Maddie and Connor climbed into their festooned golf cart around midnight, heading for the bridal suite at the Inn. They’d planned a honeymoon to Tahiti, and I knew they were leaving early the next morning to catch a plane. I joined the crowd of people in front of the Outpost, waving them off.
The party wrapped up after that, I was glad again that I’d hired a crew to shut things down, freeing Mike and me up to just go home after a long day.
“It was perfect, Harper,” she whispered, bumping my shoulder as we both walked through the parking lot toward the little road back to the Inn.
“It was,” I said smiling.
Chance and Cam were exchanging a look over our heads, and I felt a surge of joy I could barely contain at being a part of this world, at fitting here so well.
“See you Monday?” I called to her as Cam and I headed for the truck.
She stopped, her eyebrows pulling together in confusion. “Monday? But aren’t you…?”
“If my job is still open, I can explain when I come in Monday,” I said.
“Of course it’s open,” she laughed. “See you Monday.”
I climbed into Cam’s truck as he held the door open for me. “You’re sticking around then?” he asked, looking uncertain.
I looked up at him and smiled, my heart filling again as our eyes met. “I’m not going anywhere,” I said.
We didn’t talk much after that, but the next morning we took the dogs out to the pen and pulled the Adirondack chairs to the fence to watch them tumble around as we drank coffee side by side. When I had woken sufficiently, and emerged from the happy haze of spending a mostly-sleepless night in Cameron’s arms, I turned to look at him.
It hadn’t been easy, loving Cam—and I knew now that just as he said he was falling in love with me, I was in love with him too.
He wasn’t the kind of guy who charmed you to death, or who went around sweeping girls off their feet. He was handsome, that was certain. But I doubted many other girls would have gotten past the gruff armor he’d been wearing when we met, doubted may would have gone to the trouble to see the generous man beneath. Maybe I’d seen it only thanks to proximity. Living right next door and being thrust together over and over by circumstance had given me the opportunity to see the things Cam didn’t show most people—the love he had for his sister, the gentle affection he showed Matilda. In fact, I realized as I’d gotten to know him, that while Cam tried to seem hard and unfeeling, the person he was toughest on—meanest to—was himself.
But that would change. I would help. He’d already stepped so far out of the circle he’d held himself inside when we’d met.
“I hoped we could talk a little bit,” I said, earning Cam’s bright-eyed gaze and a lazy morning-after smile.
“Sure,” he said.
“The things you said last night,” I began. “I heard them all. And they made me really happy.” I paused for a breath and saw concern flit through his eyes, but I needed him to let me get through the things I needed to say. “And first of all, I think I’m falling in love with you too, which you might have noticed last night. Or this morning.” There’d been little doubt, I thought, of my feelings since Cam had told me he was falling in love with me, but I knew I still needed to say it out loud.
Cam smiled, putting his coffee cup on the arm of the chair so he could reach for my hand.
“I’m going to stay, if that’s okay,” I said, already imagining the call with Theo. I didn’t think he’d be too disappointed, actually, especially since Angel had seemed equipped to take my place and had even confided that he’d hoped to partner with Theo before he’d realized I’d gotten there first.
“Of course that’s okay,” Cam said, laughing.
“But I maybe I should move,” I said. “The big house—that was just supposed to be temporary. Maybe I should get my own place, or even go live with my dad…” I trailed off. I hadn’t gotten that far quite yet.
“Or maybe I just move into the big house with you?” Cam suggested.
I thought about that. “But Tuck?”
“Tuck will go back to Los Angeles soon. The job he came to do is almost over, right? We just need to edit the film and deliver it.”
I nodded, feeling a little sad at the thought of Tuck leaving. I’d almost forgotten he wasn’t a permanent part of Kings Grove. “So maybe for now, we keep things just as they are?”
Cam tugged my hand until I stood and resettled myself on his lap. “That’s better,” he said. “For now, we keep things as they are. Or you keep your things up there in the big house and come stay with me in the little house.”
“You and forty dogs,” I laughed.
He chuckled. “Yeah, not for much longer. They’ve all got homes, I think…except Number Five.”
I swiveled to look at him, surprised.
“Tuck took two,” he reminded me. “You’ve got Sequoia. Maddie is taking one, and believe it or not, your dad wants one.”
My heart swelled. That was good. Dad needed company. “So what about Number Five?”
Cam lifted a shoulder. “Guess I’m keeping him.”
“We do need the bigger house,” I said, imagining Matilda and two puppies growing into full sized dogs soon.
“For all the kids, too,” Cam said.
I widened my eyes and stared at him. “Kids?”
“You know, eventually.”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself, Turner.”
He pulled me in for a kiss. “Can’t help it. I want everything with you.”
I stared into those glowing blue eyes, letting my hands settle on his shoulders and thought about that. “I do too,” I told him.
