herself. And if there was one thing Heather feared, it was looking old. At fifty-two she was at the peak of her career and determined to remain there.

“It’s good to have you back, Kate. Three weeks is a long time. I wanted to see if—” Heather stopped in midsentence, her eyes widening as she looked down. “Are those cowboy boots?”

Kate bit back her smile at Heather’s predictable response. When she’d chosen her clothing this morning, she’d debated over the boots, finally deciding to make a statement with them. “Genuine, hand-tooled sharkskin.”

Heather stared at them for a second, then shook her head so vigorously Kate wondered if a lock of hair would dare to slip out of the twist. “I don’t care if the shark himself did the tooling. You can’t wear those. Ike and Hazel Preston are conservative.”

Kate knew that from the notes Heather had sent her and from her own research. “But they want their products to appeal to young, affluent customers. Some of those customers wear boots.”

Heather glanced at her watch, as if calculating how many
seconds they had before the meeting was scheduled to begin. “I know you keep a change of clothes here. Surely that includes appropriate shoes.”

It did. Kate had a pair of beautiful Italian pumps with stiletto heels that fairly shrieked “young and modern.” But those were not going on her feet today. She’d worn the cowboy boots for a reason. They were her reminder of all that she had left behind in Texas, an incentive to give the Prestons her very best so that today’s sacrifice would not be in vain.

“Look, Heather, I interrupted my vacation and upset my grandmother to be here. I’m here, and so are my boots. We’re a package deal.”

As if she sensed that Kate would not budge, Heather simply pursed her lips and rose from behind her desk. “Are you ready?”

Heather preceded Kate into the conference room, making the introductions to Hazel and Ike Preston. They proved to be a pleasant-looking man and woman in their midfifties. Hazel’s suit was a bit frumpy by New York standards, but it was well cut and made of obviously expensive wool. Her brother Ike had a cheerful round face, and if he’d been given a beard and a red suit, would have made an ideal Santa. Their light blue eyes shone with intelligence, making them exactly the kind of clients Kate liked best. They would ask penetrating questions and would be swayed by substance, not fluff. Perfect.

“I’m pleased to meet you,” Kate said as she shook their hands. “I’m very excited about the possibility of introducing Aunt Ivy’s peanut butter to a new segment of the population.”

“Just how are you proposing to do that?” Ike asked when he and Hazel had resumed their seats and Kate had moved to the head of the table. Though he smiled, there was no doubt that Ike Preston was a no-nonsense man, and the look Hazel gave him confirmed that she was equally tough.

“That’s what I’m going to show you in one minute,” Kate said
as she powered up her laptop and connected it to the projector. “I don’t want to give you empty words. I want to demonstrate what I have in mind.”

“Before you start the PowerPoint,” Hazel said, pushing her chair back slightly, “I have a question that has nothing to do with peanut butter, but if I don’t ask it now, I’ll be distracted during your presentation.” She looked at Kate’s feet. “Where did you get those boots? I want a pair just like them.”

Though Kate was tempted to flash Heather an “I told you so” look, she did not. Instead, she smiled at Hazel. “A friend made them, and I can tell you they’re more comfortable than I thought possible. I’ll give you her website later. But now, if you’re ready, let’s talk about the best peanut butter on the planet.”

As she nodded, Nick lowered the lights and Kate began the video. She’d done everything she could to showcase her concept. Now it was up to the Prestons. They might love it; they might hate it. In sixty seconds, the length of two TV commercials, Kate would have her answer.

There was a moment of silence when the video ended, then as Nick flicked on the lights, Hazel and Ike began to speak at the same time, their words tumbling over each other’s. “Wow!” “Fabulous!” “I wish I’d thought of that.” Their reaction was everything Kate had hoped for. They loved the peanut bursting out of its shell; they liked the juxtaposition of ads featuring adults dining on gourmet dishes with ones showing kids ordering peanut butter sandwiches; they even liked the tagline.

The rest of the presentation seemed almost anticlimactic, but by early afternoon, Ike and Hazel agreed that Maddox was the only firm they trusted to handle their account and that the brownies that accompanied Heather’s catered lunch needed only one thing to make them perfect: peanut butter frosting.

“This was more than I’d hoped for,” Hazel said as Kate escorted the Preston siblings to the front door. Kate wasn’t certain
whether she was referring to the pitch or the slip of paper with the website for Sam’s Bootery, but she didn’t care. The clients were happy, and that was what mattered.

When she’d said her farewells, Kate returned to the conference room for the normal postmortem discussion. Each time someone at Maddox pitched to a new client, either Nick or Heather—sometimes both—attended the presentation, then critiqued it afterward. Today it appeared that though they’d both been present, Nick would take the lead in the critique.

He nodded at Heather before turning his attention to Kate. “You did a great job, Kate,” he said, his voice warm with approval. “I know it wasn’t easy, but you’ve clearly demonstrated both your talent and your commitment to Maddox. I liked everything you did today. More importantly, so did the Prestons.”

Nick paused, perhaps for emphasis, then smiled. “We were going to wait until you returned from vacation, but Heather and I agreed there’s no reason to delay. We are pleased to offer you a partnership in the firm.”

Yes!
The satisfaction that swelled up inside Kate was so intense that she was tempted to raise her fists in triumph. This was what she wanted. This was the reason she’d worked so hard. She’d wanted her talents to be recognized, and they were. The dream that Grandpa Larry had planted inside her had come true. It was wonderful, and yet . . .

Kate blinked at the realization that she felt as if she’d reached the end of the road. Greg had asked her what came after a partnership, what the next rung on the ladder would be. At the time, she had had only nebulous ideas. When she’d dreamt about a partnership, she’d seen it as opening new vistas. It would be a plateau on the climb to the top of the mountain. But now that she’d been given what she’d longed for, another analogy came to mind.

Kate felt as if she’d finished not a chapter but a whole book.
She had that feel-good sensation that always accompanied reading the last page, and as happened with the best of books, she was now eager to find another story that would match or even surpass it.

It was time for a change. Unbidden, the image of herself and Greg greeting guests at Rainbow’s End flashed before her. A few hours ago she would have dismissed it, but now she could not. Filled with a sense of urgency that she could not explain, Kate knew she had to return to Rainbow’s End and Greg and Sally.

“Thank you, Nick. You too, Heather. This means a lot to me.” Kate glanced at her watch, calculating the time difference. She needed to call Greg, but Greg would be at Rainbow’s End, the land of no cell phone reception. Kate would have to wait until she returned to talk to him.

“I need to get back to Texas,” she said, refusing the champagne that Nick wanted to open to celebrate her partnership.

Heather raised a carefully sculpted eyebrow. “Got a cowboy waiting for you?”

“Not exactly.” Greg wasn’t a cowboy, and Kate wasn’t sure he was waiting for her. All she knew was that she felt as if something was tugging her back to Texas.

As soon as she settled into the limo, she turned on her phone. One message. Kate didn’t recognize the number, and the caller ID said simply “wireless caller.” She tapped the phone.

“There’s no easy way to tell you this.” The strain she heard in Greg’s voice sent tremors of alarm up Kate’s spine. “Sally’s in the ICU. They think she had a heart attack.”