Thirteen

Jake worked the line on his fly rod, setting the Woolly Bugger gently onto Mirror Lake. Ripples disturbed the placid surface that reflected a robin’s egg sky against snowcapped mountain peaks. Sunrise this morning had been a burst of pink, rose, and gold rays streaking across the sky above and reflected in the glassy expanse of the water stretching out before him.

Standing beside the lake, being part of the moment, Jake had felt small and insignificant, and at the same time, bigger than himself. Which made no sense and fit right in with the rest of where his head was right now. Nevertheless, despite having been skunked as far as fish were concerned this morning, he was glad he’d rolled out of bed in time to be part of the sunrise.

Sunrise. A new day. New beginning. I’ll get this figured out. I always do.

The morning’s gentle breeze whipped across the water, carrying aromas from the campgrounds farther up the lake. Bacon. Jake’s stomach answered with a gurgle, and he decided to make this his last cast. A big breakfast sounded appealing.

He headed back to the cabin, changed into his running clothes, and headed out for the diner on the highway, approximately three miles away. He ordered bacon, eggs, and hash browns, then let the waitress and another customer talk him into an order of biscuits and gravy on the side.

He waddled back to the resort property in plenty of time to shower and dress for the appointment at ten thirty.

He probably shouldn’t horn in on his mother’s meeting this morning. He knew she didn’t want him there, and she’d get snippy with him. However, since he was here, what did it hurt? In for a nail, in for a hammer, right? He hadn’t opened his mouth during the first two interviews. He didn’t plan to in this one either unless she asked for his opinion. Or if he saw them making a huge mistake—something he didn’t expect.

Both his mother and his aunt were smart, savvy women, which was why he hadn’t disregarded his mother’s wishes and traveled to Lake in the Clouds in January as his sisters had wanted him to do. Mom’s flight to the mountains might have been out of character, but Aunt Helen was a rock. Jake knew the family could count on her to be there for Mom with whatever support Mom needed.

In hindsight, he recognized that his mother had been a little lost without her sister ever since Helen retired and moved to Colorado. Mom’s decision to move shouldn’t have caught the family by surprise the way it had. Of course, she’d told them in no uncertain terms why she’d decided to do it. Now that he’d blown up his own life, the “how” of her effort was beginning to make sense to him, too.

For Mom, a decision this huge had required an equally huge commitment. She’d had to fix it so that there was no turning back.

She’d darn sure succeeded there. Hell, she’d even walked away from her precious dining room table.

He wondered how she’d taken the news from the estate sale company that it, along with all her dishes, had been included in the sales inventory. Had it been the arrow in the heart as his sisters claimed?

It had turned out that the disposal of family heirlooms had been the lone subject on which the Prentice siblings could agree since their grandfather’s death. To a person, they figured that Mom would come to regret her decision to give away everything that once had mattered to her so much. They also saw no reason to go through the hassle of dividing things up just to turn around and return them to Mom in a not-to-distant future.

So once the estate sale company had valued everything, they’d pooled their money—equally—and purchased anything one of them believed Mom would want when she came to her senses. It was all in a climate-controlled unit in a storage place Lucas owned.

One thing on Jake’s to-do list while in Colorado was to decide if the time was right to tell her about the storage unit. He didn’t have a good feel for that yet. What he did feel better about was the potential of the Raindrop Lodge and Cabins Resort property.

Admittedly, he would rest easier once they hired the contractor, and Jake could feel confident that the person knew what he was doing. He’d been impressed by the first two candidates. Might as well check out the third. Mom might not like it. She’d probably get snippy with him, but face it, that’s what she would expect him to do. He’d been checking out her hires for almost twenty years.

It all started when Mom contracted with an unethical roofing company to do work on the money pit that had been their Victorian home six months after his father died. As a rule, Mom had good instincts about people and made good hiring decisions, but these crooks had taken her for thousands and thousands of dollars. After that, as a precaution, Jake had made it a habit to do a deep Internet dive on the companies she planned to hire. When he’d discovered potential red flags, he’d let her know. That process had worked for them for years, but lately, his efforts seemed to chafe her. Mom had grown independent.

Now, there was an understatement.

She was a thousand-watt digital billboard for independence. She’d always been courageous. Always honest and steadfast and generous and kind. Mama bear protective of her loved ones. She had a huge heart, those good instincts, and she was smart. But the independence was new. Jake was both frightened and fascinated by the change in his mother.

