Stardust Valley (Firefly Hollow Book 9)

by T. L. Haddix

  Once again, Sophie met him at the foot of the steps. She was snuggled into his bathrobe, and it was all he could do not to fall to his knees and howl at the sky his emotional and physical longing for her was so strong.

  “I was coming back up,” he said.

  “I know. I wanted to come down. Upstairs is too tempting at the moment.” She smiled as she accepted the mug of coffee he handed her.

  “I cannot argue with that statement.” Noah followed her to the door that looked out onto the patio. “What do you have planned today?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Nothing really. Maybe the library. Maybe the grocery store to get everything I didn’t get last week.” She grimaced.

  “Want some company? I mean, I know we’re supposed to do the trip to Pikeville tomorrow with the kids, so you’ll probably be tired of me. Never mind.” He scowled at his coffee as though it were to blame for his rambling tongue. Damned beverage.

  Her grin was full of amusement and a hint of exasperation. “The kids? I’m the same age as Eli, remember. And I’d love your company today and tomorrow.” She shook her head as she turned back to the still-foggy, frosty garden beyond the glass. “So you said something upstairs that I’m wondering about.”

  Noah leaned against the edge of the dining room table, crossing his feet at the ankles. “Okay, shoot.”

  “You said Fig’s never had that kind of education.” She turned toward him. “What did you mean?”

  “You picked up on that, huh?” He held her gaze for a minute then heaved a sigh and looked away. A fast ripping-off of the bandage might be the best method. “I’ve not been intimate with anyone in ten years. Not since before I left Italy. It’s too difficult emotionally. Too intense. I couldn’t figure out how to keep my guard up against my ability, so it hurt too much. Left me too raw and open.”

  He’d shared a bed with only a couple of women, though he’d done quite a bit of intense dating after he reached Italy and had recovered somewhat from the loss of Sophie. But the overwhelming vulnerability he’d felt during those brief relationships involving sex? He’d been left wounded in a way he’d never expected. Shoot, the idea of intimacy with Sophie half terrified him, and he wanted to be with her more than he’d wanted just about anything in his life.

  She stared at him, clearly surprised by his statement. “Ten years? You’ve been celibate for ten years?”

  He gave a short nod, his heart hammering in his throat as he waited for her response.

  “I need to sit down,” she said, moving to the table to pull out the chair beside his hip. “How in the world…? You were always such a sensual person.”

  “I just shut it off as much as I could. Being with anyone was too big a risk to me, to my secrets, and I wasn’t really interested in taking the time to build a relationship. I learned, after talking to a few people with similar abilities, that my difficulty isn’t rare. It’s rather common actually.” He took a sip of the coffee he no longer wanted just to have something to do.

  She frowned, tracing the lip of her mug with a manicured fingertip. “But you date, right?”

  “Occasionally. Mostly when I can’t avoid it because some well-meaning family member sets me up.”

  “Your family? Matchmake? Noooo….” She smiled at him. “Do you think maybe that’s why Owen and Sarah are so desperate to find you someone?”

  He adopted a stern expression. “Never.” But he couldn’t keep his face straight, and he ended up smiling, though it didn’t last long. “That’s probably part of it. So there you have it—my darkest, most embarrassing secret.”

  She touched his arm. “Not so dark compared to some. And why is it embarrassing? Because society tells you being celibate is abnormal? When have you ever given a flying rat’s behind what society thought?”

  He had to admit she was right. It had been a long, long time since he’d cared what most people thought of him. “What about you? What do you think about my self-imposed celibacy?”

  Sophie stood and took his mug, set it aside, then she stepped between his legs. When she rested her hands on his chest and leaned into him, he slid his arms around her waist.

  “I think… I’m not sure really. My mind’s going twenty different directions. On the one hand, I think you’re a hell of a lot stronger than I ever knew.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “And on the other hand?”

  “I guess I’m sad, as odd as that might sound, that you’ve not had anyone to lean on.”

