Harlequin Heartwarming May 2016 Box Set (29 page)

“Angela!” he yelled.

She heard him, because she glanced over her shoulder for a second before turning her face away from him.

Caleb clenched his jaw and turned his body to steel so he wouldn't race for the car to go after them. That would be a sure way to cause an accident. If he went home, would she be there? Though they were headed in that direction, he sorely doubted it.

“You didn't catch up to her?”

Grace.
He turned to her as she moved closer, a concerned expression on her pretty face.

“She got away on a motorbike with Kiki. I didn't even know Kiki had one, or I would have forbidden Angela from riding with her.”

“No helmets?”

“They had helmets. And I'm assuming Kiki has a driver's license since she's older than Angela.”

“Well, I'm sure they'll be fine, then,” Grace said agreeably.

“Angela won't be. I'll ground her until her eighteenth birthday!”

Grace placed a hand on his arm. “I think you need to take a breath, Caleb. A really deep one.”

“Will it help the situation?” he asked, thinking her touch was calming him down.

“I would guess it'll help your skyrocketing blood pressure.”

Caleb sucked in a lungful of air and let it go with a whoosh. Clueless as to his daughter's behavior, he shook his head. “What was
that
all about, anyway?”

“They were probably bored.”

“I'm sure you have a point. That's the very reason I let Angela come today. She begged me to let her out of the house just for a little while. Then when we got here, Kiki was waiting for her. I think they had the escape planned out.”

“Maybe.”

But Grace didn't look so certain.

“What else would have driven her away?” he asked.

“Well, um, truthfully...maybe...
me
?”

“You mean because you took charge the day of the mural debacle?”

“Partly. She, um, didn't look thrilled when you were talking to me.”

He'd been asking Grace if she'd thought about moving to town...mentioned Phase 2...said she should consider it. Hmm. It seemed that Angela was jealous of his interest in Grace, no matter that he hadn't even asked the woman out. He remembered the conversation with his mother about his daughter feeling abandoned...his reluctance to bring another woman into the mix...his mother's telling him that Angela would come around...

Ask her out...now...

The thought wouldn't go away.

Kindhearted and with their passion for the environment, Grace was exactly the kind of woman he would like to get to know better. He hoped Angela wouldn't do something purposely to ruin this chance for him.

So he said, “I was wondering if you were busy on Saturday.”

“Saturday evening?”

“Late afternoon, early evening?”

“Um, well, no. I mean, I'm free.” Grace's expression went from bemused to pleased. In a very cute way.

Making Caleb grin at her. “The weather is supposed to be unusually warm this weekend, and I was thinking we could take a boat out on Sparrow Lake.”

“You want to go fishing?”

“Not exactly. I was just thinking about circling the lake, maybe having a picnic dinner in the nature center there.”

She smiled and her whole face lit up, and in response he lit up from the inside out.

“Sounds nice,” she said, eyes shining as they met his. “I would love to do that with you.”

“Great.”

The fact that Angela might be annoyed flicked through his thoughts, making him wonder how he could bring her around. Grace had Angela's best interests at heart. If only his daughter could see that.

* * *

“A
RE
YOU
SURE
you want to do this here?” Kiki asked.

“Positive. This is exactly the right place.”

They got off the motorbike Kiki had “borrowed” from her ex-boyfriend Viper. Angela suspected Viper didn't know that Kiki had it, but she didn't care any more than she cared about being on the rez where Gran Maddie lived. She wanted to make sure her mother got this message, and the big public bulletin board to the side of the recreation center would be perfect for it. While residents shopped in the village stores, no one was around here at the moment. Now she simply had to work fast before anyone spotted them.

“Let's hurry.”

They unloaded the cargo bag. Kiki had brought another set of acrylics and brushes that Angela had paid for with her allowance. Then Kiki pulled myriad posters and notices from the bulletin board as Angela opened containers.

“What are you going to paint this time?”

“My mother.” At least that would be the focus of the painting.

“Yeah, but the photo you have of her was taken a million years ago, before you were born. She might not even recognize herself. And you might get into big trouble this time.”

Angela gritted her teeth. “You can leave if you don't approve.”

“I wouldn't do that.” There was a slight note of panic in Kiki's voice. “You know I'm your friend.”

“And I'm yours, Kiki, no matter what.”

“Well, I'm staying.”

“Then let's get this thing done.” Angela rummaged in the bag of paints. “I want plenty of black and acid blue. Then white. For lightning. We're gonna paint a great big goth ‘spirit buffalo' with smoke coming out of his nostrils and lightning shooting out of his sides.”