He’d missed her these past months. He’d come to Colorado because he wanted to talk to her, to share his big professional news, and perhaps ask for her advice. He wanted to get to know this new Genevieve Prentice. He wanted her to know that he’d heard her and accepted the challenge she’d thrown down at their dining room table. Although he hadn’t realized it himself until he’d said it.

I’m trying to figure out who the hell I am.

He was surprised to hear a horn honk outside his cabin as he tied the shoelaces on his boots at a quarter past ten. A glance out his window revealed his mother’s idling car. The driver’s side window slid down as he hurried outside. “What’s up?”

“I saw your truck was here, so I assume you’re planning to come to this morning’s meeting. Want a ride?”

“I’m welcome?”

“I’m stubborn, but I hope not stupid. Since you’re here, and you are going to show up at the meeting anyway, we might as well take advantage of your expertise.” She gave a little laugh and added, “You’ve been developing your remodeling skills since you were eight years old, after all.”

Jake snorted. He’d never live that one down. He’d only been trying to help the day he’d decided to start his mother’s car and pull it into the garage. He did that. He’d pulled into the garage. Over his dad’s golf clubs. Over the lawnmower and through the wall into the kitchen. Luckily, he’d missed clipping the water heater by an inch and a half.

His father had done most of the repairs himself, primarily to have Jake work side by side with him. It was supposed to be punishment. Turned out to be one of the best times Jake ever had with his father, one he treasured to this day.

He climbed into the passenger’s seat and told Genevieve about his morning as they drove the short distance up to the lodge. “The sunrises are glorious here. I’m glad you’ve been able to experience them. You should come enjoy the sunset at my new place this evening. Would you like to join me for dinner? You could bring your stuff and stay there if you don’t want to roll out of bed and fish in the morning.”

“I would love to have dinner at your new place, Mom.” He could make sure she had room for the dining room table and all the dishes. “Thanks for the invitation.”

She shifted into park and switched off her engine. “I’ll rescind it and kick you out if you try to butt in during our meeting today.”

“Hear you loud and clear, Mom.”

She nodded and exited the car. They walked toward the lodge’s front steps, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Honey, I wasn’t very welcoming yesterday. I’m sorry about that. I am glad to see you.”

“That’s okay, Mom. I showed up uninvited. Actually, specifically not invited. I anticipated worse.”

“You did?”

“When you lay down the law, Mom, you mean it.”

“It didn’t stop you from coming.”

“That’s because I’m not here to check up on you.”

“Oh really?” she drawled, her tone dripping with doubt. “Why did you come?”

He had a dozen reasons rolling through his mind, but he voiced the one at the top of the list. “I came for a hug.”

She chastised him with a look. He drew a cross over his heart with his index finger. She sighed and laughed and gave him another hug. “Oh, Jake.”

The third contractor candidate wasn’t as impressive as the first two, and his reluctance to commit to the start date Mom and Aunt Helen required should his bid be accepted eliminated him from their consideration. With business mostly out of the way, talk turned to their trip.

“Wait a minute,” Jake said, lifting his head from the scope of work document he’d been studying. “Durango to Dallas? You’re not flying direct out of Denver?”

“No. The flights were better out of D/FW.”

Well, okay. Guess he didn’t really need to take his mother to the airport to make the drive to Denver. When he’d first awakened this morning, he’d wondered if he’d dreamed the phone call where he’d volunteered to drive three hundred miles one way for a date with Tess Crenshaw. But by the time he threw his first cast out over Mirror Lake, he knew that the dinner date with Tess was at the top of his certainty list.

Unfortunately, the list contained only two items at the moment, the second one being paying a visit to the local hardware store. That he intended to tackle later today. After listening to a steady drip, drip, drip in the shower of Cabin 1 for the past two nights, he had a shower head to replace. While he was there, he just might go wild and buy new toilet parts, too.

But hey, at least he had a list. It was a start.

“So do you see anything we forgot?” Aunt Helen asked when he’d finished reading the final page of the stack of papers that she’d given him.

“No. You’ve done a great job.”

“Templates rule. Now we wait for bids. In the meantime, I have an appointment to get my hair done I’d best toddle along to. What’s on your agenda, Jake?”

“I’m not sure. Mom? Are you free?”

“I can be. What do you have in mind?”