  “Don’t be. Besides, I’ve not been alone. I’ve got friends, the family. Fig.”

  But he’d not had anyone like her or any sort of friendship with the closeness they’d had. And he could no longer set aside the hunger and need for a physical relationship that had been growing inside him in the weeks since she’d been home.

  The thing was he only wanted Sophie. He’d only ever really wanted Sophie, and since he couldn’t have her, trying with anyone else just hadn’t seemed worth the effort. He wasn’t ready to admit that out loud though.

  “Do you want to stay celibate?” she asked, smoothing his shirt over his chest.

  “No. Not anymore.”

  She met his gaze and held it. “I don’t know what kind of relationship I can give you. I don’t know if we can go back to what we had when we were kids.”

  Noah shook his head. “We can’t, and we shouldn’t even try. Going back is a myth and a recipe for disaster to boot. It’s just not possible. But we can go forward. I’d like to try that.”

  “Where do we start?”

  He touched her face, tracing her lips. “I’d say with a kiss, but I think if we began there, we’d not get out of the house this weekend. Possibly for the rest of the month. So how about if we get dressed and go find some breakfast?”

  She smiled. “Okay. I think I can handle that.” But she laid her head on his shoulder instead, her arms going around his waist as she sighed. “Just as soon as I get a good, long, solid hug.”

  Noah was all too happy to oblige. It’d been too many years since he’d been able to hold Sophie on a whim, and he had a lot of catching up to do.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “This old house won’t know what to think with all these Campbells running around in here,” Owen told his youngest son, Ben, as the men stood in the kitchen at Ben’s home, Dragonfly Creek Farm, and observed the madness surrounding them.

  It was a little after eleven o’clock on the morning of Christmas Eve, and the house was stuffed to the gills. Rachel, Owen’s middle daughter, was the only one missing. She was on her way down from Hazard with her son, Easton. What she didn’t know was that her fiancé, Lee, had arrived that morning to finish planning a surprise wedding for that afternoon. So along with the normal Christmas chaos, stealthy wedding preparations had been added to the mix.

  “Are you kidding? This house was built for this kind of mayhem. Ainsley’s so excited, and so is Lily,” Ben said, referring to his wife and daughter respectively. He smiled as his youngest niece, Sadie, buzzed through the crowd in pursuit of her next-to-oldest brother, Sean. “Hard to believe she’s the youngest she’s growing up so fast. She looks so much like Pip. And next year, your first great-grandchild will be toddling around. Or at least crawling. I can hardly wait.”

  Owen laughed. “That child’s feet won’t touch the floor for a year. Too many people to pass it around and love on it.”

  “We might have more than one baby in the family soon enough,” Ben said in a low voice, pointing discreetly toward the other side of the enormous kitchen island, where Noah and Eli stood with Sophie and Haley.

  “Mm-hmmm, that wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Eli’s planning to propose to Haley this weekend.”

  “And Noah? I’m a little surprised he and Sophie have mended fences so quickly. I thought it would take longer with as badly as he w
as hurt. Or do you think they just have a truce because of the holiday?”

  Owen studied his grandson, whose head was bent over something Sophie was showing him, all his attention on the pretty blonde. “They both were damaged badly. If we’d had any idea… but you know how it is with hindsight. And no, I think something’s shifted. Sarah and I have been trying to throw them together as much as we can, and I think Eli and Haley have too. Look at how he’s touching her. He loves her, Ben.”

  As they watched, Noah lightly grazed the back of Sophie’s hand with his fingers. It was a subtle move, but it spoke volumes to anyone who cared to pay enough attention.

  “She’s the same way. They’re not blatant about it,” Ben said. “Only when they don’t think anyone’s looking. But we are looking.” He gestured at John, Zanny, Ainsley, and Emma, who were working on the opposite side of the island from the kids. All four of them kept glancing over surreptitiously.

  Owen frowned. “I don’t think they’re trying to hide it though. I think they’re both just cautious. I mean, they did show up together.”

