by Tanya Agler
He glanced at the glider and shivered. Too cold for an outdoor kiss tonight, but if she forgave him, there’d be another round of kisses before he left for his cabin with enough time to settle in before the storm.
With perseverance, there’d be a lifetime of kisses ahead with a blonde dynamo whose depth of caring amazed him every day.
Shoring up his resolve, he knocked, the familiar cacophony of barks livening up the evening air.
The door opened, Ethan’s face popping around the side. “Mr. Caleb’s here.”
Mattie came running. “Mr. Caleb. I finally lost my first tooth. See? Now Ethan and I are twins again.”
Caleb closed the door and knelt in front of her as she beamed a wide grin. “I see the gap.” Committing to Lucie meant committing to her children, and he intended to be there for them. Always. “You never stopped being Ethan’s twin.”
Mattie shuffled her feet and sighed. “Some of the kids at school say we’re not twins because we don’t look alike.”
Ladybug trotted over and must have sensed Mattie’s genuine dismay, as she wagged her tail in Caleb’s direction but hunkered down on Mattie’s feet, giving a doggy grunt of understanding. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lucie in the doorway, wiping her hands on a dishtowel and heading their way. He held up a finger and she stopped.
“There’s no written rule saying twins have to look alike. Fraternal twins don’t. When people think about twins, they often think about identical twins.” Caleb looked Mattie in the eye. “Your bond as twins is more than skin-deep. It’s what’s underneath that counts. Take your mother, for example—underneath it all, she’s one of the strongest and most honest people I’ve ever met. She’s as beautiful on the inside as the outside. Same with the two of you. You might not be able to tell on the outside you’re twins, but you are through and through.”
“Told you so.” Ethan nudged Mattie and poked Caleb’s shoulder. “Can you come for dinner more often? Mom made pie.”
“Actually, Caleb’s mother made the pie. I only warmed it up.” Lucie emerged, her blue eyes shining. “The next time we see her, we’ll thank her.”
The doorbell rang, and Lucie furrowed her brows. “I’m not expecting anyone.”
Ethan stepped toward the door, and Caleb rose and planted his hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “Let your mom see who it is first.”
Lucie elbowed her way up to the door and checked the peephole. “Well, we won’t have long to wait to thank your parents for the pie.” She opened the door and smiled. “Come on in out of the cold. I’ve heated up your apple pie if you’d like to share a slice. Perhaps some coffee to go with it?”
His mother and father entered the foyer as Pita came from the kitchen area, barking and joining the general melee. His mother’s amusement was clear, while his father held back, his preference for long walks where he could process everything at odds with the Maxwell and Decker households. Just as Izzy and Vanessa had already won him over, though, Dad would come around to Ethan and Mattie, and the whole menagerie of pets, as well.
“We’re not staying.” Tina nudged her husband while Pita sniffed the bottom of her puffy blue coat. “And we don’t need any coffee at this time of the evening. While I’ve met Mattie and Ethan, I don’t believe they’ve met my husband, Drew. And who’s this sweet girl?”
Tina bent down and petted Ladybug while Lucie handled the introductions. She tilted her head toward the shed. “I’ll save Fred and Ethel for another time when it’s still light outside.”
This was pure Lucie, warm and inviting.
Glancing around the room, Caleb understood why his father was protective of Tina, who brought out the best in his dad. Caleb’s best was here, in the place that filled his heart, the place he longed to call home with the woman he loved. He hoped they could see that.
More than that, he had to make sure they did. Caleb stepped forward and exhaled the breath he’d been holding. “Dad, there’s something you need to know.” Any chance of making this a private moment between him and Lucie had disappeared a long time ago. Then again, he had nothing to hide and he wanted Lucie to understand that. He went over and twined his arm around Lucie, a vision in a pink apron with a smudge of whipped cream and a brown coffee stain dotting the front. “I love Lucie.”
