Closer To You (Callaways Book 11)

by Barbara Freethy

  "I'm sorry to hear that." He'd never met Kevin, but he felt like he was getting to know him through Tyler, and the man really deserved a chance to be a father to his incredible kid.

  "Carrie's parents are in Florida, but they've decided to come back to Tahoe so that they can be with Tyler. They should be here tomorrow night. They asked me not to say anything to Tyler until then just in case their flights change."

  "That sounds like a good idea. He'd have a million questions."

  "None of which I can answer. I'm glad they're coming. He loves them, and he needs family around. Plus, I'm sure he'll be thrilled to go back to his house and sleep in his own bed." She drew in another breath. "I need to pull myself together."

  "He hasn't noticed a thing."

  She met his gaze. "But you did."

  "Well, I've been trained to be observant."

  "You are very intuitive, Ian, and I suspect that comes naturally. Anyway, we should get what we need for the volcano. I want to keep Tyler busy, and I really appreciate your help. But if at any point you want to call it a day, feel free. You've gone above and beyond."

  "I'm happy to help. Science projects are always fun." He laughed as she rolled her eyes. She might not agree with him, but his words had successfully eased the tension in her face and shoulders. "I have to warn you—Tyler is very much in favor of a purple volcano."

  "And you haven't tried to talk him out of it?"

  "Surprisingly, no," he admitted.

  "Maybe we could label the project: sunset at the volcano," she suggested. "We could even make a sky, surround the volcano with a landscape. If we put it in the center of a box, that might work."

  "It sounds like you're starting to like this idea, Grace."

  "I am a teacher, Ian. I like kids to push the envelope whenever they can."

  "Finally, we're on the same page," he teased.

  "Don't get too comfortable; I don't think we'll be on that page for long."

  * * *

  Grace found herself smiling as they picked out art supplies and then headed back to Ian's car. Ian was great with Tyler, and while he'd tried to steer Tyler toward a more accurate depiction of a volcano, he'd been easygoing about the paint choices.

  He also wasn't bad to look at, she thought, as he slid into the seat next to her and gave her an intimate look that made her heart skip a beat. If Tyler wasn't talking up a storm about all the things he was going to put on his volcano, she might have been tempted to bridge the distance between her and Ian and see if the kiss she was imagining could possibly be as good as she was thinking.

  She shook that crazy thought out of her head as she deliberately looked away from him to fasten her seat belt.

  It was just that she hadn't dated in a while, she told herself, trying to rationalize her feelings. But, no, that wasn't exactly it. She'd been on dates; she just hadn't met anyone who made her pulse pound or her palms sweat or who could send those little nervous tingles through her body. She couldn't remember when she'd felt this attracted to a man. It had been a few years at least.

  But why this man? She silently groaned. Wrong man, wrong time, wrong place…she never seemed to get it right.

  Ian was just killing time before his conference. That's all this flirtation was about, and she couldn't let herself forget that. Although, she might just let herself enjoy it. Because he was leaving. Nothing could happen. She didn't have to worry about next week or next month or next year, and there was something appealing about that.

  To distract herself even more, she turned on the car radio.

  Ian groaned as a Christmas song rang through the speakers. "Maybe keep going," he suggested.

  "Really? You don't like 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'?"

  "We're barely past Thanksgiving. And I prefer my music without reindeers."

  "Good luck turning on the radio between now and Christmas then. Personally, I think it's fun. It gets everyone in the Christmas mood early."

  "I like it, too," Tyler declared from the back seat. "Rudolph is my favorite reindeer. He leads Santa's sleigh. Maybe I'll see him tonight when I look out the window for Santa."

  "See what you started?" Ian said.

  She grinned. "And I'm not done." She looked back at Tyler. "Should we sing?"

  Tyler instantly burst into song, remembering most of the words in the chorus, and she added her voice to his, just because it was fun, and because it would probably annoy Ian. Christmas was her favorite time of the year, and she wasn't going to let a cynical scientist ruin it.

