by Robyn Neeley
“What’s so funny?”
She set her glass down and turned on the barstool to face him. Her knees peeked out from her short denim skirt and were now touching his. “Do you remember the last time we were here?” she asked, pulling her long brown hair over to one side.
Of course he did. His gaze locked with hers. “You asked me how much of you I could tolerate.”
“I bet you never thought I meant three kids and the ghost of a woman who drowned in the lake over seventy years ago.”
“No,” he conceded. “I did not.”
“Yeah, neither did I,” she said softly.
He studied her face. Her defeated expression split his heart. Maybe that night hadn’t turned out like either of them expected, but now they had three adorable, healthy babies. He wouldn’t go back in time and change what had happened between them for anything.
And the ghost, they’d deal with her starting tomorrow. Right now, he wanted to show Caitlin that their hookup last year had not been a mistake.
He pushed off the stool and reached in his back pocket, pulling out some cash and slapping it on the bar. “Let’s go.” He offered his hand and helped her off the stool.
“Where? Home?” Caitlin reached for her neon blue clutch.
“No, to the inn. Change of scenery.”
“Why are we going there?”
He grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers, giving her a big grin. “To see how much of me you can tolerate.”
15
Caitlin ran her hands up and down Josh’s back causing him to fumble with his room key.
He turned and cupped her face, his lips curling up. “You, beautiful lady, are not playing fair.”
Um, did he really want to talk about what was fair? Fair would be him not living in New York City. Fair would be them having a chance to be a real couple and raise their kids together under one roof. Fair would be this not being a one-night stand before she married his best friend.
That last one was going to take some getting used to, and the groom was also going to freak when he heard the news.
But all that would happen tomorrow. Right now, she’d settle for this one night. She craved the feel of Josh’s arms around her and the taste of his skin. She attacked his buttons and smashed her lips into his because enough was enough.
“Caitlin,” he whispered, a little out of breath, his eyes dark and smoldering. Without another word, he turned and opened the door, pulling her in.
Within seconds, his shirt flew to one corner of the room and her sweater to another. They kicked off their shoes, and then he helped her out of her skirt, before removing his khakis. She leaped up to straddle him, his hard length a much-welcomed sensation. She tilted her neck to the side, enjoying his lips on her skin.
Bringing her to the bed, he laid her down gently and ran his hand through his hair. “This is really happening.”
She sat up and brought her mouth to his, nibbling on his lower lip while splaying her hands over his bare chest. “It sure is, Joshua Stevens.” She hooked her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.
When he’d pulled her off the barstool earlier and suggested they go back to his room at the inn, he didn’t have to invite her twice. The triplets were safe and sound at their grandparents’ house, and she’d fall asleep much later tonight secure in Josh’s arms.
Josh was the first to pull away, stroking her cheek with the back of her hand. Without a word, he stood and reached down for his pants, retrieving his wallet. “Let’s make sure we don’t make a fourth.” He pulled out a foil and joined her back on the bed, leaning in to resume their kiss.
Rewind. What did he just say? Her palm flew up, blocking his attempt to move any closer.
“What’s the matter?” He sat up, and she brought her knees in, grabbing a pillow to cover her chest.
“Do you regret having kids with me?” she asked.
“Caitlin . . . that’s not what I meant.”
“But do you?”
She watched as Josh moved away from her to the edge of the bed and sat up. “I don’t know how to answer that.”
Just great. He did regret it. “It’s really simple, Josh.” She paused, knowing full well it wasn’t for him. Still, she needed him to be honest with her. “I know you love our kids, but do you regret that I’m the mother of your children?”
His head turned to face her, his eyes darkened. “Why would you think that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that you hated me growing up. I mean, let’s face it, you probably never would have hooked up with me last summer if we both weren’t totally wasted. You practically bolted out of my house as soon as it was over.”
Josh jumped off the bed and threw on his pants and a white undershirt. Grabbing his buttoned-down shirt, he handed it to Caitlin. “Throw this on and meet me in the kitchen,” he said and left the room.
Seriously? That’s his response. Did he need a snack for this conversation? Men.
Caitlin eyed his shirt. What she should do is put her own clothes back on and go home, save what little bit of pride she had left.
The only problem with that was Josh had driven them here and would have to take her home. A little curious as to what he was doing in the kitchen, she slid into his white shirt, buttoned it, and then put on her skirt. She didn’t want to risk running into any of the inn’s guests half dressed in only Josh’s shirt.
She gently shut the door and headed down the dark staircase for the kitchen.
“You want to cook?” she asked, joining Josh at the kitchen island. There was a large white box on it.
“Not exactly.” Before she knew what was happening, his hands went to her hips and he lifted her up onto the counter.
She was still mad at him, but if he did her right then and there, well, that would be hot. Although Abby and Brandon would probably kill them if they found out.
“What’s in the box?” she asked.
“This is my work.” He moved away from her and opened it, removing a tiny glass bottle and setting it on the counter.
She grinned. Okay, maybe kitchen sex was not on his mind. She did like the fact that he was about to show her what he did for a living. She’d never admit it to him, but she’d been using Kiss and Makeup products exclusively since he started working there.
