Harlequin Heartwarming May 2016 Box Set: Through the StormHome for KeepsThe Firefighter's RefrainTo Catch a Wife

by Rula Sinara

  Hugging her in return, Caleb said, “Yes, but she’s creating where she’s not supposed to. First the community center at Green Meadows, now the rez’s recreation center.”

  “I told her she needed permission.”

  “You knew about this?”

  “She mentioned how she would like to make her mark at the rez when she was here the other day. I tried to advise her on how to get her work approved.” Maddie shook her head. “She should have listened to me.” His mother cupped his cheek as if in sympathy. “This is no end-of-the-world situation. Angela just painted a mural on the bulletin board. Harold Fox said it was a very vivid, if inappropriate, image.”

  Sighing, Caleb called, “Angela, come on out. We’re going home!”

  “Honey, she’s not here. Harold insisted the girls paint over the work and restore the bulletin board with the signs and posters they removed. He said he would give back the keys to the motorbike when they finished.”

  Even though he was angry with Angela, Caleb wouldn’t mind seeing the work for himself. It had to be related to the Green Meadows mural. Had to be about his daughter’s emotional upheaval over her mother’s continued absence. But a wild woman on a buffalo? He needed to find a way to talk to her about it.

  “I’m going to head over to the center, then.”

  “Walk,” Mom said. “It’ll give you a few minutes to even out that temper of yours.”

  “All right,” he groused, brushing his mother’s forehead with a kiss before going after his daughter.

  The recreation center was a five-minute walk that started down a street lined with tidy houses, several with big yards. Two goats frolicked in one of the fenced properties, and chickens squawked from another. A woman was out working on her early spring vegetable garden and a toddler who reminded him of his Angel at that age was helping.

  Where had the years gone? He would give anything to go back in time a little, to when his daughter still thought he sprinkled the heavens with stars just for her. Now he couldn’t even get her to respect his wishes.

  Caleb turned the corner at the shopping area—the recreation center was on the other side of the village. He was halfway there when he saw a familiar-looking woman coming his way. His stomach immediately tightening, he stopped in his tracks.

  It couldn’t be...or could it?

  He looked harder.

  Long blue-black hair swirled around a traditionally attractive face that had matured since the last time he saw it. Broad cheekbones, straight nose, dark, fathomless eyes. Eyes he would know anywhere because they had once haunted his teenage dreams.

  Eyes that widened when they set upon him. Still coming toward him, she murmured, “Caleb Blackthorne...”

  “Lily Trejo.” His voice was stiff. “What are you doing back here?”

  “This is my home.”

  “You haven’t been here in fifteen years, and your parents moved away more than a decade ago. What home do you mean?”

  “The rez...or...well, that all depends.” She moved closer, her lips turning up.

  “On what?”

  “On my being able to get a decent place to live. You can help with that.” Lily zeroed in on him and placed a hand on his chest, gave him one of those flirty looks she had perfected as a teenager. “I need money for rent and food, Caleb. Or the least you can do is give me a place to stay.”

  Did she really think he was going to let her back into his life? She was doing her best to charm him, but Caleb wasn’t buying. That ship had sailed when she’d abandoned him and their baby and had never so much as called to find out how they were doing. Gripping her hand a bit harder than he meant to, he removed it from his chest. He wanted nothing to do with her personally. There was no soft place left in his heart for her anymore.

  “My mother can help you find some place to stay and get you into a job program.”

  “I didn’t say I was looking for work.”

  She tried moving closer again, but Caleb stepped back. “You can’t think I’m going to give you any kind of assistance.”

  “It would only be fair so I can get a proper place to live for Angela and me. You had our daughter all these years. Now it’s my turn.”

  “Angela? That’s what this is about?” So this was why his daughter had gone off the deep end lately? Because of her mother’s influence? Angela hadn’t even told him she’d met Lily! “You’re not taking her away from me!” He couldn’t keep the edge out of his voice. “Angela isn’t going anywhere with you.”

  Lily’s expression grew cross. “She’s a young woman now. She needs her mother’s influence.”

  “Only if that influence is a good one.”

  “You mean like the influence of an outsider?”

  “Excuse me?” He grew aware of people stopping in the street, staring at them.

  “I’ve seen you with that woman.”

  Lily meant Grace. She must have seen them talking or something, since they hadn’t even had their first date. “Who I see is none of your business.”

  “But our daughter is my business. I’m here for her now.”

  “I’ve been here for my daughter for fifteen years while you went off and—”

  A shrieked “Dad!” got through to him.

  Caleb rose from his cloud of anger to see his daughter standing in front of a knot of onlookers barely two yards away. How much had she heard?

  “Angela—”

  “Don’t!” she yelled at him. “I knew you were responsible!”

  “Angela,” Lily said, using her sweetest tone. “I’m your—”

  “I know who you are!” Their daughter shoved past them in the direction of his mother’s house. “Right now, I hate you both, so leave me alone! I’m staying with Gran Maddie tonight!”

