Intertwined Hearts Series (4 book collection): (Intertwined Hearts, An Exceptional Twist, Tangled Paths & Grafted Vines)

by Kimi Flores

“Thanks.” I strutted toward my boss, a woman on a mission, and tried not to think about my tutu bouncing up and down as I walked. The leotard started riding up, but I wasn’t about to pick my butt in front of this crowd.

  I got Principal Hansen’s attention and pulled him to the side. “Um, why are the Powers dressed like that at school?”

  “Dressed like what?” He turned to where I was looking. And of course they noticed me talking to him. Dammit. This was going to bite me in the ass, but I didn’t give a crap right now. Principal Hansen shook his head slightly. “That’s unacceptable. Let me go talk to them.”

  I winced. “Can you wait until I’m no longer standing here? It’s already going to look obvious. Let me step away first?” I turned to face the crowd and nonchalantly pulled the piece of material out of my behind, unable to get a good enough grip. It wasn’t as unpleasant as it had been, but it wasn’t where it belonged either.

  I decided to walk back slowly, so the material didn’t go up any further. Caleb was watching my every step. I tried to ignore the flames in his eyes, but it was extremely difficult.

  As soon as I reached the kids, I was about to tell Caleb he could go back to the audience, when Madison said, “Miss Abby, your tutu bounces like mine does for dance, and I could see your tushy.” She turned to her friend. “My daddy loves to see tushies under tutus.”

  Uhh—Was it possible for me to crawl under a rock? I didn’t know what to say, and I couldn’t look at Caleb.

  Suddenly, he laughed out loud.

  What nerve. It’s not funny.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said, trying to contain himself but clearly failing. “I shouldn’t laugh.”

  His smile got even bigger as another chuckle escaped. Then I noticed the circles under his eyes. When was the last time he slept? I moved in a little closer.

  “What?” he questioned my expression, no longer laughing.

  “You just look tired.” I frowned, wondering what was keeping him from a good night’s sleep.

  “I am,” he sighed. “That’s probably why I laughed. I’m delirious. Haven’t slept well in a while.” We started marching through the school, kids in tow. “I’m on a deadline and trying to get everything done ahead of schedule.”

  I raised an eyebrow, wondering if I should believe him or not. “So nothing to worry about?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “Nothing to worry about.”

  Satisfied with his answer, I continued to walk the kids around the school while avoiding eye contact with the glaring Power Moms, who’d just been kicked off the playground. I was sure they’d end up being a bigger pain in my butt than the leotard currently riding up.

  Without warning, the underwire in my extremely constrictive bra suddenly snapped, stabbing me in the rib. I bit back a groan. Not only did I have a leotard stuck half way up my ass, but now I had to walk around all day with lopsided boobs.

  Fantastic.

  Chapter Ten

  Planting Seeds of Love

  Abby

  I couldn’t wait to spend this beautiful, early November day at the beach with my friends and family. When my mom had mentioned there was going to be a get-together, I’d jumped at the chance to join in. It didn’t hurt knowing Caleb was also going to be there.

  Friday afternoon, I pulled up to the curb and stepped out of my car, immediately placing my palms on my thighs to keep my cover up from catching in the wind. Although I was wearing a bathing suit underneath, I wasn’t interested in giving everyone driving down Shoreline Drive a show. After gathering my things, I started toward the sidewalk when a car came out of nowhere and parked in front of mine. I knew who it was the second his head poked out.

  No. This is not happening.

  Ready to rush away, I pulled my beach bag further up on my shoulder and quickly turned on my heels. I had only made it to the edge of the sand when I felt a hand gently grab my elbow. Seeing Caleb and the rest of my party down on the beach made me wish I was with them already.

  “Wait, Abs. I was driving by and saw you and—”

  Blinking hard, an exasperated sigh escaped my mouth before I turned to face Peter. I wanted to get this over with. “Peter, what do you want from me?”

  “Your forgiveness.” He moved his hand away from my elbow and looked deep into my eyes.

  “I can’t do this right now. My family’s waiting for me.”

  He squinted toward the group, near the water’s edge. “You keep saying you’re too busy, but it’s not healthy to carry around so much hate for someone.”

