Before Caitlin could catch her breath, Quentin had pulled her close for the foxtrot. “Or do you call this a two-step in Montana country?” she whispered in his ear.
His hand was on the small of her back, warm and possessive, and very sexy.
“We fit perfectly,” he said, his face pressed against her cheek, his musky cologne practically making her swoon.
They danced just about every single tune until the DJ took a break and they headed to a table to retrieve refreshments. It was nice to recognize faces, even if everyone was dressed up with their hair done. A far cry from sledding in Eskimo outfits.
During the break, Sam tapped the microphone and spoke into it. “Good evening, folks. It’s time to announce the winners of the Dove’s contest. Three people will go home with a $100 shopping spree and a month’s worth of chocolate. Hold your breaths, folks. Here are the winners.”
“Did you enter?” Quentin asked, tucking her hand in his as they stood together in the crowd.
“I did a few weeks ago,” Caitlin said, suddenly remembering that she had, in fact, filled out the entry from when she was shopping.
“Drum roll, please!” Sam called into the microphone just as he hit a button on his synthesizer that started up the sound of a drummer spinning out a roll to mark the moment. “And the first winner is!”
He named off the first winner and then the second, names Caitlin didn’t recognize. At least not yet, she thought suddenly.
“Our third and final winner of the Valentine’s gift card for a shopping spree and a huge basket of chocolate is . . .” Sam paused for effect, lifting the card higher to catch the spotlight on the name written there. “Caitlin Webster! Congratulations, Caitlin, our resident midwife and savior of Wade Kinsella Junior!”
The room burst into applause as well as laughter. Caitlin felt her face turn red.
“You won!” Quentin started laughing. “Go get your prize.”
He gave her a small push forward and Caitlin found herself inside the spotlight’s circle as she walked up to the stage.
Sam handed her an envelope with the gift card, and then leaned into the microphone again. He waggled his eyebrows. “Guess you gotta stick around Snow Valley longer to buy groceries at Dove’s.”
She gave him a smile, thanked him, and then suddenly began to laugh when the clerk from Dove’s brought forth a huge basket of candy bars. Her favorite. Snickers. In large size and minis.
“Sorry they’re all the same kind,” Sheila told her, hefting the basket into Caitlin’s arms. “They were having a special sale so I stocked up for the contest.”
“They’re perfect,” Caitlin told her, giving her a quick hug.
For the last hour of the dance she was passing out Snickers bars to anyone who wanted one.
“Better hide some in your purse before they’re all gone,” Quentin advised.
“Good thinking. “They’ll be my late night snacks when the baby wakes up.”
Surreptitiously, Caitlin poured a handful of the candy bars into her handbag, crinkling the paper she’d stuck in there earlier. She pulled out the list of fortunes to refold it and tuck it into a side pocket, but curiosity got to her so she took a quick peek at the last couple of predictions.
#4. An unexpected fortune will come your way.
#5. The man of your dreams will be strong and tough, but not what you expect.
Numbers One and Two had definitely been crossed out already. After nearly being run over by Quentin’s monster truck and almost losing Rayna the night of the storm, Number Three could now be crossed off, too:
#3. “From the cusp of death a new day will dawn and all your dreams will come true.”
Not her death, but the possibility of losing Rayna tonight, including navigating the treacherous roads. And now there was a new baby and certainly a new dawn with Quentin Hudson. Were dreams coming true?
Caitlin sucked in a breath. “Number Four, too,” she whispered when the music started up again. “An unexpected fortune.” No, it wasn’t a million dollars, but it still qualified. And so much chocolate she’d be sick.
Glancing up at Quentin who was grinning at her, she found herself grabbing a pen out of her purse and crossing that one off as well. Maybe Number Five, too, but there was one last thing she had to confirm. She’d been suspicious of Quentin Hudson for quite some time and wanted to make sure her hunch was correct.
“Will you dance with me?” he said. “One last time before I take you home?”
“If you take me somewhere else first on the way back to Starry Skies.”
“That’s an offer I can’t refuse,” he answered, his smile growing when his arm went around her waist for a waltz.
After the dance concluded, on their way to the truck, Caitlin said, “Can we stop at the city park for a few minutes before we head back to the B&B?”
