He wasn’t totally sure what the difference was when it suddenly struck him. It wasn’t the coaching that was the issue, at least he didn’t think so, he was pretty sure Callie’s issue might be with coaching in California. At least he hoped it was California, because then it would mean that maybe she didn’t want to lose what they had found either.
“Coach C!” Deidra came full speed at them, waving her arm.
Callie pulled her hands from his and took a step back to face the excited teenager.
“Look at this.” The girl was practically bouncing about like Winnie the Pooh’s Tigger. “I did it.”
“What have you got there?”
“My scores! I went up. A lot!”
“What scores?” Callie checked the paper Deidra held out, and standing behind her, Zane looked at the page over her shoulder. “The test isn’t till next week. I don’t understand.” Callie looked from the paper to her student and back again.
Deidra beamed up at them. “Mrs. Barclay graded this morning’s practice test with the same software and she just now gave me the results. My math really went up. Isn’t it great? And,” she shook the page with glee, “all three coaches say my scores are great and they all want me to come out see their campuses.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m really happy for you.” The words had barely come from Callie’s mouth when Deidra flung her arms around her, almost strangling her.
“Thank you so much for everything.” The young girl pulled away and, facing Zane, did the same thing, hanging on tight. “And thank you too.” She pulled back, grinning like the proverbial cat that had swallowed the canary. “I could never have done this without you guys. This is just so cool. I’ve got to go tell everyone else.”
Before either of them could say a word in response, the kid had turned on her heel and was flying halfway across the field. Or maybe floating would’ve been a better description. Either way, Deidra was well on her way to her dream.
“Does it always feel this way?” He tore his gaze away from the departing girl’s back and looked over to Callie.
“What way?”
“Like you won the World Series.”
Studying him intently, her brows buckled in confusion as she clearly played with his words.
“Making a difference.”
“Oh. That.” For the first time since the game ended, an honest grin took over her face. “Yeah.”
Grabbing hold of her hand, he pulled her closer and lifted the soft hand enclosed in his onto his pounding heart. “I think I could get very used to this working with kids thing.” And with you.
“You can?” That worried look was back on her face.
He nodded. “Yeah, but not in California.”
“No?” Some of the worries slid away from her expression, and a hint of a twinkle reappeared in her eyes.
“Not if someone who means a lot to me thinks she could put up with me hanging around. A lot.”
Her grin was back full force. “Anyone I know?”
“This really cool high school coach, with pretty blonde hair, and a heart of gold.” He took hold of her other hand and, pulling both her hands toward him, tugged her up against him and tipped his face a breath away from hers. Bright blue eyes staring up at him turned a stormy gray. His heart slammed against his ribs and he leaned in even closer. “I love you, Callie Nelson, and if you think you can put up with me full time, I’d like to give it a try.”
“I guess, since I seem to love you too, that may be the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
“Only all day?” His lips mumbled against hers.
“Or longer.” Her lips pressed against his and suddenly he didn’t care who saw. Callie Nelson was the best thing to ever happen to him.
Chapter Seventeen - Epilogue
“I look ridiculous.” Callie skimmed her hands down her side and shook her head. “The word buttercup comes to mind.”
Heather shrugged. “It might look a tad better on you than Lily.”
“You can say that again.” Wearing a different style gown but the same color as Callie, Lily’s red hair definitely clashed with the almost neon yellow dress.
“Maybe a different shade?” Heather squinted as if that might improve the color combinations.
Zinnia loved her cousins, she really did, all of them. Lily could bake anyone into a good mood, and Callie could bring out the best in the most eye-rolling teen. Then there was Heather, an amazing physician, but her sense of color was just plain lousy. “Is there a reason you seem so set on yellow?”
“Sunshine.”
Zinnia looked down at her chiffon heavy skirt and then studied her cousin. “Why?”
“It’s a happy color.”
Well, that much was true, but Zinnia was at a loss for words. Sky blue was a happy color. Some people thought pink was a happy color. Maybe her sister Iris should have come to help pick out the bridal party dresses. Iris followed the illogical thought progression of little kids easily, maybe she could follow Heather’s, and better yet, convince the good doctor that she needed to leave yellow behind and move on to a new color. Zinnia would rather wear bubble gum pink than this.
“Knock, knock, anyone home?” Hands over his eyes, Zane popped his head into the dressing area of the bridal shop. “The sales clerk said it was safe to come in.”
Lily rolled her eyes and Heather laughed. Callie, the reason he was here embarrassing himself, sighed, but couldn’t stop her eyes from lighting up at the sight of her best guy.
