“Let me get this straight, your parents have a private plane?”

Katie paced inside the tiny terminal of Copper Creek Municipal Airport. It wasn’t a terminal as much as a small building close to the tarmac.

“It’s a company jet.” She pressed her nose to the glass and squinted her eyes. Off in the distance were the lights of an incoming plane.

“What company do they own?”

Katie walked back and forth in front of the glass. “Integrity Insurance.”

Sage stepped in front of Katie and stopped her from wearing a path in the carpet. “‘The insurance you can trust?’” She sang the jingle that played no less than twenty times a day on the television. “That Integrity Insurance?”

“Yes,” she said sheepishly.

“Is there anything else you’ve been keeping to yourself?”

Katie hated that she hadn’t been completely transparent with anyone. She hadn’t lied; she simply didn’t divulge more than she had to. Even Bowie didn’t know everything. Though he did know her father was an insurance executive, she hadn’t painted the full picture.

“I wanted you all to like me for me. I didn’t want you to feel sorry for me because of my health issues. I also didn’t want my parents’ money to be a factor in how people felt about me. To most people, selling insurance is almost as bad as selling used cars. A slimy profession.”

“So when you said you were a data entry worker, was that true?” Sage leaned against the glass with her back to the tarmac.

“Yes, I refused any position I didn’t earn. I grew up privileged, but I’ve always wanted to be independent.” She looked over Sage’s head at the plane touching down hundreds of yards away. “Imagine having to be dependent on someone for everything. That was me, and I promised myself if I got healthy, I’d stand on my own two feet.”

“So that’s why you drive a piece-of-junk car?”

Katie had bought the SUV used and loved it because she’d done it herself. “That piece of junk is my first large purchase.”

“Surely, your parents bought you a car. They’re as rich as God himself.” Sage fidgeted with her top.

Katie noticed how self-conscious Sage was getting in the minutes since she told her who her parents were. It was the same with everyone. That’s why she never said anything.

“Yes, I got a Range Rover for my sixteenth birthday. I was really sick then and couldn’t drive it much because my mother was worried I’d pass out behind the wheel. It looked pretty in the garage, though.”

“You had a Rover, and you traded it for a used Jeep?” Sage ran her hands through her curls, leaving one coiled toward the ceiling.

Katie smoothed out her friend’s hair. “I didn’t trade it. It’s still in the garage. I think the housekeeper drives it.”

“Housekeeper?” Sage shook her head. “You have a housekeeper?”

Katie laughed. “I don’t. Have you seen my apartment?”

Sage let out an unladylike growl. “I meant … you grew up with servants?”

The plane pulled up to the building, then a crew walked out to prep for her parents’ arrival.

“We had help. You know, like a gardener, a cook, and a housekeeper.”

Sage’s smile bloomed bright. “I had you pegged from the beginning as a beauty queen.” She fist pumped the air. “I was spot-on.”

Katie smoothed out the wrinkle in the skirt of her dress. “I only won twice. Never got the trifecta.”

“So you’re rich?”

Katie’s sigh sounded like resignation. “Technically, I’m rich. I have a trust fund I don’t use.” She pointed to herself. “Remember? Independent.”

Sage shrugged. “We all need someone. I mean, you took the bakery from Bea. That’s not an act of independence.”

Katie knew Sage wasn’t slamming her for the choice; just trying to figure it out. “I did take the bakery as a way to escape that.” She pointed to the couple emerging from the plane like movie stars. Her mother was dressed in Prada, while her dad’s suit screamed tailor-made. “Making it work—although not entirely on my own—was as independent as I’ve ever been.”

Sage looked at her. Without warning, she pulled Katie in for a hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you.”

She held her hand to her chest, her heart pounding out a million beats per second. She knew her parents would hate everything about her new life. She only hoped she could convince them it was right for her.

“I still think it’s a shame you have a bunch of money sitting there doing nothing.”

Katie smiled. “It’s not doing nothing; it’s gaining interest. Besides, I have a few ideas on where it could be used.”

The door flew open, and Katie’s parents walked in. Her mother rushed in for the first hug, while her father stood back and took everything in.

“Oh honey, it’s been too long.” Sophia Middleton stepped back and looked Katie up and down. “Have you gained weight?” She walked around her daughter like Katie was on display. “You know being overweight is hard on your heart.”

Sage gave her a what-the-hell look.

“Welcome to Colorado.” Katie reached out and yanked Sage next to her. “This is my best friend, Sage.”

“Nice to meet you, dear,” her mom said.

Dad simply nodded in her direction. “Where’s the car? We have luggage.”

“Luggage? I thought you were only staying for a few days?”

“That’s right, but I like to be prepared for anything.”

“My place is really small, but it’s a forty-minute drive to Aspen Cove, so you’ll have time to prepare.”

Tate Middleton wielded his wealth like Thor did his hammer. He raised a few bills and asked for help. It was amazing how loud money could speak to some people, but Katie had faced death. Once that happened, she knew money meant nothing.

It was funny to put her parents in the back seat of her Jeep. She couldn’t remember a time where either of her parents were passengers in anything but a limousine.