Grabbing a fragrance, he popped open the top. “Smell this.”
Caitlin took a whiff, expecting to smell lilacs or jasmine but came up short. “I don’t smell anything. What is it?”
He smiled, turning the bottle upside down into his palm. He coated his finger and ran it down her throat. That act caused her knees to shake. She placed her palms on them to regain some control. “Still nothing. Why doesn’t it have a scent?”
“It does.” He leaned in and inhaled her, and she couldn’t resist tilting her head up while running her hands through his hair.
“What does it smell like?” she whispered.
“Delicious, mysterious, and intoxicating.”
“Really?” Her eyes opened. “Why can’t I smell it?”
He threaded his hands with hers. “Because it smells like you. I’ve been trying to replicate your scent for quite a while. Looks like I’ve succeeded.” He moved the tiny bottle back and forth under his nose. “Almost succeeded. There’s still something sweet missing that I can’t put my finger on.”
She gulped, trying to understand what he’d just revealed to her. “Why did you create my scent?”
He positioned himself in front of her and leaned in with both hands resting on the counter on either side of her. “Truth? You’ve inspired me for quite some time, Caitlin Reynolds. I thought you should finally know.”
Inspired him? What was he saying? “How long have I been inspiring you exactly?” she asked, lowering her lashes.
“Since high school,” he admitted, his gaze never leaving hers.
She shook her head. “But you hated me back then.”
“Hate might have not been what I was feelin
g.” He reached over and brushed her long bangs to the side, tucking them behind her ear. “I was a stupid kid who tried to mask how I felt. I’ve wanted you . . .” He paused and ran his hands up and down her arms. “Us. I’ve wanted this for so long.”
“Joshua . . .” She bit her lip.
Josh took a step back. “I know it’s stupid to think we could be together, and hell, I convinced you to marry my best friend.”
Caitlin’s heart pounded at his confession. She finally knew how he really felt about her. Feelings apparently so strong he’d tried to replicate her scent. She pulled him close and wrapped her arms around him, whispering in his ear. “It’s honey.”
“What?”
“Honey. I use it on my neck every night. It helps fight off discoloration from the sun and evens out my skin tone. My mom taught me the trick, and I’ve been doing it since high school. I bet that’s the missing ingredient.” She smiled.
“Honey,” he repeated and his expression looked like an enormous light bulb had just illuminated his head. “Of course.” He kissed her on the lips and then disappeared for the briefest of seconds, returning with a honey jar. “I knew my sister would have some in the pantry.”
Caitlin snatched it from his hands, unable to hold back a mischievous grin. He could work on the perfume tomorrow. “Why don’t you take me back upstairs, and I’ll show you other areas of the body honey is really good for.”
Apparently, Josh liked the sound of that because he scooped her up in his arms.
And the jar of honey came with them.
16
Josh grabbed the bucket Caitlin had filled for him courtesy of her new popcorn machine and headed back into the auditorium and down to his seat. “Mind if I join you?”
The ghost nodded her approval. Gone was the wedding gown, and in its place was a simple pale blue dress. Did ghosts have a wardrobe at their disposal? This one seemed to.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He stepped in, trying not to get in her space. For the first time, she wasn’t drenched. However, her hair was still wet and pulled back off her face. “Care for some popcorn?” He held the container toward her.
It’d been over a week since his Aunt Sheila cooked up this scheme, and he had to say it was working. His aunt and mother had tried to join him on the first day, but the ghost had blown up when his mother had called her Mary, giving Josh a few choice words for revealing who she was before disappearing.
They all decided it would be best if he flew solo on this mission to get their ghost to open up and eventually cross over.
Well, he wasn’t exactly without a co-pilot. During this time, Caitlin was either in the front lobby, her office, or in the picture booth. She never interrupted, but she kept her phone close by in case they needed backup.
Every day, he watched a movie with the ghost. He had so many questions, but he took his time—just like his Aunt Sheila told him to. He needed to get to know her and try to coax out of her why she was unable to cross over and why she was fixated on Caitlin marrying Adam?
So, he started each day catching her up on the wedding, and then they’d watch a movie. Strike that. They’d watch the same movie. They discovered on day three that Mary enjoyed the flick she’d come to see on opening night all those years ago, which happened to be the one starring Caitlin’s grandfather. It’s the only one she’d watch straight through without disappearing in a huff into thin air.
And she laughed even harder every time they watched it. Sure, Caitlin’s grandfather and his sidekick were entertaining, but why was she so amused by their antics?
Josh stared at the large blank screen. One early thought was that Caitlin’s grandfather had been the mysterious fiancé who dumped Mary all those years ago. Caitlin’s mom unknowingly debunked that theory, saying that Caitlin’s grandparents had married in 1935.
So here he was watching the movie for the umpteenth time with Mary—the sometimes friendly ghost.
He used the time before Caitlin started the reel to fill his movie companion in on the wedding. He’d give her fictitious details on how the planning was coming along. Then when she seemed sufficiently satisfied, they’d sit and watch the show.