“I picked up a flyer at the tourist center. I was thinking about making the drive up to Inspiration Point. I’d like to see that waterfall. Would you care to come with me?”

“I’d love to, but I’d need to be back by two thirty to meet the drapery installer at the house. That should give us plenty of time, though.”

“Sounds good,” Jake said.

“I take it the drapes for the guest bedroom finally came in?” Aunt Helen asked.

“Yes. Thank goodness. If, fingers and toes crossed, the installer shows up this afternoon and nothing is wrong with the drapes, I am officially and forever done with Lina Perez.”

“Hallelujah. I am so sorry.” Aunt Helen explained to Jake, “The interior designer I recommended to your mother proved to be the world’s biggest flake.”

Mom nodded in agreement. “She has a good eye, but her work ethic isn’t worth squat. I don’t think she’d recognize the truth if it bit her in the butt. We’re going to need to find someone else to work with going forward. But that’s a problem for another day. You and I can pick up a picnic lunch on our way out of town, if you’d like. There’s a nice spot to eat up there. It’s perfect weather.”

“Works for me, Mom.”

Forty minutes later, a bell chimed as Jake walked into Cloudwiches sandwich shop to pick up the order his mother had called in. She remained in the car, answering a question for Ross from Granite Mountain Construction regarding the bid he was preparing. Inside the restaurant, conversation hummed with the lunchtime crowd. Customers occupied almost all the inside seating, and three people stood in line to order. A tall, gangly teenager wearing a T-shirt with the shop’s logo on the front bussed the tables. He nodded at Jake, then asked, “Are you Jake Prentice?”

“I am.”

“Thought so. Your order is ready. You can pick it up in the back.” He nodded toward the doorway leading into a kitchen and added, “My grandmother wants to meet you.”

“Okay. Thanks.” Jake walked into the kitchen to see a woman of about Aunt Helen’s age standing at a worktable. She had long red hair worn in a neat braid and turned curious amber eyes his way. “You’re Jake?”

“Yes, ma’am.

“Aren’t you a handsome young man! Welcome to Lake in the Clouds. I feel like I know you already, you and your brother and sisters. I’m Virginia Higgins. My condo is one floor up from Helen McDaniel’s, and your mother and I are in the same belly-dancing class. We’re like a small family here in Lake in the Clouds.”

Belly-dancing class? Jake really didn’t need that picture in his head. Well, better than a pole dancing class, he guessed.

“I just adore Genevieve. She told me the two of you are making an unscheduled trip up to Inspiration Point this afternoon when she called in your order. I filled a cooler with some drinks to send along with the sandwiches.” She glanced toward the front of the shop, then waved him closer and lowered her voice. “My husband and I hiked the north trail out of the point the day before yesterday, and it was fabulous. It’s Triple T land, but Gage Throckmorton allows locals access. Tell your mother that I said the two of you should make the hike today. The snow is all but gone. It’s spectacular and not too challenging for someone as athletic as your mom. She’ll want to use the walking sticks she keeps in her Land Rover. I stuck a map in with your sandwiches. Some trail mix, too. You’ll work up an appetite.”

Jake had no idea whether or not his mother would want to go hiking today, but he was game. Besides, Virginia Higgins wasn’t somebody he wanted to cross. “Thanks. I’ll tell her.”

“I hear she and Helen are headed to Europe next week. That’s exciting news. I can’t believe neither of them mentioned it to anyone before now.”

“I gather making the trip has been a last-minute decision. Although it’s something that they’ve talked about for as long as I can remember.”

“Well, good for them. They’re good people. We are lucky to have them in Lake in the Clouds.”

“We miss having them in Texas.”

“I’m sure you do. They’re going to do great things out at the Raindrop, though I worry a little bit about the finished product now that your mother’s gotten crossways with Lina Perez. They’ll have to hire a designer from out of the area. I know Lina can be a trial, but at least she’d be able to talk Helen off the ledge about the cuckoo clocks. And now that she’s going to Europe and going antiquing in Bavaria, why, I’m afraid what she’ll bring back to Colorado for the Raindrop.”

Cuckoo clocks. Jake winced. Yes, Aunt Helen did veer strangely out of character when it came to cuckoo clocks. From what he recalled, it had something to do with her first husband.