It took a day or two to figure everything out, but as predicted, Theo was neither surprised nor upset that I was changing my mind. Dad was ecstatic, and when I called my mother to let her know my permanent change of address, she sighed into the phone.
“I always knew you’d go back one day.”
There were a lot of things I wanted to say to my mother, to ask her, about the way she’d chosen to raise me. But right now I had other things to focus on. “I’ll talk to you soon Mom,” I told her, turning away from the window to find Tuck behind me, shifting his weight and looking impatient. I hung up. “What?” I asked.
“Come on,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me out the front door and over to Cam’s house.
“What?” I asked again, my voice shrill.
“Patience,” he told me, pushing open the door and dodging dogs to settle me in a chair facing a big screen that had been set up at one end of the living room. Cam sat in the other chair, and I got up and repositioned myself in his lap.
Tuck turned to look at us and feigned an annoyed sigh. “You two,” he said with a grin.
“Just making a place for you to sit,” I told him.
Tuck turned the lights off and started the projector he’d set up next to his laptop, and suddenly, we were back in the Sequoia grove, at Maddie’s wedding. We watched the wedding unfold, shots of people interspersed with views of the setting—the mighty trees, the sweeping sky. The music from the ceremony continued lightly in the background as the movie replayed the vows Maddie and Connor had exchanged, and then captured the reception, including the long kiss Cam and I had shared against the far railing toward the end of the night. The film was beautiful.
I turned to face Tuck. “That was amazing. I’m in awe.”
“Wait till you see the one I did for the Inn,” he grinned, standing to start that one next.
The version he’d put together for the Inn was equally impressive, and I knew Mike would be floored. “No wonder they pay you the big bucks down there in Hollywood,” I said.
“If they did, darlin’, I wouldn’t have come up here so eagerly,” he said, laughing. “And I wanted to ask you guys about that, actually.”
“About what?” Cam asked, turning the lights back on.
“About what would happen if I maybe didn’t go back.”
I look
ed at Cam and back at Tuck. “Didn’t go back? Or stayed here?”
“Both.”
“Yeah, man,” Cam said easily. “Definitely stay here.” He grinned.
“Yeah,” Tuck said, and I got the sense he hadn’t let himself really embrace the idea before passing it by Cam first. “And could I stay here? I mean live at the house?”
“No,” Cam said, and my mouth fell open, along with Tuck’s.
“No?” I asked, surprised.
Cam wrapped his hand around his neck and shook his head. “I mean, yes, of course. But only if we can switch.”
“Switch what?” Tuck asked.
“You live down here. I’m moving into the big house. If it’s okay with Harper, I mean.”
I nodded, completely happy with the solution. “Of course it’s okay.”
“Perfect,” Tuck said. “Let me take you guys to the diner for a burger and we’ll celebrate the two newest residents of Kings Grove.”
We did exactly that, sharing my news and Tuck’s with anyone we saw who might care. When we told Miranda, who was eating lunch with Sam at the next table, she practically danced in her seat. “That’s wonderful!” she said. And then her face became more serious. “Oh, hey, did my dad come up to see you?”
“No, why?” Cam asked her.
“They caught the mountain lion this morning,” she said. “He had a team come up from the valley with tranquilizer guns, and they finally caught it.”
“What do they do with it now?” I hated the idea of the big cat being hurt, though I wasn’t eager to have it continue living and hunting in my backyard.
“He said they’d fly it into the back country—like way back,” she said. “They put a collar on it so they can track it.”
I nodded. I didn’t know a whole lot about wildlife management, but that made sense to me. “That’s good,” I said.
“Thought you’d want to know,” Miranda said. “Especially since you’re sticking around.”
I grinned, feeling my blood warm as my heart seemed to swell with happiness. I took a deep breath, let it out, and realized my yoga teacher would be proud of me. Here, with my life finally settling and Cameron at my side, I could breathe. I could relax. And I was happy.
Epilogue
CAMERON
THREE MONTHS LATER
I wasn’t the guy who things worked out for.
I was cursed. I was the guy who lost everything he loved.
And sometimes, though life had gone much differently than I’d expected, I still felt like that guy and looked around surprised to see the things—the people—that surrounded me and proved day after day that things could change. That we could change.
“Earth to Cam,” my sister said, leaning over to poke me in the shoulder as we sat side by side around the fire pit between my house and Tuck’s. “Did you hear me?”
I laughed, squeezing Harper tighter on my lap. “Yeah, I’m just taking a minute to process,” I said.
“How do you think I felt?” Connor asked. “I needed a few hours. I’m not sure I’ve processed it yet, actually.”
Miranda stood, raising her beer in front of her on the other side of the circle of chairs, the warm fire crackling between us and casting her in a red glow. “To Maddie and Connor, and to baby Charles! I’m so happy for you—I know we all are. Congratulations!”
I raised my beer with the others, my head still spinning that my little sister could be having a baby.
I was going to be an uncle. Maddie and Connor had wasted no time starting their family.
