Just Like Heaven

by Lacey Baker

  “I’m fine,” she replied but wouldn’t look at him.

  “Your boyfriend mad that you’re staying in Sweetland a little longer?” The minute the question was out Preston figured it probably wasn’t his smoothest route to finding out who was on the phone—or if she had a boyfriend for that matter.

  The immediate look of anger that she followed with was proof of that point.

  “I can stay in Sweetland as long as I like. And I don’t have a boyfriend that would tell me not to!”

  She said all that in such an accusatory tone, or was it more defensive?

  “And what’s wrong with her?” she asked, stepping away from Coco who was still barking and looping around Heaven’s legs expectantly.

  “My guess is she senses you’re upset. You’ve been spending a lot of time with her. Maybe there’s an attachment and she wants you to calm down.”

  “Dogs don’t form attachments that quickly and they don’t know how a human is feeling?”

  Preston looked down at Coco, and Coco looked up imploringly at Heaven, who finally sighed.

  “It was just a stupid wrong number,” she said finally.

  “Are you sure?” Preston had eased the phone out of her hand, but hadn’t tried to look at it. He was more concerned with the racing pulse he could feel through her wrist. Wrong numbers didn’t make a person’s pulse race.

  “I’m positive.” She took another deep breath, then knelt down to coax Coco. “I’m fine, girl. I’m just fine.”

  Coco ceased barking and went right into Heaven’s arms. Preston watched as she held the dog close to her chest snuggling her against her chin, whispering soothing words into Coco’s ears.

  “We should go in for dinner,” he told her, keeping her cell phone in his hand.

  Heaven didn’t respond but turned and walked in the direction of the house, still holding on to Coco as if her life actually depended on her.

  Chapter 10

  A week later, Heaven was still in Sweetland. She’d actually slipped into quite a comfortable routine with all the preparations for Bay Day going on, as well as the events Michelle catered at the inn. Her days were full of first-time experiences, such as stuffing fresh croissants early one morning when she’d made the mistake of getting up and coming downstairs because she couldn’t sleep. Michelle had been in the kitchen working.

  “You’re always in this kitchen,” she said casually. In her time here Heaven had found it easy to talk to all the Cantrell women, Michelle especially.

  It was something about the way the woman watched her knowingly, but sort of waited for Heaven to say whatever it was that was on her mind.

  “It’s my job. Besides, I love it here. It’s the only place I truly feel relaxed,” Michelle had replied.

  “I’ve been looking for a place like that,” Heaven admitted without qualms. “I’ve always thought where I was in life was where I was meant to be. Well, I thought that until earlier this year. Now, I’m not so sure.”

  “Things change,” Michelle said without looking up from rolling out the dough and cutting it into perfect rectangles. “Wash your hands and come on over. I’ll show you how to make scrumptious almond croissants.”

  Heaven didn’t even question her, but did as she was told. In the next few minutes she was spreading a delicious-smelling almond filling onto the rectangles of dough, then rolling them the way Michelle had shown her and placing them on the lightly greased baking sheet.

  “You see, Heaven, nobody’s life is meant to stay the absolute same forever. Change is nothing to be afraid of, and it’s healthy most times,” Michelle began telling her.

  “How old are you?” Heaven blurted out. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ask that.”

  Michelle chuckled. “Sure you did and don’t worry, it’s okay. I’m thirty-four but I have a very old soul. My grandmother used to tell me that. Actually, she’d told me that since I was about four years old.”

  “I never knew my grandmother,” Heaven heard herself saying. She had no idea what was going on with her, but she was releasing all sorts of information about herself this morning. But maybe this was what she was meant to be doing at this moment in time—else why hadn’t she remained asleep?

  “That’s too bad. I can’t imagine how my life would have turned out without mine. She was such a blessing to all of us.”

  “I’m sure you’re all missing her terribly now.”

  Michelle nodded and reached for another roll of dough. “Yes, we’re all coping in our own way.”