  “Angela! Angel!” Caleb called in vain. Turning back to Lily, he said, “Now see what you’ve done. You left her easily enough. You said you didn’t want any responsibility. You never even told her you loved her and that you were sorry to leave her!” Which he’d never stop holding against his child’s mother. “Why couldn’t you just stay away?”

  He didn’t miss Lily’s hurt, though she quickly covered it with a neutral expression. She couldn’t hide the tears in her eyes, though, as he turned and walked away from her the way she had from him and their baby all those many years ago.

  * * *

  ON SATURDAY MORNING, Grace found herself in the office again, since Dad had made an appearance, having driven out from Milwaukee to take a look at the landscaping proposal for Green Meadows. Grace had turned the landscaping blueprints and cost analysis over to him, then had retreated to her office. Distracted as usual from her growing stack of paperwork, she couldn’t help smiling as she leaned back in her office chair and thought about that afternoon’s date with Caleb Blackthorne.

  Boating on the lake and a picnic at the nature center seemed like a fun way to end the week. He’d confirmed with a call the night before. She’d volunteered to bring the picnic and that morning, on the way into the office, had stopped at the Main Street Cheese Shoppe, where she’d asked Priscilla Ryan to pack a basket of goodies for her. She and Priscilla had developed a close friendship over the past year, though Priscilla spent most of her free time with her boyfriend, Sam Larson. Thinking about the handsome ex-rodeo rider, Grace couldn’t blame her friend. She was looking forward to spending a little downtime with a man of her own one day.

  Maybe Caleb Blackthorne...

  A thrill ran through her at the now-familiar thought. She hadn’t been able to stop wondering what it would be like to go on an actual date with him. They had so much in common, she looked forward to learning more about his ideas on conservation. And more personal things about him, as well. There was simply something about Caleb that was irresistible. A charisma that gave flight to a little fantasy on h
er part. The only negative was his daughter’s obvious dislike for her. She hadn’t forgotten the looks Angela had given her at the Pancake Day festival.

  What could she do about that?

  Hopefully time would soften the girl’s attitude.

  Assuming she and Caleb continued to see each other...

  Grace sighed as she rose from her desk to meet with Dad in his office. He’d been more grouchy than usual with her lately, undoubtedly because she’d skipped the past couple of meetings he’d wanted her to attend in Milwaukee. She’d felt she was needed more here...and attending those meetings would only reinforce his determination to make her his successor in the company.

  Grace did manage to pull herself together and put on a pleasant expression as she traded her office for her father’s. Sitting behind his massive mahogany desk, where the landscaping cost analysis was spread out before him, he wore an expression of extreme disappointment when he met her gaze.

  “Dad, what’s up?”

  “The numbers on the landscaping.”

  Uh-oh. “They are a little high because we’re planning on using so many native plants.” Which were, admittedly, more expensive than the more popular plants one could buy from a big-box store.

  “A little high? The cost analysis is twice what it should be.”

  “But totally worth the extra cost.” Grace took a deep breath and placed her hands on the desk so she could meet his gaze directly. “This is a green community. It only makes sense to landscape the grounds so they meet the same standards.”

  “Who is going to know the difference?”

  “I will. This is my baby, Dad. I want it to be perfect.”

  He scowled at her. “Or you can simply make it look good at a lower cost, an alternative you should be considering as the next CEO of this company.”

  There it was. Her father must sense her emotional upheaval about taking over for him. He’d never asked if she wanted the job. He’d simply assumed she would move up when he retired. And she couldn’t tell him straight out that she didn’t want to be a CEO, that she wanted to explore more green building, an idea that truly excited her. Her father had already suffered too much heartbreak in his life. She just couldn’t admit she didn’t want to be CEO, not when he counted on her so deeply, but she wasn’t going to give up on Green Meadows, not without a fight.

  She cleared her throat. “So let’s be clear about this. Your only objection is the money.”

  “Profit is what makes a company a success.”

  “Walworth Builders is a success, Dad. You’ve devoted your life to it and it has done very well by you. By us.” She tapped the papers on his desk. “How much of a difference will the cost of using native plants make in our lives? We have more than enough money.”

  His frown deepened. “The economy could make another downturn anytime.”

  “Then we’ll deal with it the way you did before,” she reasoned. “In the meantime, you have that new shopping center going up outside of Milwaukee. If you want to cut corners on landscaping, do it there, not here. Green Meadows is going to be a beautiful home to a lot of people. Let it be all that it can be.”

  “This is that important to you?”

  “Yes, it is. And if there are extra costs, I’ll find a way to deal with them. This is my project, Dad. Trust me to see it through.”

  He sighed but didn’t let go of the frown. “Fine. If I can’t trust the next CEO of Walworth Builders, who can I trust? When you’re in my seat next year, you’ll come to realize that perfect is more of a nice concept than a reality. But with that in mind, I won’t interfere in your landscaping decisions.”

  “Thanks.” Grace smiled, but her face felt stiff.

  CEO...next year...

  She had to keep reminding herself that as much as she wanted no part of that job, somehow she would have to make peace with the fact that it was hers.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  BY THE TIME Caleb picked Grace up from the Main Street Cheese Shoppe, she was holding a woven picnic basket lined with a red-and-white-checked cloth.

