Charlotte had held him back and said she’d talk to Kagan and call him. He didn’t like it, but he conceded because the hurt and anger coursing through his blood might have led to words he’d regret later. He’d reluctantly driven home, feeling like the worst kind of boyfriend on the planet. Once he’d calmed down some, he almost turned around, but he needed to respect Kagan’s wishes, even if they ripped his heart in two.
Now it was close to midnight and Charlotte hadn’t called.
If Kagan thought he was just going to let her walk away without a face-to-face, she was wrong. He had to think of a way to convince her to stay. He refused to shy away from her now that her father was in the picture. They loved each other, damn it. He’d never said those three words before, and he had no plans to lose what he wanted to keep. Forever.
She’d made him see things in a way no one else could. Made him feel like anything was possible. Together, they could overcome the toughest obstacles. If he let her go, that would be letting her down. She’d told him she didn’t want to go back. Not yet, she’d said. But maybe yet had arrived. Maybe her father had convinced her that Brett was better for her than he was.
He pushed the bag and grabbed his phone off the workbench his dad had given him last year. Glancing at the screen, he noticed a missed call. Shit. He’d been so caught up in his thoughts and punching the crap out of the bag that he hadn’t heard his phone ring. One voice message.
Shane, it’s Charlotte. We’re leaving tomorrow. I can’t go into details, but there’s more going on than you know. Gotta go…she’s—
She’s what? And leaving tomorrow? WTF? He punched the bag with every ounce of his weight behind it. His knuckles were raw. He’d purposely left off gloves so he’d feel every strike.
He hit the call back button. Charlotte answered after the first ring. “What’s going on?”
“Shane,” she whispered. “I can’t really talk right now.”
“I’m coming over.”
“No. Please don’t. Kagan is upset but she’s made up her mind. I’m sorry.”
“What’s going on? Why is her dad here now? Is everything okay?” He rammed a hand through his damp hair.
“It’s complicated.”
Ha. The one thing in his life he’d never wanted but now would fight to keep. “I need to talk to her. I’m not letting her go without talking to her.”
“I don’t know what to say, Shane.” Regret and sadness came over the phone line loud and clear.
Shane paced around the garage. “What time is her flight?”
“One o’clock. We’re leaving here at eleven.”
None of this made any sense. Kagan wouldn’t leave so quickly without sufficient notice to Milt or an explanation to the friends she’d made. She’d made a life here in Cascade that wouldn’t be easy to walk away from, hadn’t she?
He stopped in his tracks. Maybe she didn’t realize how important she was to Cascade. Maybe her father needed to see exactly how much this small town loved her.
How much he loved her.
“Do me a favor—make sure you drive through town on your way to the airport. Take White Sails Road. Don’t take any other route.”
“Uh, I think we’ll be going by taxi.”
“Right. Okay, tell Kagan you’ll call for the cab, only don’t. I’ll send the cab.”
“Shane, what are you up to?” Curiosity edged out some of her sadness.
Shane smiled. “You’ll see. It’s time for a very public display of affection.”
“If I didn’t know how much she loved you, I’d say forget it.”
“She told you she loves me?” His smile widened.
“I’m not stroking your ego any bigger than it already is. Good night, Shane.”
“Thanks, Charlotte.”
“Yeah, well you have taken good care of her in my absence.”
“What are best friends for?” She was. His best friend. His lover. His everything.
“Watch it, bucko. Ah, gotta go.” The call disconnected.
Shane wasted no time calling Sela on his way back into the house. The second he laid eyes on the couch where he and Kagan had watched Bond movies and he’d told her how much he wanted her, his pulse spiked. This plan of his had to work.
“Shane?” Sela said, her voice groggy. “Is everything okay?”
“Sorry to wake you, sis, but I need your help. What are you doing?”
“You did not just ask me that.”
