“No. But I do think the fruit cup sounds good.” And just about the only edible thing on the menu. You couldn’t really hurt chopped fruit.
A tray plunked down in front of them, not a piece of fruit in sight. Instead, there were chunks of cheese perched on a few lettuce leaves.
“Oh! Cheese. I love cheese!” Chloe plucked a white square and popped it in her mouth.
Kaleb smiled. So much for fan loyalty. “No fruit?”
“Shh. They were working on more, but I didn’t want to hold up the line.”
He glanced at the tray again. Other than the cheese and what looked like a green smoothie in a clear container, the plate was empty. “Aren’t you having anything?”
“I’ll just have a liquid lunch.” She held up the container.
Kaleb had had a few liquid lunches after his daughter died, but they’d been amber colored and had burned like hell as they’d slid down his throat. They’d also put him down for the count. He wouldn’t resurface until the following day, when his pounding head and queasy stomach reminded him that he was still very much alive. And Grace wasn’t.
“I’ll be right back.” He levered himself from his chair and headed for the thinning line. When he got there, he asked for a pot of coffee, some sugar and three fruit cups.
The lady behind the counter glanced at him and then at the offerings on the ice in the silver buffet case. There were several plates of cheese on lettuce. A few sandwiches and the same bottles of juice that Maddy had chosen in various colors. “Wait right here.” She left the register and went into the back.
He picked up a couple of the bottles before choosing one that looked orange—a color he recognized as belonging to something in the fruit family. Within seconds the woman was back with three bowls of cut-up fruit. He paid and took everything back to the table.
“They had some?” Maddy stared at his tray.
“They were just finishing them up, evidently.” He passed the bowls and silverware to each of them and handed Maddy a coffee cup. “It looks like you could use something a little stronger than what’s in that bottle.”
“Yes, I could.” She grinned at him. “But coffee will have to do.”
It was good to see her smile, especially after all that had happened.
Maddy poured some of her green juice into a cup for her daughter.
“She actually likes that stuff?”
“It’s really good. Have you ever tried it?”
“I normally like my salad on a plate, not in a cup.”
She nudged him in the ribs with an elbow. “It’s very good. And good for you.”
He would take that as a warning to watch what he said. He popped the top on his own juice and took a slug of it. Mango...and strawberries. Flavors he recognized. But, hey, if she said hers was good too, he would take her at her word.
“So you’re getting roped into making a kite. Do you know anything about them?”
Grace would have loved participating in the festival. But she’d never got the chance.
“I know how to make a paper airplane. Does that count?”
He hesitated. “The entries are pretty competitive, from what I’ve heard. There are prizes for the best-designed kite and the highest flier.”
“Really?” She took a sip of her juice. “Maybe I should have Roxy erase my name from the list, then. I don’t want to disappoint anyone.”
Maybe it was the thought of how much his own daughter would have enjoyed it, maybe it was the mango in his drink messing with his head, but, before he could stop them, words came tumbling out of his mouth. “I actually studied structural engineering before going into medicine. Maybe I could help.”
“How?”
“Participants in the festival normally come up with a prototype—a smaller version of the actual kite—to hang over their section of the table. That way people can browse and vote on a design. That part is separate from the actual kite-flying competition.”
Chloe glanced up. “I want to make a kite! A cat kite.”
Maddy laughed. “A cat kite? Well, that should be a walk in the park for this design-challenged girl. Not.”
“Actually, it wouldn’t be that hard.”
Kaleb still wasn’t sure why he was offering to help. He didn’t want to be at that festival or see the kids flocking to the tables, especially since those with health problems would be given passes to the front of the line. But Grace really would have loved being there. He could do it for her. And if it made Chloe happy in the process, then it benefited both him and Maddy. If he concentrated on that, maybe it would give him a modicum of peace.
“So how does your engineering experience make this ‘not that hard’?”
“We still have a few weeks until the festival. We could work up a couple of prototypes, and Chloe can be our judge as far as how it appeals to kids before we make the actual kite.”
The little girl’s smile grew larger. “I want to be a judge too. Can I, Mommy?”
Maddy pulled in a deep breath and blew it out, ruffling the curls over her forehead. “I guess we can give it a try and see what happens.”
Even as she said the words, Kaleb was having second thoughts. Was he really going to do this?
It looked that way. And seeing Chloe’s excited face beaming at him and Maddy, he knew he wouldn’t be able to retract the offer now. Even if he wanted to. Even if it meant facing cancer-stricken kids at that festival.
Could he do it? He wasn’t sure, but he’d better figure out a way.
And he’d better do it before March first. When the kite festival officially got under way.
“I’M FINE, MOM. HONEST.”
Maddy knew her mother would be desperately worried about her daughter’s state of mind following Matthew’s shocking death. Guilt sluiced up her throat every time that terrible image came back to mind. No matter how many times she heard the words it’s not your fault, it didn’t stop the ball of regret that was lodged in her belly over what had happened.
Chloe had never asked about her father, but someday she would.
And now their tiny town newspaper had blown the story up to Romeo and Juliet proportions. Only there was nothing remotely romantic about what had transpired. She hoped Chloe never read the article.
According to the press, the “beloved son” Gamble Point had buried a week ago had been distraught, his heart so broken that he’d had no option but to end the pain. All because of the woman who’d run off to the big city, leaving him behind and taking his young daughter with her.
The facts were true enough, but they’d been so distorted that they no longer resembled reality. And they chose to pointedly ignore the fact that Matthew had endangered the lives of more people besides himself. He hadn’t gone off to a lonely stretch of road and quietly killed himself. He’d terrorized an entire floor of the hospital, causing untold distress to dozens of staff and patients. One nurse had even quit her job because she was too afraid to return to work.
But small towns sometimes chose to blind themselves in an effort to protect one of their own. Maddy was allowed to say that, because she’d been born and raised in Gamble Point. She knew the town’s faults. And yet she still loved the folks there. In some ways, they loved her too. But they also wanted to believe in the romantic dream.