“Nothing from Trevor,” she muttered.

  “He’ll come around, but you should stand your ground,” Sophia said and gave her a gentle push toward the lobby. “If you let him talk you into doing something you don’t want to do, your marriage will fall apart anyway because you’ll end up resenting him. Are you definite about taking over the hotel business?”

  “I wasn’t, but I am now,” Clara declared as she headed out of the kitchen. She could already tell that by morning she was going to be sore in places she didn’t even know she had. Thank goodness, she had time to heal before the wedding—if there even was one in the cards for her.

  Chapter Nine

  Clara had felt so smug when she was giving advice to Sophia about Hunter, but that attitude disappeared with a snap when it was her turn to be in the hot seat. Sophia had sat with her in the lobby until suppertime, and then Clara had insisted that she go spend time with Hunter. They’d gone into Palestine for ice cream, and the hotel seemed as empty as Clara’s heart. If this was what it felt like after an argument with your husband, she wasn’t sure she even wanted to be married.

  She wandered through the lobby, into the kitchen, and then out to the courtyard. The shape of her body still lingered in the dust accumulated through the winter months, when few people came out to the courtyard. She made a mental note to ask Luther, who usually cleaned that part of the place.

  She sat down on one of the chairs and watched the sun paint a bright array of colors in the sky as it sank behind the gate at the end of the courtyard. She’d talked with Sophia about the argument, and now it continued to play in a never-ending loop through her mind—word by word, emotion by emotion. Could she have handled it a different way? Maybe just put the hotel idea out there a bit at a time without hitting Trevor with it all at once?

  Millions of stars popped out to dance around the moon, and she stared at them without blinking, still trying to rewrite the whole day—but it didn’t work. The argument had happened and she would have to deal with the fallout at some time. Her phone pinged, and she figured it was her sister, so she pulled it out of the pocket of her pajama pants. The message was from Trevor: I’m sorry. Can we talk?

  She sent him the link to a song by The Chicks titled “Not Ready to Make Nice.” The lyrics talked about not being ready to make nice or back down. Someone was still mad as hell. The words seemed to be fitting when they said she wasn’t ready to do whatever it was he thought she should.

  When she hit Send, she sat back and listened to the song all the way through at least half a dozen times before her phone pinged again: When will you be ready to talk?

  “I don’t know,” she whispered as she typed the same words.

  She listened to a soliloquy of crickets and tree frogs for an hour, but she didn’t get an answer. Evidently, Trevor didn’t like what she’d said, or what the lyrics to the song said, but she was standing her ground. She would not start out a lifetime commitment with the possibility of regrets, not even if she had to suffer a broken heart.

  Finally, she went back into the hotel, waved at Hunter and Sophia, who seemed to be in deep conversation at the kitchen table, and went on upstairs to her room. She sat down in a rocking chair facing the double doors that opened to the balcony and got so lost in her thoughts that the knock on her door startled her.

  “Come in,” she said.

  Sophia poked her head in the door. “I just wanted to let you know that Hunter and I have made the decision to keep the hotel, but only if you’re in it with us. We could hire someone to do the books and help us, but we wouldn’t trust them like we do you.”

  “I’m staying,” Clara said. “I’ll send my resignation or take it to the bank tomorrow.”

  Sophia came into the room and bent to give her sister a hug. “We won’t always agree, and we’ll argue.”

  Clara hugged her back and smiled. “We can’t change who we are and we don’t really want to, do we?”

  Sophia took a couple of steps back and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Have you heard from Trevor?”

  “He’s sorry, and he wants to talk,” Clara answered. “I’m not ready.”

  “You’ve always been the peacemaker and you hate confrontation,” Sophia said. “What’s changed?”

  Clara shrugged. “I grew up. You’ve only got a couple of nights before we get bombarded with folks, and then the wedding is the next day. You need to spend this quiet time with Hunter, not sitting here trying to make me feel better.”

