man, but when it came to introducing pretty girls, he only wanted his son. But Rowan was fed up with his dad playing matchmaker, so he invited me to go to dinner with them.”
“And you and Stacy fell for each other.”
“It wasn’t difficult since Rowan was on his cell most of the meal. I knew that first night that Stacy was exactly what I’d missed out on. I was thirty-three years old and every cousin my age, every guy I went to school with, was married and had at least one kid.”
“And even Kit had left you for a girl.”
Nate grinned. “Right. I left the service. I didn’t look back. I had to endure lectures about ruining my record, about losing my pension, all of it. But I’d made up my mind.”
“Like Kit,” Terri said.
“I guess so. But it was really Stacy who made me decide. She’s pretty and educated and talented and...” He shrugged. “You know her so you understand.”
“So that’s what you’re going to do with your life? Marry Stacy, have kids and open a financial office in Summer Hill?”
“You make it sound boring, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do. My uncles, Mike and Kane, are geniuses with money, and I’m going to start a branch management firm. I’m going to help people prepare for retirement, that sort of thing.”
“That sounds like an excellent plan. Well thought out and sensible.”
Nate looked at her, trying to see if she was being sarcastic or not, but he couldn’t tell.
She smiled at him. “If you don’t like that work, Dad will give you a job at the lake. In fact, I’m sure he’d let you run the whole place. He and Elaine could go travel and see the world.”
Nate was watching her as she kept her eyes straight ahead, but he couldn’t tell if she was serious or joking. He decided to go the lighter way. “Would I have to get my real estate license?”
Terri grinned. “Oh yeah. That’s a big part of the job. Showing houses to clients and hearing them complain that everything is wet. You get to explain that lakes are liquid.” She turned to him. “Is Stacy a water person?”
“I don’t know. I never asked her. We lived in an apartment in DC and she liked it. She used the pool a few times.”
“That’s good for you,” she said. “I wish you all the best the world has to offer.” The words came out with more feeling than she meant to expose. She could feel Nate looking at her.
“What about you?” he asked. “You have a plan for your life?”
“Oh sure.” There was laughter in her voice. “Someday I’ll take over for Dad, my hair will turn gray and I’ll be seventy and showing lawyers and trophy wives how to bait hooks. And cleaning up beaches of naughty bits.”
Nate didn’t laugh but kept looking at her profile.
Terri turned toward him, but she didn’t meet his eyes. “You finished? I need to get back to work.”
It was still raining hard. Nate got up, empty plate and glass in hand. “What do we do next?”
She stood up. “I need to check on the cabins. You can... You’re a guest here. Go enjoy yourself. I’m sure there are people in the clubhouse.”
“I could have an exciting game of pinochle.”
“Are you kidding? The Player wives are into strip poker.”
“Hedonistic place, isn’t it?”
“Not on my part,” she said, then started to correct herself. She didn’t want to sound like some lonely heart. “At least not when the Turner Twins aren’t here.” She had the satisfaction of seeing Nate blink. As she headed for the kitchen, she turned so he wouldn’t see her smile.
“I’ll go with you,” he said as he washed their dishes and left them on the stainless steel rack to drain.
“Checking cabins is no fun.” She couldn’t suppress the hope in her voice. “It’s dull work. And this rain isn’t going to stop.”
“When you’re on a camel in the desert and the sun is trying to sizzle your brain, you dream of rain like this.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re scared that if you don’t go with me, Dad will ask you to do something awful, and you’re afraid of the women playing strip poker. You’re using your travels to make me take you with me, aren’t you?”
“Pretty much. Actually, that’s exactly right. Please? I won’t be any bother. I’ll carry your umbrella, and who are the Turner Twins?”
Terri made a face as though she was contemplating