He looked over his shoulder up at the picture booth and waved to Caitlin. Their night at the inn last week had been freakin’ amazing. It was killing him that he couldn’t be with her, that he couldn’t pull her close to him and feel her soft-satin skin, that he couldn’t place his lips on hers and hold her in his arms again all night long.
They agreed until Mary moved on, they would keep their distance to make this sham of a wedding look as real as it possibly could.
He’d come up with a new plan that Caitlin, Adam, Aunt Sheila, and his mother all agreed to. Josh would feed Mary with all sorts of details, but Caitlin and Adam wouldn’t actually go through with it.
It also kept Marilyn and her tourism committee happy and none the wiser. That lie was going to blow up in all their faces, but they’d deal with the living later. Right now, the only objective was to get the ghost to leave.
Mary liked to talk about the wedding during the opening credits, drilling him for details. He was surprisingly good at making things up on the spot.
Of course, Caitlin and Adam weren’t thrilled that they’d be singing their vows to each other or that their first dance would be to Celine Dion.
For their part, both were being good sports.
He reached into his pocket and patted the little perfume bottle. Since he couldn’t spend his evenings in Caitlin’s arms, he settled for working in the inn’s kitchen perfecting her scent.
Once Caitlin had confessed it was her daily use of honey that could be the secret ingredient, he began experimenting. He’d been working with a special honey extract that Beverly had shipped up from Mexico.
Honey. He still couldn’t believe that that was the ingredient, but now that he knew it, it was obvious.
And Caitlin had definitely made good on her word on using the sweet, sticky substance on other body parts. He stifled a smile and looked behind him again, giving her a thumbs up to start the movie. Turning back around, he got comfortable in his seat. Time to focus.
“When will the movie start?”
“Why?” Josh asked. “Got some where to be?”
“I haven’t left this place in years,” she scoffed and turned to him. “Is it 1989?”
“Not quite. A few more decades later.”
“Oh.”
Was that sadness in her voice? He’d be glum, too, if he spent all his days roaming a dark theater.
“Mary, can I ask you a few questions?”
“Go ahead . . .”
“Why are you here? Don’t you want to head into the light or something?”
She laughed. He wasn’t really trying to be funny.
“For years, I didn’t even realize I was dead. I just thought it was a long wait for the movie to start.”
“Was the blue mixing spoon in the box you were holding on opening night?”
Her eyes widened. “You know about the spoon?”
“Yes.”
“How? Did Caitlin and Adam tell you?”
That question peaked Josh’s interest. He played a long. “They did.”
“I’m so happy they found it.”
Josh took a mental note. Mary, for some reason, thought Caitlin and Adam were the ones that found the box. “You know, Mary, my cousin, Emma, runs the Sugar Spoon bakery and uses our grandmother’s pink spoon every Monday night. Many couples have benefited from the spoon’s magical properties.”
The ghost smiled widely. “Your grandmother was Gwendylyn Stevens?”
He nodded. “I hear from my Aunt Sheila that you two were friends?”
She smiled at that news. “She was my best friend. We were so young when we cast the spell on the two spoons. I was bringing the blue one back to give to your grandmother. She had written me that she was opening a bakery and planning on using the pink spoon.” She sighed. “I was bringing it home.”
/>
“But you never gave it to my grandmother.”
She looked away. “I never got the chance. There was some place I needed to be that couldn’t wait.” Her voice softened. “She didn’t even know I was in town.”
“Did she know you ended up here after—” He was at a loss for words.
She shook her head. “I lacked any ability to show myself for the longest time. I would have given anything to see her again. She used to bring a little blond girl to the movies years ago.”
“That was my cousin, Emma.”
“Your grandmother protected me and our secret. She was a good person.”
“Secret? You mean the spoons?”
Mary nodded and laughed. “We were young, boy-crazy girls. We thought we’d created a way to find out who are husbands would be.” She glanced over at Josh. “It was nice to discover that your grandmother could do the same things that I could.”
“Magic.”
“Yes. Her parents were a little more accepting of her abilities. My dad packed us up one night and we left Buttermilk Falls, heading west. He forbade me to do magic, but I took the blue spoon and your grandmother kept the pink one. I vowed that one day the spoons would be back together, and the happiness they would both mix would be something magical.”
Josh studied Mary, feeling the enormity of what he’d just learned. His grandmother had known that Mary was real and also had magical powers. His aunt’s hunch had been correct. His grandmother had been protecting her friend’s secret. “Did you know that my grandmother passed away?”
Mary nodded. “No, but I suspected it. She stopped coming to the theater a few years ago. I miss her.” Her voice quivered.
“Me, too.” Josh could feel his eyes water.
“I hope to see her again one day,” Mary said.
“Me, too,” he repeated. “I’d like to help you reunite with my grandmother.”
Mary stared straight at the screen before saying, “And I will. After the wedding.”
So, did she need the wedding to happen to cross over? Why Caitlin and Adam?
“Can we watch the movie again?” Mary asked, interrupting his thoughts.