by Jill Shalvis
Tanner tried to read them but the kid was good. “You’ve been standing up for your friends.”
Troy nodded once.
“Good,” Tanner said. “One more thing.”
Troy tensed. “Yeah?”
Tanner put his hand on the kid’s shoulder. “The way you’ve got your friends’ back? I want you to know that I have yours in the same way. And I expect you to let me know when you need me to do something more.”
Troy seemed to grapple with that a moment and then nodded again.
Tanner helped him guide the boat out of the harbor. They then took the water exhilaratingly fast and hard, and both were grinning like fools when they finally returned to the docks two hours later.
Troy helped tie everything down and lock up without being asked, already knowing the drill.
When they were back in the truck heading home, Tanner said, “You did good.”
“On the boat?”
“That too.”
Troy stared straight ahead, but Tanner thought maybe he was smiling just a little bit.
Callie hung out at her grandma’s that night. She told herself it was because she was worried for Lucille, but that wasn’t it.
Callie wasn’t worried about her grandma. Nope, she was pretty sure her grandma was saner than all of them put together. The truth is, Callie needed the comfort of being there. Period.
Just after dinner, Lucille squeezed Callie’s hand. “Stay with me tonight?”
“Of course,” Callie said, even as she knew it was a pity date. But a bunch of Lucille and Mr. Wykowski’s friends came over, and they brought out the big guns—Kahlua and milk.
Which meant that Jeopardy was a rowdy affair, after which Callie fell asleep on her grandma’s couch.
And woke up with a man with a jackhammer inside her head. She drove home and told herself it didn’t matter if Tanner had come looking for her last night. They weren’t a thing.
But still, as she walked into her building, she looked around as if she could possibly see signs of him having been by.
As she was unlocking her door, Becca peeked out and smiled. “I was just coming to see you,” she said. “Two things. One, remember when we made a list of things to do for my wedding and I insisted on handling a lot it myself? Well, with the big bachelor/bachelorette party coming up this weekend, I forgot all about one of the things I said I’d do.”
“What’s that?” Callie asked.
“Booking the B&B for the weekend of the wedding for our out-of-town guests.” She grimaced. “I know, it’s a biggie. But I’m banking on the fact that this is really off season and the place will still have rooms. I also want to get my mom and cousin a day at the spa there. Do you think it’s too late?”
“Let me handle it for you, okay?” Callie asked. “Consider it done.”
“Thanks,” Becca said gratefully. “And the second thing is, I’m planning to sell my furniture since I’ll be moving into Sam’s soon. I wanted to see if there’s anything you need before I sell it. A couch? Microwave? More socks for the vents?”
“Ha,” Callie said. “No need for those, I don’t think.” She ignored Becca’s frown. “And no furniture, thanks. I don’t know how long I’ll be staying so I don’t want to acquire a bunch of new things.”
Becca smiled.
“What?”
“Well, I said the very same thing when I first came to Lucky Harbor. And then I met Sam.”
“Yes, but Sam’s taken,” Callie said.
“You never know who might turn into your Sam.”
“Pretty sure I don’t have a Sam in my near future,” Callie said.
Becca chewed on her lower lip. “Are you sure? Because you might have already met him.”
Callie ignored the little squish her heart did at this thought. “Nope.”
“I was trying to be subtle here,” Becca said. “But I’m just going to come right out and say it, okay?”
Callie sighed. “Could I stop you?”
“Definitely not. Look, we know Tanner’s been sleeping here with you. And I’m real glad because other than his temporary assery at the Love Shack, I think he’s an amazing guy.”
She could deal with this, Callie told herself. Probably. All she had to do was a little gossip control. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“Really? Because what it looks like is that you finally decided to let your hair down and have a good time—which after how hard you’ve been working, you totally deserve. And it looks like that good time came in the form one of extremely sexy ex–Navy SEAL.”
“Okay,” Callie said. “So maybe it’s exactly what it looked like.”
Becca laughed. “Yay!”
“But it’s just a good time.”
“Whatever you say,” Becca said with a secret smile.
Callie shook her head. She gave up.
“I’ve gotta run,” Becca said. “Breakfast tomorrow?”
