“Yes!” Jessie pointed to Kate’s French Provincial phone. “Go make your reservation now.”

“I’ll call later,” Kate said. “Let me think about it for a while.”

“No.” Jessie folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. “I’m not leaving here until you call.”

“I said I’m going,” Kate said. “Don’t you trust me?”

“No,” Jessie said. “I’m keeping my eye on you on this one, because if anybody can screw up a perfectly good shot at happiness, you can. Call. Now.”


Two hundred miles away, Jake Templeton sat in an Adirondack chair on the back veranda of his brother’s Kentucky resort with his feet propped on the rustic wooden rail, watching the sun rise over the lake and trying to feel content. Hell, he did feel content. There was the slight nagging feeling that he got sometimes that he might be missing something, but he was good at ignoring nagging-his long-ago marriage had taught him how to do that. And after all, he lived in God’s country; he was free, he had no responsibilities aside from keeping a hundred acres of resort land mowed and watered, and no real worries. True, in the best of all possible worlds, his over-achieving younger brother would not have built a rustic resort on perfectly good farmland and would not have lured some of the biggest snobs in the East to play golf there. But the snobs did bring in a lot of money that kept the local population in food and shelter, and in general Jake didn’t have to deal with them.

No. All in all, things were good. Jake pulled his big cream-colored cowboy hat down over his eyes and wallowed in his freedom. “I’ve got it made,” he said out loud.

His brother backed out the door to join him carrying two steaming coffee mugs. Will was already in a suit, ready to meet his guests as they streamed in through the big carved-wood double doors of The Cabins. He looked at Jake in his tattered jeans and worn flannel shirt, and rolled his eyes; Jake looked up at his brother’s dress-for-success tailoring and laughed.

“You’re disgusting,” Will said, looking down at him.

“What did I do now?” Jake asked, not caring.

“It’s what you don’t do.” Will passed him a mug of coffee and sat down beside him to stare out at the lake.

“Hey, I keep this place looking good,” Jake said, pushing his hat back with one hand while he balanced his mug in the other. He looked at his brother with a total lack of concern. “The grass is cut, the weeds are pulled, the golf courses look like artificial turf, the stables are-”

“I’m not talking about outdoor management,” Will said, shaking his head as he warmed his hands on his own coffee mug. “You are the king of the riding lawn mower. I’m talking about your life.”

“I like my life. Stay out of it.” Jake turned back to look at the lake and sipped the hot coffee carefully.

“You could be rich,” Will said, looking at him with disgust.

“I was rich,” Jake said. “Then I gave it all to you and you built this place.” He shook his head. “That’s the last fortune I give you.”

“If you gave it to me, why do you own half of this place?” Will asked.

“So you’ll be forced to support me in my old age,” Jake said, grinning. “I’m not as dumb as I look.”

Will shook his head again. “You’ve got a law degree. You were a tax attorney, for God’s sake. And you gave it all up to mow lawns for your little brother. You should be ashamed.”

“I don’t actually mow the lawns,” Jake pointed out “I grab one of the college kids you hire for the season and say, ‘Kid, mow that lawn.’ It’s not-”

“I don’t understand why you quit,” Will said.

“They bitched about my mustache, and they wouldn’t let me wear my hat,” Jake said. He looked back out over the lake and relaxed a little more. “Helluva sunrise, isn’t it?”

“The sunrise was hours ago,” Will said. “It’s nine.”

“Well, it’s not all the way up yet,” Jake said, slumping a little farther down in his chair. “So it’s still rising. So it’s still sunrise.”

“Knock it off. I’m worried about you.” Will frowned at him. “I think it’s great that you’re back home, and I couldn’t run this place without you, but let’s face it, you’re wasting yourself here.”

“I’m considering my options,” Jake said lazily.

“You’ve been considering your options for five years,” Will said bluntly. “And frankly, at the rate you’re going, you don’t have that many options to consider. It’s time you made something of yourself again. One lousy marriage and you’re down for the count.”

Jake stared out at the lake and shook his head. “Boy, you sure don’t see sunrises like this very often.”

Will glared at him. “You see sunrises like this every damn day here.”

“I do,” Jake said, looking at him with equal disgust “You don’t. You’re too busy being Mr. Hotel. If I’d known you were going to take this resort stuff so seriously, I would never have given you that money. Hell, you’re going to have a heart attack any day now. Then I’ll have to run this place.”

