“Yes!” Valentina said. Pleasure tinted her cheeks pink in response to the sudden demand for her cooking. “They good for you.”
“None for me, thank you very much.” Grandma looked down her nose. “They trouble my hiatal hernia.”
“At some point along the road,” Clint confided in Britt, “I just figured it was too late ... that I’d missed my chance at love.”
“It’s never too late for love,” Britt said. “Look at Corbin. Hespent years thinking that he’d blown his chance with Willow. Now they’re married.”
“I don’t know....” Uncertainty tweaked Clint’s brow. “It might be better for me to work on my issues through meditation and self-actualization.”
“Self-actualization,” Grandma snapped. “Who cares if we know ourselves better? The point of life is to know God better.”
“Love is in the air, Clint,” Britt insisted. “You’re interested in Nikki, right?”
His eyes softened. “I’m very interested. So much so that I’m preoccupied. I was thinking about her when I was cleaning the Marrowstone room at the inn yesterday and almost forgot to empty the trash cans.”
“Excellent. Not about the trash cans,” Britt clarified. “About your interest in Nikki. Good things are definitely coming your way on the romance front.”
“Dance front?” Valentina asked. “I like ballet.”
“Come along.” Grandma led Clint and Valentina toward the kitchen, where fajitas would soon be served. “I’d like to get a spot near the front of the line.”
“Love is in the air?” Zander asked Britt when the others had passed out of earshot. “What’re you up to?”
“Nikki Clarkson has been hounding me about Clint. I told her I’d get the scoop on his love life.”
“Do you really believe that it’s never too late for love?”
“Sure. What I can’t fathom is how Clint could have stayed true to his first love for the majority of his life.”
“Huh,” Zander said. “Imagine that.”
An hour and a half later, the fajita dinner had been consumed by all, and the Bradford sisters were embroiled in a fierce game of Nertz. Each of them had a handsome man as their team member. Willow had Corbin. Nora had John. Britt had Zander. Their cousin Rachel and her boyfriend, plus one of Dad’s coworkers and hiswife also joined them. The remainder of the guests had chosen more sedate games in other areas of the house.
The Nertz group crouched over the breakfast table, barking out words, furiously flipping cards.
“Queen of spades!”
“Six of hearts! Who has six of hearts?”
“Jack of diamonds,” Zander growled. “Anyone?”
Nora and John were losing, but what could you expect out of an academic and a man with impaired vision? John had inherited a rare genetic eye condition. Since he’d started dating Nora, his eyesight had deteriorated slightly; however, he was still able to drive and, for the most part, go about life without many accommodations.
Thanks to Britt’s competitive streak, she often turned activities like yoga into contests. Even so, she and Zander were also losing.
Corbin was way too good for the rest of them. His speed and hand-eye coordination were the stuff of legends. Mere mortals could not hope to compete at Nertz against men who possessed Super Bowl rings.
“Nertz!” Willow called victoriously. Corbin spun her toward him for a kiss.
The rest of them groaned.
“Maybe we should draw names for new partners,” Britt suggested.
“Hey,” Zander said.
Playfulness glimmered in Corbin’s brown eyes. “Can’t take the humiliation of unceasing defeat?”
“I’m proud of the fact that I can’t take the humiliation of unceasing defeat,” Britt answered. “I’d be a doormat if Icouldtake it.”