“Yeah, sure,” Callie said. “Um…that’s it? You’re not going to grill me for more info?”
“Yes, but I’m saving it for breakfast. Mostly because Olivia’s much better at getting info than me.” She flashed a grin when Callie groaned.
“I really don’t have info on what’s happening,” Callie said. “Or not happening.”
“Honey, that’s the very best kind of story.” Becca squeezed Callie’s hand. “And don’t worry. Sam mentioned a few days ago that Tanner’s been wearing the same silly grin you’re wearing. So there’s got to be a bunch of good stuff to tell.”
“Sam said what?”
Becca’s grin widened. “I believe his exact words yesterday were ‘Tanner’s good for shit today. He’s so relaxed I had to check him for a pulse.’”
Callie bit her inner cheek.
“Sam asked him if he’d just gotten a massage or something,” Becca said, “and Tanner apparently said ‘or something.’ So then Sam told me he wants a massage.”
No sense in denying it. She’d covered the vents but she couldn’t cover the truth; it was probably all over her face. “It’s a temporary sort of thing. Very temporary.”
“I don’t believe that,” Becca said. “You guys can’t keep your eyes off each other, and the chemistry…it’s like watching fireworks whenever you’re together. I really thought this could turn into something more.”
“I don’t want more.”
Becca didn’t look convinced, so Callie took her hand. “It’s true. I know you’re new in love and think it’s for everyone, but it’s not. I’ve been there, I know.”
“Then he wasn’t the right one,” Becca said.
“Definitely he wasn’t,” Callie agreed.
“But how will you know if Tanner’s the right one if you don’t give him a shot? What if he’s the One, Callie?”
She brushed that off, but as she went about her day, the question stuck with her.
What if Tanner was the One?
Did she even believe in the One?
Once upon a time she had, but she’d changed. Hadn’t she? The question stuck with her as she stopped by the B&B to book the place for Becca’s wedding weekend. She met Maddie, the innkeeper, who took her reservations, and then Maddie introduced her sister Chloe, who ran the day spa.
“Heard you’re seeing Tanner Riggs,” Chloe said.
Callie blinked. “Is there a sign written on my forehead?”
Chloe laughed. “No. It’s your grandma. She’s on a mission to see you matched. She considers herself somewhat of a master on the subject.”
“She’s a master at the crazy,” Callie muttered.
Chloe laughed. “That too.” Her smile softened as someone came into the room. Callie turned and found Sheriff Thompson standing there.
He wasn’t dressed like a cop at the moment. Jeans, a University of Washington sweatshirt, and battered running shoes, and he wore them with the same authority that he’d worn his uniform. The gun at his hip might have helped there. He strode directly to Chloe, pulled her in, and laid a kiss on her
that had the temperature in the room skyrocketing.
Callie studied the ceiling and then her toes, wondering if ridiculous displays of romance were in the water or something. Good Lord. Was everyone in this town starry-eyed?
A year later Sawyer pulled back, playfully tugged on a strand of Chloe’s hair, and smiled into her face. “Later.”
Then he winked at Callie and left.
“Sorry,” Chloe said, sounding dreamy. “Where were we?”
When Callie left the B&B, she drove to her grandma’s to relieve Troy of babysitting duty.
She found him playing poker with her grandma and Mr. Wykowski.
“Pay up,” Troy said to Lucille, holding out his hand.
Lucille turned to Callie. “You going to let him cheat an old lady out of her social security?”
“You’re the one who cheated,” Mr. Wykowski said to her mildly.
“How much money are we talking?” Callie asked.
“Not money.” Mr. Wykowski went to the counter and brought back a family-size bag of potato chips. “I believe you won these fair and square,” he said, and presented the whole thing to Troy.
Lucille sighed. “I hope they go straight to your hips,” she said to the kid.
Troy just grinned and shoved one in his mouth. “Mmmm.”
“She’s still crazy,” Troy said when he and Callie were in the car, same as he always did. But he no longer looked like he meant it, and since she’d just watched him and her grandma do some complicated handshake in good-bye, she didn’t take offense. She drove him home and, just before he got out of the car, turned to him. “Troy—”
“I told him. About what happened at school.” He touched his bruised jaw. “I wanted you to know that.”
