Our Chance (Lake Placid Series Book 3)

by Natalie Ann

  You can’t force someone to love you. She’d learned that the hard way.

  She was gliding her hand up and down the stone, wishing it were her father holding her tight, when she heard a bark, then another.

  Standing up fast, she saw Sparky racing toward her alone. For the life of her she couldn’t imagine how he’d found her, or even knew where she’d be.

  “Hey, boy,” she said, leaning over and burying her face in his warm fur. “I’ve missed you something fierce.”

  She squatted down, then sat next to the stone again, Sparky sitting next to her and leaning into her side. She put her face against his fur and hugged him tight as she cried so hard her chest actually hurt.

  “I guess you missed the dog more than me.”

  She looked up and saw Caleb standing there, a cool look on his face. Jumping up again, she wiped her eyes quickly. “Caleb. What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you.”

  He looked ticked off and she couldn’t understand why he’d search her out in the mood he was in. “You found me.”

  “Why did you lie?”

  “What are you talking about?” she asked.

  “Your mole? Why did you lie and say everything was fine when you didn’t even know?”

  Her heart was racing. She never lied well, and it was hard to do that day. “I didn’t lie to you. You never asked if I had the results specifically.”

  “Don’t play word games with me. I’m not in the mood.”

  She wasn’t in the mood for his attitude. “Then what are you doing here? Obviously it’s not a friendly visit.”

  “I want the truth. Why did you do it? Why did you break things off with me? It goes together, I know it does, and I want to hear it from your lips.”

  “It doesn’t,” she insisted.

  “Sure it does. I saw you pulling away the week before you had it removed. I was trying to figure out what I did wrong, then on Halloween everything was fine and I wondered if I’d imagined it. A week later, you want space. What happened in that time? What is going on in your head?”

  “Why did something have to happen? Why can’t I just need space?”

  “Because this is the woman who says we are both ruled by fate. It’s fate I found you. It’s fate that you helped me get though something no one and nothing had been able to do in six years. Fate sucks if it means you leave me right now.”

  “You want me to stay?” she asked, her eyes filling again. Could she be given another chance at this? Could she be awarded another opportunity to make it right?

  “I guess the better question is, do you want me to stay? This is your home. This is your life. I’m just passing through. My truck is full right now and I can be gone in five minutes. You tell me,” he said.

  She hadn’t expected him to say that. To never see him again. And she knew she never would if he left. He’d disappear without a trace again and stay hidden.

  “What if I want you to stay? Would you? Can you handle it? Can you deal with things?”

  “Deal with what? That you might get sick someday?” She nodded her head. “Let me ask you, what would you do if I got sick? Would you leave me?”

  “No,” she said quickly.

  “What if I got hurt? What if I couldn’t give you a child? Would you leave me for a man that could?”

  “It’s not the same thing,” she argued.

  “Really? Because it seems the same to me. If you wouldn’t leave me for those reasons, what makes you think I would leave you? That I couldn’t handle what you say you can? Do I seem that weak of a person to you?”

  “Because you’ve left before,” she said. If they were going to make this work, it had to be all laid out on the line.

  “I did. I left and it brought me here. I found you. Fate, right?”

  “So it’s only fate that would make you stay?” she asked.

  “Sparky really likes you,” Caleb said, his shoulders relaxing and his lips twitching.

  “The feeling is mutual. What about you? What do you feel?”

  “Love. I’m going to lay it all out nice and clear. I’ve got nothing to lose. If you don’t love me back, I can leave when we’re done talking. Or I can stay and we can see what the future holds for us. Your choice.”

  There was no stopping the tears from running down her face. In the distance, a bird was screeching loudly in the air and circling around her. “I know, I know,” she said, looking up, her hands in the air.

  “Who are you talking to?” Caleb asked, confused.

  “I’ll tell you later. If you truly love me, Caleb, if you truly want to make it work, then I’m all in. The good, the bad, the ugly, and even your grouchiness. I can handle it all. Can you?”

  “I wouldn’t have come here if I couldn’t.”

  She walked toward him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and thanked her lucky stars that something led him to her just now and not on the road out of town.

  “I love you, Caleb.”

  “I love you, Celeste.”

  “Now what?” she asked.

  “Now we go back to your place where you apologize for lying to me.”

  “I’m sorry. I thought it was the right thing to do.”

  “What? To break my heart?”

  “I didn’t know how you felt. How could I break your heart if I didn’t know it was mine to hurt?”

  “You could have asked. Don’t ever do that again. Don’t ever shoulder your burden alone.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Yeah, you do. You thought you were saving me from heartache, but all you did was cause me more. You can’t turn love on and off like a light. If something ever happens to you, I’m going to feel it whether we’re together or not. It’s too late to turn back.”

  “I know I was wrong. I actually was going to give you a few more days, then come confess to you.”

  “Good thing I came to you first, because I would have been long gone by the time you came looking. Don’t be afraid to talk to me about things,” he said.

  She laughed, then kissed him quickly on the lips. “This from the guy who hates to talk.”

  “People change. They find their mate, and it makes them whole. You’ve made me whole again, Celeste.”

  “We’ve both come a long way—we’re both whole, we’re both one—and now we’re going home.”

  Epilogue

  After dinner on Christmas Eve, Caleb helped Celeste clean up the kitchen. Most of her guests were visiting with family and would be returning later on, but there was one couple who was actually here on their honeymoon with no family in the area.

  Though Caleb hadn’t wanted to stay for dinner, Celeste talked him into it. He was starting to realize it wasn’t as bad as he’d always thought it would be. Just an hour of his time with people he didn’t know.

  Oh, who was he kidding, he still hated it. But he’d do it for her. He’d do anything for her.