  “You are my sister,” Sophia reminded her. “Hunter and I will have a lifetime of nights, but right now you need me.”

  “Thank you, but I’m fine,” Clara assured her and pointed at the door. “I’m going to bed and . . .”

  Someone knocked on the balcony doors and Sophia hopped up. She slung the door open to find Trevor standing there with his hat in his hand. She turned around and smiled brightly at Clara. “I guess you aren’t the only one who jumps over fences and climbs up dogwood trees. Your knight in dusty armor has arrived, but he doesn’t have a rose between his teeth.”

  “Trevor, I told you that I’m not ready to talk,” Clara said.

  Trevor took a step back and sat down in a white rocking chair. “Then I’ll wait right here on this balcony until you are.”

  Sophia closed the balcony doors and locked them. “I’m going to my room now. If you need me, just call.”

  “I won’t, but thank you,” Clara said. “You and Hunter have a good night.”

  “Oh, honey, we will.” Sophia winked and disappeared out into the hallway.

  The Clara who had always hated confrontation of any kind wanted to go out on the balcony and have it out—again—with Trevor. The Clara who wasn’t ready to forgive and forget stretched out on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Sheer mental exhaustion took over, and she fell asleep a few minutes later and didn’t wake up until sunlight flowed in the window and warmed her face the next morning.

  She got out of bed, cracked the door enough to see that Trevor had kept his word about not leaving the balcony until she talked to him and was slumped down in the rocking chair with his hat over his eyes. She tiptoed down the stairs, made a pot of coffee, and carried two full mugs back up to her room.

  She set them on the side table by the bed and eased the balcony doors open. Then she picked up the coffee and took it outside, sat down in the second rocking chair, and put the coffee on a small round table between the chairs. She picked up the mug with sunflowers on it, took a sip, and held the warm mug in her hands. It felt good in the brisk morning breeze.

  The smell of the coffee must have awakened Trevor because he sat up, adjusted his hat, and rolled his neck around to get the kinks out. “Are we ready to talk?”

  “Depends,” she answered and pointed to the extra mug. “That’s for you.”

  He picked it up and took the first sip. “Am I forgiven?”

  “Not until we come to an understanding,” Clara answered. “I’m going to work here at the hotel five days a week. If there’s a full house, I might have to come in for half a day on Saturday, but Sundays should always be fairly free. Can you live with that?”

  “My mother and my sisters-in-law have raked me over the hot coals,” Trevor said. “They reminded me that living on the ranch and working there was their decision, and that I was a total jackass for expecting you to bend to what I wanted. I was angry with them at first, but then I realized that if you regretted doing what I wanted, you would be miserable, and I love you too much to be the one who hurts you in any way.”

  “I didn’t ask you if you’d gotten in trouble,” Clara said. “I asked if you could live with my decision.”

  “Yes, I can,” Trevor answered without hesitation.

  “Then you are forgiven,” Clara told him.

  Trevor set his coffee aside. “What if you and Sophia hate working together?”

  “Then we’ll work it out between us,” she answered.

  “What about our children?” Trevor asked.

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we have kids,” Clara replied. “Like the old song says, ‘One Day at a Time.’ Let’s plan for tomorrow, but let’s enjoy today.”

  “So, you aren’t mad at me anymore?” Trevor asked.

  “Are you still upset with me?” she shot back at him. “In five years are you going to wish you’d married a woman like your sisters-in-law? That you had a wife who loved ranching as much as you do? I’m willing to compromise in this relationship. What do you want?”

  He removed his hat and looked her right in the eye. “I want you, Clara.” Then he stood up, moved to drop down on one knee in front of her, and took her hand in his. “Clara Delaney, you are the love of my life. Just thinking about my life without you in it is unbearable. Will you marry me?”

  “You’ve already proposed,” she whispered.

  “Yes, but I’m doing it again, just so you know how much I love you,” he said.

