The last time Brick remembered being this grumpy, he’d been on his grandfather’s ranch outside of Brazos Bend, Texas, and stepped into a mess of fire ants.
He’d almost rather lie down in a fire ant mound and roll around than deal with the viper who had rented out Stardance River Camp for the next three weeks.
He had to find a new code name for this type of celebrity. “Twinkle” was simply wrong for this piece of work. Hell on wheels, that’s who she was. He’d charged her an arm and a leg for the rental. For what he had to put up with, the price was way too cheap. Should have added a kidney, too. Maybe a lung and a liver.
In the years since his dad had come into his life, Brick had grown accustomed to people with money. His grandfather had oil and ranching money. His dad and uncles had made a killing in the dot-com boom. Some of his friends here in Eternity Springs were downright wealthy. Inventor Flynn Brogan owned his own island in the Caribbean.
Brick had friends who were famous, too. Cicero was a glass artist who regularly dined in the homes of Silicon Valley moguls, and painter Sage Rafferty had students studying her work in art programs in college. Then there was Claire Lancaster. She was both wealthy and famous, having made a bajillion bucks off a children’s Christmas story she wrote and turned into a franchise. A second movie was in the works.
And every last one of them was a decent human being.
Unlike the Wicked Witch of the West Coast.
And if she and her retinue weren’t enough to deal with, now Cam had informed him that he apparently had credit card issues.
And Liliana Howe was in his backseat smelling like sunshine and lavender—which brought up a whole other sort of cranky.
“So your entire family comes up for the holiday?” Patsy asked.
Glad for the distraction, Brick replied, “Yep. Ordinarily some of them are already here, but my Oklahoma parents went on an Alaskan cruise with friends and won’t show up until the morning of the Fourth. Most of the Callahans stayed in Texas for a wedding last weekend, but they’ll start arriving today.”
“I’m looking forward to the party at Hummingbird Lake. It was nice of you to invite all the Alleycats.”
Brick gave one of his first real smiles of the day. “Hey, y’all make a party fun. Fair warning, my mom and stepmom and aunts are liable to drop hints for invitations to join your club. I’ve told them you’ve capped your membership, but they’re persistent when they want to be. And they’re intrigued. They’ve been looking for some activity to offset the Callahan men’s fishing trips, so this is right up their alley.”
Patsy’s expression settled into a pleased smile. “I suspect we could make that happen.”
Throughout the drive, Brick remained conscious of Liliana’s presence behind him. He’d thought about her often the last few days, but he’d not seen any way to reconcile the basic difference in their goals. His reluctant conclusion was that it was best for both of them to halt things now before they got in any deeper.
That didn’t mean he didn’t still want her. Didn’t still dream about her and wake up hard and aching.
One more reason for his lousy attitude.
He was glad when they reached the trail. He left his windows cracked because he worried that otherwise her appealing scent would haunt him every time he climbed into the truck.
Patsy bubbled like a schoolgirl with excitement. This was her first time on a four-wheeler, so he gave both women a quick lesson on basic handling. “I’ll lead the way and we’ll take an easy pace. Don’t try to pass me, Patsy. I’ve heard that you’re a speed demon.”
“Now who told you something like that?” she responded with false offense.
“Most everybody in town who witnessed the ride you took with Celeste on her Gold Wing.”
All three of them laughed at that.
Brick led them to the waterfall and nodded with agreement and satisfaction at Patsy’s heartfelt wonder at the beauty of the site. Sensing Liliana’s stare upon him as he unlocked what he considered his toy box, he glanced over his shoulder. Their gazes met and held.
He pictured how she’d looked and felt beneath him here the day of their picnic, and he mourned what might have been. When she turned away from him, he sighed and continued to unload fishing supplies from the locker. Once that was done, he could think of no good reason to delay his departure any longer.
“I need to get going. Liliana, now that you’ve made the trip again, are you comfortable finding your way back down to the truck?”
“Yes.”
He looked at both women. “Have confidence operating the machines?”
Lili nodded and Patsy said, “They’re not nearly as difficult as they look. Besides, I see youngsters on these things all the time. I’m young at heart, so I’ll do fine. Thank you, Brick. This is exactly what I needed today. You don’t know how much.”
“Glad to share, Patsy. This is my favorite place in Colorado.” Even if Liliana will probably haunt me here for the rest of my life. “I unhooked the trailer from the truck. Just leave the four-wheelers nearby, and Cam’s guys will load them up before they haul them back to town. They’ll be up this way about five thirty to pick them up. The extra key to the truck is in the storage compartment of your ride, Patsy. If you have any trouble, you can get cell service up above the waterfall and down by the truck. So, any questions?”
The two women shared a look, then Patsy said, “We’ll be just fine, Dad.”
“I’m sure you will,” Brick said with a laugh. He slung his leg over the seat of his four-wheeler and started the engine. “If you catch dinner, I expect you to share.”
“It’s a deal.” Patsy picked up one of the rods he’d left leaning against a tree and tested its give.
