It Had to Be Fate (An It Had to Be Novel Book 3)

by Tamra Baumann

  “Wow, seriously?” Zane glanced at Casey’s boys to confirm that crazy story was really true.

  When the other two nodded, Zane said, “What would you do with some old barrels of whiskey?”

  Caleb answered, “They’re supposed to be worth like a gazillion dollars if they didn’t get all smashed up. We’re going to split the money three ways. Eric wants to be a veterinarian and doesn’t want to ask Meg and Josh to pay for his college, and Ty and I will get new bikes and then give the rest to our mom because she’s broke.”

  “Ah.” Zane studied the map, hating the part about Casey being too broke to buy a couple of bikes. “This caved-in mine sounds kind of dangerous, guys.”

  Gloria appeared with their pie. “It is dangerous. You boys should listen to Mr. Steele. Don’t go out there without an adult! Now eat up quick. It’s too close to your dinnertime as it is.”

  After Gloria left, Ty mumbled around a bite of pie, “You’re an adult, Zane. We could split the gazillion dollars four ways. Wanna help us look? But you can’t tell anyone. Especially our mom. It’s going to be a surprise.”

  Zane slowly savored the best piece of pie he’d ever eaten as he considered Ty’s request. He should just mind his own business. But it could be a fun distraction to pass the time. It wasn’t like he could write songs 24-7; he had to take breaks now and again. But would Casey kill him if she found out he’d helped them?

  He glanced at their eager faces and caved. They were three little boys dead-set on keeping their adventure secret while they looked for that whiskey on their own. They had let him in on their secret now and he’d feel terrible if any of them got hurt. He knew all too well how accidents in the outdoors could so easily and quickly steal a life. Like his father’s accident had. He still had nightmares about his father falling to his death—because of him. “Count me in. And I’ll give my share to your mom too.”

  Casey waited in a guest chair across from her father’s big desk while he finished his phone call. She closed her eyes and calmed her anger. Her father was known for his fast temper and gruff ways. And after her mother had died, he’d become disconnected from his children to the point that they’d banded together and raised themselves. She was so much closer to her grandmother and siblings than her own father, which had always saddened her.

  But she needed to remain cool and collected, not let him push her buttons like he usually did with all the finesse of a bulldozer. Then she’d quietly explain to her father the mess he’d created by going over her head. And make him see the error in his ways.

  Who was she kidding? He’d never admit he was wrong. Maybe it’d just be better to come clean about Tomas’s latest threat.

  Her dad, looking as mean and grumpy as a grizzly, hung up and said, “What is it, Casey? I’m busy.” He ran his hand through his thick white hair like he always did when he was annoyed.

  “I just found out you agreed to have Zane Steele stay here for eight weeks without talking to me first. Where do you propose I put him during the times guests have bought out the whole hotel?”

  Her father leaned back and crossed his big arms over his barrel chest. “I’m sure Meg can fit him in. Ask her.”

  “Meg is already taking our overflow and is booked.” Casey struggled to keep her voice at a reasonable level. “It would have been much easier if you’d checked with me first. If you want me to run the hotel, then you need to let me do it.”

  “Here we go again.” Her dad closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Casey, when are you going to learn that the customer is always right, and we’re the ones who have to adjust? And that I let you run the hotel. It’s a privilege, not a right.”

  She wasn’t getting anywhere, and the man was never going to change. Better to move to the next arguing point. “I don’t think we want a person like Zane Steele around for eight weeks. What if he goes on another bender and causes damage to the hotel? There are times it’s best to say no.”

  “Kip assured me Zane isn’t like he’s portrayed by the media. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work.”

  Could that be true? So far, Zane seemed . . . nice. But how can one argue with the news clips?

  “Dad, if Tomas finds out about a man with Zane Steele’s reputation staying here, it could complicate things I’m not willing to risk.”

  Her father slowly nodded. “Tomas called me last week with his little threat. Asked me to talk some sense into you, but I told him to piss off. No Anderson is going to be bullied by his scrawny little ass. I told him the boys are staying here where they belong.”