  Ian just shook his head and concentrated on the road, but she could have sworn she saw a smile playing through his eyes.

  When they got back to her house, she was happy to see the snow in front of the garage had melted. In fact, it had turned into a sunny day, last night's storm only a distant memory. How different it would have been if Ian had come by today instead of yesterday. He never would have gotten stuck in her house. They never would have spent today together. Funny how timing could change anything and everything.

  Ian parked in her driveway, and they walked up to the front door together. Grace pulled out her key, but as she looked at the door, her heart skipped a beat. It was slightly ajar. That was weird. She always locked the house when she left.

  She looked back at Ian.

  His gaze narrowed. "What's up?"

  She tipped her head to the open door, not wanting to scare Tyler.

  He picked up on her clue immediately. "You know what—I think I left my phone in the car," he said, making up a story on the fly. "Could you and Tyler get it for me?"

  "Sure," she said. "Tyler, will you come with me?"

  "Can't you do it?" the little boy asked, the exhaustion from the day making him cranky.

  "But you're so good at finding things," she told him. "Come on."

  "Fine." He set down the bag of art supplies he was carrying and followed her to the car.

  She pretended to look for Ian's phone as Ian vanished into the house. She really hoped there wasn't someone inside. She couldn't imagine why anyone would break into her home. She lived in a modest neighborhood, and there had never been any crime. Perhaps she'd just left the door open, or Tyler had. She couldn't remember who'd gone out of the house last. It was probably nothing.

  Ian appeared on the porch and waved her forward.

  "Looks like Ian found his phone," she told Tyler, helping him out of the backseat where he'd been looking between the seat cushions.

  She closed the car door, and they walked up to the house.

  "Everything looks good," he told her. "I checked all the rooms. There's no one here."

  She blew out a breath of relief. "I must not have pulled the door shut or locked it."

  She walked into the house. As Ian had said, everything appeared perfectly normal. "Why don't you go take off your jacket, Tyler? Maybe change into some drier clothes."

  Tyler nodded and went down the hall to the guest room. She followed close behind, making sure there was no one in his room before moving into her bedroom.

  Everything looked fine, but the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Something felt—off.

  Her gaze caught on the dresser. Her bottom drawer was open a few inches. She hadn't gone into that drawer in months; it held her bathing suits and summer shorts.

  She pulled open the drawer. Her clothes seemed messier than usual.

  "What's wrong?" Ian asked from the doorway.

  "Someone was in here. This drawer was open. It has my summer stuff. I wouldn't have opened it."

  "Maybe Tyler did."

  "I don't think so. He hasn't even come into this room as far as I know."

  "Is anything missing?"

  At his question, her gaze moved to her jewelry box that sat on top of the dresser. She opened the lid and saw her mother's emerald ring in its pillowed place. It was the most valuable piece of jewelry she owned. There was also a hundred-dollar bill under a pile of necklaces that was her emergency stash of cash.

  "It
looks like everything is here," she muttered. "But I still feel like someone was in this room." She wrapped her arms around her waist, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with the weather. "Why? Who would come through my house? And why wouldn't they take anything?"

  "Maybe they were looking for something in particular."

  Her gaze ran around the room, settling back on Ian. "I can't imagine what that would be. I'm a teacher. I don't have much of value, and what I do have, they didn't take. It doesn't make sense. Maybe I am imagining it. I just left the door open, and that's thrown me off, because I never do that. But today has not been a usual kind of day. The snow day, you, Tyler…"

  As she met Ian's gaze, she saw him frown.

  "What?" she asked. "What are you thinking?"

  "Nothing. Just considering the possibilities."

  "Like what?"

  "You mentioned what's different about your life: snow cancelling school, Tyler being here, and me showing up with a package from your father."

  "That package is still in your car. We never went to the post office. But someone wouldn't break in here because I got a box from my father."