  I placed my arms across my chest like I did every time I was in an uncomfortable situation. “That isn’t the most inspiring apology. Get on with your life, and leave me alone.” I started to walk away, then turned. I wanted to make my point clear. “Remember, my ‘problems’ are not your concern.” I lifted my fingers to make quotation marks. “You left me when I needed you, Peter. And I can’t forgive you for that. I’ve never been so hurt in my life. Not even when my dad left us. But I’m over you and your so-called apologies.”

  He winced. “Abby, I was seventeen. I didn’t know any better. And, yeah, it’s no excuse, but I know what I did was wrong, and I really need you to forgive me,” he pleaded. “I don’t even know what happened to the baby. One minute you tell me you’re pregnant, and the next you left school. Where is our child, Abs? Did you give it up for adoption, or did you—” He paused a moment. “—have an abortion?” There was a bite to his tone, as if he even had the right to ask such a question.

  “Nice, Peter. Way to make this all better.” I backed away, unable to look at him any longer. My stomach clenched, and I thought I might be sick. “How dare you! Leave me alone, and never contact me again, do you hear me?” I shouted, trying to fight back the tears. I ran to the closest bathroom, hoping to compose myself and avoid throwing up.

  ⁂

  Caleb

  I watched a heated discussion between Abby and her ex-boyfriend. Not wanting to step over any lines, I held back from charging over and making my presence known. But after seeing her dart off to the bathroom, I found my feet moving quickly in that direction. By the time I got to the restrooms, Peter was long gone.

  I waited until Abby stepped out a few minutes later. My heart broke when she looked up with bloodshot, swollen eyes.

  Damn. She’d been crying. Something inside me rumbled and stirred. I felt so protective of her and wanted to pummel her ex. What the hell did he do to make her cry?

  “Hey,” I said softly, pulling her toward me. “Everything okay?”

  She sniffled, resting her cheek against my bare chest. Feeling that contact did funny things to my heartbeat. I felt it speed up a bit, hoping she didn’t notice.

  “Everything is fine now.” She wiped under her eye.

  “I don’t mean to pry, but what happened?” I pulled her away and bent my knees, trying to make eye contact with her, but she avoided looking back.

  With glossy eyes, she stared out toward the water. “I was just talking to Peter, you know, Tiffany and Blaine’s brother.” She moved her gaze toward the ground, then took a quick peek at me before looking away again. “He wanted to rehash things, and I’m not interested. He said just enough to get under my skin, but really, I’m okay now. Let’s go enjoy this gorgeous weather with everyone. I’m tired of letting other people ruin my day.” She pulled away, heading toward the ocean.

  I quickly grabbed her hand and squeezed. “If you’re sure you’re okay—”

  She finally looked at me and smiled sweetly as we walked through the sand.

  ⁂

  Abby

  “Miss Abby, there you are!” Madison squealed as she ran up, wearing a small wetsuit. “I told Grammy you were going to help me plant another seed today, and she told me lots of ‘portant stuff to help.”

  “Great!” I said, feeling excited again. “I brought everything with me so we can do it when we get back to your house later.”

  Caleb had offered to cook for our group at his place, o
nce we were ready to leave the beach. I couldn’t wait to see the home that he and Madison shared.

  “I’m so ascited. I can’t wait! I know why mine didn’t grow before, and I’m sure this one will.” Madison clapped her little hands together and offered a huge full smile, minus that one tooth.

  I thought that was a strange statement, so I had to ask, “You do? Why do you think it didn’t grow?”

  “I’ll show you later, Miss Abby.” She started to run away, toward the direction Caleb had gone a moment ago.

  “Sounds good,” I called out.

  There was something so special about that little angel. I enjoyed all my students, but this sweet girl tugged on my heartstrings. My eyes and thoughts left Madison as I noticed the really hot guy by the oceanfront.

  Caleb had his shirt off when he had found me at the bathroom. I hadn’t realized it then, since I was too preoccupied with what Peter had stirred up, but now I couldn’t stop staring. Turning away, I cleared my throat, hoping he didn’t catch me gawking.