Yeah, he did. His thoughts were moving in a dozen different directions. He took a deep breath. Chill, dude. “Mind if I come over and talk something through with you? And we’ll probably need to wake up a few more people.”
He could tell by the rustling on the other end of the line that she’d probably just sat up in bed. He had her attention now. “What’s going on? And you didn’t answer my question. Is everything okay?”
“Fine. Or it will be. Tell Luke to put on some clothes and I’ll be over in ten.”
“What is this about?”
“It’s about Kagan.”
…
The next morning Shane stood on White Sails Road just outside of Watters Park. He’d managed more than a dozen projects for Burke & Associates, but this undertaking was by far the most challenging. He had exceptional organizational skills and focus, but this time his team included a hundred or so people. Men, women, boys, girls, a baker, a bar owner, a mayor, a police chief, a little old lady with more spunk than someone half her age.
And his parents. He couldn’t remember ever seeing them look so proud.
They’d all come together for him.
For Kagan.
Up since the crack of dawn, the sun now hit its mid-morning mark in the azure sky. A tiny breeze picked up the sound of wind chimes in the distance. Shane smiled. Sela had given him wind chimes as a house-warming gift because she believed they blessed a home with prosperity and happiness. Hanging at his front door, she had said good energy would be swept in every time the wind blew. He took the wind as a good omen this morning.
Voices—laughter, music, kids squealing— floated through the warm air. The Fall Fling had kicked off an hour ago and crowds milled around the many booths and festivities.
White Sails Road was the only open road through the center of town today. Light traffic trickled by, but most residents were either at the park or knew to steer clear. Dozens of police officers and firemen were around, handing out stickers to kids, talking about safety, keeping an eye on things. The dunking booth, Shane had heard, had already been put to good use.
A pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind. “You okay? You look a million miles away,” Sela said.
No. “Yeah.”
Sela moved around to face him. “You, big brother,” she poked him in the chest, “have nothing to worry about. What you’ve planned? It’s amazing. No girl could resist it.”
“You think?”
“I know.”
“I hope you’re right.” He wrapped his sister in a bear hug. “Thanks for all your help. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Remember that the next time I ask you for a favor.”
He grinned and glanced at his watch. “Will do.”
Luke strode over and slapped him on the back. “The sound system is ready. Our lookout is ready. Is our boy ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Shane’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out to read a text from the cabbie. Two minutes out.
“It’s time,” he said, trying not to sound as if his nerves were strung tight. He lifted the megaphone he’d been holding onto like his life depended on it. “Places everyone,” echoed across the park. He heard those words amplified two more times by others with megaphones so everyone he needed knew it was time.
In his head, he went over the words to the song again. “I Knew I Loved You” by Savage Garden. He slid over the on button and checked the mike attached to his shirt collar. “Testing one two three.” Yep, it carried quite a distance
.
“Good luck!” Sela said, taking the megaphone out of his hand and assuming her position beside Luke off to the side.
Shane moved to the middle of the street. He slid his sweaty palms down the sides of his linen shorts. He willed his racing heart to ease up and took the deepest breath of his life.
Erin rushed up and handed him a stack of small poster boards. “You got this, lover boy.”
…
Kagan stared out the back passenger window of the taxi and watched the scenery go by in a blur. Every minute that ticked by took a piece of her with it. A tear slid down her cheek. She let it roll until it reached the corner of her mouth and then she wiped it away with the back of her hand.
She’d told herself over and over again that this wasn’t good-bye forever. She’d need to come back to get all her things, ship back what she wanted to keep, sell what she didn’t. See Shane one more time and… she didn’t know what.
But the thought of never looking into his blue-gray eyes again cut through her with razor-sharp teeth. An acidic taste clogged the back of her throat. She wanted to fight for him. God, how she wanted to fight for him. But when she’d tried one more time to get her father to back off, he’d refused to listen to anything more she had to say.
