A Path Toward Love (24 page)

Andrew groaned inwardly. If he weren't so envious, he wouldn't harbor such a mean spirit. His cousin deserved better than he was giving him. It wasn't fair to only dwell on Randy's weaknesses. And good fortune. “Are you in love with Katherine?” Andrew asked, not sure he wanted an answer.

Randy frowned and tugged at his mustache. “In love? I haven't really thought about love. It's enough that we're lifelong friends and well matched.”

“Like a good team of horses,” Andrew added with a wry smile.
Lord, help me to curb my tongue
.

“Not a flattering comparison, cousin.” He squinted at him. “Why is it that everyone except you seems to think we're well suited?” His lifted his chin. “I suspect it's because you're jealous.”

“Perhaps,” Andrew admitted, rolling to his back and staring at the ceiling. While a match between his two friends struck him as another mistake for Katherine, no one would agree with him.

Still, he needed to control his envy before he made a fool of himself or ruined his career. Unless the Lord showed them another road . . .

Katherine fidgeted at her dressing table while Bridget took down her hair and brushed it for the required one hundred strokes. Randy's playful grin filled her mind with warmth. He was a delightful gentleman—or should she say boy? He'd never truly grown up. He'd grown tall and handsome, but not mature. Yet how could a woman not find him appealing? He had everything she'd been taught to want—a pleasing personality, good looks, an enormous bank account, an illustrious family background, and an excellent education.

All he lacked was seriousness of purpose and a deep intellect. But did those drawbacks really matter? If she gave in to the courtship, at least she wouldn't have to worry about Randy ripping her feelings apart. He didn't hold that kind of power over her.

But was a courtship with him simply the easiest path? After a while would he fall short and bore her to tears? And how would he respond to the ups and downs, the trials and tragedies of life? Here in New York he was largely insulated, but struggle had a way of hunting everyone, missing not a one over time. When faced with adversity, would he crumble like Charles had and take up drinking or gambling—or womanizing? She didn't have the inner resources to relive that disaster again.

Only a man with integrity and firm convictions could satisfy her in the long run. If she ever left widowhood behind her, she wanted someone who cared enough to understand her spiritual yearnings, her need to place God at the center of her life. A man who'd help her to draw closer to Him and honor Him.

And as much as she wanted to respect Mama's wishes and her agreement with Papa, as much as she wanted to give Randy a fair chance to prove himself, her thoughts kept returning to another.

Andrew.

A few days later Katherine and thirty of Mama's guests rode in Papa's steam yacht across the lake to Camp Algonquin. Once they arrived at the rustic camp hemmed in by hills and dense woods, Katherine made her way up the sloping yard for the informal lawn party. She headed toward the main house, a sprawling log cabin, by far the largest of many outbuildings within the compound. Every few steps, old friends whom she hadn't seen in many years waylaid her for a chat. More than a few were curious about Katherine's daring elopement, but she skirted around intrusive questions with smiles and vague answers.

She judged there were at least one hundred guests from neighboring camps milling around the lawn, the lodge, and the open porch. Small tables were set up under the spreading trees on rough ground littered with rocks of all sizes, twigs, and pine needles. Katherine inhaled the woodsy fragrance.

Campers with heaping plates of food from the buffet wandered around, searching for empty tables. The guests wore their casual clothes, but Katherine recognized the high quality of the fabrics and exquisite workmanship of the ladies' blouses and skirts. Most of the men were dressed alike in sack suits and caps or boaters, and they looked more comfortable than the ladies. Some of the older gentlemen leaned on canes as they made their way up from the boat dock to the sumptuous buffet spread across trestle tables on the porch.

Katherine followed behind a gaggle of gray-beards who were nattering about the War they'd fought in their youth. Off to the side, she spotted Aunt Letty with a plate heaping with lake trout, lyonnaise potatoes, and spinach salad. Giggling with another elderly lady, Aunt Letty wandered down to the lawn with her ancient friend trailing right behind.

Katherine took a china plate with hand-painted wildflowers, silverware, and a linen napkin from the end of the table laden with all kinds of tempting foods. She spooned creamed chicken, tomato aspic, and garden salad onto her plate and accepted a frosty glass of iced tea. The small round tables dotting the lawn all the way down to the edge of the lake were filling quickly. Maybe Aunt Letty wouldn't mind if the three of them shared a table.

Randy came up from behind and loomed over Katherine's shoulder. “Will you join me, Kat? I've saved us a place by the maple tree.”

