Closer To You (Callaways Book 11)

by Barbara Freethy

  "Can we do that tonight?"

  "No, that part takes much longer. What I'm going to show you now is how we can make an eruption."

  "Okay," Tyler said, completely caught up in the experiment.

  He picked up the box of baking soda and handed it to Tyler. "Pour that into the glass."

  "How much?" Tyler asked.

  "About this much," he said, holding his fingers an inch apart.

  Tyler did as he was told. "Is that good?"

  "Yes. Now the vinegar." He opened the bottle and handed it to Tyler. "Pour it in slowly."

  As the vinegar hit the baking soda, the liquid started to pop and within a few seconds, a swirling volcano of liquid grew and rushed over the edges of the glass.

  Ian watched Tyler's face with appreciation. He'd forgotten that feeling of amazement and wonder. It had happened so often when he was a kid. It still happened now occasionally, but not as frequently as he would like.

  "That's so cool," Tyler said.

  "And messy," Grace observed.

  Despite her words, he saw the smile in her eyes. She might not like science, but she was a teacher, and she could clearly see that Tyler had learned something in a fun way.

  "When can we make the volcano?" Tyler asked.

  "I'm sure your mom will want to help you with that."

  "What if she doesn't come back in time?"

  "Let's talk about that tomorrow," Grace interjected. "Did you finish your math homework?"

  "Almost," he answered.

  "You do that while Ian cleans up his experiment," she said. "Then I will scoop up some ice cream and meet you in the living room. We can read the story before you go to bed."

  Tyler jumped off the counter. "If my mom doesn't come back tomorrow, do you think you could help me build the volcano, Ian?"

  "Uh…maybe," he said haltingly, seeing the plea in Tyler's eyes.

  "Ian has to work," Grace said.

  He saw the disappointment on Tyler's face, and he wanted to erase it. Tyler's dad had been gone a long time, and now his mom had mysteriously left. Tyler was probably smart enough to put those two facts together somewhere in his brain. "I can help you tomorrow if your mom isn't back," he said.

  "Okay," Tyler said happily, then left the room.

  "Breaking a promise is worse than making one you know you won't keep," Grace said with a frown.

  "If I make a promise, I keep it."

  "So you're going to blow off your conference to make a volcano with a second grader you met two hours ago?"

  "The conference doesn't start until Wednesday. I have some time. Did you see the look on his face when the vinegar met the baking soda?"

  "Yes, he was very impressed."

  "Because science is impressive," he reminded her.

  "You're not going to win me over, Ian."

  "We'll see. I don't quit easily."

  "I can see that."

  Grace's phone began to ring. She pulled it out of her handbag and said, "Hello? Carrie? Did you make it to Reno?" She paused for a few moments and he could hear Carrie's agitated voice on the line. "That's a drag," Grace said finally. "But the storm should pass soon. Don't worry about anything here. I will take great care of Tyler. Have a safe trip and say hi to Kevin for me."

  As she set her phone down, she said, "Carrie's flight is delayed until ten, but she's hoping to still get out tonight. She's going out of her mind not being able to get to Kevin and not having any real information about his condition. She spoke to the hospital and all they could tell her was that he was in surgery." She drew in a deep breath. "He just has to be all right."

  "Keep the positive thoughts."

  "I'm trying." She cocked her head to the right, giving him a thoughtful look. "I'm surprised you believe in positive thinking. That sounds a little too unscientific for you."

  He smiled. "You can blame my mom for that. She's always been a big believer in positive thinking. Now, isn't it time for ice cream?"

  "It's always time for ice cream. But nice dodge."

  "You're not the first non-science lover I've met, Grace. I grew up with five of them. I know when it's time to quit while I'm ahead."

  "I don't think you're ahead, Ian."

  He grinned. "You haven't kicked me out into the blizzard yet, so I must be breaking even at least."

  "I'm just a very kind person. To repay me, you can scoop," she said, handing him a gallon of ice cream and a scooper. "I have to warn you my freezer works a little too well. It might be rock solid."