“I told you so.” Mattie turned to Ethan, a smug smile showing off her tooth gap. “I told you he looks at her like Sheriff Mike looked at Miss Georgie at their wedding.” She stuck out her tongue for good measure.
“Matilda. That’s not polite.” Lucie reprimanded her daughter, and Caleb’s stomach sank. Of all the reactions to his declaration of love, it didn’t bode well that she’d addressed Mattie first.
All his life, he’d retreated into nature, always feeling as if he’d missed out. Returning to Hollydale had been his refuge, his saving grace.
Instead, he was another stray fighting for Lucie’s attention.
She reached for his hand, her warmth seeping in. He forced himself to meet her gaze.
“I want my life to be an open book for all to see, but I also want you to have my undivided attention. You deserve that.” She let go, reached up and caressed his cheek, the beard bristles bending under her touch. “You deserve so much.”
“For a second, I wasn’t sure you felt the same way.” Caleb’s voice broke. “Never again.”
The doorbell rang and Caleb stopped short of throwing his arms up in the air as Ladybug and Pita started another round of barks. Even Midnight showed up, weaving her way down the stairs.
Lucie rubbed her forehead. “Excuse me a minute.”
This time she didn’t look through the peephole before opening the door. Franklin Garrity, the town banker, stood on the doorstep, a black leather briefcase at his side. “Mrs. Decker.” He stepped inside, his jaw clenched.
Pita yelped and rushed to Caleb’s side. Ladybug planted herself at Mattie’s and Ethan’s feet.
Smart dogs.
Caleb bent and scratched Pita’s ear, keeping a wary gaze on Garrity.
“This is an unusual time to pay a visit.” Lucie glanced at her watch before placing protective hands on Mattie’s and Ethan’s shoulders. “While I want an answer about the mortgage, I’m quite busy tonight. Tell me your first available appointment time tomorrow, and I’ll rearrange my schedule and meet you at the bank.”
“We should talk tonight.” Garrity pursed his lips into a straight line as he tightened his grip on the briefcase’s handle. “That way, if you want to obtain counsel based on the findings of the underwriter and the forensic accountant, you’ll have an opportunity. Tonight is a courtesy call because of your children.”
“This is an inappropriate discussion to have with me in front of my children. Official business should take place at the bank or another public setting. I have nothing to hide.”
Caleb’s father’s glare darkened with every second, almost as if he’d made up his mind as soon as Garrity mentioned an attorney, almost as if he was judging Lucie before any evidence was presented. One word alone, along with Garrity’s body language, was enough to condemn Lucie.
“We should leave.” Drew made a motion, but Caleb’s mother laid a hand on his arm.
“Lucie hired me. I’m staying.” Tina lifted her chin.
Lucie patted her children’s shoulders. “I don’t want Ethan and Mattie here while Mr. Garrity and I have this conversation. Caleb, will you take them to Georgie’s house for me? She and Mike will take care of them until I can get there.”
Cut to the core, Caleb remained still. She didn’t trust him enough to stand by her. Every fiber of him knew Lucie hadn’t done anything wrong. She’d no more betray Mitzi or her aunt than she would turn away an animal in distress.
“I’ll take them to my cabin, and we’ll talk when you’re done.”
Watching over Mattie and Ethan was his way of showing her he wanted them in his life as much as her
. When she picked them up, they’d get everything in the open, starting with the reason Garrity showed up tonight and ending with why Caleb loved her.
Maybe he should start with the love and work his way to Garrity.
Lucie hesitated and glanced around. Even the dogs were on their best behavior, as if sensing the tension in the foyer. “Mattie and Ethan need their coats. My car’s unlocked, so you can get their booster seats. I’ll text you and you can bring them back here when I’m done.”
Along with his parents, he bustled Mattie and Ethan out the door, despite their protests. Lucie flicked on the porch light before she closed the door, shutting him out.
Shivering, his mother gripped Mattie’s and Ethan’s hands and led them to Caleb’s car. “Caleb’s father and I will be right behind you. We’ll make an evening out of it. Popcorn, a fire, the works. Right, Drew?”
