A Lot Like Home
Page 18
“It did not.” She quirked a brow. “She’s been issuing predictions like candy since I can remember, and they’re never that specific.”
“She said I’d meet my soul mate, and I did. The redheaded part was just a bonus. What did yours say?”
“That I’d meet someone through work. Damian. I made sure of it.”
“Of course you did.”
No surprise there. She’d tried to control the outcome of Serenity’s prediction because stacking the deck was Havana’s MO all day long, and he loved that about her. The beauty of it was that apparently she returned the sentiment, and the magic of Superstition Springs had done the trick after all.
How did one man get so lucky anyway?
Or was it luck? “Do her predictions always come true?”
Havana shrugged. “I generally don’t pay a lot of attention to them, because you know. I always thought of it as hokum. This is the first time she’s directed one at me, so given my limited experience with taking this kind of thing in stride, I’d say she nailed it.”
Yeah, and then some. Serenity had made other predictions with the guys’ names on them, but he’d never asked them to share. Now he was curious if all five of them were in line for romance Superstition Springs style.
Somehow he’d also gotten to a place where he could believe all this had unspooled exactly as fate had intended. But he couldn’t quite believe it was that easy.
“So this is it?” he couldn’t help but ask. “We’re done dancing around, and you’re in it for the long haul? Or is there another land mine I need to look out for?”
“Here’s the thing, Caleb,” she said, her blue eyes sincere and full of the magic he hoped would never fade. “Control is just an illusion. I’d rather spend a lot of time figuring out how we complement each other, what we can accomplish together, what loving you looks like next year, in ten years. How many pigs we can take down on a weekly basis. That kind of thing.”
“The answer is as many as come at us,” he told her just as sincerely. “I suppose you think I’m going to marry you now.”
She quirked a brow at him in that no-nonsense way that said she was about to tell him exactly how it was going down. “You better believe it. You’re stuck with me now.”
“That wasn’t even close to the proposal you deserve. I can do better.” Just as soon as he checked a few boxes that he would have already cleared if he’d known what Havana had intended when she’d dragged him from Ruby’s. “Give me a few.”
And then kissed her because he could, whenever he felt like it. After he got her good and breathless, like a good boy he sent her back to her floor and went in search of Serenity. His surrogate mom was a loose end that was poking at his conscience.
He found her at Voodoo Grocery chatting up Augusta Moon and Mavis J, so he hung back instead of disturbing them. But he should have known better.
“I told that boy he had to slow down and stop taking so many silly dares—” Serenity paused midspeech as she caught sight of Caleb, then beamed in his direction. “Hi, honey, you come on over here. You’re not interrupting. I’m explaining how Isaiah’s prediction is going to play out. He’s got some soul-deep healing to do before it’s all going to work out for him.”
Well, that answered the question about whether Serenity had lobbed love predictions in the other guys’ direction. Caleb couldn’t wait to hear more about that, especially if Isaiah’s touched on the worrisome tendency that the man had developed to do crazy stuff simply because Tristan had dared him to. Isaiah had always looked for the best way to motivate the team, especially if he could get a laugh or take their mind off things, but since Syria, the dares and bets had gotten a lot more dangerous.
He’d have to ask Isaiah what Serenity had predicted. Later.
“I need to ask your permission to marry Havana,” he told her bluntly.
Everyone would hear about four seconds after he’d asked anyway. No reason to be secretive about it.
Mavis J and Augusta offered their congratulations immediately, but Serenity gushed and stuttered and blushed so much that he started to wonder if she’d mistaken his intent and thought he’d asked her to marry him.
But then she pulled him into a hug and said, “I couldn’t be happier that Havana finally figured out that she was meant for you. I have something I’ve been saving for her that I want to give you. Come with me.”
Mystified, he followed Serenity back to the hotel and soon found himself ushered into her bedroom. It was covered in quilts, amateur oil paintings, stuffed animals, crystals, and all manner of books and knickknacks. She crossed straight to an antique armoire and pulled out a small black box, then flipped the lid to show him the sparkling ring inside.
“It was Janelle’s. My sister,” Serenity explained quietly, her eyes on the band with a simple diamond in the center. “She would have wanted Havana to have it. I wish she could be here to give it to her daughter herself, but she’s not, so I want you to. It’s fate.”
Caleb could only nod as he swallowed back the hot, slick emotion that had coated his throat, and it was a toss-up whether the prick of tears at his eyelids would stay put or fall. He accepted the box from Serenity and pocketed it. Under normal circumstances, he would never have accepted something of such value unless he had a plan to pay for it, but there were other forces being balanced here that he couldn’t disrupt.
He would have promised Serenity that he planned to love, honor, and protect her niece for the rest of his life if he could have talked, but words weren’t happening. Besides, he had a feeling she knew. Came in handy that Serenity had the ability to sense things.
