Amelia shook her fist in Emmett’s face. “You used to be fun. Now you’re just a grumpy old man.”
When had his grandfather ever been fun?
Emmett put the truck in Reverse and Amelia stomped back to her car. She started to back out of her spot but slammed on the brakes when Emmett cut her off. She laid on the horn. Emmett waved her to go first. She waved back at him. After two false starts and stops, Amelia headed for the highway, Emmett’s pickup inches from her bumper. Then she slammed on her brakes at the entrance and Emmett swerved in order to miss hitting her car.
He stuck his head out the window and shouted, “It’s Sunday! What are you waiting for? Monday?”
Amelia turned left onto the highway and headed toward town. Emmett turned right and headed away from town. After the vehicles disappeared from sight, Gunner said, “What the hell just happened?”
“I have no idea.”
He opened his mouth to ask about the plans Lydia had drawn on her computer when Hector and Maybelle rode into view on Red. Hector stopped the horse in front of Gunner and held out a twenty-dollar bill, then turned Red east and rode off.
“Gunner?”
“What?”
“I appreciate the offer, but I won’t be needing your help with the renovations.”
“I know.”
“So you’ll stay out of the way and let me do my job?”
Lydia looked so hopeful that he almost caved in. “Sorry. You’re stuck with me.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
“When do we start?” he asked.
“As soon as I come up with a design my aunt likes.” She walked to her car and retrieved her cell phone from her purse. “Give me your number.”
He recited the digits and she entered them into her phone. “Are all of the rooms set up the same as number 3?”
“Yep.”
“I’ll be in touch shortly.” She got into her car and drove off.
Gunner stood in the empty parking lot long after the Civic disappeared. The dairyland princess wasn’t his usual type, but her presence around the motel was bound to liven things up.
“Aunt Amelia, you need to choose a design.” Lydia smiled even though she felt like throwing a temper tantrum. Three days had gone by since she’d toured the Moonlight Motel this past Sunday and had taken extensive notes on the property. She’d spent Monday creating two different designs for the makeover, and when her aunt wasn’t happy with either, she’d come up with a third idea. She didn’t have all summer to work on the motel, so today she was determined to move forward with the renovations.
“I’m not sure which one I like best,” Amelia said.
“Let’s go over them again.” For the hundredth time. Lydia joined her aunt at the kitchen table and opened the laptop. “This is the more expensive renovation, which includes a patio and playground behind the motel.”
“I like the idea of families being able to use the grill and children having a place to play.”
“A playground is cheaper to maintain than a pool and can be used all year round,” Lydia said.
Her aunt studied the first design. “It’s beautiful, tasteful, the colors are lovely, but...”
“What?”
“Maybe a little too cosmopolitan.”
Lydia clenched her hands beneath the table. “You said you wanted to bring this dusty cowboy town into the twenty-first century.”
“I do, but Emmett has a point. This is Hill Country. Tourists will want the Texas experience when they stay at the motel and this room looks like it belongs in Chicago or New York City.”
Until now Lydia had avoided discussing the strained conversation between her aunt and Emmett at the motel. “What’s going on between you and Gunner’s grandfather?”
Amelia’s eyes widened before she dropped her gaze and picked at a piece of lint on her slacks. “Nothing. Why?”
“You mentioned that you dated Emmett in high school, but he married your friend Sara.”
Her aunt’s eyes glazed over and she stared into space. “It’s probably difficult to imagine, but that man was such a tease back in the day.”
“You were partial to cowboys then?” Lydia asked.
Amelia nodded. “Weekends he worked alongside his father at the Triple D. They lived on the property and his mother cooked and cleaned for the Masterson family.”
“How’d Emmett end up owning his own ranch?”
“I was twenty-five when Baron Masterson passed away and his wife sold the ranch off in parcels. Emmett’s father was a frugal man and had saved enough money to buy one of the tracts.”
“What about your father? Why didn’t he purchase any land?”
“My father was ten years older than Emmett’s and he was ‘tired of chasing cows’—his words not mine.” Amelia smiled. “He hung up his spurs and Mother’s paycheck was enough to keep the two of them afloat. Robert and I helped them make ends meet when my mother eventually retired from the bank.”
“How many kids did Emmett and Sara have?”
“Just Gunner’s father, Donny. He died almost a year to the day after Robert’s funeral.”
“What happened?”
“Donny was changing a flat tire on the side of the road at night and was struck by a passing motorist. They never did find the person who hit him.”
“That’s awful.”
“It was hard on the three boys. Their mother had left the family years earlier and then they lost their grandmother after that. When Donny died, Emmett fell off the wagon and began drinking again.”
“I didn’t know he was an alcoholic.”
“Donny was a drinker, too.”
Lydia hoped Gunner hadn’t followed in his father’s footsteps. The last thing she needed was an inebriated handyman helping her renovate the motel.
“When Emmett’s drinking got out of hand, Logan quit rodeoing and came home. It wasn’t long after that Emmett gave up booze, but by then he’d lost interest in Paradise Ranch and had handed the reins over to Logan.”
“Sounds like Gunner had a challenging childhood.”
“Don’t feel too sorry for that young man. It’s time he grew up and ran that motel the right way.”
Lydia had a hundred more questions about Gunner but didn’t want to give her aunt the impression she was interested in him, which she wasn’t. Even if she were, according to SavvyMatch.com, he wasn’t a good pick for her. “We’re getting sidetracked. You said that you wanted to bring Stampede back to its glory days. What about Western-themed rooms? Cowboys, ranching and cattle.” Personally, Lydia thought that kind of decor was cheesy. But... “People staying at the motel would experience a taste of the old Wild West.”
“You might be onto something,” Amelia said. “The motel has to be special to convince people to drive out of their way to spend a night.”
Lydia tapped her finger against the tabletop, her mind racing through the images she’d committed to memory from the gazillion decorating magazines she’d subscribed to. Bingo! “What if each room showcased a Western