to find ways to come up with the cash he owed his irate creditor. The man named Bill sounded like he had run out of patience long ago.
Lisa stood up and stretched. “I think I’m turning in, guys,” she said. “How about it, Jen? Want to go back to the cabin?”
Jennifer pulled herself off the ground and shoved her hands in her jacket pockets. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. I feel like walking for a little while. Don’t stay up.”
Kelly rose and stretched. Sleep sounded like a good idea. It was funny how you got sleepy earlier higher up in the mountains. “You want some company, Jen?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I actually need to be alone for a little while. You guys go on back.”
“Okay, be careful,” Kelly warned as she and Lisa headed toward the lodge. “Don’t get too close to the trees. The varmints are out.”
Jennifer didn’t answer.
Five
“Boy, am I hungry this morning,” Lisa said as she swept up her blonde ponytail into a scrunchy band behind her head. “I hope there are pancakes.”
“Let’s hope not ,” Jennifer said, tying her sneakers. “Hot breads are my downfall.”
“You know, if I was smart, I’d take a run before breakfast, then I could have those pancakes with a clear conscience,” Kelly said as she stood in the cabin doorway waiting for her friends.
Another gorgeous mountain spring morning beckoned. The early green leaves were almost translucent they were so pale—fragile and soft. Summer’s deep green had yet to come. But it was on its way. By the end of May, summer would be upon them all. Meanwhile in the mountains and in town, there was still a chance of mid-May snows. That’s why most gardeners waited to plant delicate annual flowers until after Mother’s Day.
Lisa and Jennifer joined Kelly, and they all headed across the barnyard, waving to some of the other women who’d become friends this weekend. Today, Sunday, all of them would return to their normal lives and routines.
“Ummm, I smell bacon,” Lisa said as she waved to Sue and Jane.
Kelly sniffed the delicious aroma, and her stomach rumbled. What is it about mountain air that makes you hungrier? She never could figure that out. She really would have to take a run this morning.
“When does the retreat wrap up today?” she asked Lisa, acknowledging Cassie’s wave as they approached the deck.
“There will be a session this morning, then Dr. Norcross hopes there’ll be time for a trail ride after that, right before we leave. I think everyone would enjoy it.”
The enticing aromas of breakfast grew stronger as Kelly and her friends joined the others on the deck. Like the other meals, buffet servers were set up inside the ranch house dining room through the glass patio doors. Kelly noticed that Jane, Dawn, Sue, and Nancy had already filled their plates and were settling at tables on the deck. Greta and Edie were seated at another table, hunched over bowls of oatmeal.
“Yep, pancakes,” Jennifer said, eying the plates. “And my usual downfall—scrambled eggs, sausage, and bacon. Now, if I could just restrict myself to one, I’d be okay.”
Kelly didn’t plan to restrict herself at all, and eagerly joined the buffet line. Breakfast had always been her favorite meal for some reason. Maybe because she and her dad always had special breakfasts every weekend. Lots of memories were associated with breakfast.
Donny and Marie scurried back and forth, bringing pans of biscuits and bowls of gravy and platters of fruit.
“Oh, no, not gravy,” Jennifer complained. “I’m doomed. Hand me a biscuit, will you, Kelly?”
“Here, take two, they’re small.” Kelly used tongs to snag two hot biscuits and dropped them onto Jennifer’s plate.
“They won’t be as good as Megan’s,” Lisa said.
Jennifer ladled gravy over the steaming breads. “They’ll do until Megan bakes again.”
Dr. Norcross joined the line. “Well, I have to admit I’ll miss these breakfasts,” the
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