Well, now that was certainly over.
Chaos was something that she had kissed goodbye and moved far away from, and for good reason. By coming home and embracing her roots, she found solace. The Deep South would always flow through her veins, and now she was answering its siren call.
Coming home meant one thing. She could slip under the radar and be safe.
It was all that Callie ever wanted.
Myrtle Springs was a great little town, especially if you wanted to blend in and find tranquility. When Callista was at her most broken, she knew it would patch her up. Granted, it wasn’t her actual home as a child, but it reminded her of it. What was the difference anyway? One small town was the same as the next. How she picked it was nothing more than chance. It wasn’t far from her family, and yet far enough away.
For now, it was enabling her to start over.
Was she running like a big chicken?
Hell, yes, she was, but that was more than okay in her book. The time she put into her past was more than enough to earn her a little slice of normalcy.
She bled for her career, and now it was time to just live her life. When she almost died, Callista knew that there had to be a change.
Now, she was living the dream.
Running, in her eyes, wasn’t a cowardly act, but one that was meant to save her soul. How much death and pain could one person survive and retain still their sanity?
She knew it wasn’t much. The psyche was a delicate thing, and she wanted to keep hers intact.
There was no remorse, sorrow, or pain at leaving her career. In fact, there was a standing invitation to return to it at any time, and that was always there on the back burner- percolating in her mind.
For now, coming to Myrtle Springs was the best decision that she had ever made. Sometimes change was needed in order to move forward, and she firmly believed that. When one door closed, another would open.
As of this moment in time, the door led to normalcy in a small town. Who knew fate could be more than just a bitch? In her case, it was offering her a second chance, and Callista Carter was forever grateful.
Callie stopped the daydreaming and grabbed the files sitting on her table as she moved out to her patio. Waiting for her was her beloved café table, which would act as her make shift desk for the first part of the morning.
She sipped black coffee, and began flipping through tomorrow’s patient files. Since moving to Myrtle Springs from the rush of Raleigh, Callie had moved seamlessly back into small town life. Her parents lived in the next state over, and when she had heard that the local psychiatrist was retiring, Callie took it as a sign that it was time to make the change.
While her parents wanted her to move home and stay with them, that wasn’t happening. Callie liked freedom a little too much.
It wasn’t as if she didn't love her family, but at her age, she couldn’t see herself being smothered to death by her worried parents.
What she needed was a little space, and a few hundred miles as a buffer between them.
Fortunately, with the holiday approaching, Callie had a light patient load for tomorrow. Mondays were generally slower. It seemed that no one had mental breakdowns until Tuesday.
She laughed at her own observation and took another sip of her coffee. Soon, the day would be sweltering hot, and she would have to move inside to work. Later she planned on meditating, weeding her flowerbeds, and maybe working on her tan. It was always cathartic to sit among the flowers in the sun, and let their beauty fill her.
Life was good now, and Doctor Callista Carter intended to enjoy it. Sitting back in her chair, she propped her legs up onto the other seat. Today was the epitome of a fine southern summer, and Callie had a sneaking suspicion that it was only going to get better.
* * *
Across the sleepy little town, people were milling around in preparation for early Sunday services. There were only two churches in Myrtle Springs, so the options were greatly limited. It was either ‘Saint Mary’s’, by the courthouse, or ‘The Church of the Good Shepard’, across town.
Being in the South, churches and Sunday morning worship services were a common thing, and almost everyone attended. If you didn't, you were going to be fodder for gossip and speculation. It was expected that on Sunday, you were in your best clothes, happiest smile, and singing your heart out with the rest of your neighbors as they praised God.
If you weren’t…
Well, then you just weren’t being a good Christian.
No one was immune to it. Even Sheriff Quinton Gaines was no exception. Despite having a million other things that he would rather be doing, he was still there in his white button-down shirt and dress pants, groomed and ready to go. He may dislike every second of it, but sometimes you needed to do things you despised in life.
Hadn’t he learned that throughout his career?
Besides, it was good PR for the sheriff’s department to commune with the rest of the town’s citizens. Still, church was most definitely on the bottom of his to-do list. Quinn would rather have been lying in bed, wrapped around the warm body of a gorgeous, raven-haired doctor. Since she arrived in Myrtle Springs, it had become his one mission in life. Unfortunately, he was failing miserably.
One would think it would be easy to catch a sexy woman when you were in the prime of your life.
Well, it wasn’t. Quinn had the worst luck on the face of the earth, especially when it came to the woman of his dreams.
She made his heart skip.
His pulse raced.
The palms of his hands itch.
God, what he wouldn’t do to get a few moments alone with Doctor Callie Carter. He, and every other bachelor, had eyes for her. The woman had every able-bodied male, this side of the river basin, aquiver at all the possibilities.
Quinn refused to give up.
Closing his green eyes, he prayed that there would be some divine intervention on God’s behalf. There was that saying, ‘ask and ye shall receive’, and he was going for it. The corners of his lips curved up, as he found it entertaining. Here he was in church, asking for a woman.