“I don’t understand why you couldn’t take the Range Rover,” her father said.

“It wouldn’t matter, you’d still be sitting in the back.” Katie looked to the side at Sage, who tried to hide her smirk. It was obvious she enjoyed this exchange.

Katie’s mother leaned forward. “Tell me, Sage, what do you do?”

Sage turned in her seat to face Sophia. “I’m a nurse, and I work in the small clinic in town a few days a week. I also run the only bed and breakfast in town. It was also a gift from Bea Bennett.”

Sophia sat up. “Are you a donor recipient as well?”

Sage shook her head. “No. I cared for Bea in her last days.”

“Oh, that’s lovely.” Sophia waited for a minute. “I’m conflicted when it comes to Bea. I’m grateful her daughter was an organ donor. That gift saved Katie’s life. However, her other gift took Katie away from us.”

Katie knew this trip would be difficult. Her parents were used to getting what they wanted, and what they wanted right now was Katie living back in Dallas in the north wing of the house.

“Bea’s gifts saved my life in all ways. I own a bakery, and I have a boyfriend I love. I have friends.” She risked a backward glance at her parents, who sat emotionless in the back seat. “I still have you. I love you both, but when you gave birth to me, did you ever truly expect me to live with you forever?”

This time, it was her father who answered. His voice was board meeting serious. “When we had you, all we wanted was a happy, healthy baby. We got that for a while. Things changed, and so the plan changed. The secret to success is to adapt.”

“Exactly. I live in Colorado now; you’ll have to adapt.” It was so easy to use his words against him. “Besides, you got your original wish. I am happy and healthy. I can’t wait for you to meet Bowie.”

“That is an odd name. I wonder how he got it.”

Sage giggled. “In all honesty, the Bishop boys were named with the first initial of their parents’ names, Carly and Ben, but I think Ben had a fascination with armament. He did name his firstborn Bowie, like the knife, and his second Cannon.”

“Names always fascinate me. Do you remember that boy you had a crush on in junior high school? His name was Teddy Bear.”

Katie remembered him with fondness. “He was a chubby kid no one was nice to but me.”

“You always had a soft heart,” her father said. “Katie’s motto is ‘give me your poor, wounded, and downtrodden, and I’ll give them my heart.’”

“She has a big heart. There’s nothing wrong with showing love and compassion,” Sage said in Katie’s defense.

“When she was eight, she hid a homeless woman in our pool house.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sage’s mouth drop open. “You had a pool?”

Katie smiled. “And a pool boy.”

They all but ignored her parents for a few minutes.

“Hot?”

“No. Old, but his son was cute. He gave me my first kiss at fifteen.”

“He did not. You kissed Manny’s son?” Her mother’s voice reached the decibel level just below hearing loss.

A giggle welled up in Katie. “Have you seen him? He’s gorgeous. Even then, he had the bones of a beautiful man in the making. He was a good kisser.”

“Should I be aware of any other help I’ll need to fire when I get home?” Tate held his voice in a monotone, but when Katie peeked at him in the rearview mirror, she caught the lift of his lip. He always found her mother’s prudish edge funny.

“Don’t you know? I kissed them all, even Delia the housekeeper. Looks like you’re going to have to do the dishes yourself from now on.”

“Stop teasing,” her mother said. “You know I don’t do dishes.”

Katie glanced at Sage. “Welcome to the Middletons’.” All this banter made the drive go quickly. Katie pulled onto Main Street and parked in front of B’s Bakery. “This is home.”

Her mom pressed her nose to the glass. “You live in a bakery?”

“No, I live above the bakery. Come on.” She looked at her father. “You’ll have to carry the luggage yourself, Dad, I’m afraid we’re servant-free here in Aspen Cove.”

Sage hopped out of the car and opened the door for Sophia, who stepped out and looked around like she’d been dropped into the pits of hell.

“This is it? You left Dallas for this?”

Katie was out of the car and on the sidewalk. Her stomach turned, but after this morning, there was nothing left inside it.

“Behave yourself, Mother. This is home to a lot of nice people. It’s home to me, too.”

Her mother shook herself and pasted on a smile that could win an award. “Show me your castle, darling.”

Tate grabbed only the essentials and followed them into the bakery. Ben was standing behind the counter.

“Katie, glad you made it back safely.” He looked at her parents with a warm, genuine smile. “I’m Ben. Katie adopted me.” He shook his head. “That’s not quite the truth. Katie and Sage saved my life.” He walked around the corner and hugged Sophia, who wasn’t used to unexpected displays of affection. He then shook Katie’s father’s hand.

“Would you be a good man and fetch our bags from the trunk?” Tate palmed a hundred into Ben’s hand.

“Dad, Ben is not your hired help.”

Ben looked at the bill and handed it back. “I’d be happy to help with your bags, but I don’t need your money.” He pressed it back into Tate’s hand. “I’m the richest man without it.”

Katie felt a sense of pride toward Ben. He knew what had value—people. She wasn’t responsible for his turnaround, but she was glad she got to see it. All she provided him was an opportunity.