Mom glanced over her shoulder and made eye contact with Dad, who hovered behind her. “Caleb and I will get the booster seats and join you in a minute,” he said.
Caleb strode to Lucie’s clunker of a car, proof she wasn’t living extravagantly. Opening the back door, he extricated one of the seats while his father stuck his head in on the other side. “I can’t believe she turned out to be such a swindler.”
A blast of cold air bit through Caleb’s jacket—it numbed his insides as much as his father’s words. This was exactly what Lucie had fought against over the past couple of years as she’d worked hard for her children and to restore her reputation. “Dad, she’s not a fraud.”
“Then why would Franklin Garrity show up at her door telling her she needs counsel? Sounds like she’s in deep trouble. Why would you want to risk everything to stand by that?”
His father’s gaze challenged him. Caleb considered the facts. Garrity was here on business on a weeknight.
Garrity mentioned a forensic accountant. That alone sounded damaging and accusatory.
Had Lucie lied to Garrity? Had she been lying to the town all along? Caleb felt sick and gripped the handle of Mattie’s car seat to steady himself. Leah had lied to him, using him to promote an image to her family to get her trust fund. Had Lucie used him to promote the image of her center? After all, she’d admitted she’d contacted him to gain his endorsement, and he’d gone one better, nabbing the endorsement of a star baseball player.
Had she played him like Leah?
Had he given his heart to someone phony, someone who valued image above everything else?
Everything about Lucie was real, from her devotion to animals to her love for her family, whether four-legged or two.
He believed in the woman he loved.
“I’m staying and fighting for her, Dad. Lucie and I will meet you and Mom at the cabin.”
“You’re in too deep. What if this ends badly, like it did the last time for her?” Dad met his gaze, a face Caleb knew so well, a face that had been there when Caleb woke from surgery scared and unsure of whether he’d walk again or resume a normal life, a face he’d seen supporting him in every way since Caleb could remember. “You’re really willing to stake everything on her?”
“Yes.”
A simple word, and one he truly meant. As sure as he was about the hibernation habits of the black bear, the nesting habits of the woodpecker, and that the sun would rise in the east tomorrow, he was sure about Lucie. “She’d never do anything to hurt her family, and she includes all of Hollydale as her family.” Whether everyone in Hollydale knew that—or accepted it—wasn’t at issue. Lucie loved this town, and she cared what the residents thought of her. That they believed the truth about her.
“How do you know she didn’t do something criminal for her children’s sake?” Dad lifted Ethan’s dark blue booster seat out of the back seat.
“I know it like the air I breathe. Lucie would never hurt those children, and she wouldn’t do anything for them that went against her true self.” Caleb would shout it from the rooftops if it would do any good.
His father reached out his free hand over the back seat of Lucie’s car, and Caleb met him halfway. More than a handshake, it was his father’s way of accepting Caleb’s decision. “You and your mother are very convincing. All right, so what are you still doing out here? We’ll take care of those kids. Lucie needs you.”
Truer words had never been spoken. Since he’d been back, he’d seen Lucie blossom and fight for herself. More than anything, he wanted to be a permanent part of her life, wanted her alongside him in the good and the bad. If there was some kissing and dancing and pink dresses involved, so much the better.
The fact they were starting with the bad? That would make the good times that much sweeter.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
LUCIE SHUDDERED AS she shut the door. Franklin Garrity wasn’t her favorite person, but she had to stay calm and listen to what he had to say. Counsel? What on earth would she have done that would require an attorney?
And Mr. Garrity making himself comfortable in her dining room was only the beginning of her troubles. Her heart had ripped in two when she’d glanced at Drew’s face. Clearly, he wasn’t going to support her and Caleb’s relationship—any chance of a future with Caleb was over.
When she cleared this up, she’d probably have to find a new bookkeeper, as well. Ladybug nudged one of her legs while Pita nosed the other. She bent down and petted them before she eyed the mahogany dining room table where her mother brought love and laughter to many family meals. The table served as a reminder she’d get through this.