“I’m happy for you guys,” I said, leaning toward my sister who was glowing with contentment.
Maddie turned to smile at me, her eyes shining. “I’m happy for you too,” she said. And as the words left her lips, my eyes were drawn upwards to the sky. It had been cold and gray all day, and there’d been talk of a storm in the village, but we hadn’t seen any reason to cancel plans for the get together tonight. But as Maddie spoke, the first snowflakes of the first winter’s storm drifted down from above, and soon our faces were all tilted to the sky.
“Snow!” Finn cried with excitement, jumping to his feet and reaching his hands up to the sky. Matilda jumped up from my side and joined him, Sequoia yipping up at the sky. Mike, who’d also announced a pregnancy right after Maddie and Connor’s wedding, stood beside him, both of them looking up and laughing, turning in circles as the first flakes thickened into a real snow, the dark sky filling with white as the fire hissed with each landing flake.
I looked down at Harper to find her staring up at me, her eyes full of love and fun and promise, and I wondered how my life could ever be so full.
I was the guy things worked out for. I was the guy who loved those around him fiercely and held them close. I was the guy who Harper Lyles chose, and soon I was going to make her my wife.
THE END
Afterword
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Sneak Peek - Christmas in Kings Grove (Chapter 1)
Tuck
This right here is all a man really needs.
Bright blue skies. Cool clear air. A couple dogs who totally understand him and get what he’s about.
“Yoga Pants, Zippy!” I tugged on the leashes attached to my perfect dogs. “Guys, come on.”
“Still having a tough time with those guys?”
There she was… the woman I was trying to avoid. Annie Gish. All wild curls and perfect smooth skin and almond eyes. All animal know how and gentle adorableness and long limbs.
“I wouldn’t say that, exactly,” I told her, turning on my trademark Aussie smile. I tugged the leashes again, but the dogs were completely absorbed in trying to climb up into Annie’s Jeep Wrangler. Since it didn’t have proper doors, the Jeep seemed like an invitation every time we walked past it. They loved car rides. “Girls!” I called. “Come on, now.” I glanced at Annie, whose smile made my stomach do things it shouldn’t. Things I definitely didn’t want it to.
“I could help you train them,” she said, stepping closer.
I stepped back. “They’re just exuberant.” That was a crock. They definitely needed training.
“Tuck,” she said, not for the first time. “Aussies are great dogs,” she cocked her head, smiling, “and great people.”
Oh God, was she flirting with me? This was exactly what I was trying to avoid. My flirt instinct was strong, and I’d definitely flirted with the hot Kings Grove veterinarian in the past, and probably had given her the wrong idea. And now she was flirting back and it was nearly impossible to keep myself from responding in kind. I forced my lips to stay sealed.
Annie approached the dogs, turning her attention to them, which was a relief. “But you know, Tuck… they need training.” Parts of my body were buzzing with attraction and I needed a moment to get them under control.
“Hey ladies,” she cooed at the dogs. Then her voice turned stern and serious. “Down!” She ordered, and I found that the strong commanding tone was even worse for my growing attraction to her than the sweet calm voice she normally used. “Get down. Good dogs. Sit. Good girls.” The tone she used brooked no argument—not from me and not from the dogs. Their furry heads shot around to consider her, and something in that commanding voice of hers got their attention, and their obedience. They dropped their short little front legs from the side of the Jeep and turned to sit side by
side, tongues lolling as they stared at Annie in adoration.
She knelt in front of them, petting their black and white heads and ears.
“You’ve gotta get them trained, Tuck.” Those eyes were on me again, and all I could think about was her using that voice with me in …other situations.
“Yeah,” I said, hoping agreement would end our encounter. “I’ll do that. C’mon girls,” I said, tugging the leashes as I called my dogs.
“Good,” she said. “When do you want to start?”
I turned. “What?”
“If you want dog training in Kings Grove, I’m your option,” she said, grinning.
Annie Gish was like a bright ray of light that blinded you and held you helpless in its beam. I couldn’t look away from that glorious smile, the pink glow that had developed on the apples of her bronze cheeks, the sparkle of her eyes. The soft blue sweater she wore didn’t help—it made me want to pull her into my arms and nuzzle into her shoulder, so I could feel the softness of the sweater against my cheek and her softness pressed against me.
I had it bad for Dr. Gish, and there was no way I was acting on it. I needed escape.
“Yeah, I’ll call you,” I said, turning away again to keep myself from acting on the impulses screaming through me.
“I’ve got a few slots free in the next week,” she said, undeterred by my attempts to escape. She was jogging along beside me now, smiling up at me, the scent of apples surrounding her and pulling every cell in my body in her direction. “But I’ve got to get the Winter Festival together too,” she said. “In fact, I was going to ask for your help.”
Love Reclaimed: (Clean Small-Town Romance) (Kings Grove Book 4) Page 20