“Good,” she said relieved. “And the play?”
“I’m working up to that.”
“And the girl?”
“That too.”
“Work faster,” she said.
She watched him vanish inside Tanner’s house. He’d looked…better. Not exactly chipper, but not quite as unhappy as usual either.
Progress.
She wasn’t sure why she felt so invested in him, but it wasn’t just her feelings for Tanner, she knew that much. Troy had wormed his way into her heart all on his own.
She picked up Chinese take-out and drove back to her grandma’s.
“I want you to know I exercised restraint in today’s social media posts,” Lucille said as they ate.
Mr. Wykowski laughed, but when Lucille looked at him, he turned it into a cough.
“Restraint?” Callie asked her grandma warily.
“Yep. I haven’t posted about you or Tanner in days. I’m leaving things alone.” She beamed. “See? Restraint.” She paused. “And maybe a little self-preservation. I didn’t want you to pull the plug on me.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Callie said in horror.
“I meant cancel my WiFi.” Lucille opened her fortune cookie. “Hmm. I think I got yours by mistake.”
“Why, what does it say?”
“You will get lucky.” Lucille paused. “In bed.”
“Grandma!” she said over Mr. Wykowski’s hoot of laughter.
“What,” Lucillle said. “I’m old, not dead. Don’t you kids play that game anymore? Add the ‘in bed’ to the end of your fortunes?”
Callie chose not to answer, instead opening her own fortune cookie. She stared at it and shook her head, stuffing it into her bag.
“What does it say?” her grandma wanted to know.
She sighed. “I will get lucky.”
Lucille stared at her and burst out laughing.
“Stupid mass-produced fortunes,” Callie muttered.
“So you do believe in them,” Mr. Wykowski said.
She ignored this.
“And why doesn’t getting lucky suit you again?” her grandma asked. “I never really understood this.”
“Love doesn’t suit me,” Callie corrected. Lust, however, suited her just fine.
“And why doesn’t love suit you?” her grandma demanded.
“Grandma, I see how badly love turns out on a daily basis at work. And then there was my own misguided attempt at getting hitched. Let’s not forget that one.”
“How can we?” Lucille muttered.
“What?” Callie asked.
“Nothing. Love you,” Lucille said.
Callie narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth but Mr. Wykowski spoke first.
“So you got unlucky once,” he said. “So what? I was unlucky a bunch of times.”
“That’s right,” her grandma said. “It only takes the one. The right one.”
Callie gave them both a long look. “Have you guys been talking to Becca?”
“No, why?” Lucille asked. “Does she need advice? She’s got that hottie all wrapped up so I thought she was good. Do I need to step in and smack some sense into Sam? Because I can do that. I’ll have to stand on a footstool to do it but that doesn’t matter. I’m there for her.”
“No, Grandma,” Callie said, unable to hold back her laugh at the picture of the diminutive Lucille trying to take down the tall, built Sam Brody. “She’s good. And Sam’s good.”
“So why can’t you be good?”
“I am good,” Callie said. “There’s nothing wrong with being alone, Grandma.”
“Well, of course not.” Lucille smiled when Mr. Wykowski squeezed her hand and gave her a kiss on her cheek before rising to make coffee.
Lucille leaned into Callie and whispered, “But as I’ve recently discovered, letting someone in brings unexpected benefits. And I’m not just talking about the money that can be saved on batteries.” She waggled her brows suggestively.
“Grandma.”
“Oh, relax,” Lucille said. “I’m talking about the joy of waking up to the person you love and seeing their face right away. Or going through hard times, such as the death of a friend, and having someone be there to hold your hand. Or when you’re sick yourself and need help…I mean, sure, you could handle all that on your own and you always have. Again, I blame your shortsighted, selfish parents. But this is about you, honey, and sometimes, just once in a while, it’s nice not to be all on your own.”
“Says the woman who chose to be alone for five decades,” Callie pointed out.
“Single,” Lucille said. “Not alone.” She wore a secret smile, one that turned not so secret when Mr. Wykowski turned and gave her a wink.
Callie stared at them, absorbing the clear, easy affection between them. The kind that came with years of knowing someone. “Just how old is this ‘new’ thing between you two?” she asked suspiciously.
