Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise)

by Sarah O'Rourke

  One thing was certain, however. She couldn’t deny that it was nice to cook for someone that had a healthy appetite and appreciated her efforts, she thought to herself as she collected their dishes and made her first trip to the sink.

  Thirteen short minutes later Melody hummed happily as she closed the dishwasher and started the wash cycle. Her granny had always said that sure hands made short work, and the elderly woman had known what she was talking about. Quickly wiping down her kitchen counters with a dish rag, she released a satisfied sigh when she looked around and surveyed her now clean again kitchen.

  “I’m not getting any younger in here, Princess. You ‘bout done in the kitchen? I wanna know what’s in these boxes Santa left for me,” she heard Callum’s resonant voice shout from the other room.

  Melody chuckled as she flipped the light switch to the kitchen off and headed to the living room, silently hoping that he liked the gifts she’d wrapped for him. “I swear, you are worse than any eight year old I’ve ever encountered,” she teased as she joined Callum in front of the Christmas tree. “Where the heck did all these presents come from?” she asked, her eyes widened with surprised as she stared at the gifts stacked underneath the tree.

  “Most were stashed in my truck. Between picking up the gifts your brother mailed to you and half the town stopping me over the past week to drop off gifts for us, I’ve been harboring quite the haul in the truck. Honestly, I was surprised we were so well liked. Turns out, in a small town, everybody wants you to have a merry Christmas. Hell, several of these were deliveries at the store, but you’ve been so absorbed with alphabetizing your reading sections, you barely noticed when somebody would come into the store.”

  “I guess I have been a little preoccupied, but, in case you’ve somehow missed my mania, disorganization drives me bat crap crazy. The good news is that I suppose when you’re opening a couple of businesses in said town, people are grateful, huh?” Melody added with a pleased smile. “Between my book and yarn supply store and your gym-to-be, Paradise is getting a couple of businesses they haven’t had access to.”

  “Speaking of the gym, I’ve got a lead on an empty warehouse over on Mason Street that the realtor seems to think would be easily converted into a gym. There are even a few rooms that could be used for classes like yoga and cardio fitness. I didn’t like the realtor though,” he complained. “The guy just seemed shady.”

  “What was his name?” Melody asked curiously, kneeling on the floor in front of the Douglas fir that Cal had cut down for her a few days ago. They’d had a blast decorating it, even though they’d ended up with more tinsel on each other than the tree.

  “Dude by the name of Henry Watson. Honestly, the clown just gave me a bad feeling.”

  “Hmmm. I went through Watson Realty to get my building but I dealt with an Emmaline Larson. She was a real sweet girl. I’ll dig her card out of my wallet for you.”

  “Yeah, I’m gonna talk to Zeke or Patience McKinnon’s husband d first.”

  “Abel Turner? Why? You need a lawyer?”

  “No, but from what I hear, they are the go-to guys if you wanna know anything in this town. It’d help me if one of them know who the owner is and if they’d be amenable to me approaching ‘em direct. I’m more interested in owning than renting anyway and I wanna know if they’d be open to an offer. Like I said, Henry just gave me a bad feeling. If I can avoid giving him my money, I will.”

  “Well, he is the owner of the business, I think. Sometimes those guys have a big ego. From what I remember my grandmother saying about him, he came from old money.”

  “Well, he’s not getting my money if I can help it. At least not the commission. If I have to go through his agency, I’ll call that Emmaline chick that helped you,” Cal declared, getting on the floor beside her and grinning when she handed him a gift.

  “Okay, that one is from me,” she said. “I hope you like it.”

  Shaking the box carefully, he brought it to his ear and listened. “I don’t hear any ticking,” he murmured warily.

  “Oh, please,” she jeered, “Give me some credit. If I going to kill you, I’d do it with my bare hands. From what I’ve read, it’s much more satisfying.”

  Cal chuckled as he peeled the wrapping paper from the present and carefully opened the box. “Mel, what did you do?” he growled, withdrawing the weathered brown leather bomber jacket from the tissue paper inside the box.

