do things to a person. She’d only been in Lake Mildred two days, and part of her was wondering what living there would be like. People smiled and said hello. Acted as if she’d been one of them for years. She didn’t feel rushed or anxious. She hadn’t thought of her voice mail or email for hours. In fact, she hadn’t glanced at her cell phone since the parade two hours before.
Rick turned toward her when she sighed. “It gets to you, right?”
She shrugged and pulled on the hem of her dress. She should have changed after the parade. Or at least after they’d sampled the fried dill pickles, the dill-pickle soup, the gherkin mousse. She should have passed on that last one. But the pickle pâté had been fabulous. The lure of the festival had kept them in the park, enjoying the booths and the people surrounding them. “I guess it is getting to me.”
He stopped at the ticket booth and purchased two wristbands, then tied one to her wrist. “Which ride should we try first? The tilt-a-whirl or the scrambler?”
She put a hand over her stomach. “I’d like to keep my lunch down, thanks.”
Rick laughed. “Where’s your sense of adventure? Your joie de vivre?”
“It prefers not to spend life with my head in the toilet.” She looked around at the rides. There had to be something tame. “Why not the Ferris wheel?”
Rick glanced up at it, then grabbed her hand and sprinted toward the line. “You won’t believe the view up there. You’ll be able to see the whole town.”
“All square mile of it? Can’t wait.”
When they reached the beginning of the line, Rick let her take a seat first before joining her. They got locked into the seat, then took a deep breath as the operator gave a thumbs-up.
The view at the top took Elizabeth’s breath away. Trees grew lush and green. The sunlight glinted off the lake and winked with the promise of fun times. Small homes were built around the town square and farther beyond. Cottages lined the lakeshore. Part of her suddenly yearned for a place in this community.
Rick nodded. “I told you it was spectacular.”
“You weren’t kidding.” The camera would love it. She turned to him. “You understand that our coming here would forever change the peace and quiet. We couldn’t leave this place as it is now. For months, it would be chaos with the contestants and crew. We’d clog your streets and your businesses, and leave the mess for you to clean up. And then the gawkers would descend.”
“What I know is that it would bring jobs and money to people who need both more than you know.” He pointed at a home with a tree house in the backyard. “It would mean Steve wouldn’t lose his house.” He pointed to another with a covered porch. “Or that Shelly could feed her kids this winter.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes. She knew what it was like to be hungry. What it meant not to know if there would be dinner that night. “I can’t guarantee Devon will go for this idea.”
Rick settled back into the seat. “You tell him it’s either you have me here or I don’t do it at all.”
“That’s a pretty big threat.”
He reached out and touched her hand. “I won’t let you lose your job over me, but I won’t lose myself in the process, either. I’m not going to lie, the idea of doing the show again is making me quake in my sneakers. But as long as we can establish some ground rules, if we can do it my way, then everyone will be happy.”
Uh-oh. His way? She was the producer here, not him. “You ask for a lot.”
Rick shrugged. “So do you.”
She watched the emotions play over his face. He wanted to save this town, but at what cost to himself? He was a good man. Too good for this business. Elizabeth reached out and touched his face, then snapped her hand back as if he’d burned her. What was she doing?
“Lizzie.” The hoarseness of his voice seemed to shock even him.
“Elizabeth.”
He leaned back and looked out over the treetops. “Come to Sunday dinner tomorrow afternoon at my mom’s.”
After the confrontation in the food tent, that was a shock. “Why?”
He turned to her. “Because that’s what I do every Sunday. Spend it with my family. And maybe if we talk some more, we can figure this out. Give my mom a second chance. Isn’t that what you’re offering me here?”
Was it? Elizabeth wasn’t sure anymore.
* * *
ELIZABETHADJUSTEDher black skirt and straightened her pink linen jacket while wondering for the eighty-ninth time why she had agreed to do this. She’d gone to great lengths to secure contestants in the past, but this topped them all.
She exhaled as she saw Rick come down the back stairs from his apartment to where she waited by her convertible.
“Good morning.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek.
She glanced at her watch. “It’s technically afternoon.”
Rick grinned and shrugged. “Close enough.” He moved next to her to lean against the car. “Ready for this?”
Elizabeth’s insides vibrated with tension, and she clutched her stomach. “I’m not hungry.”
“We’ll eat. Talk. Maybe watch a ball game. And have a great afternoon.” He bumped her shoulder with his. “My family wants to get to know you.”
Why? She was about to change Rick’s life again. Maybe coming here hadn’t been a good idea. If she hadn’t been so worried about her job... Instead of asking, she smiled. “Then I’d love to.”
Rick’s shoulders sagged in what looked like relief. “Thanks. You’ll be saving us from a week of leftovers—roast-beef sandwiches, roast-beef salad, beef pâté.”
Elizabeth wiped the sweat off the back of her neck. “Your mother made a roast in this heat?”
Rick shrugged. “She likes to cook.”
What would it have been like to have grown up with a mom like that? Elizabeth couldn’t even begin to imagine. “Is that where you learned it?”
He nodded. “She taught me everything I know. She’s the best.”
“Which you obviously use in your job.” She turned and looked at him. “Did you know the diner would be your life the last time I saw you?”
He took so long in answering her, she thought at first he hadn’t heard what she’d said. At last, he sighed. “No, it’s not where I pictured my life passing. I imagined ball fields and team buses. But things changed after the car accident. And the diner stepped in and took the place of that dream. I spend most of my days there because it’s easier than looking at my life and wondering what the future holds.”
“So what do you want?”
He patted his stomach. “To go to lunch. I’m starving.”
She
