Starlight Love
Page 18
Adeline nodded slowly, seeming suddenly nervous. “O-kay.”
Eli rubbed the back of his neck. “So, the thing is, I really like you, Addie.” His hand was suddenly moist, and he was unsure if it was his own perspiration or Adeline’s.
Her lips quirked up. “Good.”
“And it’s almost Christmas.”
She nodded again. “I love Christmas.”
That she did. Adeline loved it more than anyone he’d ever met, except maybe his late mother. Eli pulled in a long breath. “I know you normally celebrate Christmas with your mom here in town, but because I kind of took things over and you haven’t been able to do things like you normally would have, well, I was thinking that maybe you could, you know…celebrate with…me. In Oklahoma. With my family.”
Eli squeezed his eyes shut, preparing himself for Adeline to turn him down. But he was rewarded with a kiss instead.
He opened his eyes and was surprised to see a smile so big that it seemed to take up her entire face. Adeline’s bright eyes matched the smile. “That sounds amazing. I talked to my mom last night and turns out she’s travelling with her new boyfriend. Said she’d make it up to me when she got back.” She hesitated. “But do you think your dad would be okay with that? You had said that he wasn’t much into Christmas since your mother passed away, and then there’s the issue that your family really liked your ex-wife and might not be so happy to see me. I’d feel like I’d be intruding.”
“Well…” Guilt settled over him. “I kind of already asked them about it.” He now wondered if he should have asked Adeline about it first.
Her lips parted in surprise. “They…know about me?”
“They’ve known about you since the chicken costume incident.”
Adeline nodded in understanding, and her cheeks were now tinged with pink. “Right. So, they know me as the crazy chicken woman.”
Eli laughed and took her in his arms. “No, they know you as the fearless woman I fell in love with as we did the chicken dance.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re…”
“In love with you. Yes. And it was the chicken dance that did me in.”
Adeline laughed. “Thank goodness. Because I am so in love with you.” She pulled him in for another kiss, leaving his breaths ragged. When she finally stepped back, she asked, “So, are we driving or flying?”
Adeline Baker was in love with him. And she was going to meet his family. Eli’s heart did a flip, and it took him a moment to remember that she’d asked a question. “As much as I’d love a road trip, I kind of had to give up my car in the divorce.” He hated voicing that out loud, feeling like his previous marriage should be a topic that wasn’t brought up often—or ever. It made his insides churn.
Adeline only look confused, though. “But what about the car parked outside?”
“Must be someone else’s.”
That seemed to further her confusion. “But just before the wedding ceremony, I heard the guy who dropped it off tell Christopher that the delivery was for you, and it is way fancier than anything else around here. Half the people in town don’t even own cars.”
Okay, this was getting weird.
“Can I just show you?” she asked with an exasperated sigh, and then she practically pushed him outside.
And there it was. Right in front of the church sat his Tesla. Christopher was leaning against it, wearing a smirk.
“But how?”
Christopher pushed off from it and gave it a pat. “Seems like your ex-wife had a change of heart. Though how you managed to convince her to give back the car is beyond me.”
“I haven’t asked her for anything,” Eli said, his voice tinged with awe. At least, he hadn’t asked for anything but her forgiveness. And maybe that was all she’d needed.
“Does that mean we’re driving to Oklahoma?” Adeline asked, smiling but also shooting the car a look of suspicion.
“I’m leaving that completely up to you,” Eli said, pulling Adeline in and wrapping his arms around her. “I don’t want this Christmas to be about me. It has already been that way for far too long.”
Adeline gave him a quick kiss, got an excited gleam in her eye, and then yelled, “Shotgun!” She then leapt from his arms, ran around the car, and jumped into the driver’s seat.
“Shotgun means sitting in the passenger seat,” he called after her, though he couldn’t help but laugh at her crazy antics.
Adeline leaned out the window and dangled the keys in the air, taunting him. Eli threw a bewildered glance at his friend.
Christopher only shrugged. “She can be very persuasive.”
That she could.
Because of the enigmatic chocolate-shop owner, Eli wasn’t the same person he’d been last Christmas. He was better. And happier. And Eli hoped he could be as persuasive as she was. Because he’d really like to persuade Adeline to spend the rest of her life with him by her side.
And from the tantalizing smile she was sending his way, he thought he just might have a chance.
Epilogue
Christmas Day.
Davis stood on the front porch of the bed and breakfast. It was eerie how quiet it was with the film crew gone. He opened the door, swinging it back and forth. That should hold. Eli Hunt had attempted to fix it a few weeks earlier but had done a lousy job of it. Amateur.
Over the years, he had seen many people attempt home repairs on their own when they shouldn’t have been allowed anywhere near a hammer. At least it kept him in business. When they weren’t purchasing their own supplies, they were paying him to fix their mistakes.
Mrs. Warner walked in just as he was grabbing his bag of tools from the floor next to the check-in counter. Her lips parted in surprise. “Davis, what are you doing here?”
“Your door was broken,” he said, equally surprised that she’d be confused by his presence. “You asked me to fix it.”
“Yes, but I didn’t mean on Christmas. It could have waited until tomorrow.” She released a small laugh and shook her head. “Go home, Davis. Enjoy Christmas Day. Better yet, join my family for dinner.”
Davis had received a few similar offers over the past week, but he hadn’t accepted any of them. The town couldn’t imagine that he’d want to spend Christmas on his own, but he was actually enjoying it. It wasn’t often he had quiet. Before his parents had retired and left the hardware store to Davis, there had always been people around. If it wasn’t customers, it was his parents, or his twin brothers, who were twenty years younger than he was. People liked to tease him that his folks had had a honeymoon baby, realized what a mistake that had been, and taken a couple of decades to muster up the courage to try again.