  “Don’t you take that tone with me, Sergeant. Trust me, those thin jackets you’ve been wearing are not gonna carry you through a Smoky Mountain winter. You needed something with some weight to it,” she explained, enjoying watching his surprised face as he stroked the soft leather. “RJ has one, and he loves his, and I figured since you two were such good friends that you might have the same kind of taste.”

  “We do, babe,” Cal acknowledged softly, unable to pull his eyes away from the coat.

  “Cal? Are you okay?” Melody asked worriedly, looking from him to the leather jacket and back again. “If you don’t like the color, we can exchange it. I got it at the mall in Knoxville, and I know you probably aren’t a mall kind of guy because no guy ever is, but…”

  “Princess, shut it,” he ordered quietly, finally lifting his eyes to hers.

  What Melody saw in his gaze made her catch her breath. “Cal?”

  “I told you how I grew up,” he began softly, his deep voice weighty with emotion. “Christmas wasn’t exactly something I could look forward to as a kid. When I became a man, I spent a lot of time just ignoring the holidays. Honest to God, this year is the first year I’ve ever actually been eager to get to December 25th. And that has everything to do with you. This gift…it’s the nicest thing anybody’s ever given me, babe.”

  “I don’t know whether that makes me happy or sad, Callum Valentine,” Melody breathed, blinking back tears.

  “Go with happy, Sweetness. I am,” he murmured, leaning forward to touch his mouth to hers in a gentle kiss.

  In that moment, Melody was thrilled that she’d gone a little Christmas crazy at the last moment and gotten Cal several presents. When she’d wrapped them, she’d been concerned that he’d think she was trying to impress him. Now, she was just glad she could give him a small taste of what he should have had his whole life. Reaching for another gift, she dropped it in his lap and grinned at him. “Well, you should know that I love all the holidays; be prepared for a lot of decorating and gifts around this place. It’s a house rule to celebrate every major holiday.”

  And as they began to sort gifts, Melody wondered if she hadn’t just completely fallen for her brother’s best friend.

  ~~***~~

  “Okay, we’re down to the last two,” Melody announced, sitting amid the discarded wrapping paper. She leaned toward him and dropped a slim box into Cal’s lap with a hand that still trembled while she placed the other over the small wrapped package in her lap. She’d received several wonderful gifts this afternoon. From the first edition copy of Little Women that her brother had managed to find and ship to her to the silk scarf she’d received from Harmony McKinnon, she’d been overwhelmed by the generosity of her friends and family. But the gifts she’d received from Callum were the ones that truly touched her heart. The man had gone completely overboard, obviously putting much time and thought into giving her everything from a beautiful black leather briefcase embossed in the corner with her initials to a gorgeous grey cashmere sweater to a heart-shaped locket with a smiling picture of her late grandmother. She still had absolutely no clue where he’d managed to unearth the picture he’d used since she’d never before seen it. Yes, this man sitting next to her was full of surprises.

  “Melody,” Cal growled, wrapping his fingers around the present in his lap. “Woman, you went Christmas crazy with all this stuff you got me. You didn’t need to do all this for me,” he declared with a dark look at his own pile of loot. In addition to the jacket she’d gotten him, she’d added a black pair of motorcycle boots, an engraved keycha
in, a couple books about the Civil War battles he liked to read about and a gift certificate to have his truck detailed.

  “You know, I could say the same about you,” Melody chided, jerking her head toward her own mountain of stuff.

  Cal’s lips twitched. “You deserve it,” he asserted firmly, his eyes narrowing as the met hers. “Besides, I’ve never had a woman to spoil. I’m finding that I kind of like it.”

  Melody’s face reddened. “Well, don’t make a habit of it, and stop calling me your woman.”

  His lips slowly formed a lazy grin. “Now, Princess. We’ve been over this. You already admitted you were mine. And what you’ve gotta understand here is that I’m not like other men…”

  “No kidding,” Melody muttered, privately thinking that this man had a real problem with stating the blaringly obvious.

  “…I’m not one of those pussyfootin’ fuckers that’s gonna do the one step forward and two steps back with you. I’m an Army man. We only move one direction, and that’s forward, and you and me, Mel…we’re gonna move forward together. You get me?” he questioned, staring at her with one eyebrow perfectly arched.

