“Quiet with your company?”
Cal sends me the lopsided grin that hooked me the first time I saw him. “I've got a few things to handle at the office. After that, I'll break Junie out of school early, then I promise all the quiet company I can give you. In the meantime,…” He opens my car door for me. “I’ll give Mom a heads up you’re on your way.”
“Jo will be okay with me just showing up?” I slide into my seat, waiting for a “yes” or “of course,” but when I look at Cal, he tips his head to his shoulder, which isn’t super comforting.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. We’ll work it out then.” He points to my mobile in my hand and gestures for me to hand it to him. “In the meantime, soak up all the quiet you can. Once Junie sees you, that’ll be the end of your quiet until her bedtime. But then you get me all to yourself.”
His mouth quirks to the side in an expression that says he’s as amused by his joke as I am. Then he taps the ranch address into my mobile and leans into my car to hand it back to me.
“Call if you have any problems getting there.”
“I’m not worried about getting there. I’m worried about what happens after I do. Cassidy’s not there, is she?”
He laughs and shakes his head. “You’re safe from her.”
He’s close enough I can smell his soap, something clean and mellow. Soothing.
And there’s no way to resist taking his face in my hands and kissing him again. His cheeks are sandpaper rough with stubble. Not enough to hurt, just enough to add texture…to make him more real.
He pulls away with a smile. “It’s Wes you’ve got to worry about.”
“Not helpful, Cal.” I push him away, and he shuts my door.
I watch him look both ways before jogging to his big red truck. His arms swinging easily, his t-shirt hugging him brilliantly, his jeans…
Let’s just say, I enjoy the view.
I’m glad I came here, back to Serenity Cove. Back to Cal. No clue if it was the right decision. But I can’t leave now, even if I wanted to.
Chapter 27
Frankie
Once I’m on the road to the ranch, I ring Archie. I left this morning without telling anyone. I told Sybil I was going for a drive. I didn’t mean to end up here, but once I was on the 405, I just kept driving.
“I’m back in Serenity,” I tell him.
He stays quiet long enough for me to wonder if we’ve been disconnected.
“Arch?”
“You might have waited until we had things sorted with Sanctuary. Or were you looking to get flogged?” Irritated is Archie’s standard MO, but he sounds even more annoyed than usual.
“Maybe. I don’t know. I just—I needed to come back. If I didn’t, everyone here would think I had a reason not to. And I don’t.”
“And you wanted to see Cal,” he adds, only slightly less annoyed than before.
“And I wanted to see Cal. Obviously.”
“Obviously.” There’s enough mocking in his tone to open the door for teasing him back.
“He’s a smoke show, Arch. I can’t quit him.”
Archie scoffs with just enough of a laugh to signal we’re back on good footing. “What about the memorial service?”
Malcolm wanted to be cremated, so that’s where he is now. Being…cremated.No embalming. No viewing. No seeing him one last time.
I should be grateful. He didn’t look like himself by the time he passed. He wasn’t a giant anymore, just skin and bones. As human as the rest of us.
