As soon as he was gone, Jackie placed her hand on Andrea’s forehead. “I’m checking you’re okay. That man was the most gorgeous male in the room and you didn’t ask him who he was.”
A blush scorched Andrea’s cheeks. “I was too busy wiping my sweater to notice.”
Paris stood and collected the last of the napkins. “I’ll be right back. Don’t say anything about him until I return.” While she was at the counter, she’d order four slices of apple pie and ask if anyone knew who the stranger was. Sapphire Bay was a small town. Someone must know who he was. And once she knew his name, she’d tell Andrea.
* * *
Two weeks later…
* * *
Richard held the treasure-hunting bucket Jack had bought from the general store. The sapphires they’d found in Flathead Lake were genuine. The tiny gemstones were worth one hundred dollars, more than enough to buy the Legos Jack wanted.
But, instead of going straight to the toy store in Polson, he’d given half the money to John to buy food parcels for the people in the tiny home village. The other fifty dollars would eventually go toward the latest Legos model.
“I found one!” Jack hurried back to Richard and dropped the tiny, peanut-sized rock in the bucket. “That’s six sapphires. How much money will the man give us for those ones?”
Richard compared the size of the stones to the ones they’d taken into the jeweler last week. “Maybe eighty dollars.”
Jack grinned. “I’ll find two more.”
They walked to the edge of the lake. Louie was jumping in and out of the water. When he’d had enough of that, he sat on the trail, basking in the afternoon sunshine.
For the last week, Richard had wanted to talk to Jack about Paris. If his son didn’t want her living permanently with them, he wouldn’t ask her to marry him. They would be like the three musketeers—all for one and one for all. And if Jack wasn’t happy, it wouldn’t work.
“Can you see any gemstones in the water, Dad?”
Bending down, he ran his hand under the water, looking for anything that looked out of place. “Not yet. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have another person live with us? Someone who’s like a mom?”
“Like Grandma?”
“Not like Grandma. More like my wife and your stepmom.”
“Don’t you like Paris anymore?”
Richard blinked. “Why did you ask me that?”
“You can’t have a wife if you’re dating Paris. Charlie’s dad had lots of girlfriends when he was married to Charlie’s mom. After that, they got a divorce. Charlie said it was scary when he came here with his mom and brother.”
“I bet it was. I love Paris, and I don’t want to date anyone else. I was thinking of asking her to marry me. If she says yes, she’ll live with us and we’ll be a family.”
“Would she be my mom?”
“If you want her to, she could be.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Richard was surprised it was that easy.
“She makes pretty flowers and yummy pancakes. She knows how to bath Louie and doesn’t mind when he digs holes in her garden.” Jack dropped another gemstone into the bucket. “Grandma said one day you might find someone who makes you as happy as I do. When that happens, it doesn’t mean you love me less. You’ll just have a bigger heart that’s full of love for everyone.”
Richard studied Jack’s solemn face. “When did Grandma tell you that?”
“Ages ago.”