  “Preston seems just fine,” she said, then quickly snapped her lips shut. That was just going too far. She absolutely did not want Michelle to think there was anything going on between her and Preston.

  In fact, after she’d watched him go for a swim and they’d all had dinner in the restaurant, Preston had disappeared for a while. Until he’d showed up again later that night knocking on her door to return her cell phone. Heaven was still shook up by the phone call she’d received so she hadn’t even realized Preston still had her phone. She thanked him and he went about his business. And while she’d seen him in the days that followed, there was a careful kind of reservation between the two of them. One that both concerned and annoyed her.

  “Preston has a contemplative soul, as Gramma would say. On the outside he seems like he knows everything—always has the answer and is usually right on the mark. But on the inside there’s this quiet war going on, one only he can win in his own time. He and Parker are so different in that area because with Parker you know where you stand immediately, and usually wherever you stand with Parker you end up laughing.”

  “Preston doesn’t laugh a lot.”

  “Sure he does. When he’s happy,” Michelle added with a shake of her head. “Right now he’s pissed off with me because I didn’t call and tell them sooner that Gramma was sick. But I couldn’t tell him what I didn’t know.”

  “And he doesn’t understand that?”

  “I think deep down inside he does. It’s a part of that war inside of him I just told you about. Once he battles it out with himself, he’ll see that it wasn’t any more my fault that Gramma died than it was his. The key to dealing with Preston is patience,” Michelle told her.

  She said it as if she knew that’s the advice Heaven had been aiming for all along. Which definitely was not true! Still, she’d thought about it for the duration of that day. Even now, two days later, she was still thinking about it.

  Each evening after dinner, just when the sun was sinking deep into the sky, transforming the bright and humid day to a marginally cooler evening, Heaven would take Coco for a walk. She’d offered to take the other dogs as well, but Michelle was adamant that their owners needed to assume some responsibility for them.

  So she and Coco had just set out about ten minutes ago, heading down Sycamore Lane down to Duncan, which she knew led to the pier where she and Preston had walked. This was the way they walked each night, and she was beginning to become accustomed to the scenery. Sweetland was a generally quiet town, except for the sounds of whatever night creatures were out, and she’d normally only see a car or two as she walked.

  Tonight a black SUV passed them as they turned down Duncan Road. She noticed because it was driving really fast—so fast, she thought she felt a breeze when it passed. Which was absolutely crazy since it hadn’t been below ninety degrees in the last seven days this week, and the humidity was above 80 percent. That thought had her feeling like she’d been in this town too long.

  “But I’m starting to like it here, Coco,” she said to the puppy, who was dutifully walking beside her—which for a sixteen-week-old Labrador puppy was almost extraordinary.

  Coco barked in response and she smiled. Of course she was in love with this puppy. Who else could she communicate with this easily?

  “Not Geoffrey, that’s for sure.”

  That thought had her mind wandering to how ridiculously dysfunctional her life really was. A quick walk around the pier and they were headed b
ack to the house. On the way Heaven decided that she was definitely not marrying Geoffrey Billingsley and her mother was going to have to figure out how to deal with that fact. Besides, Geoffrey didn’t give a damn. She would be a trophy wife to him, some arm candy to take to all his business functions, to pose in magazines adoringly beside him, and to smile as he lied to her about business trips and all the mistresses he would undoubtedly meet up with on them. His reputation and three prior marriages preceded him, which had been the very first turn-off in her mind.

  The second was that her mother had unabashedly approved of this older man even mentioning the idea of marrying her daughter. Then again, the fact that she’d always felt like an object or a possession of her parents, rather than a loved and cherished only child, shouldn’t have made the previous fact a surprise.

  Minutes later Coco chased a bright red ball that had been kicked out of a yard by playing children. Heaven laughed as she followed the puppy, then picked up the ball and tossed it back to the two little boys, who looked no more than four or five years old. They’d obviously been instructed not to leave the yard because neither of them made any attempt to go beyond the white picket fence to retrieve it, even though they were staring at it sorrowfully as it rolled away.