  Though it was hard not to as he carried a surfboard out to the water. My quick breath surprised me. He was gorgeous, sure, but I hadn’t imagined he’d looked like that without a shirt on, cut muscles and all. It made sense if he surfed a lot. I just didn’t expect my reaction, and holy hell, he had an enormous tattoo of an angel covering his entire back.

  I’d love to get a closer look and trace the design with my fingertips. It looked like the angel was bowing and the wings that covered Caleb’s shoulder blades and ribs were hugging the angel. I’d never been interested in guys with tattoos before, but it just looked so yummy on him. Feeling lightheaded, I tried to catch my breath.

  “Get a grip, Abby,” I murmured to myself, looking away. After realizing I’d been gazing at him a little too long, I looked around and saw Grace turn her head away, a slight smile on her lips.

  “Busted,” I mumbled, walking toward the rest of the group.

  Grace was sitting in her beach chair and staring out at the water. “Caleb has taken Madison out on his board with him ever since she was a toddler.”

  “Oh.” It was then that I noticed Madison in front of Caleb on the board as they came in on a small wave. Thank goodness Grace thought that’s what I was staring at.

  Nodding at her, I made my way around to greet everyone.

  With an inquisitive look on her face, my mom said, “I thought Leah was coming.”

  “No, she had a wedding today.” I didn’t hide my disappointment. The only part I didn’t like about Leah’s career was that she had to work a lot of weekends, since weddings were a crucial part of her business.

  “That’s too bad. I haven’t seen her in a while. You girls need to come around more often.”

  “You travel so much, Mom. How can we see you? Is there a cruise you haven’t been on?” I sadly pointed out.

  My mom only smiled. “When you retire from teaching, you’ll see how wonderful it is to travel without a thought about having to go back to work.” Although my mom had loved her job, she enjoyed her retirement even more.

  I dropped my things on the grainy sand and started to remove my modest cover-up. I couldn’t believe Leah had talked me into buying this black crocheted one-piece swimsuit. I’d fallen in love with it when I’d seen it on the mannequin at the department store, but feared my wide hips, larger rear, and ginormous boobs just didn’t look right in it. Oh well. I wasn’t going to chicken out now.

  I grabbed all the courage I could muster and threw the cover-up on top of my unfolded chair.

  “Oh my,” my mom said, a bit shocked, knowing how modest my swimsuits have always been.

  Grace gushed, “That is such a darling suit, Abby, and it looks stunning on you. I love the buttons on the hip area.”

  I could just kiss Grace for using her gift of smoothing out awkward situations.

  Suddenly, Madison yelled, “Daddy, are you okay?”

  I must’ve missed something, because Caleb was no longer in the water. He was lying face down on the sand with his legs wrapped up in the leash of his surfboard. Sand flew from his mouth as he laughed out loud, eyes closed. Madison joined in, covering her mouth as she giggled. He got up and headed toward our group, wiping the sand off his face and body.

  As he approached, his eyes were glued to me. My heart pounded in my chest. I had to look away because, in this swimsuit, it was obvious I was breathing heavily.

  “You okay there, son?” Grace lowered her sunglasses to the bridge of her nose.

  He turned to her and nodded, slightly out of breath. “Yeah, just, uh, forgot to take off the leash, and then I tripped on it.”

  “Interesting.” Grace smirked. “You’ve never done that before.”

  Caleb eyeballed his mother-in-law, silently conversing with her.

  Even though I’d missed it, I had to laugh. The expression on his face was too funny.

  ⁂

  Caleb

  I couldn’t believe I’d actually faceplanted in front of everyone. I’d been caught off guard when I came out of the water and saw what Abby was wearing.

  I mean, holy shit. A man could only take so much.

  I’d been trying to fight it, but my feelings for Abby had grown as strongly as Madison’s had. The moment I saw her today, I could no longer deny it. I’d hardly looked at another woman since Rene had died, and still wrestled with the fact that I shouldn’t want a relationship.