Life had taken a fast turn for Callie and Zane. Much like all her other cousins, one minute life was just chugging along and the next things were flipped upside down. In a good way. Callie was still coaching at the high school, but now she had help. Zane and his buddy turned partner, started a consulting firm for executive data analysis that had only been under way a few weeks and was already considered a smashing success. Even so, Zane officed from his temporary home at the lake which allowed him time to help Callie coach after school. The two were having a great impact on the fall soccer season and the town couldn’t have been happier if they’d raised Zane from a pup. There was even talk of him taking over running the select club baseball league next summer.
“You’re early,” Heather announced.
Eyes still covered, he stuck his other arm straight out to expose his watch, and shook his head. “Not according to this.”
“Oh for heaven’s sake.” Callie stepped off the circular platform and, pulling his arm away from his face, stood on tippy toe to kiss his cheek. “We’re all decent.”
“That’s a matter of opinion,” Lily chuckled. “There’s nothing decent when you look like a neon yield sign from the neck down.”
Slowly opening his eyes, he took in the large modeling area. “Not sure what I expected, but this wasn’t it.”
The actual changing rooms were behind curtained doorways. This part of the bridal shop was designed more like a showroom. Because all the girls were trying on dresses, the store had assigned them the larger, more secluded location. Neither Zinnia nor Lily moved from their spots on the extended platform.
“You look amazing.” Zane’s gaze drank Callie in from proverbial head to toe. “Totally.”
“See,” Heather exclaimed. “He likes the color.”
Zane blinked, and tore his gaze away from Callie’s eyes to linger down the dress again. “It’s yellow.” The surprise in his voice made it quite clear he hadn’t paid anything close to attention to what Callie was wearing when he’d blatantly admired her form.
“What color did you think it was?” Heather asked.
Still looking into Callie’s eyes, he shrugged. “Hadn’t noticed.”
“How can you not have noticed?” Lily asked sharply, spinning around to face the mirror one more time and shuddering. “It’s like a yellow jacket without the jacket.”
This time Zane cast a quick glance at the other two women wearing flowing gowns designed to stand out at the front of a church. And perhaps warn landing ai
rcraft of obstacles in their paths. “I must admit, I didn’t realize how, uhm, bright it is.”
“That,” Lily lifted the hem of the skirt to step down from the platform, “is because you’re still in that infatuation phase.”
“I beg your pardon?” Indignation rang in his voice.
“What she means,” Zinnia interjected, “is that my dear cousin could wear a brown paper bag and you’d still look at her as if she were draped in 24 karat gold.”
Zane shrugged. “It’s not my fault everything Callie wears looks good on her.” He winked at Callie and threaded his fingers with hers. Only Zinnia was standing close enough to hear when he leaned in and whispered, “They’re right, you could wear burlap and still be beautiful.”
If Callie smiled back at him any wider, her face would split in two. Zinnia didn’t know what bug had bitten everyone around here, but it seemed awfully contagious. There wasn’t a man at the Hart dinner table lately who didn’t make googly eyes at their better halves.
“We just need a few minutes to get out of these dresses and into our regular clothes.” Callie gripped Zane’s hand tightly before retreating toward the changing room.
Zinnia slipped behind the curtain of the adjoining cubicle beside Callie. “He’s really the one for you.”
“Excuse me,” Callie whispered.
“I know I teased you the last time I was at the lake, but I’ve never seen you this happy. And you were always a happy kid, and then a happy adult.”
Pulling the curtained entrance back just far enough to peek in, Callie grinned at her cousin. “Life couldn’t get any better.”
Oh yes it could. Needing a little help with logistics, and not trusting any of Callie’s sisters to be able to keep a secret, Zane had recruited Zinnia’s help with the timing for this afternoon. It was her job to ensure that he and Callie weren’t needed to give anyone else a ride home. He’d made reservations at the same lakeside restaurant they’d gone to for their first date.
It had taken some coercion, but Zinnia finally got him to show her the ring. The guy not only had great taste in women, he had pretty darn good taste in diamond rings as well. It was obvious from his choice that he knew her cousin very well. The size and design were perfect for Callie. She was going to love that ring almost as much as she loved him. And that idea made Zinnia want to smile as brightly as her cousin.
Staring at the hideous yellow dress she’d placed on a hanger, she decided if this was the dress her cousin decided on, then for the love of Heather, she’d wear it. But she prayed to dear heaven it wouldn’t come to that. After all, she wasn’t the one who men thought would look beautiful even if she wore burlap.
Zinnia emerged from her changing room just a footstep ahead of her cousin and in time to see the look on Zane’s face as she stepped out. Nothing corny like in a sappy movie or greeting card commercial, but his eyes held pure adoration. The look gave Zinnia goose flesh.
“Shall we go?” He held his hand out to her cousin.
“Ready.” Callie turned to Zinnia. “You can ride with us and Lily can keep Heather company.”
“No.” Zinnia waved her on. “I think there’s a better chance of talking Heather into another color if we can gang up on her.”