Yeah, when God struck him down for his sex-laden thoughts, he wouldn’t be surprised in the least. Getting up from the altar, he lit a candle and crossed himself.
Oh well, if he was going to go, at least it was in church. His soul wouldn’t get too lost.
Taking his seat, he glanced down at his watch. At least it would only be forty-five minutes of his time. Before he knew it, Quinn would be home watching whatever sporting event could be found on TV.
Quinton stretched out his long legs and ran a hand through his sun streaked brown hair, ready to endure the Sunday morning ritual before he owned the rest of his day.
Many things in life were just a burden, and this was one of them. After all, wasn’t life all about sacrifices?
* * *
Callie sat in garden between the Foxglove and Belladonna. She had purchased the flowers from one of the few friends she had made since moving to Myrtle Springs. On one fateful day, Callie walked into ‘The Herb Pot’, the small floral shop in town, as she took a break from seeing patients. There stood the proprietor, Susie Barnes, behind the counter.
Friendship was born.
The minute the two women began talking, they realized that they had so much in common, despite their obvious differences. While Callie had dark hair and sharp features, Susie was the polar opposite with her blonde flouncy curls. Quickly, the two women bonded, and no longer were either alone. Both were very grateful for that.
Susie may have been the local eclectic, who was shunned by most of the citizens because she was different, but now Callie had something she desperately missed. Suddenly, fate intervened, and there was someone to be her friend. Immediately, Callie felt kinship and the two women had become close, despite the gossip and nastiness that was often spewed their way.
Callie religiously purchased all her herbs and plants from Susie, and together they shared many laughs and giggles,
just like schoolgirls. Since they were often the topic of conversation, the two women decided to have their own clique. They even had a secret code for the women in town who were habitually rude to them. Thus, the CCCL was born, alongside a friendship that Callie valued immensely.
At the loud clanging of the church bells in town, Callie was pulled back to the here and now. Focusing on her gardening, she began yanking out the tiny weeds, which were just starting to sprout in her flowerbed.
Like the women in town who judged her, they too were a thorn in her side. Often, they tried to ruin the beauty she was trying to create in her little part of the world. Oh well, like the weeds, Callie would make sure that she handled anyone who tried to infringe on her happiness in Myrtle Springs.
Because no matter what, Callista was set in her ways, and nothing would keep her from staying.
This was now her home.
* * *
Quinn Gaines really wanted to fall asleep. He was having flashbacks to his own youth. While he didn't mind sacrificing an hour of his day off, he did mind listening to the same old recycled message.
The priest was on a tangent, standing there as he droned on and on about the sins of man. If the priest could see what was bouncing around in his brain regarding the woman he was infatuated with, he’d be appalled. Quinton was willing to break just about every rule, commandment, and sin when it came to Callista Carter.
When the priest said absolution, he fought hard not to smile. Yeah, he wouldn’t even ask for it, since Quinton knew he would just do the same thing over and over.
As the heat built, the next thing on his mind was how he could use a cold beer right about now. It was going to be almost ninety degrees and sitting in the church, and he could, already, feel a trickle of perspiration down his back.
The sudden movement off to his left had Quinn glancing over, as one of his deputies was walking quietly into the church. The man was desperately trying to blend in, but failing miserably. Guns in a church always made a scene, as did the hat he had forgotten to remove.
After Deputy Oaks leaned down to whisper into his ear, he stood, following him out of the service. The entire back of the church glared at the two men with less than happy looks. Well, this would just give them more to talk about over their sweet tea and peach cobbler.
When they were outside, he stared impatiently at his deputy. “What’s wrong?”
“Sorry to bother you, Sheriff, but I just got back from Judge Parker’s house. It seems his youngest, Sissy, never came home last night.”
It wasn’t like he wasn’t grateful to be rescued from Sunday mass, but this couldn’t seriously be an emergency in anyone’s mind. A part of him still expected something like when he was working the streets in Atlanta.
You know, guns, knives, shootings.
Now, those were emergencies.
“She probably hooked up with a man, Junior,” he drawled casually, knowing how wild the Parker girls could be. Sissy was definitely no exception. The barely legal girl had been dogging his every move for months, and had been instrumental in costing him his one shot at the gorgeous doctor he lusted after.
In the back of his mind, Quinton didn't doubt that Sissy was off hiding, just waiting for him to show up so she could climb all over him and trap him in more of a mess.
It wasn’t happening.
Now, he was wiser and on alert. He was still in clean up mode, as he tried to rectify the devastating blow Sissy had inflicted on his libido when it came to Callie.
Junior agreed. “I told the judge the same thing, but he said Sissy knew she had to go to church. He swears his daughter would never intentionally forget to come home.”
“What does Judge Parker want me to do?” he asked, already knowing what the answer was going to be. It looked like his day of cold beer and hot doctor fantasies were going out the window pretty damn fast.
“He wants us to start looking. He said that she left to meet up with someone at ‘Ollie’s Wilde Hare’ at eight last night, and never came home.”