  "No problem. I worked at Hobey's Ice Cream in San Francisco when I was in high school."

  "Seriously? You worked in an ice cream parlor? I would have thought you'd be tutoring in a science lab."

  "I did that, too, but my brother Hunter talked me into taking his shift at Hobey's for him. It was supposed to be for a week but it ended up being a month. Then I figured out Hunter wasn't actually going to come back."

  "It took you a month? I thought you were brilliant."

  He laughed. "Not where my younger brother is concerned. He's very good at getting people to help him out."

  "Well, it was nice of you to do that, and now I'm prepared to be impressed with your scooping skills."

  "I'll see what I can do." As their gazes met, he realized how much he wanted to impress her with skills that had nothing to do with scooping ice cream.

  Her green eyes flickered with gold, and he thought the same idea might be running through her brain, too. They'd met only hours ago, but he felt like he'd known her much longer, wanted her…forever…

  He sucked in a breath at that disturbing thought and focused on the ice cream, doling out some extra big scoops for himself. It wasn't a cold shower, but it was the next best thing.

  Four

  Grace practically ran out of the kitchen after Ian handed her two bowls of ice cream.

  For a second there, Ian had looked at her like he wanted to kiss her. Heat had swept through her at that realization, along with the shocking thought that she wanted to kiss him, too. She was incredibly attracted to him and thoughts of his hands on her body and his lips on her mouth were suddenly running around in her head.

  No! No! No! She could not fall for this guy.

  She paused in the dining room and drew in a few deep breaths.

  So what if Ian had the most incredible eyes of any man she'd ever met—a gaze that seemed to see into her soul, a smile that made her insides melt, a voice that made her palms sweat. He was wrong, all wrong, so wrong.

  She wasn't going to make her mother's mistakes. She wasn't going to choose someone like Ian, someone who wanted to change the world the way her father had.

  She wanted a man who would put her at the center of his world, who would always be there, someone she could count on, someone she could love with the fierceness of her heart and who would love her the same way.

  She might have left Ireland behind, but she had never forgotten her heritage, her desire for a love that would sweep her away, the kind of love that poets wrote about. How many times had she listened to her Irish grandmother talk about her husband, about the love that had brought them together, the destiny of their souls?

  Too many times to count.

  Maybe it was romantic foolishness to believe that kind of love existed; she certainly hadn't seen much sign of it, not even with men who weren't scientists, but that didn't stop her from thinking it was still out there.

  She didn't want to settle. She wanted all…or nothing.

  "Grace?"

  Tyler's voice brought her back to reality. She made her way into the living room. He was kneeling on the floor in front of the table, and she set his ice cream down in front of him. "Are you done with your math?"

  "Yes. Do you want to check it?"

  "I'll do that in a minute. Why don't you eat first?"

  "Okay." He scooped up a big spoonful of ice cream and put it in his mouth, smearing his lips with chocolate. "It's good."

  She laughed. "See if you can get more of
that inside your mouth."

  "Daddy and me like chocolate the best of all. Mommy likes vanilla. Daddy makes fun of her for that."

  "There's nothing wrong with vanilla."

  "When is my mom coming back?"

  "I don't know, Ty, but we're having fun, right?"

  He nodded. "I like Ian. He's cool."

  "I like him, too."

  "Maybe he should be your boyfriend."

  "And maybe you should finish your ice cream," she said. "Then we can read together."

  As she finished eating, she couldn't stop her gaze from darting toward the kitchen door. She wondered what was keeping Ian. Maybe he'd decided to put a little more space between them, too, because she knew the sparks between them had not been one-sided.

  * * *

  Ian ate his ice cream standing at the kitchen counter. He needed a minute to get his head together. Since the storm showed no sign of abating, he was going to be at Grace's house for a while, and he really did not need to do anything stupid—like kiss her. That would be a mistake and he didn't like to make mistakes. He was too intelligent to ignore the warning signs, the predictable outcome. He was very good at anticipating cause and effect. And with most women, a kiss led to what they both wanted. But in this case…well, he actually had no idea what either of them really wanted beyond seeing just how hot the heat could get.