“The park is your secret destination?” Quentin asked with a laugh.
She nodded, her teeth chattering.
Quentin cranked up the heat as he headed down Main toward the park, then helped her out of the vehicle. “Where to?”
“Over there,” Caitlin said, taking his hand and running in her boots toward the sculpture standing on a circle of brick and stone off the pathway.
“Why do you want to look at this?” he asked. His striking sapphire eyes were curious when Caitlin bent to examine the sculpture of the sinuous tree, formed to appear as though the oak was waving in an unseen breeze. Sculpted metal leaves fluttered ever so slightly on the tree’s branches.
“I think I know who created this beautiful piece of art,” Caitlin said, flashing him a secret smile.
“You do, huh?”
She got down on her hands and knees and ran her fingers along the bottom of the carved trunk.
After a moment when she couldn’t spot what she was hoping to find, Quentin knelt beside her, sweeping away several inches of snow from the bottom of the sculpture. “I think you’re looking for this, sweetheart.”
He took her hand and brushed it along the trunk about four inches from where the sculpture had been anchored to its platform.
The letters QMH were stenciled into the wood.
“Q and M and H,” Caitlin breathed. “Quentin Mark Hudson. I was right.”
“You’re a clever girl, Just Caitlin.”
She gazed at him, her lips curving into a smile. Quentin Hudson embodied everything she’d been looking for in a man. Artistry, a soft heart, a great provider, and someone who was steady and calm.
The kind of man who came through in any emergency. The kind of man she’d always wanted, but in a time and place she could have never predicted.
Caitlin rose to her feet and took out her list, crossing off Number Five with her pen. Madame Tallulah was remarkable.
Quickly, she pulled out her phone and texted a message to her friend Lila back home in San Francisco. Madame Tallulah nailed it.
“Who are you texting?” Quentin asked.
“Just Lila.”
“Is she anything like Just Caitlin?” he teased.
She shook her head. “Not a thing. She would drive you up a wall. I know she does me.”
Quentin laughed and ran his hands along her arms, bringing her close. Caitlin lifted her arms to slide them around his neck while his own arms circled her waist.
When he bent to kiss her, Caitlin’s stomach jumped in a way she’d never felt before. The cold disappeared, including the park and the town. Quentin Hudson was the only thing in her world right now under a canopy of magical stars.
With his lips soft on hers, Quentin murmured, “You know that there’s one more thing I want you to show me, Just Caitlin.”
She looked up into his face. “And what’s that Mr. Hudson?”
“I want to see your Fortune Teller list.”
“Have you been sneaking peeks at my list?” she laughed, not wanting to stop kissing him. His lips were so warm, so perfect, she didn’t care how cold it was and how much ice and snow she had to slush thro
ugh to get closer to him.
“Maybe I have been sneaking peeks when you were off gallivanting around town and avoiding me.”
Caitlin gasped and pulled away to give him a glare. “You—you—”
He shushed her and kissed her again. “I just want you to add one more item to that list of Madame Tallulah’s predictions. One that says you’ll never leave Snow Valley.”
Epilogue
When: Three months later in San Francisco
Where: Fisherman’s Wharf on a breezy May evening
“Here it is,” Caitlin said gaily when they found the corner next to Ripley’s Believe it or Not! museum.
Middle Eastern music wafted through the air from the fortune teller’s canopied tent along with the spicy aroma of incense.
Madame Tallulah ushered them inside, her eyebrows shooting up when she recognized Caitlin from so many months ago. “You’re the midwife. Your friend, what was her name?”
“Lila.”
“Ah, yes, the know-it-all. So did you come to get a new fortune? Did you not like the one I already gave you?” The Southern accent was gone, replaced by a stilted Middle Eastern one. Caitlin had to stop herself from chuckling.
“No, you pretty much got it right.”
The woman smiled, tossing back her head. “So in the end you are glad you came to visit me and drink my orange blossom tea.” She turned to Quentin. “This woman has unusual hands. Such peculiar life lines.”
“There’s just one thing I’m still puzzled by,” Caitlin said. “What was the curse you told me that I had to break? It never made it on my list of predictions in the notebook Lila was writing, but I remember you saying it.”