  "Maybe you should open it before you send it back. It could be completely unrelated, but it's worth looking at. If someone broke in to this house and didn't take anything, then they were looking for something specific."

  He had a point, but she wasn't entirely convinced.

  "I'll get the package out of the car while you think about it," he said.

  As he left, she drew in a deep breath and thought she smelled the faint hint of perfume or cologne. Was she just imagining things? Or had someone really been inside her house?

  More importantly, were they going to come back?

  Eight

  Ian grabbed Grace's package out of the backseat of his car, his mind quickly computing all the facts he had so far, which weren't many. While there was nothing overtly disturbed in Grace's house, her front door had been open, and her gut told her that someone had gone through her room. The only factors that had changed in her life were this package and his arrival.

  Actually, that wasn't completely true. She was watching Tyler, and that was different, but he doubted Tyler's presence would lure someone to break into her house.

  Not that he could imagine why this package from Seamus could do that, either. But he was curious about what was inside.

  When he returned to the house, he found Tyler and Grace in the kitchen, laying out the supplies they would need for Tyler's science project. He was impressed with her ability to focus on Tyler instead of on the fact that some stranger might have been in her bedroom.

  "Do you want me to get started with Tyler while you open this?" he asked, holding up the package.

  "What's that?" Tyler asked.

  "It's from my father," Grace replied.

  "Is it a present? I wish my dad would send me a present."

  Ian felt a kick in his gut at the sadness that swept across Tyler's face, and he could see that Tyler's words had given Grace a new perspective on her package.

  "Can I help you open it?" Tyler asked as Ian set the box on the table between Tyler and Grace.

  "Sure," she said. "In fact, I think it's better if you open it."

  "Chicken," Ian murmured, as he sat down next to Grace. "What if it's a snake?"

  "Hey, you're the one who likes my father, remember? Do you really think he'd send me something dangerous?"

  "No, I don't." Which was why he couldn't imagine the package had anything to do with a possible intruder.

  "It's a cool box," Tyler said, as he pulled apart the brown wrapping paper to reveal a carved wooden box with a Celtic knot pattern on the top. "But I don't know how to open it." He turned the box over to look for a latch or an opening.

  "You have to solve the puzzle before it will snap open," Grace said, staring at the box as if it were the snake she'd just suggested. Her skin had turned pale, and a tight line drew her lips together.

  "How do we solve the puzzle?" Tyler asked.

  "I—I don't remember," she whispered. "My dad used to bring me home puzzle boxes from everywhere he went, but he loved these Irish ones the best. You have to move the knots in a certain order along the tracks, or it will never open."

  "What's inside?" Tyler asked.

  "It could be anything." She dragged her gaze away from the box to look at Ian.

  There was a plea in her eyes that tugged at his heart, but he didn't know what she wanted him to do. "Do you want me to try to solve it?" he asked.

  "Would you?" she returned.

  He could solve it in probably two minutes, maybe less, but that wasn't really the point. He could almost hear Seamus's voice in his head telling him that Grace needed the journey, not just the end. "I don't think so," he said slowly.

  "Why not? Don't you supposedly have a super brain?"

  "You do?" Tyler asked in awe. "Like Superman?"

  He grinned, Tyler's question breaking through the tension in the room. "Not quite, Ty. And Grace is exaggerating." He looked back at her. "I didn't say I couldn't do it; I said I wouldn't. This is your present, your puzzle to solve, not mine."

  "Well, I don't remember how to do it," she said with a stubborn set to her jaw.

  "I think you could remember if you wanted to."

  She shot him an irritated look. "I don't want to. I want to wrap it up and send it back."

  "Why?" Tyler asked curiously. "Are you mad at your dad?"

  "It's complicated," she told him.

  "Where does your dad live?" Tyler asked, obviously caught up in the idea of Grace having a father who wasn't around.

  "He's in Ireland."

  "Is he coming to see you at Christmas?"