“Well, that’s a worry for another day.” Virginia gestured toward a table where a paper bag sat next to a soft-sided cooler. “You and your mom enjoy your afternoon. Take the hike. Take a nap. Sit and reflect. Talk to your mother. Reach out to your brother. Call a friend. The cell reception up there is excellent. Inspiration Point can change your life.”

“In that case, we’d better get going.” He reached into his pocket for his wallet. “Do I pay at the register?”

“Nope. Lunch is on the house. Your mom picked up drinks after belly-dancing class last week, and I owe her. Tell her we’re even now.”

“All right, I will. Thanks. It was nice to meet you.” Jake picked up the sack and cooler and exited Cloudwiches. He stowed the picnic supplies in the back of the car and slid into the driver’s seat as Genevieve was finishing up her call. A different call, he realized, when she spoke his younger sister’s name.

He arched his brows and looked at her. She shrugged. “I spoke to you. Didn’t seem right to continue the silent treatment with your siblings.”

“Good. That’s good.” Jake started the car and shifted into reverse. Ten minutes later, he was navigating his mother’s new Land Cruiser up a twisting, two-lane mountain road. She sat in the passenger seat and answered his questions about life in Lake in the Clouds. He’d already had a general picture of her world from the group e-mails and photos she shared with the family every week, but today she added layers. Having seen Aunt Helen’s condo and met the ancient waitress with the beehive hairdo at the diner this morning in addition to Virginia Higgins, he was able to appreciate some of her stories even more than before.

She sounded happy. She sparkled when she shocked him by admitting to buying a snowmobile, and she glowed when she talked about new friends that she’d made in a quilting group.

“Quilting, Mom? You always claimed to hate anything to do with needles and thread.”

“I did. I know. I was wrong.” She gave a long sigh and added, “I’ve been wrong about a lot of things. There is something beautiful about taking scraps from the past and piecing them together to create something entirely new. I find it appealing at this time in my life. Not that my work is beautiful. I can’t sew a straight line for the life of me, and I prick my finger a lot, but I am learning. Now, enough about me. Tell me about you. I want to hear about you.”

Jake thought about Tess. “Well, I haven’t taken up quilting, Mom, but I do have a first date on my calendar next week with Tess Crenshaw. She’s a scrappy thing, too. I wouldn’t be averse to creating something new with her.”

His mother’s spine snapped straight, and she whipped her head around to pin him with a look filled with yearning, excitement, and delight. “A baby? You want to have a baby?”

Jake almost ran off the road.

*  *  *

Tess didn’t have to go into the office on a travel day, but it was on the way home from the airport, and besides, she wanted to keep busy. Otherwise, she would sit and twiddle her thumbs while waiting for her phone to ring.

If it rang. If Jake had not awakened and had second thoughts this morning. If he even remembered calling her. He hadn’t sounded stoned or drunk last night, but Tess wasn’t an expert on stoned or drunk. She could have missed it.

She didn’t think she had missed it. She believed he’d been sober and sincere when he had asked her out to dinner. On a dinner date. A date. With Jake Prentice. Me.

Holy guacamole.

So to pass the time until her phone rang or didn’t ring, she went into the office. She was seated at her desk riffling through her drawers looking for a nail file when her boss walked past her door, stopped, then backed up. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Steve. Nice to see you, too.”

“You know what I mean.” He came into her office and sprawled in one of the two visitor’s chairs. “We missed you around here. Didn’t expect to see you until tomorrow. How was the flight?”

“I had a talker next to me.”

“Oh, Tess. I’m so sorry. I’d rather have a crying baby than a talker.”

“I know. You’ve said that many times. I thought about you often on the flight. The woman seated next to me was on her way to see her first grandchild. She was very excited. It’s a little girl. Charlotte Elizabeth. Seven pounds three ounces. Cute baby.”

“Did you drink?”

“No. I thought about it, but my car was at the airport.”

“Tess, airplane talkers are why God made headphones.”

She laughed. “Honestly, I didn’t mind. I actually walked out with her because I wanted to witness the big moment and meet the baby myself. It was sweet.”

Her boss shook his head. “Just when I think you’re all business, you up and surprise me. Is your biological clock ticking? Do we need to plan for that around here?”

“You can’t ask me that, Steve. I’ll report you to HR.”

“We don’t have an HR department. We’re too small.”