  I had to hand it to Grace, though. She was blatantly orchestrating time with Abby. And Grace had excellent taste. Abby truly was beautiful, inside and out. Now I needed to figure out how to get to know her better before I made any moves. I wanted to do this on my terms, without the prying eyes of our present company.

  Abby broke me out of my thoughts, now sitting down in one of the folding beach chairs. “I didn’t know you surfed. It looks like fun. Is that what Madison meant when she said you like to play in the ocean?”

  “Yes.” I grinned and nodded, pride filling me. “I fell in love with it when we first moved to Santa Barbara. Being from Chicago, we don’t have a lot of surfing opportunities there.” I finally got the leash off and started rubbing a beach towel through my dripping hair. “You should try it. I can teach you.”

  “I’d love that, but—” She looked down at her outfit. “Maybe another day.”

  That was good because her bathing suit may not survive a strong wave. “Sounds great.”

  She grinned, using her hand to shield the sun from her eyes. I couldn’t hold back my own smile.

  “Hey, son, why don’t you take her on Monday? Isn’t that a school furlough day, Abby?” Grace inquired.

  I bit back a groan. My mother-in-law had no shame.

  Abby nodded awkwardly. “Um, yeah.”

  Cautiously, I asked Abby, “Monday then?”

  Madison interrupted before Abby could answer. “Daddy, is it lunch time yet? I’m hungry.” She rubbed her wetsuit and sand-covered belly.

  Grace waved Madison over. “Come over here, baby girl. Grammy will get you some food.”

  Once she ran away, I stepped closer to Abby, then crouched in front of her, trying hard to keep my eyes on her face and not roaming down her body. She didn’t look like she was going to answer on her own, so I asked again.

  “Are you busy on Monday? I’d love to teach you to surf.”

  “Sounds like fun,” she answered, somewhat shyly. “I’d love to.”

  Thank goodness. I didn’t know how I would’ve reacted if she’d said no.

  “Are you hungry? There are some things in the cooler just for you.” I made sure there was food for her. Anytime she was with me, I’d ensured she had something.

  Abby blinked, surprised. “I could eat. Thanks for thinking of me, Caleb,” she said softly.

  Just hearing her say my name like that did funny things to my breathing.

  She seemed to notice, and a familiar blush crept up her cheeks. “I mean, thanks for making sure there was food for me.”

  Smiling, I tea
sed, “Well, we wouldn’t want you to pass out from starvation, would we?”

  She stood up, grazing my chest with her hip, and then froze when I stood up beside her. Good, she was just as affected by me. This day was getting better and better.

  ⁂

  Abby

  We’d had an incredible day at the beach and had just wrapped up dinner at Caleb’s house when Madison came running through the backyard, wearing her rubber rain boots. “Come on, guys. I’m ready to plant my seeds. Let’s go.”

  She pulled her daddy and me away from the rest of the group, over to the area in the back yard where she wanted to plant her lima bean.

  “I think my bean was lonely,” she started, “so I want to plant two of them together, right here in the ground. Grammy says it’s ‘portant that roots have lots of room to grow so that they’re strong and healthy. She also said you have to watch for weeds and yank them out right away so they don’t hurt the plants.” She made a quick jerking motion, like she was ripping weeds from the soil.

  Her boots squeaked as she knelt down and dug a small hole. Sensing the importance of this moment, Caleb and I looked on, and then at each other.

  “Now is the most ‘portant part. Grammy said nothing grows without love, so here Miss Abby, kiss the lima beans.”

  I looked at Madison, then Caleb. I figured I may as well kiss the beans and get it over with. I watched Caleb’s eyes fixed on me.

  Once my lips left the seeds, Madison placed them into Caleb’s large palm. “Your turn, Daddy.”

  He paused a moment, then gave them a quick peck.

  “My turn.” Madison picked the seeds up from Caleb’s hand with her delicate fingers, kissed them, and swayed back and forth, as though she was hugging the beans. She said a little prayer, then placed them in the hole. “Now I’m gonna cover them so they’re nice and warm.” She smoothed her hand across the soil, pushing dirt over the gap. “I just know they’ll grow because they’re happy, loved, and not lonely anymore.” Still kneeling, she poured some water over the small mound of dirt.