Page 9 of Love's Cure

CHAPTER FOUR

That evening, Crystalsat in Jake’s with Dani and Brad, Melissa, Aaron Collister, Ross Roberts, and his friend, Ben Gooding. It was a congenial group. Aaron, Brad’s brother, had an interesting background. Part native-American, he was left at the Collister household by his mother who was dying of cancer. Though his coloring was different, there was no mistaking they were brothers. They owned Collister Construction together.

Ross Roberts was as famous a baseball player as Whitney had been as a television star. Forced to leave baseball because of knee injuries, Ross was one of the trio of people who now owned the Lilac Lake Inn. With sandy hair, blue eyes, and a well-known boyish smile, he could still be seen in sports ads on television. He was one of the first to build a house in The Meadows by Collister Construction and set many female hearts aflutter in town. Crystal liked him a lot as a friend.

His friend, Ben, had grown up in New Jersey with Ross and was a former catcher who’d played ball with Ross in high school and college. He looked the part with his broad, heavy-set body.

Crystal liked the easy companionship between all of them.

“I asked Emmett to join us,” said Dani, “but he said he had to go to New York for a few days. He’ll stay at Dr. Johnson’s house after they move out.”

“Dr. Johnson called to say that he and Martha will be gone by the beginning of next week,” said Crystal. “They’d already bought a place in Florida at the beginning of the year and won’t be taking much with them. After the move, if necessary, he’ll be back for a couple of weeks to help Emmett get settled in the practice.”

“That’s nice. It’ll give his patients time to get used to a new doctor. I imagine a few women in town will be delighted to see his replacement,” said Whitney. “Emmett is awfully cute.” She glanced at Nick and grinned. “Not as cute as Nick, though.”

Talk turned to the annual Summer Faire, which was held in August. Though it was still early to discuss the finer details, Crystal was glad to hear that Estelle Bookbinder, owner of Pages Bookstore, was in charge of it, as she had been for several years. The Summer Faire consisted of three days of shopping, food, music, and games, including canoe races on the lake. This year, the Lilac Lake Inn was offering special rates to visitors who came for the entire event.

As more and more young families returned to the area, these events grew their success. Crystal served on the committee in charge of publicity and offered specials at the Café during Summer Faire. This year, she hoped to hold a baking contest for residents, young and old.

Brooks and Bethany Beckman, whose family owned Beckman Lumber, arrived. After they greeted everyone and ordered some food, talk turned to children. Their first child had just started to walk, and it was big news joyously shared.

After a while, Crystal made her escape. As much as she loved these gatherings, duty called. Besides, she had mixed feelings about all the talk of babies.

Later, lying in bed, she thought of her life and realized her restlessness wasn’t a fleeting thing. She had no idea if it was hormones talking, but she wanted a family.

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The next few days weretypical of summer in Lilac Lake with visitors roaming Main Street and stopping inside the Café for breakfast or lunch. Crystal loved greeting and chatting with people, happy her Café was a success. To her, it was about more than the food; the Café was a welcoming place to all. Having grown up in a town where she sometimes felt like an outsider, it was important to her.

One morning, she was surprised by a visit from Emmett. “Good morning. Back in town to stay?”

He grinned. “I think so. I brought just enough of my things to get by while the renovation of the house took place. I’ll be staying at the house in one of the bedrooms upstairs while work is being done on the first floor. It’s helpful that the medical offices remain set up and separate from the construction because I still have to learn my way around it.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she said, pleased to see him.

He took a seat at the counter, and Crystal went outside to the patio to see how things were going. Satisfied, she returned to the kitchen to check on their progress. It had taken a lot of work to train her crew well enough so she wouldn’t be confined to the kitchen.

Before Emmett left, he approached her. “Do you do any catering?”

“Not usually. What do you need?”

He gave her a sheepish grin. “I’m not very handy in the kitchen.”

“I’ll tell you what. If you order off the menu, I’d be happy to bring an order to you from time to time for these first couple of weeks.”

“That’s a deal. I’ll make it up to you by treating you to dinner.”

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