  “Yes, Trevor Richmond, I will marry you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and then leaned back and kissed him. “I’ve heard that makeup sex is the best. Shall we see if the hype is all it’s made out to be or do you need to get back to the ranch to work?”

  He scooped her up in his arms and carried her through the double doors into her bedroom. “My family told me not to come home without settling this with you, so darlin’, I’ve got all day to see if the hype is true. And honey, I realize now that the ranch comes second to you and always will.” He kicked the doors shut with the heel of his cowboy boot.

  Chapter Ten

  “Hello the hotel!” Mama Lizzy yelled as she came through the lobby and into the kitchen on Friday morning. “I expected to see a parking lot full of vehicles out front!”

  “Not yet.” Clara met her in the middle of the room and hugged her. “We missed you so much.”

  Sophia dried her hands and then made it a three-way hug. “No one has arrived, but we’re expecting a few to be here by suppertime. Luther will be here any minute and then we’ll be run out of his kitchen.”

  “I’m surprised he’s let us in here while he’s been out on vacation this last week,” Lizzy said.

  Clara led her grandmother to the table. “Come sit down and have a snack with us. We’ve got doughnuts from that shop you like and coffee is made. How was your trip?”

  Lizzy sat down and picked up a glazed doughnut from the box. “The trip was so good that I’m not sticking around until the end of summer. Marlene is looking into an Alaskan cruise for the two of us in June.”

  Sophia set a tray with three mugs and the full pot of coffee on the table and then took a seat across from Clara. She wasn’t sure if she should make the announcement right then about the three of them making the decision to run the hotel or if she should wait for Hunter.

  “Trevor and I had a big argument,” Clara blurted out.

  That’s not the way I expected to start this conversation, Sophia thought.

  “I helped her through it,” Sophia said. “I found her hanging from a dogwood tree, trying to get up to the balcony. The front doors were locked because she was supposed to be at the ranch. I don’t know why she thought she could get through the balcony doors any better.”

  “I thought they were unlocked.” Clara shot a dirty look her way.

  “Did you break any limbs off the trees?” Lizzy asked and then giggled.

  “No, she didn’t,” Sophia replied, “but I do wish I’d taken a picture for you.”

  “Me too,” Lizzy said and then turned to face Clara. “Start at the beginning and tell me what’s happened since I’ve been gone. I know about Sophia and Hunter losing their jobs, but I need to hear from you, Clara.”

  “They fought because he was being a pompous pig from hell,” Sophia said.

  Clara cut her eyes around at her sister. “But he apologized and changed his pig attitude into a sweet one, so he’s got a chance of getting into heaven.”

  “What did you fight about?” Lizzy asked. “I thought you two were the perfect couple who would be able to say that they’d never had an argument on their fiftieth anniversary.”

  “Guess we’ll have to give that trophy back,” Clara said. “Maybe Sophia and Hunter will get it.”

  Sophia picked up a doughnut with chocolate icing. “That ship has already sailed.”

  “Do you have a trophy for no arguments, Mama Lizzy?” Clara asked.

  “Lord, no!” Lizzy gasped. “Your grandfather and I had a doozy of a blowup the day before our wedding. I was ready to call the whole thing off. He thought that I should sell the hotel and be one of those little wives who stays home and raises babies.”

  “History really does repeat itself,” Clara said with half a giggle, and then went on to tell the whole story from start to finish. “I guess men are the same today as they were back then.”

  Lizzy reached over and laid a hand on her granddaughter’s arm. “Honey, human nature hasn’t changed since the days of Adam and Eve. But women have fought for the right to make their own decisions since the beginning of time, and I’m proud of you for doing so. Does this mean y’all are going to take over the hotel, then?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Sophia and Clara chorused together.

  To Sophia, who admittedly liked fanfare, the answer seemed a lot less dramatic than she expected. “Because Hunter and I won’t have a honeymoon, we’ll be ready to learn the ropes starting on Monday. I noticed that the rooms are full that night.”

