Now it was Maggie's turn to laugh ruefully. "Whenever I come back here for the holidays, I still get asked when I'm going to leave San Francisco and come home. You'd think that they'd be happy that my Manny and Ariela stayed local and are doing the clan proud."
They finished eating their lunch in companionable silence. When the lemon tarts had been reduced to a few crumbs and their iced teas were all ice, no tea, Maggie sighed.
"Ready to go bell the cats?" she asked.
"I've never been readier," Steve declared.
Something of her anxiety must have shown in her face or scent. He leaned forward and took her hand, offering a surprising dose of comfort along with the now-usual jolt of contact.
"We can do this," he assured her. "I'll let you take the lead, but remember, I've got your back."
Chapter 11
Compromising Positions
Bearpaw Springs Resort
Friday, September 23
To Maggie's relief, the first afternoon and evening of her visit went really well.
While Steve checked into his room at the Bearpaw Springs Resort's hotel, Maggie drove over to her parents' house, which was located in a nearby neighborhood. There, many of her clan members lived alongside park rangers and other national park staff.
There she said a quick "hi" to Mamá and Papá while dropping off her suitcase in her childhood bedroom.
Maggie might be a grown woman with her own big-city condo and a thriving business, but in her very traditional clan, respectable unmarried women did not sleep under the same roof as the men they were dating.
Which tied in perfectly to her plan.
Maggie was counting on her parents' frequently expressed objections to unmarried couples sharing rooms to smooth over the fact that she and Steve intended to sleep in separate beds during their stay in Bearpaw Ridge.
She quickly changed from her traveling clothes into a nice pair of pants, a dark red silk blouse, and comfortable but elegant pumps. After adding a quick application of lipstick and a pair of gold hoop earrings, she was ready to meet up with Steve again.
She had just enough time to give him a quick tour of the historic century-old hotel before the official meet-and-greet cocktails and dinner event began.
The Bearpaw Springs Resort Hotel belonged to Tío Eddy, who employed the majority of the Ornelas Clan to staff and run it.
It had been constructed in the early 1900s and was an enormous A-frame building with a log-and-shingle exterior and multiple gabled windows. It was located a mile from the Bearpaw Springs National Park's south entrance and was surrounded by wooded hills.
Over the years, two additional wings with extra rooms had been added to either side of the main building. There were also a number of guest and staff cottages and cabins located around the property as well as a spa complex featuring a series of thermal pools fed by the resort's very own hot spring.
As she showed Steve around, both of them walking slowly to accommodate his knee-crutch, Maggie tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach.
In less than an hour, she and Steve were going to have to fool her entire clan. Can we really pull this off? she wondered.
For the pre-dinner cocktail hour, Uncle Eddy had set up tables with drinks and appetizers in the hotel's huge lobby.
It was an impressive setting, with a vaulted ceiling four stories high and antique dark hardwood floors accented by a selection of thick, colorful wool rugs. The massive stone fireplace, big enough to roast an ox, had been lit, dispelling the autumn chill and scenting the air with woodsmoke.
Maggie and Steve began by making the rounds of the assembled clan members so that she could introduce him to everyone.
He played the part of the Polite Fiancé to the hilt, expertly deflecting nosy questions with truthful non-answers.
He even expertly handled a question that made Maggie sweat, when her younger sister Ariela, who had been pressed into service as a drink server, asked, "Where's your engagement ring, Maggie?"
Maggie threw Steve a panicked look. She couldn’t believe that this important detail had slipped her mind.
He answered Ariela with an easy smile, exuding warm confidence. "We haven't shopped for one yet. A special woman like Maggie deserves a special ring."
Then he lifted her hand to his lips with a killer smile and kissed her knuckles.
Maggie didn't try to hide her delighted smile in return…or her reaction to the warm lips touching her skin.
"OMG, that's so romantic!" Ariela exclaimed. "Maggie, I approve."
"Glad to hear it," Maggie said, trying to hide her relief.