Page 22 of Two Hearts' Ploy

Joining her, he hit the button for the main level.

When they reached the breezeway near the solarium, Jeff led her outside across the restaurant patio, where several people were eating lunch outdoors. Walking along the pathway near the waterfall and reaching the juncture that otherwise led to the bridge crossing over the shoreline to the gazebo, he steered her left.

“Isn’t this beautiful?” Wren observed, five minutes after starting their walk along the picturesque pathway. Birdfeeders and windchimes were hung from tree branches far above, while benches had been placed along the trail to overlook the small perennial gardens that had been strategically planted along the trail.

“It’s equally pretty at night,” he admitted, pointing at a little park near the beach. “There’s landscape lighting along the entire path.”

“Also security, I see,” she murmured, glancing upward.

“Sometimes, there’s trouble,” he admitted. “Rowdy guests, or troublemaking teenagers hanging out. It gets pretty hectic around here on the nights that they hold concerts on the gazebo. Jake hires a lot of plainclothes security people, plus there are cameras everywhere.”

She nodded her understanding as they approached the beach.

“I love the views,” she said, glancing across the lake. “I’m surprised it’s not busier.”

“I’m sure it was earlier. There seemed to be a lot of people eating a late lunch. It will probably be kind of busy tonight at the concession stand since the weather’s warmed up quite a bit this week.”

“Let’s eat,” she said. “I’m not going to do too much swimming today. I need to go over my music when I get back to the Inn.”

“How?” he asked, looking at her curiously.

“I travel with a keyboard. I make sure I do a few run throughs on a daily basis, even on the road. Danielle offered to let me practice over at their home, and Jake planned to haul a piano into the suite, because all the suites are supposedly sound proofed. But I couldn’t see putting his crew through all that trouble if I was only going to be staying a week.” She shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll be spending a lot of time at the studio anyway.”

“I’ve got a piano at my place that you’ll be able to use,” he admitted, steering her across the sandy beach, heading toward the large concession building near the beach parking lot.

Another fifteen minutes later, they’d returned to sit at the edge of the beach, eating hot dogs at a picnic bench that had been placed under the shade of an old paper birch, its trunk half in and out of the water.

“These hot dogs are really good,” Wren said, studying the end of the one she’d already bit into.

“They are, aren’t they?” Jeff agreed. “They’re made here in Crystal Rock.”

“Something about them remind me of when I was a kid, when my dad would take me to the state fair.”

“It must be the skins,” he said grinning. “You’re from somewhere in Illinois, aren’t you?”

“A small town near Missouri,” she answered distractedly. “I hated it there.”

Something in her tone of voice warned him not to ask more questions.

“I ride out here almost every day,” he admitted.

She smirked. “Just to eat hot dogs?”

Jeff grinned. “Sometimes.” He hesitated. Why not share? “My sister and her husband own a home across from the beach here on Dragonfly Pointe. Luke has a similar disability, so we work out together since he has a state-of-the-art gym.”

She became thoughtful, studying him. “It must be nice, having family around.”

He grimaced. “Sometimes. But I have three sisters and one brother, and I’m one of the youngest. Everyone seems to think it’s acceptable to butt into my life.”

She laughed suddenly. “Poor baby.”

Jeff grinned.

“That reminds me. I’m probably going to need somewhere to work out.” She grimaced, staring at the last bite of her second hot dog. “Especially if I continue to eat like I have during the past week.”

“I guess since I’m upgrading security and fixing up the guest room, I might as well finish setting up my home gym,” he answered matter-of-factly. “Why don’t you give me a list of the machines and equipment you’d typically use so I can get everything ordered.”

“I don’t want you to have to go to so much trouble,” she said.

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