Then, because travel fatigue combined with a restless night loosened her tongue, she spoke a truth she ordinarily would have kept to herself as a relative newcomer to the firm. “We are not too small. We’re all creatives. I adore you, Steve, and I’ve learned so much from working with you. Your instincts are fabulous, and your design skills are inspired, but management is not your strong suit. Long term, for this firm to grow and thrive, you need to bring in someone whose skill set is better suited to management than yours. You are a fabulous managing partner, but what Innovations needs to grow to the next level is an experienced CEO.”

He scowled at her. “If I was a better leader, I guess I would fire you for being impudent.”

“No, you’d promote me for identifying a problem.”

“No. You’d get the promotion for solving the problem.”

Tess’s gaze drifted to her phone. The idea that had been simmering in her mind since yesterday bubbled to the surface, tugging her in two distinctly opposite directions. Goals. Tess had her goals, ones she’d defined years ago and devoted herself to achieving. She would achieve them. The goals were attainable.

But then there were the dreams. Dreams were lovely, ethereal hopes, wishes, and desires. Hard work couldn’t make dreams come true. That took luck and angel dust.

Tess’s life had been woefully lacking in angel dust.

She’d be a fool to reach for a dream when a goal was in sight. She needed to keep her eyes on the ball. On the goal. On the achievable, the attainable.

“Okay, how about you put your money where your mouth is? Not only will I solve the problem, but I’ll also turn the problem on its head. My solution will double our profits within six months, guaranteed.”

Steve folded his arms and settled back in his chair. His mouth twisted in a crooked, challenging grin. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Just how are you going to do that?”

“See, here’s the negotiation part, Steve. For this to work, I need two things.” She ticked them off on her fingers. “An executive package suitable to attract an industry whale and, when I land him, a partnership for me.”

Now he laughed. “A whale, huh?”

“Get me the package to present to a candidate and a written partnership contingency offer for me.”

“You sound awfully confident, Ms. Crenshaw. Who would—” He broke off abruptly. His eyes rounded, then narrowed. “Jake Prentice stopped by here to see you not long ago. What do you know?”

“I’m not going to betray any confidences, Steve.”

“Did he ask you about joining us?”

“No. Not at all. That I will say. The subject has never come up.”

“But you think…whoa, Tess. All kidding aside, do you honestly have reason to think we could get Jake Prentice to move to Innovations?”

Goals. Dreams. Angel dust. Tess’s heart gave a little twist. “I think with the right incentive, yes, we could.”

Steve dragged a hand across his chin. “Jake would be a game changer. He’s exactly who we need around here.”

“I know.”

Her boss pushed to his feet. “I’ll talk to Chris and Justin. How quickly does this need to happen, do you think?”

“I’ll need the offer in hand when I go to Denver next week. He’s planning to be there, too.” I hope. If he ghosts me, I’ll really be the fool.

“Prentice is attending the Denver conference? That’s unusual.”

“No, he’s there on personal business, I believe. We’re going to have dinner if we can make our schedules work.”

“I see. Well, make it happen. Clear your calendar. Cancel the conference if that’s what it takes. Take all the time you need. I’ve gotta go talk to the guys.” He paused at the doorway and met her gaze. “If you pull this off, Tess, you’ll have earned the partnership.”

Take all the time you need. I can do more than dinner. “I know. I want Innovations Design to be a huge success, and I want to be part of it. It’s my goal.”

“I’ll touch base with you after I talk to the others.” He gave her a salute, then left her office.

Tess sat back hard in her chair. The sinking in her stomach was not dismay. It was not! She could not mourn something she’d never possessed. It would have been a long shot under any circumstances. It was one dinner date. If he’d had any genuine desire to date her, he’d had plenty of time to ask her out in the past six months. She shouldn’t kid herself.

Besides, Jake Prentice might make a great fantasy, but who’s to say she’d even like the reality?

It was a legitimate question. How many times in the past had she gone out on a first date with high hopes only to be disappointed? More than she wanted to remember, that’s for sure. It was possible that were she ever to get to know Jake on a personal basis, she’d experience something similar.

Tess opened a new file on her computer and began to make notes for her recruitment pitch. If she only managed a bullet list of five points before logging into her favorite department store’s website in order to shop for a dress for her dinner in Denver, well, that was a business activity under the circumstances, wasn’t it?

Then why was she looking at fun and flirty styles rather than something professional?

