“Maybe you’d like to come speak to our students in the fall,” Dana suggested. “We have a lecture series that’s very popular. I know you’d draw a crowd.”

Liz hesitated. “I’m not sure of my travel plans this fall,” she explained, which was mostly true. “I usually go on a book tour.”

“We could work around that.”

“Maybe,” Liz said, doing her best to sound doubtful. “I’ll think about it.”

Come back here and lecture? She didn’t want to have to make a special trip. Although if she was still living here…

No, she told herself. Not here. She couldn’t let herself be lulled by a few good days. Did she really want to spend the rest of her life in a place where people felt free to judge her when they didn’t know what they were talking about?

Never, she thought with a firm nod.


“I CAN GET YOU A DISCOUNT,” Ethan murmured.

Liz stared at the dresser made entirely of twigs. Not logs, not sticks, but twigs. Lots of twigs.

“How does he do that?” she reflected in a low voice. “How is it staying together?”

“You don’t want to know.”

The book festival took place in the main park in town, but as Liz and Ethan walked with Abby and Tyler, she saw there was a lot more than books for sale.

The booths were clustered by subject. All the crafts together, the cooking across from the travel section. Novels were at the far end, but Liz wasn’t due there for half an hour.

“She has a great crowd,” Liz noted, pointing to a large group of people surging toward a booth.

“Cookies,” he told her, grabbing her hand and keeping her close. “She writes a cookbook and offers samples.”

“Great idea. I should do that.” She frowned. “Although I’m not sure what sample I would offer.”

“Blood,” Tyler teased cheerfully from Ethan’s other side.

“Or dead bodies,” Abby said with a giggle. The preteen walked next to her. Melissa had gone off with a couple of girlfriends.

“Very nice,” Liz said. “Where do you two get your ideas?”

They both laughed.

This was fun, she thought as they stopped for lemonade at a stand, then strolled by the quilting demonstration. Part party, part county fair. So far everyone had been friendly enough, calling out to her. No one had said anything bad about her or Tyler.

“Is that a llama?” Ethan asked, pointing.

Liz squinted, then stopped when she saw a small llama in the shade. “Don’t they spit?”

“That’s what I heard.”

“It’s not a llama,” Tyler stated importantly. “It’s an alpaca.”

“They’re like sheep,” Abby added. “Their fibers are like wool and can be made into a lot of different things. Some of the fibers are really soft.”

“Llamas have ears shaped like bananas,” Tyler informed. “Alpaca ears are straight.”

Liz glanced at both of them. “Excuse me?”

The kids grinned. “A lady brought alpacas to camp last week,” Abby told her. “We spent a morning learning about them.”

“Impressive,” Liz said.

Ethan ruffled Tyler’s hair. “Nicely done.”

The boy shrugged, but looked proud.

They continued toward the far end of the park. The crowd got thicker and Liz noticed big posters featuring her books. It was strange to see huge publicity photos hanging from trees.

“Is that you?” an older woman asked, stopping her. “You’re Liz Sutton?”

Liz smiled. “Yes.”

“Oh, I’m such a fan. I can’t wait to have you sign my books. I drove in from Tahoe this morning. I told my Edgar that we were spending the day in Fool’s Gold and that I was going to meet you.”

The woman smiled at Ethan. “Hello.”

“Hi.”

Liz separated herself from Ethan and the kids and moved toward the woman. “I’m signing from one to three, then from four to six,” she said. An impossibly long time, but Montana had insisted. Now that Liz saw the crowd, she had an idea that maybe she would be selling books for that long.

“I think the lines are going to be long,” Liz continued. “Did you bring a book with you? If so, I can sign it now.”

The woman beamed. “Would you? That would be so nice. Edgar wants to get home before dark.” She sighed. “You know how men are.”

Liz nodded and got a pen out of her purse. She took the offered book. “What’s your name?”

“Patricia.”

Liz wrote a note, then signed the book and handed it back. Patricia patted her arm.

“You’re lovely. I knew you would be.” She winked at Ethan. “And your husband is very handsome. No wonder you have such nice-looking children.”

“Thank you,” Liz said.

Patricia excused herself and left.

“Why did she say that?” Tyler asked. “Dad isn’t your husband. You should have told her.”

Liz crouched in front of him. “She was trying to be nice. Sometimes it’s easier to accept the compliment than explain. Besides, both you and Abby are nice looking.”

“Jason’s parents are married,” Tyler declared.

She stayed where she was, eye level with her son. “Yes, they are.”