  Pursing her lips, Melody just glared.

  “Melody, you do not test a man like me, babe. Not about this. Not when it matters,” he warned softly.

  “Or what? What will big, bad Callum Valentine do to me?” Melody retorted dryly, refusing to be daunted by the giant of a man in front of her. She wasn’t sure how it was possible, but Cal frightened her a hell of a lot less lately than her ex-asshat of a boyfriend. While Brad had managed to become more threatening than she remembered him ever being in the last few months, her feelings about Cal were just the opposite. She just knew in her soul that he’d never do a thing to harm her. He didn’t have that kind of nastiness in him. Sure, he’d hurt someone to protect those he cared for…but to hurt someone just to get his own way? No, she knew that would never happen.

  Reaching out a long arm, Cal tagged her around the back of her neck, his warm palm cupping her nape gently as he drew her toward him. “What will I do?” he repeated, his low voice smooth like silk. “Well, Melody, if pushed, I’ll have to prove to you just how much you don’t want this thing between us to go backward. I’ll have to show you just how good it’s gonna feel when we move ahead. Are you ready for me to do that, Mel? You wanna take that next step with me?” he murmured against her cheek before nuzzling the space behind her ear. “If you are, just say, babe. God knows that I’d be okay with it.”

  “N-no,” Melody denied breathlessly, her voice thin. “I’m g-good exactly where I am…where we are.”

  Stroking his thumb against the side of her neck, Cal grinned against her temple. “See, that’s what I thought you’d say. I’m glad we can agree.”

  Placing a hand against his solid chest, Melody shoved lightly. “Enough. You got your way. Again. I won’t ‘test’ you,” she said, deepening her voice and making air quotes with her fingers as she mocked him. “Just open your gift, hotshot,” she ordered, nodding toward the wrapped box still in the hand not wrapped around the side of her neck.

  Pecking her on the lips before he released her, Cal chuckled. “Persistent little thing, aren’t you?” he playfully grumbled as he tore the paper off his present.

  Melody shrugged. “I’ve been called worse things,” she replied easily as he tossed away the gift wrap and cracked open the black box. Watching as he pulled out the contents, she breathed a sigh of relief when she watched his smile grow. He liked it, she mentally cheered.

  “Tickets to the reenactment of The Battle of Stones Creek? Really?” he asked, looking up at her in surprise.

  Melody nodded. “It runs through the third of January so you should have plenty of time. The map I looked at said Stone Creek was not too far from Nashville. You and whoever you take as a guest will probably…”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Timeout, lady. Flag on the play,” Cal interrupted, lifting his hand to form the sign for a timeout. “What do you mean me and a guest, Princess? YOU’RE the only person I’d wanna go with so don’t even try that guest bullshit.”

  “Well, I didn’t wanna assume…” Melody’s said, her words trailing off.

  “Well, I want you to assume. Assume away, dammit!” Cal growled. “We’ll go next week. Plan for an overnight stay in Music City,” he instructed firmly.

  Melody bit her lip to keep from grinning. Yes, Cal could be a high-handed SOB, but she was quickly realizing that he was her high-handed SOB.

  “We clear?” Cal asked with a hard look.

  “Clear,” Melody agreed huskily a second before Cal’s leaned toward her again, touching his mouth to hers.

  “Thank you, baby,” he murmured appreciatively against her mouth. “Best Christmas ever,” he declared, resting his forehead against hers before stealing a long kiss from her lips before she could avoid it.

  Humming into his mouth, Melody didn’t even bother trying to fight the attraction she felt to him. It was too late for that. Heck, it had been too late for her that day in the parking lot when he’d wrestled her tire iron out of her hand, dropped to his knees and changed her tire. She’d just been too stubborn to admit it.

  “We’re going to go next week, okay?” he repeated again against her damp lips. “You, me… a nice hotel room in Nashville… tell me that’s not something you want as much as me, Princess?” his voice rumbled against her mouth.

