In the days following the sweet memorial service, Kat and Seth found themselves together more and more. A bond had formed that day over the tiny rosebush and though Kat tried to hold something in reserve, she was failing fast. She loved Seth. But she was scared to death of making a mistake and hurting them both again.
She had made a bid on the fast-food franchise and now held her breath, waiting to hear. She was nervous about starting a new business and the truth was she missed the energy and fulfillment of medicine. Susan would have a field day with that information, saying “I told you so,” and it would hurt Seth, so Kat didn’t tell a soul. But she thought about it more and more.
Last night she’d even dreamed about the emergency room. A dream, not a nightmare. She attributed the dream to two things: assisting Queenie in delivering six healthy kittens, and a phone call from her former medical director. He’d wanted to know if she was still interested in joining a Dallas medical group to which she’d applied months ago. They had phoned him for a reference. She’d been stunned, having put the application out of her mind after waiting so long to hear.
What if they offered her a position? Would she take it?
She honestly didn’t know.
“Your pie looks awesome,” Seth said, interrupting her train of thought.
Kat was glad. Today was the annual Fourth of July celebration, a major event in Wilson’s Cove, not a day to fret about something that probably wouldn’t happen, anyway.
“If it makes you sick I promise to provide free medical care.” She’d spent all afternoon, with Susan’s help, baking the pie.
With a grin, he took the covered dish from her hands and placed it on one of the folding tables set up under the canopy of shade next to the lake.
“I’m holding you to that promise. And I can be a very demanding patient.”
“Shots,” she countered. “I’ll give you lots and lots of shots. Maybe start an IV, too, or do exploratory surgery.”
He made a terrible face. “That’s why I promise not to get sick.” He motioned toward the lake’s edge where several anglers were casting lines into the water. Red, white and blue streamers fluttered from the dock along with an enormous American flag. “Want to fish? I brought reels and bait. The fireworks won’t start until dark.”
Annually, Wilson’s Cove sponsored a fireworks display out on the water that brought people from miles away. The town had been a-hum with activity since yesterday. Boats crowded the marina, campers lined the campgrounds, and the pop-pop-pop of firecrackers occasionally startled everyone in hearing distance.
Kat pointed to a clearing roped off with still more red, white and blue streamers. She wasn’t in the mood to fish. “We could watch the races.”
Part of the festivities included all kinds of silly races—egg toss, sack races, hoop races, and even a wheelbarrow race. Kids of every age competed for small prizes donated by merchants, though mostly they competed for fun.
“Watch them?” Seth said, starting that direction. “I want to participate.”
Kat held back. “You have to be kidding.”
“Come on. Be a sport. Be my partner.”
His partner. That sounded good. A tingle of energy zipped through her. “You’re living dangerously, Mr. Washington.”
“You only go around once. May as well. Just think, we might win a chocolate-dipped cone from the Dairy Freeze.”
“Yippee,” Kat said, laughing at his silliness.
“I knew the word chocolate would win you over. Let’s go.” With a tug on her hand, he took off jogging toward the contestant area. Kat had to run to keep up with his longer stride. Once there, she was winded, a fact that did not bode well for the coming competition. But they declared their entry, plunked down the dollar fee and accepted a feed sack, the only needed equipment.
Kat glanced around at the other contestants laughing, hobbling together with one leg each in a gunny sack, having a silly time in general. “We really should have practiced in advance.”
“Perfectionist. Where’s your sense of adventure?” He held the bag open. “Come on. Try it. We’ll make an awesome team.”
Kat stuck one foot into the sack next to his much-longer one. They now formed a single unit of two people with three legs between them. Each held to one side of the bag and tried to walk together to the starting line.
“Left, right, left, right,” Seth said.
Off balance, Kat giggled. “We’re going to kill ourselves. Look how far we have to run in this thing.”
At least a dozen other contestants gathered behind the white-chalked starting line, chattering and practicing the three-legged walk. Twenty-five yards further down another chalk mark represented the finish line.
“Easy as pie, sweetheart,” Seth said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Then we’re in big trouble, because I know from recent experience that pie is not easy.”
Someone shouted, “On your mark.”
Kat jumped. “Oh, my goodness. Here we go.”
“Get set.”
Adrenaline shot into her veins. She gripped the edge of the gunny sack.
Seth winked at her. “Outside foot first.”
She nodded.
“Go!”
The two of them sprang away from the starting line with all the grace of a broken wheel. Kat tried her best to keep up with Seth’s longer strides, and he tried to slow down for her sake. The results were an awkward, unbalanced Charlie Chaplin shuffle instead of a race.
But the other contestants had the same problem. As a result, shouts of laughter and groans echoed up and down the line.
Onlookers gathered on each side of the race area shouted encouragement to their favorites. Above the noise, Kat heard, “Go, Doc, go.” If she’d had time to enjoy it, the camaraderie would have warmed her heart.
