napkin.”
“This dress is the only thing I have suitable for tonight.”
“It’s no big deal,” Grant soothed, trying to diffuse the situation.
“Not to you,” Jami moaned, crushing the dress into a ball and aiming it at Grant’s head.
Grant instinctively ducked. “We’ll get you a new dress.”
“Where?” Instead of sending the ruined garment his way, she flung it on the bed. “An extra-large, souvenir T-shirt from the lodge gift shop?” Jami retrieved the ball of stained fabric and unwadded it. “I don’t think so. I’ll never get this stain out of my coral knit.”
“I said I’m sorry,” Toby wailed, throwing himself at his mother, his sticky chocolate-smeared hands compounding the damage.
Grant gazed in wonder as she smoothed the hair off her son’s forehead and said gently, “I know, tiger. Go wash up and find a clean shirt. Okay?”
“Okay.” Toby grinned his endearing lopsided grin, and Grant thought of the challenges of parenthood.
Though it was obvious Jami was distressed and frustrated, she chose to give her son some slack. Grant shook his head in wonder. Could he be that generous as a parent? He crossed over to Jami and took the ruined dress from her hands. “I’ll take care of this. Trust me.”
“But you can’t,” Jami sputtered as he walked out of her bedroom.
“Trust me.” Grant began to close the door, pausing before he clicked it shut. “Tell Toby that he has ten minutes, then we’re off to the lake.”
Jami stared at the closed door in surprise. Did Grant think Becca had a secret formula to clean the stain? She shrugged. He’d asked her to trust him, and she didn’t have much choice. When they returned from the lake, maybe they’d have to postpone the publicity dinner. Her spirits brightened. That wouldn’t be a bad idea. Toby might have done her a favor, after all. Jami shrugged her shoulders and decided to make the best of the day. Whatever happened, happened.
Fifteen minutes later, they found themselves winding through the woods, a pine-scented breeze flapping Jami’s khaki shorts against her bare thighs. If she could call her legs bare under all that sunscreen and bug repellent. She loved the way her skin was actually tanning to a pale honey, instead of just freckling. Toby already boasted a ruddy suntan, but not the rich golden bronze of Grant’s skin. Jami smiled as Grant forged ahead on the trail, Toby skipping along just behind him. Freckled redheads could never hope for that.
“This is a different trail,” Toby said, as they took the right fork to eventually hike along a wider, higher path than before.
“Good observation. This leads up to the boat dock and runs above the other trail.” Grant carefully held a branch so it wouldn’t flip Jami in the face as he let her and Toby move abreast of him on the path.
Birds chirped and sang in the cottonwoods as the green leaves fluttered in the breeze, filtering down shifting patterns of dappled sunlight. A butterfly dipped and flitted to drink from sweet-scented wildflowers blooming in purples, pinks and yellows beside the trail. Grant could hear the lake swishing and washing the shoreline, but trees, bushes, and brush blocked the view.
Soon they would come around the last bend, and Grant wanted to see their expressions when Jami and Toby caught their first glimpse of Sullivan’s Cove. Mountain heaven.
“Are we going uphill?” Jami asked, a fine sheen of perspiration adding a glow to her satin skin. She brushed a wayward curl off her face and gazed expectantly at Grant.
He inhaled sharply. Did she have any idea of her beauty? Roses tinted her cheeks, and her eyes sparkled the soft fawn-gold of a deer foal. Her lips were pink and moist and slightly parted to show her pearly teeth. Grant tried not to think about kissing those lips as he answered, “Yes. We’ve climbed quite a ways, but we’re almost there.”
“Good.” Toby trotted ahead, one hand clutching the tackle box Homer had loaned him. A tan, well-aged, bait-hooked fishing hat that once had been Grant’s favorite scrunched sideways over Toby’s red hair to give him a midget-sized rakish air. Grant carried the poles along with a canvas backpack.
“Wow!” The boy skidded to a stop when he hit the top of the rise. The landscape fell away to reveal the rippling aqua expanse of Frost Lake nestled in the mountains like a shimmering jewel. “Mom, see this.”
Grinning proudly, Grant took Jami’s delicate hand in his and led her to Toby’s side. “Oh,” she gasped softly.
“See!” The child hopped