Brick met Liliana’s gaze once more and the image of the woman he was on his way to meet flashed into his mind. The witch was drop-dead gorgeous with the exotic kind of beauty that lasted throughout a woman’s life. Much like Tiffany.
Liliana was the fresh-faced girl next door. Infinitely more appealing.
Why the hell hadn’t he noticed it years ago?
* * *
Lili and Patsy ate the sandwiches Patsy had brought and decided to save the dessert for a midafternoon snack. Then Lili pointed out the fishing spots Brick had shown her and they went to work. Lili caught six—count ’em, six!—trout. Patsy landed three, all of them bigger than Lili’s, before putting her fishing pole away. “That was fun. You know, before my husband got sick, we had planned a fishing trip to Cabo. We wanted to catch a blue marlin.”
Lili’s lips twisted in a crooked smile. “Trophy fishing. I had that dream, too, for a while.”
“I really wish we’d gone,” Patsy said, her tone wistful and a little sad. “I’m tired, Lili. I’m going to take a little nap, I think.”
“All right.”
Patsy stretched out on Brick’s quilt, and while she slept Lili hiked up above the waterfall, where she sat for a time thinking about her morning visits with Savannah Turner, Sage Rafferty, and Maggie Romano.
Would she like working retail? she wondered. One could adjust to working weekends. While the B-and-B idea did appeal to her, she didn’t know if she’d ever adjust to cooking breakfast every morning. Not that either was a choice for her anytime soon unless she cashed out every investment she owned. Still, it was fun to think about, especially because it kept her brain occupied with something other than Brick while Patsy slept.
“Quarter for your thoughts.”
Lili grinned at her friend. She’d been so preoccupied that she hadn’t noticed Patsy had made the climb. “Why the extra twenty-four cents?”
“Inflation.”
“I’m thinking about the future.”
“Well now, that’s handy. The future is one of the reasons I asked you to join me this afternoon.
“You know, I had a feeling that this was about more than a picnic.” Lili wondered if her friend was about to offer her a job of some sort, though she couldn’t imagine what it would be. More likely, Patsy might offer to bankroll whatever career move Lili decided to make next. She couldn’t forget that when Tiffany Lambeau went to work at her firm and Lili whined about it over a bottle of wine one Friday night Patsy had offered to finance Lili’s return to school if she wanted to pursue another career.
Lili had appreciated the gesture then and she would appreciate it now. However, she wouldn’t take Patsy up on it. Fall or fly, Lili wanted to do it on her own.
“What’s up, Patsy?”
The older woman handed Lili a bottle of water from her backpack and gestured toward the trail Brick had taken earlier when he left them. “Feel up to a bit of a hike? I’d like to see what’s on the other side of that ridge.”
“I’m game.” Maybe during the hike she’d find the right words to refuse Patsy’s offer without hurting her feelings.
Patsy led the way and took it slow, so the climb to the apex of the trail took twenty-five minutes. Patsy was audibly winded when she took a seat on the trunk of a fir tree that had fallen beside the trail. She took three long sips from her water bottle, then said, “I’m so glad you joined the Alleycats, Lili.”
“I am, too.”
“This summer is a special time for me, and you’re making it all the more meaningful by being part of it.”
“That’s a nice thing to say. Thank you. It’s a special time for me, too.”
“I never was blessed with children, but I’ve come to think of you as family, Lili. You’re the daughter … okay, the granddaughter … I’ve always longed for. I want you to know that I love you.”
“I love you, too, Patsy.” But I can’t take your money.
“I know you do, honey, and that’s why this is hard. I can’t in good conscience keep the news to myself any longer.”
Lili straightened her spine. The conversation had just taken a turn she hadn’t anticipated.
Patsy drew in a deep breath, then exhaled with a murmur of pleasure. “I adore the forest. Being surrounded by trees, with the absolute stillness broken by the sounds of breezes moving the branches and leaves, with the scents. I’ve always loved the fragrance of Douglas fir—slightly citrus with a hint of floral. It’s the gift of Christmas to me. That message of love, hope, and forgiveness. I find a forest to be one of the most relaxing, peaceful places on earth. That’s part of the reason I chose the mountains for the Alleycats’ summer trip.”
“I can’t say I’ve seen you relaxing very much, Patsy.”
“No, but I have made peace with what’s to come.”
What’s to come? Wariness fluttered through Lili like aspen leaves in a breeze.
Patsy reached out, took Lili’s hand, and squeezed it. “Liliana, I’m on my last campout. I have pancreatic cancer. In April, the doctors told me I probably have six months to live.”
The mountain beneath Liliana’s feet seemed to quake. Her knees turned to Jell-O and suddenly she was sitting on the ground, her head between her knees. “Breathe, honey,” Patsy said, patting her back. “Calm breaths. In and out. There you go.”
“Patsy…,” Lili said when she could speak again. “You’re not sick. You don’t look sick. You don’t act sick. You’re not sick.”