  The two had arrived not an hour earlier in Sophie’s car, a few minutes after Haley and Eli, who’d driven down separately.

  Ben nudged Owen gently, the grin on his face the one he wore when mischief was soon to follow. When he was a young boy, that grin had always filled Owen with a mix of curiosity and dread. Now? It brought on anticipation.

  “Let’s have some fun,” Ben said, then headed across the kitchen.

  “This should be good,” Owen muttered, following. He detoured to the table by the window and took a seat with Sarah and Sydney, who were tying bows.

  “What’re you into, kids?” Ben asked, moving in beside Noah and squeezing his nephew’s shoulders.

  “Recipes,” Noah said, straightening. “Since we can’t seem to get assigned any real work.”

  “Ah, this is a well-oiled machine, and Ainsley has it well in hand. You should know that by now.”

  “Ha!” Ainsley said as she pulled a tray of cookies from the oven. “Trust me, there will be plenty work to do in a little bit if Rachel agrees to the wedding.” She made a face at Ben and tossed a broken cookie from another sheet in his direction.

  Ben grinned at her and snatched it up then devoured it in two bites. “So, Noah,” he said once he’d finished eating, “I don’t guess you’ve had a chance to look over those kittens, have you?”

  Noah’s face went blank, then he scowled. “Kittens? What kittens?”

  “The ones in the barn. What, nobody told you about them? There are four. Someone dropped them off at the road last week. Mean little rascals too. We’ll probably have to take them to the shelter Monday. We don’t need any more cats for the barns.”

  The chaos had quieted somewhat as everyone within earshot watched the trap Ben had set up close around its intended victim.

  “You… the shelter? Isn’t it a kill shelter? You can’t do that. How old are they?”

  Ben shrugged. “Three, maybe four months? I figured you’d at least want to see them before we get rid of them.”

  Noah’s face was truly a thundercloud now. “Which barn?” he asked as he started for the door. There were several on the property, which was a working farm for retired and rescued horses.

  “The first one.” Ben winked at Sophie, who ducked her head to hide a smile. “They’re in the stall next to the door.”

  “You can’t leave kittens in a barn stall like that,” Noah muttered. He shook his head and opened the door, then he stopped, came back to Sophie, and grabbed her hand. “Come on.”

  “What… Noah, slow down,” she said with a laugh.

  “Slow down? There’re kittens in the barn. They might get out and get hurt.” He slowed his pace, though he did shoot Ben a dirty look as they went out the door.

  The kitchen was quiet for a moment after the door shut, then someone snickered. Pretty soon, everyone was laughing, teasing Ben, and placing bets as to how long it would take Noah to bring the kittens back up to the house.

  “I give him thirty minutes,” Zanny said, shaking her finger across the island at Ben. “Benjamin Wayne, that was awful and awfully well done. We all know good and well you’d never take those kittens to the shelter.” She accepted a freshly washed platter from John with a smile.

  “Of course not, and Noah knows that too. When he’s not distracted by a certain young lady. Which he most definitely is today, thank God and hallelujah.”

  Eli looked concerned. “So where’d they come from?”

  “They really did get dropped off last week. We took them in to the vet, had them checked out. They’re all healthy, have had their first shots, et cetera. And they’re cute as buttons. If we could have them in the house… well.”

  “They’ll be in here soon enough,” Ainsley warned with a smile.

  “I know. I already set up his room for them.” Ben’s grin was full of satisfaction.

  Eli groaned and laid his head on his folded arms. “What in the heck are we going to do with four kittens? Four. Oh, man. Fig is not going to be happy.”

  “Actually, I heard this rumor that Haley might be in search of a couple of companions of the four-legged variety. Though there’s no pressure on you whatsoever to take them,” Ben told her, his tone serious.

  She shrugged and exchanged a look with Eli. “I’ve never had a cat, but yeah, I’ve been considering it. What do you think?”

