When Robert coughed quietly, she and Dean both turned.
“How will you decide a winner?” Elaine asked.
Dean’s snort set her teeth on edge, and she did her best to forget her own snort of disbelief earlier. Maybe turnabout snorting was fair play.
She and Dean watched Robert think. He paced. He cracked his knuckles. He opened his mouth and changed his mind twice.
Then he said, “We’ll get judges. That’s the fairest thing. All three of us. That way, an impartial panel will decide what’s best for the Bluebird and for Tall Pines.”
“And you don’t have to disappoint either one of us.” Elaine raised her eyebrows.
“Why, I never thought of that,” Robert said and smiled. “Excellent point, Doc. I like this plan. What do you think?”
Dean ran his hands through messy, dark curls that were entirely too long. Men should not have such nice hair. It was unfair. Of course, he looked as if he’d combed it with a pasta fork.
“Fine with me.” Dean’s gaze locked with hers, and she experienced again the breathless awareness she’d felt when she stepped out of her car to see him there, a part of her favorite view in the world.
She wouldn’t let it rattle her.
She was going to give this her best shot. After all, she’d played to win her whole life. Even though she’d built the busiest medical practice in the area, she needed to strengthen her position. The judges would have a hard time choosing her over Dean, Robert’s son and a hometown boy. She raised her chin and nodded. “Me, too, but I think I should move in while I’m planning.”
Dean shook his head while Robert smiled broadly. “Great idea. Give you a real good feel for what it’ll take to put it back together.”
They both turned to Dean. He waved his hands in surrender. “Fine. Plenty of space. Just don’t expect room service.”
Robert clapped his hands once loudly. “Good. Let’s get this show on the road. Pack a bag. Move in. Meet with the contractor tomorrow if you’ve got time.” He put one hand on the small of her back and started to escort her onto the porch. Elaine managed to keep the satisfied smile from creeping through.
“If you don’t mind, Dad, I’d like to talk with Dr. Watson.” Dean followed them out. “Alone.”
Robert responded eloquently without saying a word. There was a threat in his eyes. Dean had better be on his best behavior.
Elaine had to fight the smile that came with the shot of pleasure that someone was looking out for her. Dean raised his hands in surrender, and Robert disappeared inside.
“I’m not sure you’ll have as much privacy as you want, but feel free to say whatever it is that’s bothering you, Mr. Collins.” She adjusted her purse strap and studied the view carefully. This would be no harder than talking to any other upset family member. Doctors spent a lot of time delivering bad news and listening to complaints.
Dean checked inside the shadowed foyer. “You could be right. Two things.” He held up two fingers, probably so he wouldn’t lose his spot in the conversation.
At the unkind thought, Elaine knew she had to take her competitiveness down a notch. There was no need to get nasty. Ever.
Even if she knew how to.
“Call me Dean. Call him Robert. Otherwise, this whole thing is going to get weird,” Dean said as he eased into a creaky rocking chair and motioned her to the other one.
She studied the peeling paint before she sat. “Fine. And?”
“Tell me why this means so much to you.”
She tilted her head, hoping he could read what she thought about his tone.
“Fine. Please. I want to understand.” He eased the rocking chair into motion, and the rhythmic creak combined with the cool shade and the stillness of the lake made it easy to answer his question, if only to sit there a few minutes longer.
“The last time I visited, I was twelve. Like most twelve-year-old girls, I wished things were different. My mother wanted me to wear my hair down and try makeup, and my dad wanted me to keep my mother happy while he did his own thing. But Mom loved this place, and she loved drinking tea on this porch. And your mother was so kind that we all somehow got along when we were here.” Elaine started rocking back and forth, too, her creaks a perfect counterpoint to his. “Then my parents divorced. Loudly. We never came back to the Bluebird or Tall Pines.”
Dean contemplated the shoreline. “So it’s got some good memories. I can understand that. Is that enough reason to spend this much time and money? Maybe the money doesn’t matter to someone like you. Couldn’t you make nice memories somewhere else?”
“Couldn’t you?” Elaine asked. “No, of course not. They’re memories, Dean. Nothing is the same now. My father is happily remarried with a nice wife and a new family. And my mother is...well, she’s not as settled. These are the memories I want to keep.”
“At the expense of mine?” He didn’t look at her, and it was a good thing.
This was the troublesome point—the idea that she would cause Robert any pain by getting what she wanted. If Dean and Robert were strangers, she’d get the Bluebird. There was no question in her mind. This concern for Robert hampered her efforts.
Now that she knew his father had kept his health problems a secret, she was more forgiving of Dean’s time away. Exciting careers could take over a life easily. Being a doctor didn’t often involve the risks he took, but the adrenaline rush could be intense.
“It seems you’ve done fine through the years with the memories alone. Why is now any different?” Maybe she couldn’t go for the kill. That didn’t mean she had to give in.
“It just is. Now is different. I’m different. And it matters.” Dean stood and waited for her to get the picture that this conversation was over.
“Are you sure you can abide by this competition?” Elaine asked as she slowly walked down the steps toward her car. “Tell me here and now, before I pack my bags and drive down that road again. I’ll back down before I cause your father any pain.”
“But it will kill you to throw in the towel before anyone rings the bell.” Dean glanced toward the foyer and nodded. “Yes, to prove to my father that I have what it takes, including the commitment to stick this out, I will agree to the bet and the rules, but I intend to win.”
DEAN STEPPED INSIDE and shut the door, snapping Elaine out of her reverie. “Rude,” she muttered and got into her car.
She made her way to the highway. In the middle of making a mental list of the things she’d have to pack, her phone rang, and she hit the hands-free button to talk. “Hi, Mom.” She didn’t even have to look. It had to be her mother.
“I haven’t heard from you in a while, so I thought I’d make sure you’re okay.”
A while meaning approximately two hours. Checking to make sure she was okay was more about her mother not being okay. “I’m fine. What’s up?”
“Oh, not much. I started thinking about the reception we had and how you and Jerry argued about the proper way to serve red wine. Remember, he was certain it had to be warm, and you said to chill the wine and warm it in the hand? What an impression you must have made on your new stepfather.