  Lizzy beamed and tears dammed up behind her eyelids. “You don’t know how happy you’ve made me. The family legacy moves on to the next generation. Your ancestors would be so proud.”

  “We’ll do our best to keep the place vintage,” Sophia promised.

  “Don’t cry, Mama Lizzy,” Clara begged. “We won’t even change out those old landline phones.”

  Lizzy wiped her eyes with a paper napkin. “The wedding will be your celebration, but it will also be mine. Can I announce the news when I give the toast?”

  “Of course you can,” Sophia told her.

  “I don’t have time to arrange a honeymoon for either of you now, but next year I will come back and run the place for you for one week so you can have one for your first anniversary. Maybe you’ll even choose to go on a cruise.”

  Sophia raised both her dark brows. “Separately?”

  “Not on your life,” Lizzy declared. “One week, and you have to compromise about where you’ll go and go together. I’ll pay for everything as your anniversary gift, but I’m only going to be tied down to the hotel for one week total.”

  “Well,” Sophia said with a long sigh. “We’ve got a year to argue about it.”

  Clara reached across the table and laid a hand on her sister’s. “Just think what fun we’ll have fighting about it for a whole year. I hear folks coming in the front doors. Are we ready to check them in on our first day on the job?”

  Lizzy took her last sip of coffee and pushed back her chair. “Oh, no! Today and tomorrow, this place still belongs to me, but y’all can come on out and introduce me to your new families and friends. On Monday you can take over operations.”

  Sophia led the way out of the kitchen. “That’s April Fools’ Day.”

  “That, darlin’ sister, will be our lucky day from now on,” Clara said.

  Chapter Eleven

  Clara thought the alarm on her phone was telling her it was time to wake up on Saturday morning. Without even opening her eyes, she rolled over and reached to get it from the nightstand, but when she picked it up and hit what she thought was the Snooze button, Trevor’s voice filled the room.

  “Happy wedding day, darlin’!” Excitement was in his tone.

  She opened one eye to see that she was Face-Timing with him. “Good mornin’ and happy wedding day to you. We aren’t supposed to see each other until the wedding. Mama Lizzy says it’s bad luck.”

  “We’re not really seeing each other, only blurry pictures on the phone. I just wanted to be the first voice you heard this morning and to wish you a wonderful day. I can’t wait until this evening when I can carry you over the threshold into our new home,” Trevor said. “Remember, I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Clara said as she threw back the covers and crawled out of bed. She could hear folks already up and around out in the hallway, and the blended aromas of bacon and coffee wafted through the air-conditioning vents.

  She had brushed her teeth, pulled up her blond hair into a messy bun, and was on the way out the door when she stopped in her tracks. Today, this very day, she was getting married, and suddenly her slippers were filled with concrete and her feet were glued to the hardwood floor.

  Sophia came out of her room a few doors down and met her. “Cold feet?”

  “How did you know?” Clara whispered.

  “Because an hour ago mine were freezing,” Sophia answered in a low voice. “But then I remembered all the reasons why I love Hunter, and I thought about this new adventure we’re starting on, not only in marriage but in our career.”

  “Did they warm up?” Clara asked.

  Sophia looped her arm with her sister’s. “Yes, they did. Did you reach across the bed this morning and feel a little fear that something was wrong because Trevor wasn’t there?”

  “Nope,” Clara answered, “but only because he woke me up with a FaceTime phone call.”

  Sophia took a step toward the wide staircase. “I wish now that I’d only had one bridesmaid. The six I chose kept me up half the night, and after all these years away from my college sorority, I hardly know them anymore.”

  Clara couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “I visited with Granny for a little while at supper, but then she said she needed her beauty sleep for the wedding. I got a wonderful night’s rest. You should have snuck out and come over to my room like you used to do when you had a nightmare.”

  “You were the calm one, and I always thought that monsters wouldn’t faze you,” Sophia said as she started down the stairs. “We should have had the wedding in the lobby. That way we could float down these stairs in our wedding dresses.”