  "No, he's not. We don't see each other anymore."

  "Why not? Did you do something bad?"

  Grace let out a frustrated sigh, and Ian felt both amusement and compassion for her. Nothing like being peppered with questions by a seven-year-old on a subject she didn't want to talk about.

  "I didn't do anything bad," Grace said. "But I'm a grown-up, and grown-ups don't always see their fathers at holidays. It's all good. You don't need to worry about it."

  "When I'm a grown-up, I'll still want to see my dad and my mom."

  "That's good, because they will want to see you, too." She paused. "Let's get started on the volcano. The puzzle box can wait." She pushed it across the table and looked at Ian. "I'm going to let you start running this part of the project. I'll be back in a minute."

  "Do you want to call anyone?" he asked, as she pushed back her chair and stood up. "About what you saw in your bedroom?" He chose his words carefully, not wanting to alarm Tyler.

  She gave a helpless shrug. "What on earth would I say? That I have a feeling…"

  "It's a little more than that."

  "I need to think about it, Ian."

  "Sounds like you need to think about a few things." He tipped his head toward the puzzle box.

  She frowned. "Well, all you need to think about is building a purple volcano. I'm going to change my clothes."

  As Grace left the room, he smiled at Tyler. "Let's get to work."

  For the next hour, he kept his focus on the task at hand, pleased that Tyler had the same degree of commitment. The child was a little impatient at times, but Tyler followed directions well, and he had a great deal of enthusiasm for seeing his volcano come to life.

  Tyler actually reminded him a little of himself at that age. Like Ty, he'd been inquisitive, asked a ton of questions, and had high standards for what he wanted to achieve. He was actually still like that, and he wanted this project to be as good as it could be.

  As Grace had suggested, they built the volcano inside of a box so that they could add geographic features. Using egg cartons, cardboard, and some clay, the volcano soon began to take shape.

  "This looks good," he murmured. "But I'm thinking we should add some more dimensions to the ground around the volcano, some rocks and trees, so that when the la
va flows, it will have things to run over and around."

  "We could get some rocks from outside," Tyler said eagerly.

  "They might be buried under the snow."

  Tyler frowned. "There's probably some by the back door, under the roof."

  "That's a good thought. We can also look for some pine needles to use for our trees. But why don't we put on a base coat of paint first? While that's drying, we can look for our other materials." He undid the jar of white paint. "Let's start with this. Then we'll work our way up to purple."

  "Can I do it?" Tyler asked.

  "Of course. It's your project." He handed Tyler the brush and watched as he painstakingly painted the volcano. "Very good."

  Tyler put down his brush. "Can we do purple now?"

  "We need to let this dry first. We should probably save the purple for tomorrow."

  "Tomorrow?" Tyler protested as he rested his head in his hands and let out a dramatic sigh. "That's forever from now."

  He smiled. "It's not that long, and we want to make this really good, right? Sometimes that takes time. You have to be patient."

  Tyler lifted his head and stared back at him. "My mom always tells me to be patient when I ask about when my dad is coming home. But I really miss him."

  "I'm sure you do." His gut twisted at Tyler's words, but he tried not to let the stress show on his face.

  "My dad is going to teach me how to throw a baseball when he gets back. He was a pitcher in high school. I want to be a pitcher, too."

  "That will be fun. I liked playing baseball."

  "Were you a pitcher?"

  "No, I played outfield. You have to be quick to chase down fly balls."

  "I'm fast. I could be an outfielder, too."

  "You can be whatever you want to be." He paused as Grace came back into the room.

  "You guys made some good progress," she said approvingly. "I'm impressed."

  "We're only halfway done," he told her. "It's going to be a lot more impressive than this."

  "So what did I just hear you tell Tyler—you can be whatever you want to be?" she asked. "Are you encouraging him to be a scientist?"

  "Actually, we were talking about baseball." He saw the surprise on her face. "I did occasionally close the books and throw a ball when I was a kid."