  His phone buzzed, and he was more than happy about the interruption. He pulled it out of his pocket and said, "Hello?"

  "Hey, Ian, it's Emma. I promised you an update so here it is."

  "You spoke to Shannon's biological father?"

  "Yes, but it didn't turn out quite the way I hoped. He met us at a bar because he didn't want his wife to hear our conversation. She doesn't know anything about his one-night stand, which apparently happened the first year of their marriage."

  "He sounds like a winner."

  "He's not a great guy," she said, disappointment in her voice. "He doesn't want to mess up his marriage by bringing a child he doesn't even know into his life."

  "But he does have legal obligations as the biological father."

  "Yes, but what kind of life would that be for Shannon?"

  He could hear the strain in her voice and having spent time with her on their trip to Ireland, he knew how much the little girl had gotten under her skin, especially since Emma had confessed to him that she'd had trouble carrying two pregnancies to term and wasn't sure she'd ever be able to have a child. "So what are you going to do?" he asked.

  Silence met his question. Then she said, "I have kind of a crazy idea…"

  He had a feeling he knew exactly where she was headed. "You want to adopt her."

  "I do. You really are intuitive, Ian."

  "What does Max think?"

  "I haven't said the words out loud yet. I wanted to hear myself say it to someone else, and I thought you might be a good choice. You met Maeve and Shannon when we were in Ireland."

  "So did Burke," he reminded her, referencing her oldest brother.

  "Burke would tell me not to do it. He'd say it was too complicated. That I'm not thinking it through, that raising someone else's child is a huge commitment."

  Which were all the things he wanted to tell her, but all he said was, "What do you think?"

  "That all that is true, but I fell in love with that little girl. If her dad was a great guy, and if he wanted her, I'd let her go. I'd take her there myself. I'd make sure she was happy, but that's not going to happen."

  "Can you adopt her that easily? Aren't there legal hoops to jump through?"

  "Her father said he'd sign away his parental rights so that she could be adopted. She's not a baby; she's not going to find a home that easily. I know Maeve would love for us to take her, and I can't help thinking it's why Grandma sent me to Ireland."

  "It sounds like you've considered all the options. You're a smart woman, Emma. You've always known what you want, and you've never been afraid to go after it."

  Emma had been one of only a few female firefighters in San Francisco, and then she had broken down more gender barriers by becoming a fire investigator. Her husband Max was just as strong as she was. He couldn’t imagine two people better suited to be parents.

  "This is different," Emma said. "It's not about what I want, or it shouldn't be. It should only be about what's best for Shannon."

  "A woman who wants to love her and be her mother seems like a good option to me. But you already know that, Emma."

  "I think I would be a good mom."

  "I know it. And I suspect Max has already figured out where you're headed."

  "He does know me pretty well," Emma admitted. "So it's not completely crazy?"

  "Oh, it's definitely crazy, but it's you. You said in Ireland that you'd always felt like you had to work harder to be a Callaway, because your mom married into the family. You know what it feels like to be adopted by someone who really loves you."

  "I do know. And I want Shannon to have a family. But I'd be taking her away from Ireland."

  "She's young; she'll adapt."

  "Thanks, Ian."

  "I didn't do anything."

  "You heard me out. And you didn't judge. My siblings love to offer their opinions."

  "Siblings are good for that."

  "I hope I didn't take you away from work."

  "Actually, I'm in Tahoe."

  "That's right—the conference. How's that going?"

  "It hasn't started yet, which is a good thing, because there's a blizzard going on right now. In fact, I didn't even make it to my hotel. I promised Seamus Donelan that I'd take a package to his daughter. I got stranded at her house."

  "That sounds interesting."

  "You could call it that."