Madame Tallulah let out a rich trill of amusement, handing them pretty china cups of orange blossom tea. “You already know what it was. You knew the curse the first time you walked into my tent. It was there, you just didn’t recognize it.”
Caitlin gazed up at Quentin. Once again, this man surprised her by sitting in an exotic booth talking to a Fortune Teller, of all people. So far from Snow Valley and everything he loved, but he didn’t look particularly out of place, actually.
He was here because he loved adventure, loved her, and Caitlin knew Quentin would do anything for her. The diamond on her finger told her that—and so much more.
All of a sudden, a light came on in Caitlin’s head. “You’re right,” she whispered. “I thought I was cursed because of Stefan’s betrayal. The curse is now broken because I’ve finally been able to trust again enough to fall in love.”
“Bingo, girl.” Madame Tallulah said. “I don’t think you need any more predictions or prophecies, or your fortune told because I think you are going to be just fine, Miss Caitlin. But the next time you’re in San Francisco I won’t be here.”
“Why?” Caitlin blinked in surprise. “Where are you going?”
“To my sister’s house in Milwaukee.”
It was an answer she’d never expected. “Milwaukee?” she echoed. “You don’t look like you belong in a place like Milwaukee. Maybe bustling New York City or romantic Savannah, but not Minnesota.”
The women flung her exotic scarf around her neck and the dangly Middle Eastern earrings jangled against her shoulders. “There are worse places. I’ll be teaching how to do palm readings and cards and fortunes at a local community college there. Good pay. Steady work.”
“Guess it could be worse,” Caitlin said, trying not to giggle. This woman was so endearing and funny.
Quentin tugged at her hand and they rose from the comfy chair to head for the doors.
“But!” the gypsy fortune teller cried out, stopping them. “Before you two beautiful, happy people go off into the sunset, I leave you with one final prediction.”
They paused and Madame Tallulah placed a hand on each of their arms. Bringing them close, she lowered her voice into a mysterious timbre. “I prophecy that you will have a long and happy life together, and you will have many children.”
Caitlin tried to suppress a grin, glancing up at Quentin’s amused and happy face.
“I also predict that your first children will be twins so start preparing now! You already know how to build a beautiful nursery, Mr. Quentin. Just be sure you purchase two cribs and a bunk bed for the future.”
Caitlin leaned over and kissed the woman on the cheek. “Thank you for helping me believe in myself.”
“Wait a minute,” Quentin said, holding up a hand and staring into the fortune teller’s face. “How did you know I recently built a nursery? Did you tell her, Caitlin?”
Puzzled, Caitlin shook her head. “No, this is only the second time I’ve ever met her.”
Madame Tallulah’s lips curved into a soft, mysterious smile. “I can’t give away all my secrets, now can I? Maybe you believe in many things now. You believe in love. You believe in life. And you believe in miracles.”
Giving a small shrug of her shoulders, Madame Tallulah shooed them out the front door draperies. The flaps closed together with a snap.
But when Caitlin glanced back over her shoulder, she swore she could see the Fortune Teller peeking through the slit as they walked away, arm in arm in the brisk spring breeze.
Dear Reader
If you enjoyed Unbreak my Heart, please consider posting a review on Amazon or writing a blog post—many thanks! Please check out my other clean romance titles on Amazon, too!
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Warmest wishes,
~Kimberley Montpetit
Also writing the award-winning FORBIDDEN trilogy (Harpercollins) under the name:
~Kimberley Griffiths Little
About the Author
When she was in Paris, Kimberley Montpetit spent most of her souvenir money at the La Patisserie shops—on the arm of her adorable husband. She grew up in the fabulous city of San Francisco, loves all things chocolate, and now lives in a small town along the Rio Grande with her big, messy family.
Kimberley once slept in the haunted tower room at Borthwick Castle in Scotland and didn't sleep a wink, sailed the Seine in Paris, rode a camel in the ancient World Wonder of Petra, shopped the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, and spent the night in an old Communist hotel in Bulgaria.
Kimberley also writes Award-winning Middle-Grade novels with Scholastic and epic Young Adult novels with Harpercollins under the name, Kimberley Griffiths Little. See all her titles at her Amazon Author Page.
Website: www.kimberleymontpetit.com
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