Kiki found a big piece of discarded cardboard they could use as a palette and laid it down on the ground.

“I thought this was about your mother.”

“She's going to be riding the buffalo.”

After watching Angela sketch out the basics, Kiki picked up a brush and followed her lead.

“Wow, the white you're using for your mom's face makes her look like a zombie. That's so sick!” Kiki said admiringly. “Maybe she should be wearing a skull necklace.”

“Good idea. She's coming for vengeance.”

“She left you. You're the one who should be getting vengeance.”

Angela shook her head. “I think Dad sent her away. She's after him...and everybody else on this reservation. Obviously they didn't care enough about her.”

When they were done with the painting, both girls stepped back to admire their creation. The lightning burst out in jagged spears, while the buffalo and his wild-haired rider both looked absolutely insane. Insanely cool, that was.

“What do you think?” Angela asked, a big smile on her face.

Before Kiki could answer, a rough male voice interrupted, “I think you are in trouble, young lady.”

Angela jerked around and came face-to-face with Harold Fox, one of the tribe's elders.

CHAPTER SIX

C
ALEB
FELT
AS
if
he was at his wits' end as he parked in front of his mother's house. He'd barely had a half hour of happiness thinking about his upcoming date with Grace before getting the call from Mom. Climbing out of the truck, he slammed the door to let off some steam. He'd known something was up when Angela had ridden off on that motorbike with Kiki. Rather than going home where she belonged, his daughter had gotten herself in trouble yet again, and while she was still grounded, no less.

His mother came out on the stoop to meet him. “Your face looks like it was hit by a thundercloud.”

“Yeah, a real Summer Storm.”

Mom actually smiled at that. “My granddaughter
does
have talent.” She hugged him. “And the temperament of a true artist. She paints what she feels, and she's obviously feeling a lot of difficult emotions right now.”

Hugging her in return, Caleb said, “Yes, but she's creating where she's not supposed to. First the community center at Green Meadows, now the rez's recreation center.”

“I told her she needed permission.”

“You knew about this?”

“She mentioned how she would like to make her mark at the rez when she was here the other day. I tried to advise her on how to get her work approved.” Maddie shook her head. “She should have listened to me.” His mother cupped his cheek as if in sympathy. “This is no end-of-the-world situation. Angela just painted a mural on the bulletin board. Harold Fox said it was a very vivid, if inappropriate, image.”

Sighing, Caleb called, “Angela, come on out. We're going home!”

“Honey, she's not here. Harold insisted the girls paint over the work and restore the bulletin board with the signs and posters they removed. He said he would give back the keys to the motorbike when they finished.”

Even though he was angry with Angela, Caleb wouldn't mind seeing the work for himself. It had to be related to the Green Meadows mural. Had to be about his daughter's emotional upheaval over her mother's continued absence. But a wild woman on a buffalo? He needed to find a way to talk to her about it.

“I'm going to head over to the center, then.”

“Walk,” Mom said. “It'll give you a few minutes to even out that temper of yours.”

“All right,” he groused, brushing his mother's forehead with a kiss before going after his daughter.

The recreation center was a five-minute walk that started down a street lined with tidy houses, several with big yards. Two goats frolicked in one of the fenced properties, and chickens squawked from another. A woman was out working on her early spring vegetable garden and a toddler who reminded him of his Angel at that age was helping.

Where had the years gone? He would give anything to go back in time a little, to when his daughter still thought he sprinkled the heavens with stars just for her. Now he couldn't even get her to respect his wishes.

Caleb turned the corner at the shopping area—the recreation center was on the other side of the village. He was halfway there when he saw a familiar-looking woman coming his way. His stomach immediately tightening, he stopped in his tracks.

It couldn't be...or could it?

He looked harder.

Long blue-black hair swirled around a traditionally attractive face that had matured since the last time he saw it. Broad cheekbones, straight nose, dark, fathomless eyes. Eyes he would know anywhere because they had once haunted his teenage dreams.

Eyes that widened when they set upon him. Still coming toward him, she murmured, “Caleb Blackthorne...”

“Lily Trejo.” His voice was stiff. “What are you doing back here?”

“This is my home.”

“You haven't been here in fifteen years, and your parents moved away more than a decade ago. What home do you mean?”

“The rez...or...well, that all depends.” She moved closer, her lips turning up.

“On what?”

“On my being able to get a decent place to live. You can help with that.” Lily zeroed in on him and placed a hand on his chest, gave him one of those flirty looks she had perfected as a teenager. “I need money for rent and food, Caleb. Or the least you can do is give me a place to stay.”