  As much as he wished it were just the two of them at night, he knew that if he wanted to spend time with her, it had to be on her property and not his, and it had to be around people. But he was planning to change that soon. Still, he had hopes for the holidays with Celeste alone.

  The honeymooning couple took off for their room and he and Celeste couldn’t clean up and leave the house fast enough, hoping to give them privacy.

  Together they walked through the cold and the few inches of fresh snow to her cabin.

  “Thanks for staying the night with me,” she said.

  “I wanted to wake up with you on Christmas morning. This was the only way for that to happen.”

  “I’m glad you understand. I know you’d like to spend more time together—which I have to say is funny considering how you were months ago—but right now this seems like the only way to make it work.”

  He pulled her over to her sofa. “About that—I’ve been thinking.”

  “We know you’re good at thinking,” she said, smiling at him. She’d taken over the role of his m
other in terms of busting on his intelligence. He found it endearing coming from her, though.

  He reached behind the couch where he’d stowed a long tube and his laptop. “I’ve got a few gifts for you and thought since its quiet now we could exchange them.”

  “I’d like that. Hang on,” she said and ran to her room, returning with a small box.

  “I’ll go first. It takes some explaining.” He pulled the papers out of the tube and spread them out in front of her on the table.

  “You’re giving me a drawing of a house?” she asked, tilting her head.

  “No, I’m giving you a home. Your land next door and this house for us to live in together. You’ll still be on the property and close by, but we’ll have our own space.”

  Her eyes went wide as she took in the sight of the two-story Victorian house he wanted built. She was an old soul and it would suit her well.

  “The outside of it is stunning.” She flipped to the next page and saw the layout. “This is huge, Caleb.”

  “I like space and figured we could stay out of each other’s way if need be at times. I’d like a private area for my office where I can close myself in, but still be around for you.”

  He found comfort in her presence and imagined he’d enjoy knowing she was even closer than just down the road when he was working.

  She flipped another sheet over. She wasn’t reacting in the way he’d expected. So far, she was just casually looking at the drawings as if they were in an art museum, not something that was to be hers. “Five bedrooms?” she asked.

  “For any family we may end up with. Any way we can,” he said quickly, watching her eyes light up a fraction.

  She wasn’t saying a ton, and he was wondering if he just put everything on the line and made assumptions he shouldn’t have.

  “Do I get to design the inside?”

  “It’s all yours. You can change the layout, too. I spoke with an architect and described you and what you liked, and he found this house. Said it was the traditional layout, but with a modern twist.”

  “He nailed it. It’s perfect and I wouldn’t change a thing. This is crazy, Caleb. You’re giving me a house as a Christmas gift? I’m not sure if I’m awake or dreaming right now.”

  Now he realized why she hadn’t said much, she looked to be stunned.

  “Well, there’s more.”

  “You’re joking,” she said, letting out a nervous laugh.

  “No.” He pulled out his laptop and clicked a few buttons. “This software will help ease things for you. It’s set up so that each room in the B&B can have a tablet mounted to the wall that will give your guests direct access to you at our house, or your phone, laptop, etc. I can set it up a bunch of ways. It will allow you to not always be directly on site. Or maybe hire some help on site to live in the cabin and you can just manage from a distance?”

  She eyed him funnily and he thought maybe he’d overstepped himself again. “Your choice. I’m just giving you an option,” Caleb quickly added.

  She took a deep breath, her eyes starting to glow just a fraction now. “You created a software for my bed and breakfast?”

  He could see the laughter in her eyes now, mixed in with the wonder.

  “Yeah. I know it’s kind of dorky, but it really will help you run the business more smoothly. And I’m going to release it for sale, too, once you and I work out the kinks in it. It’s just a prototype that I thought you could test out for me. I’ll provide all the hardware.”

  “You’re nuts,” she said, laughing and leaning in to kiss him and hug him tight.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. You just spent God only knows how many hours developing something to make my life easier, you want to build me a house, and we’ve been dating less than six months. Don’t get me wrong, I love you; you know I do, but wow. Talk about a fairytale and dreams coming true.”

  He’d come this far, he wasn’t about to stop. Not when she was finally warming up to it all.

  “One more thing,” he said, grabbing his phone and hitting a button. Bon Jovi came blaring across it. “I know all about your fight song. I guess we can call it our fight song.” He reached into his pocket. “About this dating thing. I thought since I was giving you a house and software, that you could give me your hand in marriage. As long as we’ve got each other, we can make it, right?”

  “Yeah, you’re nuts, but I love every bit of it. Yes! Yes, I’ll be your wife,” she said, launching herself at him. “Best proposal ever! Not the house and software, not even this gorgeous ring that probably costs more than my house, but the song. Only you would play this song and say those words.”

  “So I did something right for a change?” He picked up her hand, slid the ring on, then turned her palm over, tracing his fingertip along the lines.

  “You’ve been doing things right your whole life, Caleb. It just took this long for you to find someone to appreciate it.”

  He smiled and felt his eyes misting up. “Fate, right?” he said. “Controlled by fate? Isn’t that what you said about this line we both have?”

  She nodded her head, then handed her box to him. “Open it,” she said, smiling, her eyes full of tears, her body bouncing to the music and lyrics still playing.

  He ripped the paper off, then lifted the top and found a piece of paper there. He picked it up and read it, then read it again.

  “Is this what I think it is?”

  “Yes. No more living on a prayer. I had the tests done. I’m definitely not infertile. Whether I conceive or not remains to be seen, but I have all the working parts.” She flipped his palm over and traced a line on his hand. “Lots of vitality. I expect you to put it to the test.”

  He laughed, his heart full and healed like he never thought it’d ever be. “Gladly.”