  Eli sighed and held out his hand as he stood. “I think we should probably take a walk to the barn.” But he was smiling. “That still leaves two kittens.”

  “Well, maybe—and this is just a thought—maybe Sophie needs some furry purries too,” Zanny said quietly. “And maybe, just maybe, there are two sets of litter boxes and food bowls and kitten starter kits under the tree for two young ladies.”

  Eli’s jaw dropped. “Really? You all planned this?”

  Zanny nodded with an innocent look. “It’s a group effort. You may have noticed we tend to do that sort of thing in this family.”

  “Oh, no. Not this family,” Eli said sternly. “That’s some other set of crazy Campbells.”

  Good-natured teasing followed him and Haley out the door. Once they were gone, a collective sigh sounded around the room, most loudly from John and Zanny.

  “That went well enough,” Zanny said. “Don’t you think?”

  John nodded and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her in for a brief kiss. “Very well. But I’m afraid one of us will have to have a talk with Noah before he and Sophie get married, assuming things head the way I think they’re heading. I swear, if she got pregnant, he’d half expect her to produce a litter of kittens.”

  Sarah laughed so hard she snorted. She leaned against Owen, holding her sides. “Oh, John, in this family? She very well might!”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  As Eli and Haley walked to the barn, he couldn’t help but admire the skill with which his uncle had handled Noah. Thinking about how much he’d missed his family over the thirteen years they’d been apart, he sighed.

  Haley tightened her grasp on his hand. “You okay?”

  He stopped walking. “Yeah, I’m just thinking about all the Christmases I missed. I’m so glad to be back now I can’t even put it into words, but it’s a little sad too.”

  She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him softly. “Don’t get lost in the past. It’s gone. And you have so many blessings to count in the here and now.”

  He kissed her back, letting his lips linger over hers, savoring the contact. “Yes, I do. So… kittens. Think you’re ready for that?”

  “Maybe?” She laughed. “I think it’ll be nice. And I think Sophie needs someone too. It might help her feel more rooted.”

  “Everyone needs roots,” Eli said quietly. He kissed her temp
le, loving the knowledge that this woman saw all his imperfections and loved him regardless, that she always found the positive in life and in him. “Speaking of roots… don’t you think those kittens you’re probably going to adopt will need a father?”

  She grinned at him, tickling his sides lightly. “Well, of course they will. You’ll be around.”

  Feeling a little sick, Eli just stared at her. “I mean it. I, um, well, I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to do this, but now seems like the right time.”

  Moving back, he dug into his pocket for the tiny velvet box he’d been carrying around for days. Once it was in hand, he carefully dropped onto his good knee, managing the maneuver well enough with his prosthesis. For a brief instant, he closed his eyes, then he opened them and the box and held it up toward Haley.

  “Eli…” Her face was pale, her eyes wide with shock as she lifted her trembling hands to her mouth.

  “Will you please, please marry me?” he whispered. He couldn’t tear his gaze from hers, and all the carefully planned words he’d been practicing fled his mind. All he could do was hold on to the ring box and hope to God she said yes.

  It seemed like forever and a day before she responded. With tears coursing down her cheeks, she nodded and gave a soggy laugh.

  “Yes?” His relief was so great he nearly dropped the box. “Is that a yes?”

  She nodded again. “Oh, yes.”

  Getting back to his feet was a little awkward, but in a couple of seconds, he was standing with Haley wrapped in his arms. They held on to each other, laughing and crying.

  “I love you so damned much, Haley. So much,” he whispered against her neck, sniffing back tears.

  She drew back and cupped his face. “I love you too.”

  As he slipped the engagement ring on her finger, he laughed. “I found my heart, you know. That first day when you smiled at me for real, at the end of the first physical therapy session? I felt it come back, felt it flutter in my chest, but I wasn’t really aware of what had happened. I knew you’d turned me upside down, but I didn’t realize the significance of that fluttering. That’s what it was though—my heart coming back for you.”