  But her own father could bully them, and her too.

  At least Dad had stuck up for them. That was new. “So it never occurred to you to mention that to me?”

  “I didn’t think he’d go through with it. I’m guessing he wants the boys half time, so he’s going for full time hoping you’ll settle. Don’t cave to his pressure, Casey.”

  “Well, he’s the one who moved out of the country so he’s not getting them even half time if I have my way. And unfortunately, it’s going to take thousands of dollars in legal fees to make sure that happens.”

  Her father smirked. “All the more reason to let Zane pay five times our rate for eight weeks. I’ll let you have half of the premium Zane’s paying for legal fees, if you’ll get out of my office right now. I have bigger things to worry about than you and your ex-husband’s bickering.”

  That money would go a long way to getting the best legal help she could buy. It’d up her chances for a win. She had no choice but to take the deal and hope for the best.

  “Fine. But next time someone calls about a reservation, check with me first, please.”

  “We’ll see.” Her dad picked up the phone and dialed whomever he was so hell-bent on talking to instead of her.

  Casey stood and headed out the door. She’d hoped her father would have been more concerned for his grandkids than that, but then, her father had never been very loving or demonstrative. Maybe it was why she’d always been attracted to charming, laid-back, easygoing men who lacked any real ambition or direction in their lives. Her ex-husband and her former boyfriends had all been the exact opposite of her father. Looking for someone more like her dad didn’t sit well, though.

  She’d be better off giving up men entirely.

  Casey slowly crossed the park, working out what she’d do with Zane for the next eight weeks. He’d have to move rooms a few times, but Kip had said Zane wouldn’t complain.

  As she walked by the diner on her way back to the hotel she glanced inside. What were her boys and Eric doing eating pie with Zane?

  She did an about-face and yanked open the door. As she marched toward the table, Caleb spotted her first and pasted on one of his “I didn’t do it” grins as he quickly tucked a piece of paper into his back pocket. “Hi, Mom.”

  “What are you boys doing eating pie two hours before dinnertime? And bothering Mr. Steele on top of it? You know better than to pester our guests.”

  Zane stood up and beamed a smile just as guilty as Caleb’s. “It’s my fault—”

  Gloria swept across the diner and said, “No, it was my fault, Casey. Mr. Steele asked me if the boys could have pie, and I said yes because I didn’t think you’d mind.”

  Truth was, she didn’t mind the pie as much as she minded the boys getting too friendly with Zane. But she’d learned a thing or two helping raise Ryan and Meg and knew better than to ask her sons to stay completely away from their favorite rock star. Nothing was more enticing than forbidden fruit. She still needed to have a discussion with them about keeping Zane’s presence in Anderson Butte a secret. “Fine. Finish up and then come home and find me, Caleb and Ty. I need to talk to you boys about something.”

  As she turned to go, Zane dumped a wad of money on the table, thanked Gloria, and then caught up with her. “Casey, can I talk to you for a minute, please?”

  Zane was the LAST person she wanted to talk to, but he was a guest. For the next e
ight long weeks, unfortunately. “Certainly, Mr. Steele.”

  He opened the diner’s door for her and waited as she passed by so she said, “Thank you.”

  “Welcome.” He grabbed the bike and walked it alongside her. “So how did the chat go with your dad?”

  “That’s what you wanted to talk to me about?”

  “No.” He shrugged. “Just making conversation. Kip said your dad can be hard on you and your brothers and sister. You looked sort of upset when you came in.”

  She glanced his way. He seemed genuinely concerned. “Kip is quite the Chatty Cathy, isn’t he?”

  He chuckled. “Kip lives for gossip. If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand.”

  Zane was going to be in town for two months. No doubt he’d see how their father behaved sooner or later. Probably not worth trying to make excuses for her dad like she usually did. “My father is used to getting his own way, no matter what or who stands in it. But honestly, we’re all used to it. It’s no big deal.”

  “Well, I’m sorry if he upset you. And I didn’t mean to make it worse back there. The boys asked if I’d join them so I did.”

  “Why? I thought you wanted an uninterrupted meal.”