  After a toothy thanks from both boys, she waved and continued walking. This time thinking of whether or not she’d ever have children of her own, whom she’d probably instruct to stay in the yard as well. In Boston she lived in a condo, no yard and no fence. No grass, either. Not very conducive to playing ball with little kids. Still, she could always move into a single-family home. Or she could move to another state, which she’d contemplated just after finishing college. The very lucrative offer from Larengetics—which she figured was courtesy of her parents’ connections—had been too good to pass up, for any reason. So she’d stayed in Boston, just like her mother wanted.

  Five years later she wasn’t sure about that lucrative job, and she was certain she didn’t want to be in such close proximity with her mother anymore. Her mother, who had been calling her …

  That breeze came again, this time as she was being pushed to the ground with something heavy lying on top of her. Screeching tires sounded somewhere in the distance and Coco barked as if someone was chasing her.

  * * *

  “If you wanted to be on top of me all you had to do was ask,” she said flippantly even though Preston could feel her heart beating wildly.

  “When I’m ready to be on top of you, believe me, you’ll be the first to know,” was his response. Which didn’t accurately depict how he was feeling at this moment, either.

  Behind him he heard someone running toward them, his siblings no doubt. So despite how well their bodies seemed to fit, lying in the middle of the street with a puppy running loose wasn’t his idea of a romantic evening.

  “Here, let me help you,” he said, moving off her, then reaching out a hand to her when he was standing.

  She took his hand and got to her feet. As she brushed herself off, he noticed her trying to steady her breathing. Actually, Preston thought she may have been counting, but then his siblings converged and he looked away from Heaven.

  “What the hell was that?” Quinn asked. He was the first to come up to them. “Are you all right, Heaven?”

  “I’m fine,” she answered quickly, nervously. “Where’s Coco?”

  “She’s here,” Raine answered.

  Michelle had walked straight to Heaven, putting an arm around her shoulders. “We were all sitting on the porch having iced tea and talking about old times when we heard that truck speeding down the street.”

  Preston’s teeth clenched as he thought of the moment he’d heard the truck’s approach, then saw Heaven walk into the street. The feeling had been unexplainable.

  “I got the tag number,” Parker said when he made it to the curb where everyone else was standing. He’d been getting around a lot better on his crutches, but Preston knew his brother was getting sick of the hindrance.

  To Parker’s remark, Preston only nodded.

  “Good,” Michelle replied. “We can report it to the sheriff first thing in the morning. Probably a tourist who needs to be reminded this isn’t the big city.”

  “I’m so glad I’m not in the city anymore,” Raine replied quietly, her hand moving absently over Coco’s head.

  Savannah hadn’t said a word, just looked from Heaven to the corner of Sycamore where the truck had come from, then subsequently made a U-turn and left.

  “It was just an accident,” Heaven spoke up. “And really, it was my fault. I wasn’t paying attention. My head was somewhere else and I should have been looking before I stepped into the street.”

  And that damned SUV shouldn’t have been speeding down this small quiet street. Unless it had a reason to.

  “Let’s get you and Coco inside. Michelle will make some hot tea and we’ll all calm down a bit,” Preston heard himself saying.

  That was so not what he wanted to do.

  The moment he’d seen the danger she was in, he’d run as fast as he could, getting to her just before the truck did. It seemed surreal, but he’d already been heading down the porch steps when they all heard the first screeching of tires. The truck had been at the corner then. So he hadn’t run that far. Try telling that to his heart, which was running a pretty quick beat right now. All he remembered was seeing her step into the street and then everything had been a blur.

  Everything until the moment he lay atop her and the truck was gone.

  Now he just wanted to sit beside her on the couch, to be able to look over and see that she was okay. Nothing else mattered at the moment.