She ordered three dresses and two new pairs of shoes from the department store and then surfed to a specialty retailer. She spent over an hour on that site researching outdoor gear. When she checked out, her shopping cart looked like one of her Black Friday hauls.

Jake called at a quarter past three Texas time. Tess drew a deep breath, licked her lips, then answered. “Hello?”

“Hi. Did you make it home safe and sound?”

His warm, friendly voice made her smile. “I did. Well, I’m back in Austin anyway. I decided to stop at the office and dump some files since it’s on the way home.”

“So you’re sitting at a desk?”

“Yes.”

“That’s too bad.”

Tess frowned. “It’s a nice desk. In a nice office. In a very nice building.”

“I know. Well, I know the building is nice. I haven’t seen your office but you were watching moonlight on the Gulf last night, so I couldn’t claim bragging rights. Today I can. You should see where I’m sitting, Tess. It’s spectacular, a place called Inspiration Point, and it’s aptly named. I’ll bring you up here if you visit Lake in the Clouds next weekend. Is that going to work for you?”

Tess closed her eyes. So it was happening. He’d called. He hadn’t ghosted her. The invitation hadn’t been rescinded. Why did you go and open your big mouth to Steve?

Because you’re a realist, that’s why.

But do you have to be real right away? Can’t you go with the fantasy for a little while?

That would be stupid. However, that didn’t mean that she shouldn’t go to Colorado and present her proposal carefully. At the proper time. Toward the end of the visit. However long that visit may last.

“I believe so, yes. I spoke to Steve, and I can get some time off.”

“Great. That’s awesome. You will love this place, Tess. Right now, I’m sitting on an outcropping of rock overlooking a valley that is green with spring. I can see the whole of Mirror Lake, which is gorgeous. It’s as blue as…”

When he didn’t immediately complete the sentence, Tess clutched her phone a little more tightly. He wasn’t about to say “your eyes.” Surely not.

Her eyes were arguably her best feature, prominent and thickly lashed, and a nice color of blue. Ever since boys started taking notice of her, when a guy went searching for a compliment, he’d invariably roll out something about her eyes. Tess wasn’t complaining. Praise was always lovely to hear, and she sincerely appreciated kind words from anyone. However, if she’d heard her eyes compared to sapphires or a crystal lake or the ocean or the sky once, she’d heard it dozens—maybe even hundreds—of times.

She’d never heard it from Jake Prentice.

She realized she really wanted to hear Jake Prentice compliment her eyes. She wanted him to tell her that the gorgeous blue lake in Colorado he described reminded him of her gorgeous blue eyes.

Jake’s hesitation ended when he declared, “Mirror Lake is as blue as the sleeves on the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders uniforms.”

Oh. Startled, she laughed, more at herself than at him. “Geez, Prentice. What sort of simile is that?”

“It’s a perfectly good one! I drew a vivid picture of beauty with my words, didn’t I? Who could argue that a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader isn’t a vision?”

Tess shook her head. This was not the same Jake Prentice who was her boss’s boss’s boss; that was for certain. He never would have said something like that. “Well, if you’re getting away from natural descriptives, I might be more impressed if you said Mirror Lake was as blue as Zac Efron’s eyes.”

“See, that’s what I get for trying to be unique and not sounding like I was using a line from my repertoire. I could have said, ‘Mirror Lake is a gorgeous sapphire blue like your eyes,’ but I didn’t.”

Oh! Tess moistened her dry lips. “Because that would sound like a line from your repertoire.”

“Exactly. Never mind that it’s the truth…”

She closed her eyes and grinned.

“…and as a result, the most obvious comparison to pop to mind when I’m talking to you. It would sound like I’m hitting on you, and I’m not. I wouldn’t do that.”

“Oh.” She opened her eyes and slumped back in her chair.

“My mom is close to being within earshot. We’ve been hiking together. I don’t think she’s listening, but just in case, I’m not going to hit on a woman where my mom can hear me do it. That’s just wrong.”

Oh. She straightened back up.

“Look, I’ve invited you to spend some time with me at Lake in the Clouds. I’m not going to scare you off by acting like a creeper the moment you say yes, you will join me.”

Oh!

“However, now that the subject has been introduced, I probably should go ahead and address it. I want you to know that there are no expectations on this end, Tess.”

Oh. She rose to her feet and walked to her office window.

E-I-E-I-O. You are losing your wits, Tess Crenshaw.

