Crossroad to Love (Fab Five Series)

chapter 27

The next few weeks flew by in a flurry for Katy. She prepared her work for Angie to review, had gotten sample swatches, a color wheel for paint shades and felt more than ready for her meeting with her friend and client. The ideas had flowed and she had really thrown herself into her work. She would be driving from Chicago to Davenport and staying in Angie’s hotel for the meeting. She had met with her attorney to consult with him on setting up the business and he had supported her wholeheartedly in her venture.

Alex had been home for a weekend. He felt sad for his mother. Even though she put on a brave front with the excitement of her new career, he could tell she was missing something in her life. And he had a good guess that it was the man she had met in Texas. She had told him that it just did not work out, but Alex could tell that she had wished it had, no matter how cheerful she tried to be.

She was packing for her trip to Iowa when the phone in the bedroom rang. She walked over and picked up the receiver. “Hello.”

“Katy, this is Ryan. I just came from a meeting regarding the new restaurants. It’s definitely a go and going to begin sooner than we anticipated. Chloe asked me to call you. She is about ready to have you come to Dallas. She wants to work with you on the décor of the new restaurants. She thinks the party room ideas you had are pretty great. So she wants to get started on the rest of the places.”

He sounds so cold and businesslike, not personal at all. So is the way we are going to play this game?

“Hello, Ryan, good to hear from you. Actually, I am leaving in the morning to spend the week in Davenport working with Angie. But I could get to Dallas in a few weeks, if that’s okay. I’ve gotten a few ideas ready for Chloe.” Two can play this game. If it’s strictly business he wants, then it’s strictly business he’ll get.

“I think that’ll be fine. Do you need me to make reservations for you?”

“I’ll arrange for my plane reservations before I leave for Angie’s in the morning. And I’ll be staying at Jon and Mari’s house in McKinney while I’m in town, so one of them will pick me up at the airport. You needn’t be concerned. I know you’re busy right now.”

“All right, let us know your final plans, when you’ll be arriving and all. Then we’ll schedule a meeting for after you get here.”

“Give Chloe my love and tell her I’ll have lots of ideas ready for her.”

“That I can do, I’ll see you in a few weeks, then. Goodbye, Katy.”

“Bye, Ryan.” Click. He had hung up. She stared at the receiver in her hand disbelievingly. I guess he was serious when he had said we could work together, because he intends to act as though those nights in Dallas never took place. How can he so easily forget how he told me he fell in love with me at first sight? How can he ignore the fact that we almost made love?

Perhaps he’d decided that he had never really loved her, that it was just a chance meeting between two people with a connection to the past. Whatever he was thinking, Katy would prove to him and everyone else that she could be just as professional and businesslike as he could. She did not need Ryan when she went to Dallas. She had Chloe and Marianne and work to keep her occupied. She would not get in his way at all. He could go back to being the playboy bachelor of Dallas. Determined as she was, Katy felt a twinge of jealousy at the thought of him and other women. He was supposed to be hers.

A short time later, she had pulled herself together and finished packing. She called the airport and arranged her flight to Dallas in two weeks. That would give her a week after she returned from the Quad Cities to work on designs for Chloe and prepare for the trip.

After a simple meal of vegetable soup, Katy pulled out the bath beads she had bought at the mall that last day of the trip and indulged herself in a warm, jasmine bath. Once she was clean, relaxed, and dry, she lay on the bed and decided to call Mari and let her know she’d be coming to Dallas. Marianne was elated to hear from her. She listened as Katy told her about the phone conversation with Ryan.

“I’ve not seen him in the society pages like I used to, so I don’t think he’s gone back to his old ways, Katy. Maybe it’ll be better when you get out here and see him in person.”

“Have you talked with Chloe since we all came home?”

“Yes, we did have lunch one day. She’s very busy with the new restaurants. We plan to get together for dinner, but it hasn’t happened yet. Jon is busy too, as is Shane.”

“She didn’t mention if Ryan was dating?” Katy gingerly asked.

“No, she didn’t, Honey. She’s still hoping for the two of you to get together. She’s probably cooking up a good matchmaking scheme as we speak. She is a hoot, that one.”

“She is a lot of fun. I can’t wait to work with her.”

“And I can’t wait to see you again. Let me know what time your flight arrives and one of us will pick you up. No need for you to rent a car. You can drive one of ours while you’re in town. You’d better get some sleep if you’re driving down to Davenport in the morning, Sweetie.”

“Yes, you’re right. I need to go. I’ll call you the day before I arrive and give you the details. Looking forward to seeing you. Give Jon and the boys my love.”

“I will, and you tell Angie and Michael I said hello.”

“Will do. Goodnight.”

“Sleep well, my friend.”

The drive to Davenport, Iowa the next day was pleasant and uneventful. The leaves on the trees were almost all gone and the early November chill had settled in the Midwest. Katy had no problems finding the resort. She gave the valet her keys and walked inside to her first view of the lobby. It was very posh and as she looked around, she was already forming new ideas in her head to go with the briefcase full of designs she’d developed in the weeks before.

She checked in at the desk in the lobby and went on up to her room. The bellhop followed with her bags. After placing a generous tip in his hand, Katy looked around the room. Very nice, she thought. Sage and heather blended to make a gorgeous color scheme for the room. Everything matched, from the drapes to the coverlet on the bed to the pictures on the wall. The furniture was cherry, very traditional and finely crafted. A king-sized bed looked inviting after her drive, with its luxuriously thick comforter and pillows, but there was not time for a nap.

There was a small fireplace in the corner, a sage and heather floral loveseat, a table and two chairs in front of the fireplace, and on the other side of the room, a cherry desk. There was an armoire for her clothes and a flat screen television set.

Walking into the bath, she could see that the décor matched the bedroom right down to the sage and heather towels. A Jacuzzi tub was on one wall and a large marble vanity was on the other, with a shower in one corner. A door separated the commode from the rest of the bathroom. There was even a phone and a small television set on the vanity. Whoever had done the original designs for the resort had good taste. Katy was going to have her work cut out for her if she wanted the new part of the hotel to be as swank as the original. But she knew that Angie would never have trusted her with so large a job if Angie had not thought Katy could do it, so she was confident. She glanced at her watch. If she wanted to unpack and freshen up a bit after being on the road for meeting Angie in her office, she’d better get a move on. The plan was for her to call Angie’s office when she was settled in.

Katy slipped out of the jeans and sweater she’d chosen for the drive and donned a pair of black dress slacks for her meeting. Adding a pale blue blouse and stylish black jacket, she fastened a set of pearls around her neck and slipped into black sling back pumps. She touched up her hair and make-up and. looking in the mirror, gave herself an approving smile. She placed a call to Angie’s secretary, telling her she was on her way down, got directions to the office and prepared to begin working.

Grabbing her briefcase full of designs and the new Coach purse she had treated herself to before the trip, she was on her way.