And then they’d decided they needed a little more adventure in their life. They talked about eventually returning to Starlight Ridge with his teenage brothers, but for the time being, they were out exploring the world. Last time Davis had spoken with them, they had been in Southeast Asia. Thailand, he thought.
Even with them gone, he still had to deal with Adeline and her reggae music, though she was currently in Oklahoma, which was a bit of heaven for him. Yes, a little peace and quiet was just what he needed. The perfect Christmas gift. Going around town fixing things, that was just a bonus. He’d always loved repairing what was broken, many times breaking things on purpose just to see if he could fix them, much to the chagrin of his parents. So, no, fixing a couple of busted hinges on Christmas Day wasn’t an imposition.
“Thank you for the invitation,” he told Mrs. Warner. “But I have plans.”
Mrs. Warner’s lips quirked up. “Really.” Her skepticism was obvious. But Davis really did have plans. He’d be spending most of the afternoon fixing Jessie’s shutters. Erwin had attempted it himself a couple of years earlier, which was surprising in itself, given his and Jessie’s confrontational relationship. The repair had lasted longer than the hinges on the Warners’ door, but not as long as it should have. The shutters each now hung by a single corner.
“I�
��m going to Jessie’s house,” he said truthfully, though knowing Mrs. Warner would interpret it differently than he intended.
She brightened. “Oh, that’s wonderful. You’ll have a lovely time, I’m sure.” Mrs. Warner paused. “Though I have to admit, I had hoped you would go out and visit your parents this year. I don’t think you’ve had a proper vacation since they left. Might even meet a woman while you’re at it.”
Davis’s heart sank.
Meet a woman. Get a wife.
What Mrs. Warner and the rest of the town didn’t realize was that he had already done just that, several years earlier. Well, nearly.
Davis had done the unthinkable. He’d fallen in love. And asked her to marry him. And been happier than he’d ever been.
Until his worst nightmare had happened.
She had died. Courtesy of her damn motorcycle.
And his only saving grace had been his family leaving him their store. At least then he was given projects he could fix, even if his own life wasn’t one of them.
“I’ve had a lot of work lately, more than usual. Maybe next Christmas,” Davis hedged. This was also true, thanks to Eli Hunt and his large film crew.
Davis shuddered just thinking about it. Eli Hunt. White trailers. The town overflowing with noise and people. Isaac running around, sure that a mime was waiting around every corner, even though Leanne had assured him they wouldn’t be shooting that scene until after the new year. The idea of sticking around when all of that resumed after the holidays seemed equally nauseating.
Maybe visiting his family wouldn’t be so bad. They were volunteering their skills in an isolated village, and however it turned out, it certainly had to be quieter than Starlight Ridge would be.
Part of him wondered how the town would survive without him and his store if he left. And then he realized how ridiculous that sounded. It was absurd to think the town would crash and burn because he left for a couple of weeks.
And just like that, the idea that had sounded crazy when first mentioned by Mrs. Warner took root, and by the time Davis had finished fixing Jessie’s shutters and been bribed to stay for dessert, Davis had made up his mind.
He was going to get on a plane—a flying bullet where he’d have to sit much too close to people he didn’t know—and travel to a foreign country to see his family.
And hopefully not die from a panic attack on the way.
Enjoy Starlight Love? Read Davis’s story in Building on Love.
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Arrested by Love takes place 25 years before Diving into Love, the first book of the Starlight Ridge series. In this novella, you’ll meet new residents, as well as see some much younger but familiar faces.
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Building on Love
Not all broken hearts are beyond repair.
Davis Jones finds the world to be chaotic and overwhelming, especially since his fiancé died. But as the owner of a small-town hardware store, he enjoys fixing what is damaged--his life excluded. Attempting to escape his demons, he visits his family where they are volunteering in Thailand. All he wants is to help others in relative peace and quiet. But the beautiful and gregarious service director has other plans.
* * *
Chloe Rodgers has lived in Thailand for the past fifteen years. As the director of a service organization, she spends her time in remote villages, rebuilding when disaster strikes. But when an attractive volunteer arrives, she’s torn between her philanthropic lifestyle and considering the possibility of building a life of her own.
* * *
Davis and Chloe have spent so much time fixing other people’s problems, that it will take a miracle repairing themselves enough to find the love they deserve.
* * *
Building on Love is the fourth book in the Starlight Ridge romance series. If you enjoy stolen kisses in exotic locations and second chances at love, you'll love this small-town love story.
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Grab Building on Love and read this sweet romance today!
Also by Kat Bellemore
BORROWING AMOR
Borrowing Amor
Borrowing Love
Borrowing a Fiancé
Borrowing a Billionaire
Borrowing Kisses
Borrowing Second Chances
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STARLIGHT RIDGE
Diving into Love
Resisting Love
Starlight Love
Building on Love
Winning his Love
About the Author
Kat Bellemore is the author of the Borrowing Amor small town romance series. Deciding to have New Mexico as the setting for the series was an easy choice, considering its amazing sunsets, blue skies and tasty green chile. That, and she currently lives there with her husband and two cute kids. They hope to one day add a dog to the family, but for now, the native animals of the desert will have to do. Though, Kat wouldn't mind ridding the world of scorpions and centipedes. They're just mean.
You can visit Kat at www.kat-bellemore.com.