Miguel leaned back in the chair, letting the quilt fall to his waist, exposing a lot of bare skin. “Aunt Forey thinks you and Adam are getting married in the fall, before you leave the country. She and your mom are planning the cake.”

“Too bad no one asked me,” Vera said. She was looking at him over her glass. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Adam told me that when he was in Africa, he wasn’t faithful to me.”

Miguel’s handsome face showed shock. Then he smiled in an inviting way. “It’s nice to hear that Hatten has a flaw. You want to sit by the fire for a while?”

“I’d love that,” Vera said. “And you’ll share your quilt with me?”

“That would be my fondest wish.”

They smiled at each other.

CHAPTER TEN

One month later

Kelly put down her textbook and looked at her watch. She had to be at Dr. Carl’s clinic in an hour. She stretched out on the bed, hands behind her head, and looked at the ceiling.

Everything was going well. Her mom and Forey couldn’t stop praising Adam for stepping in and working out a deal with Mr. Gresham. It turned out the man didn’t want to retire. He enjoyed seeing people every day, and he loved bossing around the two waitresses and the cook. He just didn’t have many customers.

Adam suggested he buy a new glass case and fill it with whatever Nella and Forey felt like baking. And maybe Mrs. Carl would add to the supply.

Getting the old man to agree to that part of the deal had been easy, but it had taken three days for him to agree that the women were to be paid the bulk of the sales price. Only when a diner in Ottawa told Adam what they’d be willing to pay did Mr. Gresham agree to the deal.

“Adam was wonderful,” Nella said to Kelly. “I think Robbie is a lot like him.” That was an unsubtle hint to her daughter to start dating the younger brother.

Kelly had excused herself and gone to her room. In the last month she’d been on four dates, all arranged by her mother, all to hometown boys.

On the first date, as they left the restaurant, the guy told Kelly to get into the back seat of his big car. When she asked why, he said, “I’m just trying to save you from the gearshift.” She demanded that he take her home.

Another guy spent the evening telling her how she’d snubbed him in high school. He told in detail how her lack of attention had caused him great pain. She honestly didn’t remember him.

Number three talked about what their life would be like after they got married. He wanted Kelly to promise that she would quit work as soon as she got pregnant. She smiled. “I won’t be having your baby, so my job is safe.”