  “I guess what I really wanted was the option to have an uninterrupted meal. You and Meg have nice kids, Casey.”

  Her traitorous heart melted at his kind words as they turned and started down the hill to the hotel. He’d found her soft spot. “Thank you. But I’d like them to stay that way. They look up to you, so I hope you’ll take that into consideration while you’re here.”

  “I will. But I’d like you to take something into consideration too.” He put the bike back where it belonged under the porch on the side of the hotel.

  The gleam in his eyes had her stepping backward for every one of his steps in her direction until her back hit the stucco wall behind her.

  He laid a hand on the wall beside her head, and then moved his sexy mouth so close to hers his breath warmed her lips. His deep, intense stare into her eyes made her heart race.

  What was wrong with her? Half of her wanted him to lean that fraction of an inch closer and kiss her and the other half wanted him to leave and never come back.

  She whispered, “What do you want me to consider?”

  “I think you’re a beautiful woman, Casey. And I’d like to spend some time with you. To learn more about you—if that’s something that would appeal to you.” He stepped back and shot her a panty-melting grin. “See you at dinner. The boys invited me for spaghetti night.”

  After he walked away, she let her head thunk against the wall behind her. Maybe it’d knock some sense into her. Hadn’t she just decided to give up men not ten minutes earlier? Zane Steele was forbidden fruit. Probably yummy forbidden fruit, but she couldn’t let her hormones rule her brain. He most likely had a girl in every city. Men like him didn’t have real relationships. They had one-night stands and then disappeared forever. He was just bored and needed someone to pass his time with until he could leave.

  Nope. She was going to stay strong and just ignore her traitorous body—while she ate dinner and then chocolate cake with the man, dammit. What had her boys been thinking? Inviting a guest to their spaghetti night? She couldn’t have that talk with them about Zane Steele a minute too soon.

  Casey slipped down the hall to the owner’s wing of the hotel and closed her front door behind her. She leaned back against the wood and closed her eyes.

  Just as they’d started in on their dinner earlier, she’d been called away. One of the real estate tycoon’s kids had thought it’d be funny to stuff his sister’s dolls down the toilet. It had caused a flood that required the family to change rooms. And it also meant she’d had to call Beau Bailey to come fix it.

  Awkward.

  It took all she had to keep a smile plastered on her face as she helped her guests move while Beau tossed tools around in anger at her for breaking things off between them. He’d said he wanted to talk to her, but last she checked he was still working on the pipes, so she’d quietly slipped away hoping he’d give up and go on home when he finished.

  They’d agreed theirs would just be a fun summer fling while her boys were away, nothing more. That he’d cheated just gave her the excuse she needed to end things with him a few weeks earlier than expected, before the boys had gotten home—that was what she’d told her stinging pride, anyway. To get cheated on again hurt.

  If she could just avoid him tonight, he’d be headed up north again for another three weeks to finish up a job.

  When her stomach growled, she glanced at her watch. Nine thirty. No wonder she was starving. But first she needed to get her boys to bed. Their clocks needed to be reset from their lax summer schedule in anticipation of school starting Monday.

  She walked into the living room and found it empty but surprisingly tidy. They’d better not have slipped back outside against her specific instructions. She peeked her head into the kitchen, finding it deserted and cleaned up as well, so she headed down the hallway toward Ty’s bedroom. She cracked the door open and found him sprawled out spread-eagle on top of the sheets, sound asleep.

  She crossed the room and tucked his limbs under the covers before laying a kiss on his forehead.

  One eye fluttered open and he muttered, “Night, Momma.”

  She loved that he was too tired to realize he’d called her momma, something he’d rather die from than have anyone hear him say now that he was the ripe old age of eight. “Night, baby. Love you. Sweet dreams.”

  Ty was sound asleep again before she could close the door behind her. The kid slept like the dead. Something she used to be able to do until she’d become a mother who ran a hotel that managed to have problems at all hours of the night. If it wasn’t a sick kid, it was a spoiled celebrity thinking of unreasonable demands to be dealt with.