He hugged her, and that’s when a lone tear escaped. He might not be done building the town to his satisfaction or anyone else’s, but the spirits of the people whose lives he’d had a hand in destroying didn’t feel as restless all at once. Maybe they’d found a home themselves among Serenity’s ghosts, fading into the walls of this old hotel as if they’d always been there.
Or else, this was simply what peace felt like. Either way, he was exactly where he was supposed to be, and he couldn’t wait to take the next steps of his new life.
Epilogue
"Where are you taking me?” Havana asked for the fourth time.
Caleb shushed her and pointed to the windshield of the Yukon where the dusty road lay ahead for miles.
“You’ve already said that,” she informed him with a scowl.
They hadn’t seen each other much over the past couple of weeks as they dug into the heavy lifting of making her plans a reality. Finally he’d forcibly hauled her away for a couple of hours so he could get on with his own plans. “Then you’d think you’d take a lesson and stop asking, Missy.”
She glanced at him sideways, her bright red hair framing her arresting face so perfectly that it distracted him from driving. She distracted him in all the best ways.
“Why do you keep calling me that?” she asked with a scowl that did nothing to detract from her features. Of course, he might be biased.
“Because of that time you called me ‘mister,’” he reminded her. “I’m pretty sure that’s when I fell in love with you.”
A pleased little hum sounded in her throat as she absorbed that. “So not when I informed you about your hero complex? Because that should have endeared me to you right off the bat.”
He grinned. “That was when I knew it was forever. You pegged me dead to rights on that one.”
“Again. It’s not a compliment. It’s… Hey. You’re taking me to the springs.” She sat up a little straighter as she noticed the surroundings she no doubt had more than a passing familiarity with. “Are we going swimming?”
The hope in her voice put a funny hitch in his chest, mostly because he’d planned something really special, and if she’d gotten her heart set on swimming, she’d be mighty disappointed with the reality.
Or he could improvise and Havana with less clothes on worked for him. “If you want. It’s pretty hot out.”
/> May had arrived in Superstition Springs with a vengeance. Figured Damian Scott would give them a six-month moratorium that stretched over the Texas summer, when they’d be begging for a breeze and sweating buckets by August as the residents had gleefully informed him on many occasions.
He parked the Yukon and raced Havana to the springs, clambering up ahead of her on the rocks so she’d be sure to follow. She did. When she drew up beside him on the tallest rock, he couldn’t peel his eyes from her despite the beauty of the hidden gem at the base of the outcropping.
“I have something for you,” he said huskily, shocked at the bare emotion climbing into his voice as he pulled the ring box Serenity had given him from his back pocket and flipped the lid. “A better proposal. See, I shouldn’t have won the election. Frankly, I think it was rigged and I need you to be the actual mayor. You know the woman behind the man? Will you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Mayor?”
She laughed, nodding along with the joke until she caught sight of the ring. She zeroed in on it, her expression growing misty and wondrous as she reached out to touch it as if to ensure herself it was real. “Is that my mom’s? I haven’t seen it in ages.”
“Serenity gave it to me. I hope that’s okay?” Maybe she didn’t want a hand-me-down ring or a guy who couldn’t exactly afford anything magnificent.
“Caleb—” Her breath caught, and she glanced up at him, her soul in her eyes. “It’s everything.”
And so was she. She let him slip the ring on her finger, and she made a fist, holding it to her heart. Except she took his hand with her, their fingers tangled, and he could feel her pulse pounding. He could feel everything.
“See, I know how much you enjoy taking care of everyone. But I thought it might be okay to stop for a while and let me take care of you. Forever. How does that sound?” he asked her.
She nodded, speechless for once, and that worked for him. He kissed her to seal his heartfelt proposal and then advised her, “Last one in is a rotten egg.”
Then he started shedding clothes. She caught on in a heartbeat and stripped just as fast, down to her underwear since they hadn’t brought bathing suits. She chased him into the water, and they swam for about four seconds until he couldn’t stand not touching her anymore. He wrapped her up in his embrace, and through sheer force of will, kept them both above the surface of the water.
This was what home felt like. And he wasn’t ever letting go.
Aria has both her sisters back home for the first time in eight years. Will that give her the courage to go after the man she wants? Or will courage look more like admitting she’s targeted the wrong SEAL? Find out in A Lot Like Perfect!
Turn the page for an exclusive excerpt.
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SEALs of Superstition Springs
A Lot Like Perfect
Navy SEAL Isaiah West has trouble calling himself “former” military, but after an involuntary discharge, redefining himself is the only option. The small town of Superstition Springs seems as good a place as any to regroup while he figures out where he’s supposed to go next—and deal with how that last operation in Syria messed up his place on the team.