  "So our Ireland trip hasn't let you go, either."

  "No, it hasn't. But when it stops snowing, that will be the end of it."

  "We'll see. What's Donelan's daughter like?"

  "Nothing like him," he said.

  "Is she single?"

  "Yes, but that doesn't matter."

  "Maybe it should. When's the last time you had a girlfriend?"

  "Good-bye, Emma."

  "Fine. I won't meddle, but I will give you some advice. Have fun, Ian."

  "I wouldn't call this fun."

  "Then you're not trying hard enough," she said with a laugh.

  He smiled as the call disconnected. His body was all about fun with Grace but his brain had more than a few reservations. He'd always gone with his brain. Maybe it was time to change that.

  * * *

  When he entered the living room, he found Tyler snuggled up next to Grace on the couch.

  "You're just in time," Tyler told him.

  "For…" he asked.

  "Madeline's Christmas Miracle," Tyler said with a happy smile.

  "You do not have to listen to this," Grace said. "In fact, Tyler and I can go in the other room."

  "It's fine. I'm already intrigued."

  She gave him a doubtful smile. "Sure you are."

  "Please, go ahead." He settled into the armchair next to the couch as Grace encouraged Tyler to read the story, helping him as he stumbled over a few words. As Tyler got tired, she took over.

  He liked the sound of her voice, the silky Irish lilt that seemed to bring the story alive. He could imagine her whispering in his ear as he kissed her, touched her, made love to her. She'd be passionate, he had no doubt about that. Her green eyes would sparkle with desire. He'd already seen a hint of that back in the kitchen. And the memory made his body harden.

  How on earth was she still single?

  Maybe there was a man in her life, but if there was a boyfriend, where was he? She'd mentioned no one, and she appeared to live alone. The guy could be working or out of town. Or maybe there was no one in her life, no one serious, no one to care that he was probably going to be spending the night with her.

  He smiled to himself. Maybe not with her exactly, but he couldn't see how he was getting his car out
of the snow before morning.

  He shouldn't be remotely happy about that fact. He should be pissed and irritated that he wasn't in the nice hotel room he'd booked, that he didn't have his computer to look at, or the journals to read, or any other work to do, because it was all in his car and blocked by a few feet of snow.

  But he couldn't summon up anger or annoyance. He was actually quite comfortable in Grace's warm and cozy living room. As he looked around, he saw touches of her everywhere, from the photographs of Ireland on the walls, to the floral upholstered chair he was sitting in, the homemade quilt on the back of the sofa, and a collection of teacups in a corner display case. It reminded him of the inn he'd stayed at in Kenmare. It was inviting and individual, much like Grace. She'd disliked him as soon as he'd spoken her father's name, but that hadn't stopped her from opening up her home to him, from being kind and generous.

  He really hadn't met anyone like her before, and he was just as mesmerized by her now as he'd been the first time he'd seen her photograph.

  He felt like he could sit here forever. Grace's voice was like a soothing musical instrument with just the right high notes to keep his interest. Tyler was as enthralled as he was, although Tyler was much more caught up in the actual story than in the storyteller.

  Madeline's Christmas Miracle was a schmaltzy holiday story about a six-year-old girl whose grandmother told her that Santa didn't just show up on Christmas Eve but that he actually flew back and forth across the sky throughout the month of December. If Madeline watched the sky and caught a glimpse of Santa's reindeer, any wish she made would come true. In Madeline's case, she wanted a puppy for Christmas, but her single mother didn't have enough money to buy her one.

  In the end, Madeline saw Santa streaking across the sky the week before Christmas. She closed her eyes and made a wish. On Christmas morning, she ran to the tree, but she was disappointed. There was no puppy, just a stuffed animal, all her mother could afford. She tried to be brave and not cry, but she was sad.

  Later that day, she went into the backyard. She was sitting alone when a little dog came squirming under a fence and ran over to her. She thought her Christmas wish had come true. But her mom said they had to put up signs and find the dog's owner.