Shane had shaken her world and made her believe in herself again. He’d made her feel whole and loved in a way she never had—like the person she was underneath was enough. That stripped of everything but the clothes on her back, she was important.
Another tear fell.
“Hey,” Charlotte whispered from beside her as her hand curved around Kagan’s shoulder.
Kagan tilted her head to the side so her wet cheek touched her best friend’s knuckles. “I’m okay,” she whispered back, knowing Charlotte would let the lie go. For now.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kagan glanced at her father in the front seat. They’d spoken few words to each other since he’d given his ultimatum, but this morning for a split second she thought she saw remorse when she’d caught him staring at her from her bedroom doorway as she’d closed her suitcase.
The cab seemed to slow, a couple riding a tandem bike passed by. Kagan rolled down her window, the air in the taxi suffocating all of a sudden. The faint sound of music and bells caught her attention and that’s when she remembered the Fall Fling. Her shoulders sagged further. She’d forgotten all about the annual celebration.
Kettle corn. She smelled kettle corn. Apple pie. She smelled that,too—could almost taste it. The car turned onto White Sails Road. Why was the cabbie going this way to the airport? To torture her, no doubt.
She closed her eyes, let her head fall back against the vinyl seat, and Shane appeared like he always did. She saw his roguish smile and playful eyes. His mussed hair and broad chest. The leather band she’d made for him on his wrist, and strong, muscled forearms. She loved and hated that she couldn’t get him out of her head.
“What’s going on?” her dad said in a gruff tone at the same time the cab came to a stop.
Kagan opened her eyes and peered around the driver’s seat to get a look out the windshield. “Oh my God.”
Shane stood in the middle of the street, looking so handsome and sexy in tan linen shorts and a white linen button down that her heart tripped and missed at least two beats. She sucked in a breath and read the large black words on the sign in his hands. I Knew I Loved You.
A split second later Sela and Luke, Erin, Meg and Henry, Teague, the other waitresses from the Crown & Anchor, Meredith, Troy and other firemen, dozens of other familiar faces, and young girls wearing angel wings on their backs surrounded Shane.
“What the hell?” her father said. “Honk the horn and get them out of the way,” he snarled. “We have a plane to catch.”
She darted a glance at Charlotte. The grin that greeted her said more than any tip-off. Charlotte raised her perfect eyebrows and opened her car door. “You coming?”
Kagan gulped and nodded. The cabbie put the car in park and turned off the engine. She got out. Behind her, people scurried to put cones across the road so no other cars could get through. In front of her, Shane beckoned with a killer bone-melting smile as their eyes met.
Rounding the hood of the cab, Kagan was vaguely aware of her father slamming the door and cursing while Charlotte tried to calm him down.
Music blared out of speakers—from the trees?—and Shane started to sing. She loved when he whispered in her ear. Loved when he talked dirty. Now she loved when he sang. His voice was magical as he belted out words that matched the phrases on his poster boards.
With each lyric, he tossed aside the board and continued to the next verse. His feet moved in time to the music, a few slow steps side-to-side, front to back. The crowd surrounding him did the same choreographed dance. Hands in the air, feet tripping the sunlight fantastic, bodies swaying.
Shane sang about the future, his best friend, and then everyone joined in the chorus to serenade her. She recognized the song that fell from everyone’s lips, but her focus was solely on Shane. On the love written across his face—not the cards.
Her legs shook, and she leaned against the front bumper of the cab. Shane soloed again with words of completion and home and her heart swelled so much she thought it would burst through her ribcage. When the next chorus mentioned angels dancing, the girls wearing angel wings gently pulled her away from the taxi and danced around her, their little bodies lifting her up without her feet leaving the ground. Emotion choked her.
Back in New York, Kagan hated being the center of attention, but this? This filled her with gratitude and hope and love.
As soon as the music stopped and the song ended, the crowd scattered. Well, everyone except Sela, Luke, Meg, and Henry, who lurked by the nearest tree. Kagan was pretty sure she’d just experienced her first flash mob and a ridiculous smile bloomed across her face. All because of Shane.
