Skip repeated the name a couple of times before his eyes lit up with recognition. “Hasn’t she done Coke commercials?”
“Right,” Rorie said, laughing. “She’s had several big hits.”
Kate slowly shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t think I can remember the words to her songs.”
“Barbra Streisand?”
“I thought she was an actress,” Skip said with a puzzled frown. “You mean she sings, too?”
Reluctantly Rorie rose from the piano seat. “Kate, you’ll have to take over. It seems you three are a whole lot country and I’m a little bit rock and roll.”
“We’ll make you into a country girl yet!” Skip insisted, sliding the harmonica across his mouth with an ease Rorie envied.
Clay glanced at his watch. “We aren’t going to be able to convert Rorie within the next twelve hours.”
A gloom settled over them as Kate took Rorie’s place at the piano.
“Are you sure we can’t talk you into staying a few extra days?” Skip asked. “We’re just getting to know each other.”
Rorie shook her head, more determined than ever to leave as soon as she could.
“It would be a shame for you to miss the county fair next weekend. Maybe you could stop here on your way back through Oregon, after your trip to Canada,” Kate added. “Clay and I are singing, and we’re scheduled for the square dance competition, too.”
“Yeah,” Skip cried. “And we’ve got pig races planned again this year.”
“Pig races?” Rorie echoed faintly.
“I know it sounds silly, but it’s really fun. We take the ten fastest pigs in the area and let them race toward a bowl of Oreos. No joke—cookies! Everyone bets on who’ll win and we all have a lot of fun.” Skip’s eyes shone with eagerness. “Please think about it, anyway, Rorie.”
“Mary’s entering her apple pie again,” Clay put in. “She’s been after that blue ribbon for six years.”
A hundred reasons to fade out of their lives flew across Rorie’s mind like particles of dust in the wind. And yet the offer was tempting. She tried, unsuccessfully, to read Clay’s eyes, her own filled with a silent appeal. This was a decision she needed help making. But Clay wasn’t helping. The thought of never seeing him again was like pouring salt onto an open wound; still, it was a reality she’d have to face sooner or later.
So Rorie volunteered the only excuse she could come up with at the moment. “I don’t have the time. I’m sorry, but I’d be cutting it too close to get back to San Francisco for work Monday morning.”
“Not if you canceled part of your trip to Canada and came back on Friday,” Skip pointed out. “You didn’t think you’d have a good time at the square dance, either, but you did, remember?”
It wasn’t a matter of having a good time. So much more was involved...though the pig races actually sounded like fun. The very idea of such an activity would have astounded her only a week before, Rorie reflected. She could just imagine what Dan would say.
“Rorie?” Skip pressed. “What do you think?”
“I...I don’t know.”
“The county fair is about as good as it gets around Nightingale.”
“I don’t want to impose on your hospitality again.” Clay still wasn’t giving her any help with this decision.
“But having you stay with us isn’t a problem,” Skip insisted. “As long as you promise to stay out of the kitchen, you’re welcome to stick around all summer. Isn’t that right, Clay?”
His hesitation was so slight that Rorie doubted anyone else had noticed it. “Naturally Rorie’s welcome to visit us any time she wants.”
“If staying with these two drives you crazy,” Kate inserted, “you could stay at my house. In fact, I’d love it if you did.”
Rorie dropped her gaze, fearing what she might see in Clay’s eyes. She sensed his indecision as she struggled with her own. She had to leave. Yet she wanted to stay....
“I think I should take the rest of my vacation in Victoria,” she finally told them.
“I know you’re worried about getting back in time for work, but Skip’s right. If you left Victoria one day early, then you could be here for the fair,” Kate suggested again, but her offer didn’t sound as sincere as it had earlier.
“Rorie said she doesn’t have the time,” Clay said after an awkward silence. “I think we should respect her decision.”
“You sound as if you don’t want her to come back,” Skip accused.
“No,” Clay murmured, his eyes meeting hers. “I want her here, but Rorie should try to salvage some of the vacation she planned. She has to do what she think’s best.”
Rorie could feel his eyes moving over her hair and her face in loving appraisal. She tensed and prayed that Kate and Skip weren’t aware of it.