“No, I’m not sick because I opted out of the poison pills and for the open road. I’m not going to spend the time I have left in a hospital. I’m not doing chemo. Not doing radiation. I’m going to enjoy my life for as long as the good Lord allows.”
“You’re not getting treatment?”
“My life. My choice. Don’t dare try to tell me I’m not fighting it. Believe me, sunshine, I fight every single day. But I’ve made the choice to spend these last months living instead of dying and I’m good with that. I’m well and truly having the time of my life.”
Lili covered her mouth with her hand. She blinked back tears. “No, Patsy. No.”
“I’m going to ask you to keep my confidence. I know I can trust you to do that. It’s important to me. I want this summer to be a celebration, not a long-drawn-out death watch.”
“You haven’t told the other Alleycats?”
“No, I haven’t. I probably will at some point. I think that’s only fair, but I’m hoping to make it to the end of the summer without needing to do so. I hope to have our big end of summer party, return to our homes, and then I’ll send letters. I have no desire to basically attend my own funeral, which is how it would be if I announce it here.”
Lili had to work to get the words past her throat. “Why did you decide to tell me?”
“Two reasons. You’ve become my family, Lili. The way I look at it, that gives me a little say in things. Now, I fully understand that you might not agree. You might even resent what I’m going to do. But, since I’m the old dying hardheaded, manipulative woman, I’m going to do it anyway.”
“Oh, Patsy, you’re not—”
“You’re my family,” she interrupted. “Which brings us to the second reason. I’ve made you my heir, Liliana.”
Lili drew back. “Patsy, I don’t want your money.”
“Then you’re a fool. What have you been doing these past few days, child? Exploring your options. Don’t you think I’ve been watching? Don’t you think I know you well enough to identify what appeals to you?”
“I don’t … I don’t know what I want yet, Patsy.”
“Sure you do. You want to be your own boss.”
Lili opened her mouth, then shut it without speaking. Patsy was right. That’s why the idea of teaching didn’t appeal, the reason why Lili wasn’t pulled toward a corporate job in finance.
Patsy patted Lili on the knee. “The thing about starting any business is that you need working capital, and thus you need investors. Of course, then the investors can pull your strings. This way the only person pulling your string is a dead woman—a guaranteed onetime pull.”
Lili shoved to her feet and covered her ears with her hands. “No. No. I don’t want you to say that. I don’t want to hear this. Oh, Patsy. This is just too much, too fast. Back up and tell me about the cancer. Are you certain of the diagnosis?”
“Yes, dear. I did get a second opinion. Actually, I got three opinions and three treatment plans. I did all my research and made a choice that I am totally comfortable with.”
Now that she’d absorbed the shock, Lili couldn’t hold back her tears. Soon they streamed down her face. Patsy went to her and held her in a comforting hug. “It’s okay, honey. I’ve had a long and wonderful life. I believe in the hereafter and the promise of heaven. I look forward to seeing my darling again.”
“But I don’t want to lose you. I love you.”
“I know, baby. I love you, too.”
Patsy shushed her and wiped at her tears and brushed her hair away from her face. “I’m going to ask something of you, Lili. You are going to have to be very strong for me, because I need about seven more weeks of silence from you. No hangdog looks. No sad sniffles. You need to get all your tears out now, because I don’t want to see them again. Not over me. Do you understand?”
“I’m not done crying yet.”
“Okay. That’s okay. It’s just the two of us up here. However, I need to do something or I’m going to start crying, too, and I really don’t want to do that. Are you up for hiking a little further?”
“I can, but are you sure you are—”
“Stop right there,” Patsy said sternly. “I won’t be treated as an invalid. I know my own limits and I respect them. You need to trust me.”
Lili swiped away her tears with the back of her hand. “Yes, ma’am.”
“All right, then. Let our adventure continue. Brick said this trail leads to his River Camp. What do you say we sneak down and check it out?”
“Uninvited?”
“If he’s still there, he won’t care. If he’s not, we can pretend to be tourists who took a wrong turn on the trail and got lost. I want to see these tents of his. And the tree houses, too. They’re supposedly something special. Do you know he charges over fifteen hundred dollars a night for them?”
In the process of taking a sip from her water bottle, Lili choked. Coughing, she said, “For one night? In a tent? Fifteen hundred dollars to sleep a night in a tent?”
“With a three-night minimum, I understand.”
“Oh my. That’s criminal.”
“So don’t you want to see the tents?”
“Oh yeah. I want to see them. But Sharon told me Brick’s sister said he has some high-profile guest. Perhaps we should wait.”
“Perhaps. But I don’t know that I’ll make it up here again. I do so want to see them. We could go partway, survey the scene, and then make a decision?”
Lili found that she couldn’t deny Patsy anything at this particular moment. “Let’s do it.”
The hike down the ridge was challenging at times, and Lili scouted for a walking stick to help Patsy. Then she found one for herself, too.
They were halfway down the mountain when they heard the growl.