  “Looks mighty fancy for a picnic,” he said.

  “A nice presentation always makes good food taste even better.”

  He thought Grace looked pretty sweet herself in pale yellow pants and a matching cotton sweater. She’d pulled her long dark hair up into a ponytail. About as casual as he’d ever seen her. He liked it, made him feel more in tune with her somehow.

  He took the basket from her and swung it in the back of his truck, laying it on top of the plaid blanket he’d appropriated from his daughter’s sweat lodge. Helping Grace into the passenger seat wiped away thoughts of anything but the woman. As she brushed by him, her hair smelled real nice, like fresh lavender when a breeze blew through the yard. Reluctantly letting her go, he rounded the truck and got in on the other side.

  “So where do you keep your boat?” she asked as he pulled from the curb.

  “I don’t own. I rent from McClintock Boat, Bait and Tackle.”

  “Oh, John McClintock’s place. I met him and Margaret Becker at the Cheese Shoppe,” Grace said. “Priscilla told me they’ve been an item since Margaret’s niece Kristen Lange Novak came back to work at Margaret’s quilting shop a couple of summers ago.”

  “Proof that romance can happen at any age.”

  “So you’re a romantic?” she asked.

  “Try hopeful.”

  Grace laughed. “We have something else in common.”

  “See, it’s working already.” Caleb grinned.

  He really liked Grace Huber. There was an easiness about her that made him feel good.

  “It’s a perfect day, don’t you think, for an outing on the lake?” Grace said.

  “Perfect,” he agreed, swallowing hard.

  Hopefully, some time spent in nature with charming company would distract him from his problems, at least for a few hours. Grace deserved his undivided attention, just as he deserved hers.

  Within a few minutes, they’d arrived at McClintock’s business and left the truck parked in the lot at the top of the slope.

  When they went down to the landing, John McClintock greeted them personally. “Going out on the lake, are you? Good thing I saved this last boat for you.” He winked at them. White-haired with bright blue eyes, the man was in his midseventies, retired and running a small, cherished business that kept him vital.

  “Thanks, John. I appreciate it.”

  Margaret Becker was there, too. “Caleb. And Grace.” Her eyebrows shot up as if in pleased surprise. “Good to see you both. Together.”

  Caleb grinned at her. “Sorry I haven’t had that chance to call you about teaching those combined workshops yet.”

  “We still have a couple of weeks before we have to submit the proposal for a short-term project between summer and fall sessions. Maybe we could get together to talk about it next week.”

  “Sounds like a plan. I have an early morning class on Tuesday. Would you be free around ten thirty?”

  “Perfect,” Margaret said. “We can meet in the faculty break room.”

  That settled, they got down to the business of renting the sole boat tied to the dock.

  “Stay out as long as you like,” John said once they had climbed aboard. “If I’m closed when you bring it back, just make sure it’s secure.”

  Caleb gave him a one-finger salute. “Will do.”

  Releasing the line and pushing away from the dock, he took over the oars and began rowing. The boat quickly shot toward the middle of the lake. Grace had draped herself backward, her face lifted up to the sun. She looked so pretty, relaxed as she was, that it made his gut tighten a bit.

  Then she said, “So Margaret has some ideas for the two of you to combine your teaching areas in a class?”

  �
�Apparently. Makes sense, especially for a late-summer workshop, perfect weather for going on excursions.”

  “So you would help them identify plants, and Margaret would then take over when they drew them?”

  “I’m guessing that’s her idea.”

  Grace nodded. “You’ll give your students a new appreciation of nature.” She liked the fact that he was willing to try different things. They had that in common.

  “I keep looking for ways to get my students invested in conservation.”

  “What? They aren’t all enthusiastic?”

  Caleb pulled at the oars and the boat flew across the calm water. “Most of them take my beginning class to fulfill their biological science requirement. They choose it rather than having to dissect small animals.”

  Grace shivered. “Oh, I wouldn’t like that, either. But if I took your class it would be because I was truly interested.”

  “You would take a beginning class?” he asked.

  Did that mean she was really thinking about it? Because she was considering staying in the area? The idea warmed Caleb toward her even more.

  “Possibly. Assuming I’m still around.”

  He let the subject drop for a while, simply taking pleasure in the sun and the breeze blowing over them. Taking more pleasure in watching Grace, who seemed to absorb the experience as if it was her first time flying across a lake in a rowboat. He doubted that was true, because she was an outdoor person. Liked hiking and birding, so no doubt any kind of boating was on her list, as well.

  They skimmed the smooth waters and quickly reached the nature center. Caleb was glad to see that the small dock was free. They would have the picnic area to themselves. Alone with Grace Huber...he had to admit this was perfect. He tied up the boat and helped her out, then picked up the basket and blanket and led the way to a flat area that would give them a spectacular view of the lake and the houses lining the shore.

  Spreading the blanket, he asked, “What about Phase 2 for Green Meadows? Do you think you’ll go ahead with it?”