“Thank you. I'd be delighted.” He'd chosen the smallest table with only two chairs. Eating by themselves wasn't what she had in mind, but she couldn't object now without sounding rude. Once they settled in their ladder-back chairs, Randy leaned toward her and drummed his fingers against the white damask tablecloth. Then he knotted his napkin. Katherine had never seen him quite so fidgety. She wouldn't ask him why he was acting nervous because she felt sure she already knew. Her mother and his were watching them from a short distance away and murmuring behind their open fans. Their eyes lit with expectation.

Randy made an effort to clear his throat. “Katherine, we're great friends, aren't we? I mean, we haven't seen each other in years until recently, but you can't ignore the past we shared. That's right, isn't it?” He leaned over his plate loaded with untouched roast beef, cold baked ham, and potato salad.

She'd find his insecurity amusing, and maybe even endearing, if she didn't know where his babbling was leading him in a roundabout way. “Of course we're great friends.”

She needed to head him off before he mumbled words they'd both regret. His unease spread to her and she found she'd crumbled her napkin like a handkerchief. “And I hope we'll always remain friends no matter how our paths diverge in the future.” She couldn't be any clearer, now could she?

His face clouded with confusion. He probably expected encouragement instead. So she forged ahead, hoping to derail his momentum.

“I'm afraid my destiny is in Florida. I'm quite determined to return.”

From the tightening of his jaw, Randy understood all too well. His brow furrowed. “Of course. I understand that you must see things through there. But when you're ready, surely you'll return here to us . . .” His voice trailed off.

She patted his hand. “Thank you, Randy. We'll just have to wait and see what's in store for us.”
If anything
. “I don't know where the Lord will lead me in the future, but I'll always cherish the childhood memories we've made. Do you remember playing in the tree house my father built by the meadow?” she asked. She took a sip of iced tea sweetened with sugar to moisten her dry throat.

Randy brightened. “Of course. You and I had a grand time. Along with Andrew. But I also recall falling off that tree house roof and dislocating my collarbone.” His reached up and ran his fingers across it, as if it still hurt.

“Remember when you got lost in the woods and I rescued you?” Katherine laughed at Randy's chagrined expression. “And that winter's day we built a snow fort in Central Park and I knocked you over with a gigantic snowball?”

“I only pretended because I wanted to please you.
You
wanted to show all the boys how mighty you were.”

They both laughed. “I
was
always trying to prove I was as brave and strong as you boys.”

“You were, though your smaller size limited you. But you had the heart of a lion.”

She cocked her head. “Even now I'm sure I can beat you in a tennis match. Would you like me to demonstrate after luncheon?”

“Perhaps later. It's too hot to overindulge in sports.” His gaze gleamed like the afternoon sunshine. “It's good to see you returning to your old self. When you first came home I thought you were still mourning Charles. You looked so gloomy most of the time and kept to yourself. I didn't know what to make of it.”

“I'm slowly recovering. The mountains and the lake have done wonders for me.”

He sat back, apparently short on any other words to persuade her. Together, they stared in awkward silence at the other guests.

Along with a handful of young ladies and a few friends from his college days, Andrew lounged on one of the wicker chairs set in a semicircle at the end of the porch far from the buffet table. Smiling amiably, he'd said little while they all sipped lemonade and ginger beer from frosty tumblers. They were a privileged set that chatted about places in Africa and the Middle East he'd read about but hadn't visited. While he envied their leisure pursuits, he didn't envy the inevitable boredom that ensued in between.

Andrew spotted Randy leaving the table he'd shared with Katherine and ambling up the lawn in their direction. When he got closer, Andrew called to him, “How was your lunch?”

Randy shrugged. “Care for a short walk, cousin?” A frown knit his black eyebrows.

“All right.” Andrew excused himself and followed his cousin across the lawn toward the deserted pier. “What's wrong?”

They strolled across sparse patches of grass interspersed with a thick carpet of pine needles. Tall aspen and white birch trees cast the yard in cool, deep shade. At the dock, small craft bobbed gently in sparkling blue waters. From here, Birchwood Lodge shrank to the size of a matchbox.

“So, what is it, Randy?” Andrew asked. They came to the pier lined with visitors' boats. Andrew leaned against the wall of the log boathouse and waited.

Randy's suntanned forehead creased with anxiety. “My mother has encouraged me—no, ordered me—to court Katherine. The sooner the better. Mother and Mrs. Wainwright insist upon an autumn engagement.”

Andrew almost felt sorry for his cousin trapped in a situation he couldn't handle through his usual methods—good humor and the light touch of charm. But he'd gladly switch places with him. “And?”