He made sure the right guard was on his electric razor and ran it over his face, then brushed his teeth and combed his mop of light-brown hair. Looking at his reflection in the small mirror above the sink, he made the decision that when he started his next company, he was doing it with help from the very beginning. He’d started on a shoestring before and had trouble delegating even when he hired an assistant. It drove them both insane. But this time he was going in fully staffed with an administrative team and a couple of IT specialists to help him. He didn’t intend to spend eighteen hours a day at work anymore.

He dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and picked up a jacket but found out he didn’t need it when he stepped out of the motor home. The sun shone brightly in a cloudless, beautiful blue sky that morning. He slung the jacket over his shoulder and whistled from the motor home to the house, where he left his muddy shoes on the rug right inside the door.

“Something smells wonderful in here,” he called out.

“Bacon, coffee, and waffles with either syrup or canned peaches and whipped cream,” Carmen said. “It’ll all be on the table in about five minutes.”

“Good morning,” Diana said from about halfway down the stairs.

His heart threw in an extra beat when he saw her. She really did look like a goddess even though she was wearing a pair of jeans and a faded T-shirt. He nodded and said, “Good morning to you.”

She’d said they’d talk later, but there hadn’t been an opportunity the day before. Hopefully today they’d find a few minutes alone. He was a patient man, so he didn’t mind waiting to actually date her until they were back in Sugar Run. Besides, she had a lot on her mind with the drama of Carmen’s divorce and the possibility of Joanie moving away.

“So how do you like your waffles?” he asked when she reached the bottom step. “Syrup? Or fruit and whipped cream?”

“Maple syrup, and lots of it.” Diana’s smile warmed his heart. “How about you?”

“Same,” he said. “See there, we have lots in common. We both like to watch squirrels and like the same kind of waffles. I’d call that a foundation.”

“Maybe,” she said softly, “but you can’t build it on sand. Remember your Sunday-school lessons about that?”

“And that little song they taught us about how the rain came tumbling down?” Luke flashed a bright grin her way.

“Don’t even say that word,” Tootsie yelled from the kitchen. “I’ve had enough rain to last me a year. I won’t even complain about the heat in Sugar Run next summer after this.”

Luke crooked his little finger around Diana’s for just a moment; then he let go and headed toward the dining room. “I just hope the sun dries out the yard and road enough today that we don’t have trouble getting the motor home out onto it. What can I do to help?”

“Bring the coffeepot in, and fill the cups,” Carmen said.

“I’ll pour the juice,” Diana offered. “Looks like that’s all that’s left. You’re going to be a hard act to follow—but wait, I don’t have to follow you because tomorrow we go to the reunion. That means Joanie has Monday, right?”

“You lucked out on that day, but you’ll have to cook on . . .” Luke counted days on his fingers. “Next Saturday, and we’ll expect gourmet.”

“Oh, honey, I make a mean gourmet bologna sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce, mustard, pickles, and even black olives and peppers,” Diana teased.

“Sounds like a great Saturday-night supper to me.” Tootsie went on to tell them all about the bologna nights she and Delores had shared. “But you’ve got kitchen duty all day. We can do the fancy sandwiches for supper, but we’ll expect to have something great for dinner.”

“Like your enchiladas,” Carmen suggested. “The chicken ones with white sauce and your special rice and beans to go with them.”

“Sounds good to me.” Luke finished with the coffee and took his place at the head of the table.

“You’ll never want to go to a Mexican restaurant again after you’ve eaten her food,” Joanie said. “Her grandmother came up here from Mexico when she married Diana’s grandfather. Diana learned how to cook from her.”

Surely they were kidding. Diana had that milk-and-honey complexion that usually went with the English or Swedish folk. And red hair! They were pulling his leg for sure.

“My grandfather was Scottish and married a Mexican girl. My father married a blonde-haired girl he met while he was in the army and based in England,” Diana said. “My daughter, Rebecca, is dark haired and has brown eyes. Her skin is the color of coffee with lots and lots of cream. She’s a throwback to my grandmother and is even talented musically, like Grammy. I tell her all the time that as long as she’s alive, my grandmother Marie Sanchez McTavish lives on in this world.”

Luke found himself wondering what kind of child he and Diana might have. It wasn’t even a remote possibility, but the thought wouldn’t leave his mind all through breakfast.

The kitchen grew crowded and crazy that afternoon. Joanie just stood back and enjoyed the bickering among Diana, Luke, and Carmen for oven time or counter space to roll out pie dough or cut up vegetables. She’d miss days like this so much, and yet when she thought of Brett being home to have supper with her every night—words couldn’t describe the joy in her soul.

Tootsie yawned. “There’s too damn many cooks in this little kitchen. I’m going to take a nap. If y’all get to fightin’, just keep it down, because if you wake me up, I’ll be an old bear the rest of the day.”

“I’m going to strip down my bed and wash my sheets while we’re getting stuff ready for the reunion.” Joanie went to her bedroom, sat down on the bed, and sent a text to Brett: I’m all in.

The phone rang immediately. “You sure about this? It hasn’t been a week. Did you tell Carmen and Diana?”

“Yes, I did,” she said. “And Tootsie says we’ll meet halfway every couple of months and spend a couple of days together in her motor home, so it’s not like we’ll never see each other again, and if you want to go to a yearly reunion thing for the team, that’s up to you.”

“Things aren’t the same here, darlin’, since Eli is . . . well, you know . . . and Gerald has encouraged that whole thing from the beginning. It’s not the team that it was when we first started, so I doubt that I’ll be going to any of the reunions,” Brett said. “I’m lookin’ forward to a brand-new start in a different place with you.”