“Whatever sounds good to y’all. There’s not a flavor I don’t like—except maybe bubble gum,” he answered and straightened up. “See y’all later, then. Have fun on your shopping trip.”
Grace watched him jog the short distance back to his house and almost blushed when he turned around and blew her a kiss.
“Mama, we can go now,” Audrey said from the third seat.
“Give her time to let her heart stop racing,” Beezy said with a giggle. “First, she probably thought she’d hit someone when Macy yelled at her to stop, and then”—she fanned herself with a map ofPier Park—“Travis’s face was framed up in the window. Sweet Jesus, that would put any woman’s pulse in overdrive. She needs to catch her breath.”
Raelene turned around and pointed out the back window. “I can see our motel back there. I didn’t realize Travis’s house was this close to where we are staying.”
“Looks to be less than half a mile,” Sarah said, “and tonight, we get to see the inside of his beach house.”
“And eat steak,” Raelene said. “I will probably never stop talking about this vacation.”
“Me either,” Audrey added.
Or me for sure,Grace thought as she started driving on toward Pier Park.
Travis heard the ringtone that said Delores was calling. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit the accept button at the same time the doorbell rang. “Hold on just a minute, Delores,” he said. “My dinner guests have arrived.”
“A minute is about all I can hold on,” she said in a tone that scared Travis to his very core. He hurried to the front door, flung it open, and motioned for everyone to come inside. It sure wasn’t the welcome he had planned, but that’s all he could do at the time.
“What’s wrong?” he asked Delores.
“I’m sorry, but you are going to have to cut your vacation short,” Delores told him.
His mind went to the worst-case scenario: Calvin had had a heart attack, or Lucy had dropped with an aneurysm.
“Calvin and I both are down with the flu. The think-tank kids all went home yesterday afternoon. They must’ve gotten it at the conference. Calvin called a little while ago and said that he and his wholefamily are sick, and now I’ve gotten it. We need you home by Monday morning to run the business. It’s just one day earlier than you planned. Daniel will be at the airport at noon tomorrow to fly you home. I’ve made arrangements for the car-rental place to pick up your vehicle at the airport,” Delores said.
Travis glanced up at the calendar hanging on the kitchen wall and realized that it was the first day of the month. “Is this an April Fool’s joke?”
“No, it is not, but I sure wish it was,” Delores said. “My body aches all over, and I’m going to bed with a heating pad. The doctor says rest and fluids, so I’ve started drinking lots of hot tea with lemon and honey. I’ll see you about Wednesday, if I’m lucky.”
Relief washed over Travis. The news could have been so much worse. “Take care of yourself, and don’t worry about work. It will be there when you feel like coming back.”
“Will do,” Delores said and ended the call.
He turned to see six people staring at him. “I’m so sorry about that—but even more sorry that I have to leave tomorrow,” he said. “Calvin and Delores, my top staff at the company, both have the flu. A big group from our company went to a two-day conference and evidently brought it home from there. But we have tonight, so let’s make the best of it.”
“When are you leaving?” Grace asked.
“I have to be at the airport at noon tomorrow,” Travis answered. “But like I said, we’ve got tonight. So... welcome to the beach house! Make yourselves at home. Appetizers are on the kitchen table. The bar is stocked, so help yourself to anything there, and soft drinks are in the refrigerator for you two underage girls,” he managed, even though he felt like his mind was on a hamster wheel and his emotions were on a roller coaster.
When he got back to San Antonio, there would be a hundred little details to work out for the big meeting on Wednesday morning, but theworst thing was that he would be leaving Grace. He wanted more time for just the two of them, but that would have to wait until they were all back in Texas. He bit back a sigh when he thought of the romantic walks on the beach at sunset—or even sunrise—that he had hoped for in the next few days.
“April Fools!” Audrey said with a giggle. “You almost had me there, and then I remembered that Raelene pulled a good one on me this morning. She told me I’d flunked my history test. I thought I’d aced it.”
“Got her good,” Raelene said. “She rushed over to her computer to find out that she’d made a hundred on the test.”
“It would be wonderful if it was an April Fool’s joke, but it’s not,” Travis said with a sigh.
“I’m so sorry for all your people who are sick,” Beezy said. “I had that miserable stuff a couple of months ago. It’s not fun. I sure hope they get along all right. Lots of rest and plenty of fluids.”
“That’s what the doctor told Delores,” Travis said. “But for right now, let’s enjoy our last night together. Dinner will be served in about twenty minutes. Steaks are on the grill. Does anyone have a particular way they like them cooked?”
“Medium rare,” Grace answered.
“Me too,” everyone else chimed in at once.