“I heard that.” Heather had moved across the large showroom while the girls changed to look at some swatches the sales woman wanted to show her. “You can go home with them. Lily and I can take it from here.”
“See,” Zinnia leaned closer and lowered her voice, “Lily needs me.”
Callie hesitated, looking to the dressing room curtain that hid Lily from view.
“Go on,” Zinnia insisted. “I’ll see if the dress has found some newfangled way to torture Lily besides the color. Go on.” Zinnia didn’t bother to wait for a response, she spun on her heel and marched the short distance to Lily’s dressing room.
The glass door could be heard closing in the distance and Zinnia did a mental fist pump and couldn’t resist sneaking around the corner for a peek at the two walking away. In a few hours, her tomboy cousin was about to become the happiest girl in the world.
From her perch behind a large column it was easy to see Zane open the car door with one hand and curl Callie against him with the other. His head dipped at the same time Callie rose on tip-toe. Their lips met, and had the sweet kiss lasted a moment longer Zinnia would have felt like a voyeur. Her cousin slid out of his grasp and into the car. The smile on her face remained intact as he circled the hood and climbed into the vehicle.
Who was Zinnia kidding? Callie was already the happiest girl on earth.
“What are you watching?” Lily came up beside her.
“Oh, nothing,” Zinnia said on a sigh. Just another couple bit by the love bug. For the first time since she was a naïve daydreaming teen, it occurred to her that maybe sticking around Hart Land and getting bit herself wouldn’t be such a terrible thing.
Zane’s car pulled away from the curb.
Not a terrible thing at all.
***
So glad you could join Callie and Zane on their adventure in HART LAND. Turn the page for an excerpt from Zinnia or click here now.
If you enjoyed reading Callie, please help other readers find the Hart Land series by taking a moment to leave even a few words for review . Reviews are a blessing to authors and readers alike. Even just a few words will do! Thank you.
***
At the back of the book, we have something for you from Lily's Recipe Box!
***
Chris doesn’t want to clutter your email, she only sends newsletters with a new release!
Sometimes she’ll thank her subscribers with a free copy of a new 99 cent flirt.
For more on what she’s up to from day to day, you can like and follow her on Facebook!
Chapter Excerpt
Life teaches us many lessons and the first is that grandbabies take up a great deal of an Oma’s time their first year, and the second is that life is what happens while we’re busy making other plans. Translation: I do not have a preview chapter for Zinnia – please forgive me, but I have enclosed the link here! If you’d prefer to wait, pretty (with extra sugar on top) please sign up for my newsletter and you’ll get a notification for release day. And of course – as soon as available - all excerpts are on my website!
Also, keep an eye open for my newsletter as I may have a couple more Hart Land flirts coming this year!
Thank you so much for your understanding!
Read more of Zinnia, available on Kobo!
***
MEET CHRIS
Author of dozens of contemporary novels, including the award winning Aloha Series, Chris Keniston lives in suburban Dallas with her husband, two human children, and two canine children. Though she loves her puppies equally, she admits being especially attached to her German Shepherd rescue. After all, even dogs deserve a happily ever after.
More on Chris and her books can be found at www.chriskeniston.com
Follow Chris on Facebook at ChrisKenistonAuthor or on Twitter @ckenistonauthor
Chris doesn’t want to clutter your email, she only sends newsletters with a new release, including providing free links to her 99 cent Flirts!
For more on what she’s up to from day to day, you can like and follow her on Facebook!
***
From Lily’s Recipe Box
OMA'S PLUM PASTRY
What you’ll need:
2 lbs plums – dark blue Italian plums, about 34
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp flour
¾ cup slivered blanched almonds - optional
Instructions:
Place plum halves at an angle into the dough close together in rows.
Sprinkle ½ cup sugar over plums.
Combine remaining ¼ cup sugar with cinnamon, flour and almonds.
Sprinkle on top of fruit.
Bake at 400° for 40-45 min until brown and plums bubbling with syrup.
C
ool and cut in squares to serve.
Books by Chris Keniston
Available on Kobo
Hart Land
Heather
Lily
Violet
Iris
Hyacinth
Rose
Calytrix
Zinnia
Farraday Country
Adam
Brooks
Connor
Declan
Ethan
Finn
Grace
Hannah
Ian
Jamison
Keeping Eileen
Aloha Series Heartwarming Edition:
Aloha Texas
Almost Paradise
Mai Tai Marriage
Dive Into You
Look of Love
Love by Design
Love Walks In
Flirting with Paradise
Surf's Up Flirts:
(Aloha Series Companions)
Shall We Dance
Love on Tap
Head Over Heels
Perfect Match
Just One Kiss
It Had to Be You
Other Books
By Chris Keniston
Honeymoon Series
Honeymoon for One
Honeymoon for Three
Family Secrets Novels:
Calytrix Page 13