With no more boards in his hands he stepped closer. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to leave and keep him far from her father and any unfriendliness. But how could she walk away from this man without giving him the truth and letting him decide what to do with it?
She had more faith in Shane than anyone else.
Instead of reaching for her, though, he turned to her dad. “Mr. Donaldson,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m Shane Sullivan.”
Kagan watched her father take Shane’s hand with a mixture of awe and indifference. Charlotte backed away, her lips pulled in tight.
“I’d hoped to meet you on different terms and spend some time getting to know you before I asked this, but given the circumstances, I had to skip ahead.” He flashed a quick peek at her and her legs went wobbly again.
“You see sir, I’m in love with your daughter. I didn’t think love like this was in the cards for me, but Kagan helped me overcome my fears. She took our friendship and without trying, turned my feelings for her into a love affair that I’d go to the ends of the earth to keep. Being with her makes me dizzy every time I stand up. Just looking at her fills me with admiration and gratitude. She’s the best accident to ever happen to me, and I’d like your permission to ask for her hand in marriage. Sir.”
The ground shook under Kagan’s feet. Those tiny dots that blurred a person’s vision in the sunshine danced in front of her. Shane wanted to marry her? He wanted to marry her!
She wanted to marry him.
But she needed to protect him. And in front of her father, tell him why she was leaving. She had to prove to her dad she wouldn’t cower anymore. Blinking away the light spots, she refocused on Shane and her dad. “Shane,” she said. “I can’t. If I don’t go back to New York right now my dad is going to put your job in jeopardy.”
“What are you talking about?” Shane said.
“He’s good friends with Levi Roach and threatened to—”
“Your leaving all of a sudden is for me?” A grin so handsome stretched across his delectable mouth, she almost grabbed him and kissed him.
“But you’d rather stay.”
“Yes,” she breathed.
“Then trust me and let me finish what I started, Jelly Belly.”
“Dad?” Kagan said. No one had ever taken a public stance like this for her. Her dad may be overbearing and unbending, but he respected men with enough guts to stand up to him. Hopefully he respected the man who loved his daughter unconditionally. She couldn’t read the look on his face now, but his eyes? Something in them startled her and hurled her back to the time when he’d taught her to ride a two-wheel bicycle and softness and pride had shone in their depths. It was that look that had kept her at it and made her determined to ride without training wheels.
“You’ve got some moxie, kid,” her dad said.
Shane smiled. “My mom thinks so too.”
“I meant my daughter.”
“Oh,” Shane said.
Her father glanced over Shane’s shoulder and Kagan turned. Much of her “mob” had returned, but was trying to look nonchalant. Then her dad looked at her, really looked at her, as if he was seeing her for the first time. She stepped closer. “Looks like more than this young man loves you,” he said, his voice more tender, more tolerant.
Emotion clogged the back of her throat so she just nodded.
“Mr. Donaldson?” Shane said.
“Something tells me with or without my permission, you’ll ask your question.”
“True. But it would mean a lot to Kagan to have your blessing.”
Again her dad gazed at her. For several long beats they studied each other and with each passing second, the pieces that kept them apart were chipped away. She’d spent five months hiding from him, and it had taken a grand gesture from a small town and a straightforward and magnificent man to show him the error of his ways.
“Let’s see what you’ve got,” her dad said.
Shane turned, took her hand, and got down on one knee.
Sighs from the peanut gallery sounded. Birds flitted among the trees and chirped in harmony. The sun’s rays warmed her skin, and she chewed on her bottom lip to stop it from quivering. She couldn’t stop the rest of her body from shaking with joy so she zeroed in on Shane’s handsome face and knew he’d be there to catch her if she fell.
Her Accidental Boyfriend: A Secret Wishes Novel (Entangled Bliss) Page 19