“Hopes, maybe,” he continued. “Okay, hopes definitely. But primarily, I want to spend time with you. I want to explore Lake in the Clouds together with you. I want to sit here at Inspiration Point and talk with you.”

Two short little words bubbled up inside her and escaped before she had the good sense to suppress them. “Why me?”

This time, his hesitation dragged on longer than it had before the Cowboys Cheerleaders comment. Finally, he said, “You’ll think I’m dodging the question, but I’m not. I don’t have an answer that will make any sense. See, the only answers I have right now are that I want to change the leaking shower head in the bathroom in the cabin I’m staying in and spend time with you. So fair warning. My head is not on straight these days, and I have a feeling that you are the person who can properly adjust the fit.”

“Let me repeat. Why me?”

“I don’t know. I’m hoping our time together in Colorado will lead to an answer.”

Tess propped a hip on the windowsill and stared out at the skyline of downtown Austin. “All of a sudden, this trip feels more important than a vacation.”

“I’m sorry. My bad. See, I told you my head isn’t on straight. Tell you what, I hereby declare a moratorium on all heavy talk until you are sitting beside me here looking down at Lake in the Clouds.”

“‘Looking down at Lake in the Clouds’ makes it sound like you are up very high.”

“We are. The elevation at Inspiration Point is ten thousand one hundred twenty-three feet. So what night do you want to have dinner?”

“You tell me. What works best for you?”

“I’m at your disposal. Turns out that Mom is flying out of Durango, so I’m free to meet you for dinner whichever day of the conference best suits your schedule.”

Tess pursed her lips and considered this bit of news. “What other business do you have in the city?”

“Nothing of note, but I can find things to do until your conference ends. I haven’t been there in quite a few years.”

“So you don’t need to go to Denver? You’re just making that drive to have dinner with me?”

“And to bring you back to Lake in the Clouds.”

“That’s ridiculous. I googled it. It’s, what, a four-hour drive?”

“That’s not a big deal.”

“But you don’t need to go to Denver,” she repeated.

“No, but—”

“Neither do I,” she interrupted, taking the plunge. “I’ll play hooky and skip the conference. It’s not anything very important. I’ll fly into Durango, and you can pick me up there. Will that work?”

“Yes. Absolutely yes. Mom leaves on Wednesday. Want to come in then?”

“I can do that. And the return? On Sunday?”

“If you want. Or leave it open ended.”

Tess allowed a full fifteen seconds to tick by before she said, “We haven’t even been on one date, Jake.”

“Not officially, no. But we’ve known each other for, what, five years? Six? We spent a lot of time together. We’ve traveled together and attended the same social events. Be honest, Tess. The attraction was always there, humming beneath the surface. Dare I mention the team-building event last spring when I walked you to your cabin?”

“It was dark,” she defended. “The coyotes were howling.”

“Yeah, well, so was I. You know how close we came to kissing good night at your cabin door.”

“We both acted professionally.”

“By the skin of our teeth.”

“You were my boss. Actually, my boss’s boss’s boss. It would have been beyond stupid.”

“You’re right. So we stepped away from the ledge. But I’m not your boss any longer. They have coyotes in Colorado, too.”

“Do they?”

“Well, I imagine so. I’ll google it and see. I know they have mountain lions. Bears. I’m not your boss’s boss’s boss now, Tess.”

“You haven’t been so for six months. You haven’t called. Have you been seeing someone?”

“No. Life has been complicated with family drama and work trauma in the aftermath of the Thanksgiving Massacre. It wouldn’t have been fair for me to force my black mood on you or anyone.”

“So the drama and trauma are over now?”

“For me they are. Come to Colorado, Tess. I’m not your boss. You are not my employee.”

But there’s a possibility that you could join Innovations Design. We could work together again. Only, as partners this time. No HR regulations against kissing your partner.

“No strings. No expectations. Though I’ll warn you up front. I’m going to want a good night kiss.”

What time are the flights? A smile of anticipation fluttered on Tess’s lips. How many times had she fantasized about kissing Jake Prentice? Too many to count. “So you’re telling me that, in addition to coyotes, mountain lions, and bears, there’s a wolf in Colorado, too?”

Jake made a howling noise in reply. Darned if it didn’t cause a shiver to race up her spine, a shiver that had nothing to do with fear.

Her voice sounded husky to her own ears as she told him, “I’ll hold off booking a return flight.”