  Not entirely ready to trust him with her heart since she’d had it hurt before, she forced herself to shrug. “Maybe,” she offered, playfully nipping his lip. “We’ll just have to wait and see,” she added, nervously reaching for one of the holiday cookies she’d unwrapped earlier from Brad’s parents and popping it in her mouth. Neither she nor Cal had been thrilled to see that Brad’s parents had sent her a holiday gift, but she wasn’t going to waste the scrumptious gourmet cookies. His parents might be pretentious, but they still had excellent taste, she thought to herself as she chewed another butter cookie. Hell, the gift had probably been her ex’s idea of a peace offering. He must have known she’d never accept a present from him and forced his parents to do his dirty work.

  “Open yours, baby,” Cal reminded her huskily, nodding toward the gift she still held. Hurriedly chewing the remainder of the cookie, she nodded, her fingers already sliding beneath the tape, tearing the bright blue snowflake print paper. Finally unearthing a black velvet box, Melody’s eyes widened on it and lifted to look at Cal with alarm. “Cal, what is th-…”

  Shaking his head, Cal ordered, “Just lift the lid, Princess, and take a look.”

  Nervously pressing the tip of her tongue to the roof of her mouth while her throat did funny things, she cracked the lid on the box and gasped, short of breath. “Cal!” she breathed as her eyes stayed glued to the gorgeous charm bracelet nestled inside the box.

  “Well, don’t just stare at it, sweetness. Take it out and look at it,” he invited her with an amused chuckle.

  Lifting the piece of jewelry gingerly, she stared at it and tried to swallow, frowning slightly when she found it difficult to do so. Cal had chosen her the perfect piece, including charms that pulled at her heartstrings.

  “I tried to pick charms that I thought would speak to you,” he offered quietly, watching her face. “Did I do okay?”

  Moving her eyes from the musical note that she knew represented her late parents to the yellow ribbon that she knew was for her brother, she nodded wordlessly, her eyes still moving over the other pieces. There was a ball of yarn and a pair of knitting needles that she knew he’d chosen for her granny, an open book that represented her coming store, and a pair of entwined hearts that she instinctively understood symbolized their new relationship. “It’s boo-ti-full,” she tried to say, frowning when she heard her garbled voice. Suddenly, her tongue felt thick and swollen inside her mouth as her throat tightened even more.

  “Melody?” Cal asked, his faded blue eyes darkening with concern. “What’s going on, Princess?” he asked as she gasp
ed and lifted a hand to grip her throat.

  Her eyes dilated as it quickly clicked in Melody’s mind what was happening to her. Dropping the jewelry box as she wheezed, her scared eyes darted toward the tin of cookies she’d been eating earlier. Oh, God, she thought, growing more terrified as she gripped her neck with her other hand and struggled to pull in a breath. Those stupid cookies had peanuts in them! “A-allerrtic, Callll,” she managed to rattle past her thickened tongue. “Nuts.”

  “Nuts?” he repeated, confused. Blinking slowly, Melody watched as comprehension dawned on him. “Nuts!” he repeated again. “You’re allergic to nuts!”

  Melody nodded frantically. “Need sot,” she panted while she stared at him with terrified eyes.

  “Sot?” Cal growled, coming to his knees as he reached for her. “You need a fuckin’ ER, Melody!” he continued, his usually calm voice declared in panic.

  “Sot first! Peaze!,” she begged, wheezing heavily and gripping his arm tightly when he would have picked her up off the floor and rushed her to his truck.

  “What the fuck do sot and peas have to do with anything?” he yelled frantically, bending his head to stare at her now puffy face.

  Oh, good God, she thought, as it became harder to breathe. This was like a bad rendition of “Who’s on First.” She could tell by his wild eyes that he wasn’t sure what was happening to her. “Sot! Sot!” she rasped, slapping his arm with one hand as she mimicked giving herself a shot in her thigh with the other.

  “Shot!” he shouted, finally understanding her bad mime impression. “Where, baby? Where is it?” he questioned sharply, his eyes darting around the room.

  “In ma puss,” she answered tiredly, clawing at her throat.

  “Your puss?” he echoed, shaking his head wildly. “Babe, I’m needing help here. Say it again.”

  Melody couldn’t help it. She slapped him on the side of the head. “MY PUSS, ya thuckin’ idit!” she hoarsely screamed, pointing at her purse on the coffee table.