“You and Dad aren’t married.”

“No, we’re not.”

“You didn’t get a divorce.”

“That’s right.”

She could feel Ethan hovering, sensed that he wanted to help. But what was there to say? Eventually Tyler was going to figure out that she and his dad hadn’t followed a traditional path.

“You didn’t get married at all.” The words sounded like an accusation.

“It’s complicated,” Ethan described, drawing Liz to her feet and putting his hand on Tyler’s shoulders. “There were extenuating circumstances.”

“I don’t care about that,” Tyler argued stubbornly.

Abby looked uncomfortable. Liz took her hand and smiled reassuringly.

“You should be married,” their son announced.

Liz held in a groan. “An interesting idea,” she said lightly. “But not one we’re going to discuss right now and certainly not here.”

“But I-”

“You heard your mother,” Ethan reiterated firmly. “She has a signing. This isn’t the time to deal with the subject. We’ll talk later.”

“I want to talk now!”

“Come on, Tyler,” Ethan said firmly. He glanced at her. “All right with you?”

She nodded and Ethan led Tyler away.

Abby hovered close by. “Should I go?”

“I thought you wanted to be with me for the first part of the signing. It’s okay. Really. Why don’t you come with me until you meet with your friends at one-thirty?”

“Okay.”

They walked toward the booths at the far end of the park.

“Tyler’s mad,” Abby observed.

“I know.”

“He said he always wanted a dad, but you wouldn’t talk about his. He didn’t know how to make you. Sometimes he got really sad and stuff.”

Liz didn’t know if she wanted to hear more or not. “I remember he would ask a lot. It’s complicated.”

“Grown-ups always say that, but if you don’t tell us stuff, how can we learn?”

Liz smiled. “You’re pretty smart.”

“I know.” Abby grinned.

The preteen’s point was a good one. Maybe it was time to explain the truth to Tyler. That Liz hadn’t exactly pressed for Ethan to know about his son, and later fate, in the form of Rayanne, had intervened. She would discuss the idea with Ethan later.

Liz saw the signs pointing toward the signing area and was surprised at how many people had already lined up. Rather than go through the crowd, she and Abby went around, down by the lake, then back up through the trees.

“Do I have leaves in my hair?” Liz asked as they broke through several bushes and came out behind the booth where she would be signing. “I don’t want to look-”

She came to a stop and stared at the stacks of boxes from her publisher. There were at least a dozen. Maybe more. Both hardcovers and paperbacks.

Liz held in a groan. Montana seemed to have gotten ahead of herself. Enthusiasm was great, but if a significant percentage of the books didn’t sell, Liz’s publisher wasn’t going to be happy.

She saw her assistant Peggy waiting by the table and hugged her. “You came.”

“How could I miss this?” Peggy asked. “The great book signing caper. This is a lot of inventory.”

“Tell me about it.”

Liz introduced Peggy and Abby.

“I was feeling guilty about wanting to look at the quilts,” Peggy conceded with a laugh, “but you’re going to be busy for a while.”

“Yes, there’s plenty of time to come back later.”

“You’re here,” Montana said, rushing up to greet her. “I think we should start a little early. The lines are so long. Hey, Abby.” She hugged Liz, then the girl and introduced herself to Peggy. “I have water and pens. We’re going to take turns holding the books open for you to speed things along.”

Liz couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from the book boxes. “Don’t you think you got a little ambitious with the ordering?”

Montana laughed. “Trust me, Liz. I know what I’m doing.”

“I’ve never sold that many copies in a single signing before. Not even close.”

“Then we’re going to break a record, aren’t we?” She patted Liz’s arm, then turned to Abby. “Want to take the first shift with holding open the books? I’ll show you how.”

“Okay,” Abby agreed cheerfully.

They walked toward the booth. The people in line began to clap and call out to her. Liz eyed the crowd and felt a little better. There had to be at least sixty people waiting. If they each bought a book, maybe she wouldn’t embarrass herself with poor sales. But someone had to have a serious talk with Montana. Optimism was great, but one had to be practical, too.


“I OWE YOU AN APOLOGY,” LIZ said, nearly five hours later as she approached the end of the signing. Her right arm ached, her fingers had cramped two hundred books ago and she was exhausted.

Montana laughed. “Never doubt the power of positive thinking.”

“Or great advertising.”

They’d gone through box after box of books and the crowd had never seemed to get smaller. Liz hadn’t had the hour break in the schedule, instead she’d signed straight through, talking to fans, posing for pictures and answering questions about various story lines.