  * * *

  This was all new to Heaven. Never had there been even one person who cared enough to earnestly fuss over her well-being, let alone six, but that’s exactly what had taken place in The Silver Spoon.

  Fifteen minutes after the accident Michelle had water boiling on the stove for tea. Raine had Coco settled on a huge puppy pillow situated on the floor in the living room right beside the end of the couch Heaven sat on. Across the room Parker sat in one of the matching high-backed wing chairs, his fingers moving quickly over the keyboard of his laptop. Every few seconds he would look up at her, a question in his eyes, but he remained quiet. She’d caught a few glances between him and Preston but didn’t have a clue what they meant. Actually, she figured it might be some kind of twin thing.

  In the past few days she’d noticed how they could complete each other’s sentences or actually say the same thing, at the same time. And they looked a lot alike, except that Parker had more of an edge to his brown eyes and strong chin and Preston had a small mole by his right eye.

  Savannah didn’t say much, but she went to get a basin of warm water and two towels. She wet one and put it at the base of Heaven’s neck; the other she gave Heaven to dabble over her face. Heaven wanted to tell them again that she was fine, but she feared none of them was really listening to her anyway.

  Preston hadn’t left her side since she’d come into the house. He hadn’t asked any questions or really said more than a couple of words to her, but he’d stayed right there on the couch with her nonetheless.

  “I’d really just like to get a hot shower and go to bed,” she said quietly to Savannah when she stood over her with that wet towel again.

  “I’ll walk you upstairs,” Preston said and almost immediately stood, grabbing her hands and pulling her up with him.

  He moved so fast the towel from her neck fell onto the chair and Savannah had to take a quick step back to avoid being knocked down. Even Coco sat up on her pillow, her tail wagging wildly. Poor puppy looked as bewildered and bereft as Heaven felt.

  “Come on, girl,” she summoned, warming as Coco immediately took steps to get off the pillow and come stand beside her.

  “Tell Michelle I’ll come down to get the tea. How do you like it?” he asked Heaven.

  Saying she didn’t want tea would probably sound like a foreign la
nguage to him so she simply answered, “Three sugars, no cream.”

  Savannah nodded. “I’ll tell her.”

  “We need to talk,” Parker said as Preston escorted her out of the living room.

  “Later,” he replied sternly.

  Heaven didn’t complain when he practically pulled her up the steps behind him, and she kept her mouth closed when he walked her into her bedroom and followed her inside. But when he went into the bathroom, switched on the light, and began running the shower she panicked.

  “What are you doing?” she asked from the doorway of the bathroom.

  “You wanted to take a hot shower, right?” he asked as if her question had been the unusual situation they were approaching.

  “Right. And I can do that myself,” was her reply.

  Preston shrugged. “I already did it.”

  As he passed her on his way out of the bathroom he said, “I’ll wait for you out here.”

  * * *

  She probably wanted to be alone, but Preston didn’t. He wanted to be with her. Maybe it was something about almost losing her to a maniac driver. No, that wasn’t it. At least it wasn’t entirely.

  Preston had wanted Heaven since the moment he first saw her. And for him, not going after a woman he wanted wasn’t the norm. He’d had a good reason for keeping his distance, and still a part of him thought that’s what he should continue to do. But that part was sorely overruled.

  There was something primal going on at this moment, something that most likely would only be pushed away by Heaven herself. If she said no, he would go. That had forever been the rule with him and his brothers. The intense longing inside him that he swore was new—he’d never felt this way about another woman before—was no match for the teachings that had been embedded in the Cantrell men since birth.

  While the water ran in the other room and to keep him from fidgeting like some hard-up teenager, Preston moved about the room looking for some piece of Heaven. On the dresser was a comb and brush and earrings. A few inches away was her purse, which he didn’t even think about going in. His grandmother had been a stickler about a woman’s privacy. Sure, he was in the room she was sleeping in, but Preston wasn’t going to go into her purse, or any woman’s purse, ever.