  Next to see what Caleb was up to. Her oldest was ten going on eighteen. Always working the angles and, at times, a real handful for her without Tomas around to help enforce the rules. Not that Tomas had been all that big on rules, but at least she hadn’t felt like the only bad guy when discipline had to be doled out.

  She’d have to thank Caleb for making sure his little brother was in bed on time and for picking up the living room that earlier had been scattered with game cartridges, headsets, controllers, and all the other electronic paraphernalia Tomas had given the boys to buy their love this summer.

  That Caleb had cleaned up without being told to either meant he was going to ask for something or he was finally growing up a bit.

  Maneuvering for something was more likely.

  Chuckling at the thought, she headed farther down the hall to Caleb’s room. Familiar, out-of-tune guitar strumming signaled he was still awake. He’d been trying to teach himself to play and was failing dismally.

  She walked through Caleb’s open door and pulled up short. Zane sat next to Caleb at the foot of his bed with an open laptop between them. Zane pointed to the screen. “You did great until you got to the ‘G.’ That guitar is just a little too big—your fingers can’t hold the strings down hard enough on the other side of the neck.”

  Caleb hunched his shoulders. “My dad gave me this. I wanted to show him I could play the next time I see him.”

  Zane nodded. “That guitar will be great when you’re bigger. I think my mom kept my first one. It’s probably in a storage unit somewhere. I’ll have my assistant find it and send it out along with the other equipment I’ll need while I’m here. With the right guitar, I bet you’ll be playing like a pro before the next time you see your dad.”

  “Awesome. Thanks, Zane.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Zane? Since when did Caleb call their guests by their first names? He knew better than that. “That’s Mr. Steele to you, Caleb.”

  They both swiveled their heads over their shoulders. Zane with a cute smile on his face and Caleb with a sheepish one. “Oh, hi, Mom. Didn’t hear you come in.”


  “Hi. Time to call it a night, please.”

  Caleb frowned as he laid his guitar in the case on the floor. “But I’m not even tired. Dad lets us—”

  “Stop.” Casey held up her hand. If she heard one more word about her ex’s lack of rules with the boys, she’d scream. “If you’re not tired, then read a book. But do it in bed. Thank Mr. Steele for the help and then get going.”

  Caleb smiled at Zane. “Thank you, Mr. Steele.”

  “Anytime. Goodnight, Caleb.” As Zane passed by her on his way out, he ran a hand lightly down her arm. His touch sent a quick frisson of heat up her spine that she didn’t want to feel, so she ignored it.

  While Caleb disappeared into the hall bathroom, she threw his covers back and turned on his bedside lamp. When he reappeared a few moments later and crawled under the covers, she withheld the urge to tuck him in like she used to. He continually reminded her that he wasn’t a baby anymore.

  She said, “Thank you for putting your brother to bed and for cleaning up.”

  “Welcome.” After he’d settled in, he said, “But it wasn’t my idea. Mr. Steele had a single mom too and he said it was our job to make things easier for you.”

  Zane was the absolute opposite of the man she’d seen on television. He totally confused her. “Well, no matter whose idea it was, I appreciate it. So much so, you’re off dock-scraping duty until Monday. I’ll ask Toby to clean the dock so you can enjoy your last weekend of freedom before school starts.”

  “Awesome! Night, Mom.”

  “Goodnight. Love you.”

  Casey switched off the overhead light and had just started to close the door when Caleb mumbled, “Love you too, but he told us to call him Zane.”

  Maybe that was one battle where she should just admit defeat. “Fine. He’s going to be here for two months, so I guess we can make a one-time exception. But don’t forget the town celebrity rules—you can’t tell your father Zane helped you with the guitar. Sleep tight.”

  She tugged the door closed behind her and headed toward her bedroom as she hopped on one foot and then the other, removing the shoes from her aching feet. After tossing them into her closet, she ripped off her work clothes and changed into her rattiest, most comfortable pair of sweats. A big smile formed as she headed back down the hall again. Death by Chocolate cake called to her from the kitchen like a siren calling to the ancient sailors at sea. Bless Dax for dropping it off earlier.