That’s exactly what Bea provided for her and Sage. What they did with her gift was up to them. Katie always hated when people accepted praise for the success of others. When her cousin Pat passed the bar exam, everyone told his parents they should be given praise for his accomplishment, but his parents didn’t take the test. They didn’t study for months on end. They didn’t go to school to become a lawyer. Pat did, and he deserved the accolades. All his parents provided was an opportunity. Pat took that gift and turned it into something. It could have gone the other way.

“I’m going to leave you all for now. See you at the bar tonight?” She hugged Katie’s mother and gave her father a nod.

“We’ll be there.” She guided her parents through the bakery to the back staircase. She looked down at her mom’s four-inch heels. “No elevator, sorry.”

At the top of the stairs, she held her breath before she opened the door. “Before you go in, you need to know I love it here and there’s nothing you can do or say to change my mind. I suggest you love it, too.”

She swung open the door and walked into the tiny space. Being there with her parents made it even smaller. Her whole apartment would fit in their master bedroom at home.

Her mother’s heels tapped across the floor. “It’s …” she turned to her husband, “charming. Right, Tate?”

He walked around the living room and stood at the window, looking out at Main Street. “Charming,” he repeated.

Katie looked at her place through her mother’s eyes. There were no hand-knotted rugs. No antiques—unless you counted the can opener on the kitchen counter. The furniture was blue. The walls beige. The carpet was brown. The kitchen floor was fabricated plastic, not Italian tile. The counters came from a hardware store, they were not honed from stone carved from inside a mountain. Katie scanned her home. It wasn’t much, but it was everything, and she loved it.

Ben pushed open the door with one of her parents’ heavy bags. “Here you go. Where do you want them?” Ben had never been up here as far as Katie knew. He looked around the place like he was checking out a model home. “This place is amazing. No wonder you kids spend so much time up here.”

Before her parents could question him, she said, “Ben is Bowie’s father.”

Both of her parents smiled. “Charming,” they said in unison.

“First door on the left, Ben.” Katie looked at her mother. “Did you bring anything less … pretentious?”

“I have everyday clothes.” As Ben came out of the hallway, her mother entered.

“See you later.” Ben closed the door behind him.

Her father opened his arms like he was showing her something she hadn’t seen. “This makes you happy?” He moved from the living room to the small galley kitchen.

“It’s not the apartment. I like it, and it does make me happy, but it’s the town and the people. They’re real. When they smile, it comes from deep inside.” Honesty was one of the most endearing qualities of the town. A pang of guilt rushed through her when she thought about how much she’d kept from the people of Aspen Cove.

“You bake?” Her father lifted the plastic wrap from a paper plate left on her counter. Inside were leftover poppy seed muffins.

“I do. I made those.” She leaned against the counter and waited for his approval. It was funny because even though her mother was the tougher of her two parents when it came to acceptance, it was her father’s blessing that meant more.

He took a bite and chewed. His eyes closed, like somehow that action helped him taste better. “I’ll be damned. You can bake.”

Pride filled her with warmth. “I make cookies, too. And mini cakes.” She reached into the refrigerator and poured her father a glass of milk. “I haven’t mastered big cakes yet. They always seem to fall on one side.”

“Princess, I have no doubt those will be mastered soon. You may have a big heart, but you have a stubborn disposition. Your mother says you get it from me, but I’m not convinced.”

“She gets what from you?” Sophia entered the kitchen wearing tailored slacks, a silk blouse and patent leather pumps—her casual clothes.

“Her baking skills. Taste this.” Tate handed his wife the second half of the muffin. “I’m going to change.” He looked at Sophia, then at Katie. “Jeans okay?”

“Perfect, Daddy.” She knew it was silly to use such a childish name for her father, but when she was with him, she always felt little.

Ten minutes later, her dad walked out looking like he belonged in Aspen Cove. Well … almost, if it wasn’t for the ten-thousand-dollar watch and two-hundred-dollar haircut.

Tate took a seat in the chair next to the couch. “When do we meet this boyfriend of yours? I thought he’d come with you to pick us up.”

“He wanted to come, but I said no. I wanted you all to myself.”

She knew it was a stupid answer because she’d brought Sage. Her parents didn’t say anything to contradict her. By disappearing for months, she’d upset the balance in their totalitarian relationship. She was sure the minute she took charge of her life, her parents felt the repercussions of their total control parenting style.

“How are Isabella and Nick?” Both of her siblings were still in college. They were on the extended plan, and Katie hoped they’d found themselves in the time they’d spent away from home.

Her mom bubbled at the chance to talk about her kids. “Isabella is loving UCLA, and Nick is ready to come back to Dallas. They’re both home for the summer but anxious to complete this journey in their lives.”

Nick was attending NYU for a degree in business management. He’d take over the insurance business for her father when he was ready. Isabella, on the other hand, flitted between degrees. First she tried art history, then ecology, now she was studying film. Like Katie, Isabella didn’t have to work. Unlike Katie, Isabella didn’t like to work.

Katie looked at the clock that sat on the end table. “Speaking of lives, do you want to come meet the people in mine?”