Someone snapped a photo, and the distraction was exactly what Kat did not need. Already unsteady, she faltered as Seth took a giant step. They went down like two wounded ducks, floundering and flapping and grappling to hang on.
“A doctor, a doctor,” Seth cried. “I need a doctor.” He laughed so hard, Kat could barely understand him. She laughed, too. And laughed and laughed as they thrashed around, trying to sort out which feet and knees belonged to whom.
From her vantage point on the green grass, Kat saw that half the other contestants had suffered the same fate. A few stragglers stumbled on toward the finish line.
“They’re going to win my ice cream cone,” she moaned in mock despair.
Still laughing and breathless, Seth managed to untangle them and helped her to her feet. “I think all my parts are intact. How about you? Any broken bones?”
Brushing at the grass stains on her capris, Kat shook her head. “I can’t believe you talked me into that.”
He grinned, not the least bit sorry. “Ah, admit it. You had fun.”
“Do I have to?”
“Yep.”
“Or what?” She was flirting and it felt good.
“Or I’ll enter us in the wheelbarrow race.”
She jerked away in pretend horror. “I had fun! I had fun! No more humiliation for one day, please.”
Laughing, Seth looped an arm around her shoulders and snugged her close to his side. He looked down with his sincere eyes, and something shifted inside her, some wonderful buoyant emotion that bordered on hope and centered on love.
No matter Susan’s insistence that Kat could never be happy in Wilson’s Cove, she was happy today. Maybe there was a chance for her and Seth.
When they stopped to chat with a group of friends, the warm friendliness that made Wilson’s Cove a special place wrapped around her like loving arms. Though she’d run away before, she loved this town. Why had she taken so long to recognize the truth? A smile bloomed on the inside. Seth. Most likely, she’d been waiting for Seth. And if the idea of opening a fast-food franchise wasn’t as intellectually satisfying as practicing medicine, she’d learn to deal with it.
She hoped.
Kids along the waterfront chose that moment to set off a volley of minirockets, forcing Seth to play his role as policeman. No explosives were allowed near the picnic except those provided by pyrotechnic experts. Kat went with him and watched as he handled the situation in a firm but friendly manner that had the kids apologizing and promising to do no more.
No wonder she was falling in love with him again. He worked hard to be a real Christian. He was such an amazing person and more than one single lady had sought him out today. Yet, he’d always come back to her.
* * *
Hours later, after too much food, Seth sat next to Kat on a quilt she’d spread on the ground. They’d chosen this spot on a slight rise away from the rest of the noisy crowd to talk and watch the coming fireworks display.
“Your pie was awesome,” he said, patting his too-full belly.
“It was, wasn’t it?”
Seth was amazed by Kat’s genuine surprise. The brilliant Dr. Thatcher couldn’t believe she’d successfully baked a pie. Her lack of confidence in some areas was both endearing and disconcerting. How could such a brilliant woman not know her own strengths?
“Considering how fast every piece disappeared, I’d say I wasn’t the only one who thought so.” He patted the spot next to him. “You could move over here a little closer. The fireworks are about to begin.”
To his pleasure, she scooted up close to his side. They’d had a great time today. If he hadn’t already been in love with her, he would have been after this picnic.
He’d tried to stay away from her. He’d done his best not to fall in love with her. But he’d done it, anyway.
Now that she seemed determined to buy a business and stick around, he was crazy enough to believe they could finally be together. Or maybe he was just crazy.
He dropped an arm over her shoulders. The sun had set, but the warm, July night pulsed with activity. People milled around the lake’s edge, waiting for the fireworks to start. The jet skiers had come ashore, and boaters had cut their motors.
He glanced around for his daughter and spotted her immediately with a crowd of teenagers lining the fishing dock, feet dangling in the water. He felt a little guilty for wanting to be alone with Kat, although Alicia didn’t want to hang out with him, anyway.
He wished she and Kat could become friends. They were cordial enough but not friends. Alicia seemed to view Kat as a rival, and he didn’t know what to do about such an erroneous viewpoint. Kat was trying, and he loved her for making the effort. At Kat’s insistence, the two of them had worked together on the bench kit. That had gone pretty well, and Alicia had declared a new interest in woodcraft. Since then Kat had offered to take Alicia and Shelby to the shopping mall in Henderson. He hoped they’d go.
If he was going to marry Kat, they needed to be friends.
The idea hit him in the solar plexus. He wanted to marry Kat. He shouldn’t be surprised. They’d been moving in this direction all summer.
His deep sigh had Kat turning her head toward him. “What was that for?”
An enormous starburst of red exploded in the sky above. Kat’s eyes gleamed in the faint glow, searching his.
“Just thinking.”
“About?”
He wanted to tell her. With all his heart, he wanted to take her in his arms and pledge his love.
Coward that he was, he snugged her close to his side and murmured, “I think you know, Kat. I think you know.”
That was the best he could do for now.