Aria Nixon has long accepted her role as the “plain” sister and really, she has no use for a man who only sees her looks anyway. So when her Aunt Serenity’s love prediction mentions the word “makeover," it’s game on to prove she can get noticed without one. Who better to help her get the inside track on how a man thinks than… a man? Isaiah specifically, who has his own prediction to sidestep.
But in a mystical place like Superstition Springs, nothing ever goes as expected. It turns out Isaiah and Aria have a lot in common, and what’s with the attraction between them? Not supposed to happen. She can’t fall for Isaiah. He’s too perfect, too much what she wasn’t looking for and too likely to break her heart when he leaves. And Isaiah isn’t about to admit he’s got feelings for the woman he’s supposed to be helping attract an entirely different guy—his teammate. They should stay friends. Right?
No one had mentioned anything about springs, which in retrospect might have just been a miss on Isaiah's part given the name of the town. But he hadn’t had any reason to care about sorting that out. Until now. Aria’s face had taken on this glow as she’d spoken that might have been left over from running three quarters of a mile in the May heat. But he didn’t think so. And now he had to know more about what had lit her up.
“Springs? As in the Superstition ones?” he asked.
She tilted her head to the left. “It’s not far from here. A little over a mile. Other end of town though, by the river.”
Springs and a river? He should get out more. His downtime consisted of rooftop stargazing. Alone. Which just sounded… lonely all at once. He had a very odd urge to invite Aria to join him in his makeshift tree fort sometime. They both lived at the hotel, so it would be convenient, though she often worked late at the diner. Maybe after her shift? Or was that presumptuous?
He shook his head. Hard. No women. Even unassuming ones who had never so much as tripped his radar that way. Which was a shame because he really liked Aria.
“I’m a fan of peace,” he said instead. “Sounds like a place I might like. Seems like there would be a lot of spots like that around here though since there’s not much else?”
“There are a lot of places to be by yourself, that’s for sure,” she acknowledged wryly. “Especially when people don’t seem to stick around long.”
“That’s the spiel I keep hearing from Caleb. There isn’t much to anchor folks here. I think the schoolhouse will help, don’t you?” Or at least that was the party line. They had to get some basic stuff in place before the town could really function as a tourist draw. This barn renovation was step one of about a million.
“Sure, that’s why I volunteered. Well, one of the reasons.” She broke off and he had the distinct impression she’d said something she regretted. “Actually, that was a good segue into what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Talk to me about?” That’s why she’d hightailed it over here from the diner when she’d realized he was alone? His intrigue meter shot into the red.
“Yeah. I need your help.”
The long pause did not seem to fix her hesitation. Surely she wasn’t uncomfortable around him. He’d always worked hard to make sure people felt at ease. Clearly he was falling down on that job too. “I’m a helpful guy. This is the part where you tell me what it is.”
She huffed out a breathy laugh that seemed to release some of her tension. “It’s just kind of silly now that I’m actually contemplating saying this out loud. But here it goes. I need you to promise that what I’m about to tell you stays between us. It’s a secret.”
This just got better and better. “Like a pinky swear?”
She scowled, which only made her look cute instead of annoyed. Aria didn’t have an ounce of meanness in her whole body, which kind of ruined the expression. “I’m being serious. I have a proposition for you.”
Uh… if it had been anyone other than Aria, he might have been concerned that whatever she had on her mind might be of the illicit variety, but he couldn’t even imagine something of that nature coming out of her mouth. Intrigued didn’t even begin to cover it at this point. “I’m listening.”
“Here’s the thing. You can’t laugh. I made a bet with Havana and Ember that I could get Tristan to ask me out on a date. I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen unless I stack the deck.”
She paused, eyeing him meaningfully and he caught a clue pretty fast. Decoy, fake boyfriend, make Tristan jealous. Take your pick. “You want me to help you.”
A Lot Like Perfect
Dear Reader,
Thank you for coming along with me to Superstition Springs! I appreciate you so much for jumping head first into this new series. It's been a labor of love as this town in progress has been living in a corner of my heart for a lon
g time. I can't wait to bring you more stories from this magical little place. If you liked this story, please consider leaving a review. I love to hear from readers. Connect with me on Facebook or contact me via my website.
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—Kat Cantrell
TITLES BY KAT CANTRELL
A Lot Like Home
A Lot Like Perfect
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ABOUT KAT CANTRELL
USA Today bestselling author Kat Cantrell read her first Harlequin novel in third grade and has been scribbling in notebooks since she learned to spell. What else would she write but romance? When she’s not writing about characters on the journey to happily ever after, she can be found at a soccer game, watching Friends or dancing with her kids to Duran Duran and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Kat, her husband and their two boys live in North Texas. She’s a Harlequin So You Think You Can Write winner and a former RWA® Golden Heart® finalist for best unpublished series contemporary manuscript. Click here for Kat’s newsletter signup.
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