“Well, somebody around here has to be an adult,” Will said.

“And if you do croak on me, the first thing I’m going to do is blow up the golf courses.”

“That’ll piss Dad off.”

“I think it’s the clothes they wear that bother me the most,” Jake began.

“We need to talk about this,” Will said.

“No, we don’t.”

“Damn it, Jake…”

“Okay, okay. Get to the point. I’m missing a sunrise here.”

Will shifted uneasily in his chair. “Look,” he said finally. “You’ve always been my…well…?”

“Hero?” Jake suggested. “Idol?”

“Let’s just stick with role model,” Will said. “I spent my formative years trying to be just like you. It got to be a habit after a while.” He looked over at his brother. “You were always the best. At everything.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Jake said, irritated. “You just thought that because you were my younger brother.”

“Jake, you haven’t done anything for five years,” Will said. “Nothing. Not since you moved back here to help me.” Jake started to speak and Will cut him off. “I know, you run the outdoor staff. But hell, you could do that without getting out of bed. In fact, that’s practically the way you do run it.”

“Hey,” Jake said.

“Listen, I need you here. You are a great help, and I will hate to see you go, but you’ve got to go back to the city.”

“No,” Jake said.

“You’re not doing anything with your life,” Will started, but this time Jake broke in.

“And that’s the way I like it,” Jake said. “Don’t get the idea I’m sacrificing myself for you and this place. I’m not. I like it here. I’m staying.”

Will tried another tack. “You ever think about getting married again?”

“No,” Jake said. “Why are we talking about this?”

“Because if you were going to find anybody to marry in Toby’s Corners, you would have married her by now,” Will said. “This is another good reason to go back to the city.”

“I’m not going back to the city,” Jake said. “Now, will you please tell me what’s going on?”

“Oh, hell.” Will slumped down in his chair and rubbed his hand across his forehead.

“Just spit it out,” Jake said, kindly. “You’ll feel a lot better.”

“Mom’s worried about you,” Will said. “And Valerie thinks I’m taking advantage of you.” He turned to face Jake. “You’ve really saved my life on this place. There are times when I look at the hell breaking loose inside the hotel and think, ‘Thank God, Jake’s got the outside under control.’ I mean it. You make a big difference.”

“I know,” Jake said. “That’s another reason I’m not leaving. But the main reason is because I don’t want to.” Jake sipped his coffee. “So Valerie’s concerned for my welfare, huh?”

Will shot him a glance. “Yeah. I thought that was a little strange myself.”

“I wondered when she was gonna make her move,” Jake said.

Will raised his eyebrows. “Want to cut me in on this?”

“Valerie likes to think the hotel is a partnership deal.”

“It is,” Will said, confused. “You and me.”

“No,” Jake said. “You and her. I’m in the way.”

“The way of what?” Will looked exasperated.

“The way of the two of you becoming the Leona and Harry Helmsley of the Midwest.”

“God forbid,” Will said. “You know, that woman is becoming a problem.”

“Becoming?” Jake said. “I know she’s sharing your apartment, which probably clouds your judgment. I know she’s a great social director which, since you live and breathe this hotel, probably clouds your judgment even more, but she’s also been a major pain in the butt ever since she got here.”

“Yeah, well, I think that problem’s about to be solved,” Will said. “In the meantime, there’s Mom. She’s worried about you. And me,” he added when Jake started to speak. “But mostly you. Because of your advanced age.”

“Oh, hell,” Jake said. “What’s she want?”

“She wants us to get married. She wants grandkids.”

Jake shrugged. “So, you give her some.”

“I’m not married,” Will said firmly. “And I’m not going to be.”

Jake raised his eyebrows. “Valerie may have a different idea.”

Will shook his head. “Valerie has plans for her future that do not include me, thank God.” He sipped some coffee and thought before he went on. “One of those big chains has been scouting her. They’re going to be offering her big bucks any day now to be social director of the East Coast or something, and she will be gone.”

Jake looked at his brother curiously. “And you’re not concerned about this?”

“I’m relieved. Valerie really is a terrific woman, and I appreciate everything she’s done for the resort, but she’s getting on my nerves. You know, I’m not even sure how we ended up living together.”