LITMIR.BIZ

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and sounds, anything to wash away the memories of her work in Oklahoma City.

      Lilacs and peach blossoms scented the air with gentle sweetness, and the hum of bees and other insects filled the afternoon. A butterfly hovered on one of Susan’s geranium pots, a splash of yellow on fuchsia. Spring meant new beginnings, new growth, the rebirth of nature after a long, hard winter. For a silly moment, Kat wished she could be a tulip or a daffodil, ready to burst into newness.

      “Guess who I saw this morning?” Susan asked after a long period of silence.

      “I give up,” Kat said, lazily opened her eyes to peer into Susan’s clear blue ones. “Who?”

      With a Cheshire Cat grin, Susan tugged at the toe of Kat’s tennis shoe. “Seth Washington. He asked about you.”

      Kathryn’s stomach quivered, and she sat up, pulling her foot away. Even though Susan had made a point of keeping her apprised of Seth’s life ever since he moved back to Wilson’s Cove last year, Kat tried never to think about the boy she’d loved in high school.

      “How did he know I was here?”

      “Oh, come on, Kat. This is Wilson’s Cove. Everyone in town knew you were home fifteen minutes after you stopped for gas at the Quick Mart.”

      “Oh.” She’d almost forgotten the invisible information line that zinged from one side of the lake to the other, especially when the news concerned one of its own. The summer people came, camped, fished and left. But Kat’s family had been here long before Wilson’s Lake became a popular vacation spot, had owned most of the land at one time. The locals knew her, were proud of her, too, because she’d gone off to the big city to become a doctor.

      Well, now she was back. Wonder what they’d think of that?

      “Aren’t you curious about him?” Susan was relentless when she got something into her head. And Seth Washington seemed to be her favorite subject whenever she talked to her baby sister.

      “No.” They’d had this conversation before.

      Kat finished off an icy glass of Susan’s fresh lemonade to prove how uninterested she was. In the few times she’d been back to the cove, she’d made a pointed effort to avoid the new lake ranger. “Not interested.”

      “Liar.” Her sister swatted Kat’s lily-white leg. “I’m going to tell you anyway. Donna down at the Quick Mart says he’s divorced. Has been for a long time, though he kept that quiet at first. He probably never got over you.”

      Kat made a rude noise in the back of her throat. “Don’t be silly. That was years ago. He married someone else.”

      “So? He’s divorced now. Rumor says his wife left him for another man, and that’s why he quit the Houston police force and moved back to the cove.”

      The rumor made Kat’s chest ache. Seth was a great guy, or had been when she’d known him. He deserved better. “Gossip is a sin, sister dear.”

      For a second, Kat wished she hadn’t mentioned sin. She didn’t want to get Susan started on the church thing. They’d grown up in a Christian home and Susan had stayed true to her faith. Science and experience had taken Kat in a different direction, and the difference had caused more than one lively discussion between the sisters.

      But Susan didn’t go there this time. Instead she stuck out her tongue. “It’s not gossip. It’s the truth. And you want to hear everything I have to say about Seth Washington whether you admit it or not. Even the part about how good he looks in his lake ranger’s uniform.”

      Kat rolled her eyes heavenward, though the image of Seth in any kind of uniform was one she’d carried since first hearing he’d become a cop in Houston. But she and Seth had made their decision all those years ago and their painful history did not bear rehashing.

      “Did you know his mama has Alzheimer’s? She’s in a nursing home in Tulsa.”

      “Oh, Suz.” Seth and his mother had always been close. No doubt her illness was the real driving force behind his return to the cove. “That’s awful.”

      “Seth drives up to see her every week. I’ve heard Virgie doesn’t even remember him.”

      Kat fought against a tide of empathy and lost. The boy she remembered would be devastated by such a loss. She couldn’t bear to think about it. Not now. Not when she didn’t want to think about Seth at all.

      “Is there any more lemonade in the fridge?” she asked, and then pushed off the swing to saunter inside the house, letting the old-fashioned storm door clap shut resoundingly behind her. Even then she could hear her smart-aleck sister’s tsk-tsking.

      A moment later Susan was in the kitchen beside her.

      Braced for more Seth updates, Kat was slightly deflated when Susan said, “Are you still as inept in the kitchen as always?”

      “Yep. But I’m sharp with a scalpel. Could probably surgically dissect a chicken for you.” She made a slashing motion with her hand, à la Zorro. Then she paused in midslash and cocked her head toward the noise coming from the back of the house. “What’s that racket?”

      “Probably Shelby and Jon fighting over the remote.”

      “Oh, that’s right. Today’s Saturday. I forgot about the kids being here.”

      Her sister gave her a long, sad look. “Do you realize how pathetic that is? To forget about kids? To forget about the man you once loved? But to want to leave the profession that you gave all that up for?”

      “Don’t start in, Susan. If I’d wanted kids or a husband I would have stayed here in Wilson’s Cove instead of fighting my way into medical school.”

      But she had wanted those things. Seth. Children. Susan didn’t know nearly as much as she thought she did. Regardless of the feminist movement and all the other hype, Kathryn had found out the hard way that a woman couldn’t have everything.

      “What are you going to do if you don’t go back to medicine?”

      Kat shrugged as she reached into the fridge for the big round pitcher filled with lemonade. Freshly sliced lemons bobbed like tiny yellow lifejackets.

      She thunked the pitcher onto the scarred pedestal table. Gnaw marks along one edge served as permanent souvenirs from one of the kids’ teething episodes. Knowing Susan, Kat figured she’d never let this table go because of those teeth marks.

      “I have investments,” she said in answer to Susan’s question. “Maybe I’ll open a business.”

      “Here?” Susan snorted. She took out a bowl and tossed in a half-dozen fat potatoes. “Like what? A bait shop? A snow-cone stand?”

      Kat stared at the Colonial-blue corner cabinet, pretending to give the suggestions serious thought. “I haven’t had a snow cone in a long time. I use to love those things.”

      “Business is lousy in winter.” They both laughed and Susan said, “The convenience store on Main is up for sale.

      “Hmm. No. Too inconvenient.”

      They laughed again, feeling silly. She and Susan hadn’t kidded around this way in forever. No wonder she was depressed and burned out. She had no life.

      “Here.” Susan shoved the bowl of potatoes at her. “If you’re such a hotshot with a scalpel you should be able to peel these for dinner while I put together the chicken casserole.”

      Kat groaned for effect before setting to work. Actually, she didn’t mind helping in the kitchen as long as Susan didn’t ask her to fry chicken or make gravy. Her idea of a home-cooked meal was microwavable Lean Cuisine. The rest of the time she lived on machine sandwiches, and doughnuts left in the doctor’s lounge by drug reps looking to make brownie points.

      Other than knowing medicine, Dr. Thatcher was pretty much useless, a grim reality considering her decision to leave the field behind.

      Susan,

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