Susan Mallery - Before We Kiss

It was a lot, but as she said, memorable. Better for the parents to know their children were entertained and tired at the end of the day.

“Is the play going to cost more than ten thousand dollars?” he asked.

Her eyes widened. “Hardly.”

“Then it’s fine.”

“Sheesh. We have different definitions of expensive,” she murmured.

He was sure that was true. “What about babysitters?”

“There will be at least two adults with the kids at all times along with several teenage sitters to keep an eye on things. I’ll have references for everyone working two weeks before the party so parents can check them out if they want.”

“Impressive,” he told her.

She smiled. “I live to dazzle. Okay, Saturday morning. We’ll have a stretching class for those who are in the mood, followed by breakfast on the terrace. Then we split up. Adults go to CDS for a fun obstacle course while the kids go bike riding with Josh Golden.”

“Josh agreed to this?” Sam asked.

Dellina nodded. “I wouldn’t have put it on the schedule if he hadn’t. He does a lot of Saturday morning rides with different people. If you’re visiting town, you can sign up for it through your hotel. They start on the track at his school, and then when everyone is comfortable they head out to the bike path that circles the city.”

She angled toward him. “I’ve talked to Angel and CDS has several corporate obstacle courses for us to choose from. They have balance beams and things with tires.”

He held in a smile. “Things with tires?”

“You know what I mean. You jump in and out of tires. It’s supposed to be fun.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“I don’t see the point, but that doesn’t matter. This isn’t about me. You and Jack and Kenny are the stars. Your guests will be expecting a lot of physical activities and this will be a fun one.”

She wore a lightweight sweater over black pants. Low-heeled shoes that Taryn would turn her nose up at but Sam thought were cute. Dellina was professional and obviously good at her job. She also smelled good and he couldn’t stop wanting to pull her close and violate several state statutes on sexual harassment.

“After that,” she continued, “we meet up with the kids and head into town. It’s the weekend of the Summer Festival. We’ll have lunch together, then split up to explore. There will be a tour of the town for anyone interested. We shuttle back to the hotel at three-thirty and then there’s the lecture for the adults and the children get to hang out with Max and his therapy dogs.”

She pulled a brochure out of another folder and passed it to him. “Normally Montana does the community outreach with the dogs, but she’s seriously pregnant and taking it easy. K9Rx Therapy Dogs does what it sounds like.”

“I know what therapy dogs are.”

“Then you get the fun the kids will have with friendly, adoring dogs. Angel will bring his Acorns by to talk about their recent project with therapy puppies.”

Acorns? Sam started to ask what or who they were. Then he remembered Taryn’s involvement with a group of girls. They were like scouts, only local. There had been activities and a project involving puppies. More interesting was take-no-prisoners Taryn now spent her days staring at her engagement ring and sighing like a schoolgirl.

Love did strange things to people. Once he’d wanted that for himself. Not the acting like a fool part, but the rest of it. The connection. The family.

Dellina continued, “We finish the evening with a barbecue on the terrace. Kids with their parents, although there will be sitters available if Mom and Dad want to stay up late.” She drew a breath. “Sunday morning we have brunch together. Then there’s golf for those interested, a spa day here at the hotel for the ladies and the kids get on a bus to head to Castle Ranch.”

“Horseback riding?” he asked.

“Horses and goats and an elephant.”

He shook his head. “I’m not paying for an elephant.”

“You don’t have to.” Her smile was smug. “There’s one at the ranch.”

“An elephant?”

“Yes.”

“In Fool’s Gold?”

“Of course. Her name is Priscilla. She lives on the ranch. She has a pony named Reno as a companion.”

Sam wondered if the elbow to his face had bruised more than his eye. “You’re sure?”

“You can’t make up something like that.”

She had a point there.

“Elephant rides, it is.”

“Then we all meet back at the hotel and the weekend is over.”

He studied the papers. “You did great. Our clients will be talking about this for a long time.”

“That’s the goal.”

“The lecture is still a problem.”

“I know.” She sighed. “It has to be special. I’m figuring it out.”

“This is where you tell me the short time frame doesn’t help.”

Her mouth twitched. “Why state the obvious? You were in an emotional crisis. We all have to deal with the aftermath.”

“I wasn’t in an emotional crisis.”

“What would you call it?”

“Hell.”

She laughed. “Fair enough. The combination of the list and wedding dresses were probably off-putting.”

“That’s one name for it.”

She tilted her head. “You could have talked to me.”

“Not after seeing all that.”

“You assumed the worst.”

“It wasn’t much of a stretch,” he told her.

“I guess. But you should trust people more.”

“Not likely.” He studied her. “You, on the other hand, are too trusting.”

“I’m okay with that. I want to assume the world is a nice place. To think otherwise is too sad.”

An innocent, he thought, not sure if he admired her or wanted to warn her against all that could happen.

“It’s because I grew up here,” she added with a shrug. “You’ve lived here now. You know what it’s like.”

“True. A Fool’s Gold native would have a tough time being cynical. So what was it like? Four perfect seasons and a warm, loving community?”

She laughed. “You’re right about the community. I’m not sure I’d agree the seasons are perfect, but it was nice.” Her humor faded.

“What?” he asked. “Something ruin Pleasantville for you? What was it? A lost dog? A bad prom?”

“Prom wasn’t great.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Bad things happen everywhere, even here. My parents passed away.”

Sam reached for her hand, then drew back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a jerk.”

“You weren’t.”

“I assumed nothing bad had ever happened to you.”

“I’m not sure anyone gets through life without some kind of pain.”

“How old were you?”

“Seventeen. My sisters were nearly fourteen. My parents took their first vacation by themselves.” She looked away. “At the last minute my mom wanted to cancel, but I said we’d be fine.”

This time Sam did take her fingers in his. “It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known what was going to happen. There’s no way she knew, either.”

“Which all sounds very logical.” She returned her attention to him and didn’t pull free of his touch. “But back then I felt so responsible.” She swallowed. “It was a freak thing. They were on a boat in the Caribbean and there was a storm. It took a couple of days to find their bodies.”

Sam couldn’t imagine what that must have been like. His parents made him crazy—especially his mother—but at least he knew they were around. Ready to torment him at a moment’s notice.

He continued to rub her hand. Her skin was warm and soft, but this wasn’t about him.

“It was awful,” she continued. “Honestly, I can’t remember much about that time. There was a funeral and then our aunt and uncle came to get us.”