Of course, she’d have to get through it without Caleb.
She settled in on the opposite side of the table, folding her hands in an attempt to stop quivering. When she kept shaking, she moved them from the tabletop to her lap.
“The underwriter noted irregularities in your mortgage application.” Mr. Garrity withdrew papers from his briefcase and slid them her way.
Her heart thudded in her ears. Irregularities? Reality sank in fast. He was accusing her of fraud, a crime that could send her to jail, unable to protect Mattie and Ethan from the town’s glare, unable to build her business, unable to keep any respect she’d regained.
You’re strong and elegant. Words from her best friend Natalie.
One of the strongest and most honest people I’ve ever met. She’s as beautiful on the inside as the outside. Caleb’s earlier statement hit home. Others believed in her, but she had to believe in herself. She’d done nothing wrong. Her strength and self-respect would help her through this. As would the people who had become her second family, including Mitzi, Georgie and Natalie.
Then there was Caleb.
While she knew she loved him, forces conspired to keep them apart.
Ladybug trotted into the dining room, her supportive grunts endearing. Pita remained at the threshold, pacing back and forth as though standing guard. Her pets had her back.
With more confidence, Lucie picked up the top paper and checked it over. “This is the mortgage application I submitted so I could pay for a new furnace. I own the title to this house free and clear, and I’ve reached out several times about the status. What’s the problem?”
Mr. Garrity sneezed and pulled a tissue from his suit pocket. “For one thing, your dogs. I’m allergic and they’re most distracting.”
Lucie bristled at his condescension. She left the dogs in the mudroom with an apology before hurrying back, more than done with whatever stunt Mr. Garrity was pulling. She wanted a simple life, and tonight might have ended any chance of sharing that life with Caleb.
She claimed her chair and passed the paper back to Garrity. “I fail to see why this application attracted any special attention.” Why stop there? Getting everything out in the open had been her mantra over the past couple years. “And I’d appreciate it if you contact Drew and Tina Spindler tomorrow and set the matter straight.”
The creak of the front door stopped
her. Lucie rose, ready to fetch whatever Mattie and Ethan had forgotten. If they’d forgotten an extra hug, so much the better.
Caleb was there on the threshold—even if she hadn’t seen him, she’d have known who it was from Ladybug’s and Pita’s welcoming barks.
But why?
Was it to get a firsthand glimpse of whatever Garrity claimed to have against her? She didn’t want to look into those hazel depths for the answer, and yet honesty began with clear communication.
Slowly, surely, she lifted her gaze and the answer knocked her into next week. Belief, respect and—dare she even think it?—love radiated forth.
“You came back.” The words slipped out of her mouth, her doubt betraying her sincerity. She searched for her children beyond him. “Where are Mattie and Ethan?”
“They’re safe. They went with my parents to my cabin.”
Caleb walked over and sat next to Lucie. She stayed alert, her muscles as tight as a jack-in-the-box coil. “What’s the issue here?”
Garrity waved the paper toward Caleb. “Take note of the value Mrs. Decker assigned to this house.”
“If anything, I lowballed the value at a hundred and three thousand.” Lucie racked her brain for the reasons she’d chosen that number: an online estimate, last year’s property taxes and recent sales in the neighborhood. All seemed like fair ways to establish her house’s value.
Caleb pushed the paper toward her. “The paper says one point three million.”
The world exploded around her. There was no way she’d inserted an extra zero by mistake. She’d read over her application at least five times.
There it was in black-and-white, though. She’d signed her name to a document where she had claimed the value of her house was over a million dollars.
“I have a proposal.” Garrity raised a brow. “It may seem irregular, but I wouldn’t present this option if I didn’t know it would help so many people in town.”
While she was processing the banker’s words, Caleb’s nearness almost undid her. What must Caleb think of her? A liar, a cheat, a fraud. Same as Leah, same as Justin. Her mind reeled and she struggled to breathe.