Quinn sighed. “Get the deputies on duty to start checking all the abandoned places where folks go to make out. Maybe she shacked up and fell asleep somewhere. I’ll swing by my place to get my gun, and then I’ll meet you out at Old Hill Road.”
“Yes, sir,” he said, hustling away.
Quinn headed toward his truck, letting out an exasperated sigh. Well, so much for a quiet day off in the cool comfort of his air-conditioned house. It looked like duty was about to call, and he had no choice but to man up and hunt for a horny teenage girl.
“Damn it,” he muttered, as he jumped into the cab of his truck.
What wouldn’t he give for a long weekend off?
Forty minutes later, Quinn was driving out to meet up with the deputies. When he went past the quaint house, owned by the new town shrink, he knew that he needed to stop.
It was the nice thing to do.
Who was he kidding? It was more like a raging compulsion.
Something about the doctor pulled at him like no one else ever had before. Quinn slowed his truck down and figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask the good doctor if she had seen Sissy Parker wandering around.
Although, it was more like had Doctor Carter seen the woman stalking her, in hopes of knocking out the competition.
The visual made him grin. God, he wished the raven-haired woman was fighting for his attention. Quinn knew that he would give it to her in a heartbeat.
Then, his mind went there as he flushed with heat. Maybe that was a bad choice of words to use.
Taking a deep breath, Quinn hopped down out of his truck and pulled his hat over his eyes to hide the heat that he was sure burned there. Quietly, he wandered over to where he had seen the doctor weeding her flowerbeds to simply watch her.
God, she was amazing.
From the dark trail of hair down her perfectly shaped back, to sculpted features that drew his attention, the man was sucked in fast. The prim and proper, Doctor Callista Carter, was moving through the flowers in the tiniest cutoff shorts he had ever seen in his life. They only added to the long slim legs and the graceful movements of her body. As her hips swayed, hypnotically, he was suddenly thirsty and hungry. Somehow, Quinn doubted that anything short of having her could quench his need.
He could tell when the woman realized that she wasn’t alone.
Callie turned quickly, fear washing over her. As quickly as it had come, it was gone when she realized that it was a familiar face. “Well, hello, Sheriff. I didn’t hear you there. It seems that I was lost in my own little world.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Callie moved out of the flowers, taking in the long, lean length of the man standing before her. He was tan and incredibly sexy as he leaned casually against her porch. His eyes scanned everything, taking in his surroundings, and that included her too. Despite trying to fight it, her temperature rose as his cool green eyes met hers.
At one time, Callie was drawn to him and even accepted a date. To say it didn't go well was an understatement. She had found him flirting with the women in town the very next day. It was like their date never happened.
Okay, to be fair to him, it wasn’t all the women in town. It was one eighteen-year-old, and it had tainted her impression of the rugged sheriff. It wasn’t that she didn't still want him, but Callie didn't play games, and the man who was now standing in her garden appeared to be the king of them.
Callie gazed up into his eyes, which were shaded by his hat. She couldn’t read his expression, but knew that he wasn’t there on business. Her heart started to pound as he stared at her. The look spoke volumes.
Granted, she still wanted him, but she knew deep down that the Casanova in Levi’s would be a big mistake.
She didn’t think she could afford to make at that point in her life. Yet, the desire was still there. In the back of her mind, she wanted to give him a second chance, but lately, he had been keeping his distance.
Okay, here went nothing.
“Would you like some sweet tea, Sheriff?” she asked, still standing in front of him as she stared deep into his green eyes.
Quinn thought about the time and figured he might not get another chance to sit with the doctor. Once, he almost had her in his grasp, but one monumental screw up later—they were back to where they started.
At zero.
“That would be real nice, ma’am. It’s hot out here today,” he replied, as he followed her to the flower-shaded patio. Sitting down across from her, Quinn tried to focus on anything but the fact that she looked edible, and that he desperately wanted a taste.
Make that a full on sexy woman binge.
Callie poured the cold tea into a glass and handed it to the large man sitting beside her. Whenever he was around, she had to admit that she felt safe. It wasn’t exactly a bad feeling.
“So, Sheriff, what brings you to my house?” She poured another glass and sat back, crossing her legs. Without a doubt, she knew he was openly watching every move, and that thought didn’t disappoint her at all. In fact, it shot heat right through to her gut.
“Judge Parker pulled me out of church. It seems that Sissy never came home last night, and she’s still missing.”
Callie took a sip of tea and studied the male in front of her. Quinton Gaines was a very handsome man. He was tall, sexy, and built like a brick shithouse. It wasn’t hard to see why women followed him around like he was the damn pied piper.
It pissed her off because she would be one of the mice, too, and she was woman enough to admit it.
The biggest offender in Callie’s eyes was Sissy Parker. She tried not to react to the woman’s name, praying she could pull it off.
“She probably met someone, and is cuddled up with them right now. We all know how voracious she is when it comes to men.” It was catty, but she said it anyway. After all, look at their situations.
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