Did she really think he was going to let her back into his life? She was doing her best to charm him, but Caleb wasn't buying. That ship had sailed when she'd abandoned him and their baby and had never so much as called to find out how they were doing. Gripping her hand a bit harder than he meant to, he removed it from his chest. He wanted nothing to do with her personally. There was no soft place left in his heart for her anymore.

“My mother can help you find some place to stay and get you into a job program.”

“I didn't say I was looking for work.”

She tried moving closer again, but Caleb stepped back. “You can't think
I'm
going to give you any kind of assistance.”

“It would only be fair so I can get a proper place to live for Angela and me. You had our daughter all these years. Now it's my turn.”

“Angela? That's what this is about?” So this was why his daughter had gone off the deep end lately? Because of her mother's influence? Angela hadn't even told him she'd met Lily! “You're not taking her away from me!” He couldn't keep the edge out of his voice. “Angela isn't going anywhere with you.”

Lily's expression grew cross. “She's a young woman now. She needs her mother's influence.”

“Only if that influence is a good one.”

“You mean like the influence of an outsider?”

“Excuse me?” He grew aware of people stopping in the street, staring at them.

“I've seen you with that woman.”

Lily meant Grace. She must have seen them talking or something, since they hadn't even had their first date. “Who I see is none of your business.”

“But our daughter
is
my business. I'm here for her now.”

“I've been here for my daughter for fifteen years while you went off and—”

A shrieked “Dad!” got through to him.

Caleb rose from his cloud of anger to see his daughter standing in front of a knot of onlookers barely two yards away. How much had she heard?

“Angela—”

“Don't!” she yelled at him. “I knew you were responsible!”

“Angela,” Lily said, using her sweetest tone. “I'm your—”

“I
know
who you are!” Their daughter shoved past them in the direction of his mother's house. “Right now, I hate you both, so leave me alone! I'm staying with Gran Maddie tonight!”

“Angela! Angel!” Caleb called in vain. Turning back to Lily, he said, “Now see what you've done. You left her easily enough. You said you didn't want any responsibility. You never even told her you loved her and that you were sorry to leave her!” Which he'd never stop holding against his child's mother. “Why couldn't you just stay away?”

He didn't miss Lily's hurt, though she quickly covered it with a neutral expression. She couldn't hide the tears in her eyes, though, as he turned and walked away from her the way she had from him and their baby all those many years ago.

* * *

O
N
S
ATURDAY
MORNING
, Grace found herself in the office again, since Dad had made an appearance, having driven out from Milwaukee to take a look at the landscaping proposal for Green Meadows. Grace had turned the landscaping blueprints and cost analysis over to him, then had retreated to her office. Distracted as usual from her growing stack of paperwork, she couldn't help smiling as she leaned back in her office chair and thought about that afternoon's date with Caleb Blackthorne.

Boating on the lake and a picnic at the nature center seemed like a fun way to end the week. He'd confirmed with a call the night before. She'd volunteered to bring the picnic and that morning, on the way into the office, had stopped at the Main Street Cheese Shoppe, where she'd asked Priscilla Ryan to pack a basket of goodies for her. She and Priscilla had developed a close friendship over the past year, though Priscilla spent most of her free time with her boyfriend, Sam Larson. Thinking about the handsome ex-rodeo rider, Grace couldn't blame her friend. She was looking forward to spending a little downtime with a man of her own one day.

Maybe Caleb Blackthorne...

A thrill ran through her at the now-familiar thought. She hadn't been able to stop wondering what it would be like to go on an actual date with him. They had so much in common, she looked forward to learning more about his ideas on conservation. And more personal things about him, as well. There was simply something about Caleb that was irresistible. A charisma that gave flight to a little fantasy on her part. The only negative was his daughter's obvious dislike for her. She hadn't forgotten the looks Angela had given her at the Pancake Day festival.

What could she do about that?

Hopefully time would soften the girl's attitude.

Assuming she and Caleb continued to see each other...

Grace sighed as she rose from her desk to meet with Dad in his office. He'd been more grouchy than usual with her lately, undoubtedly because she'd skipped the past couple of meetings he'd wanted her to attend in Milwaukee. She'd felt she was needed more here...and attending those meetings would only reinforce his determination to make her his successor in the company.

Grace did manage to pull herself together and put on a pleasant expression as she traded her office for her father's. Sitting behind his massive mahogany desk, where the landscaping cost analysis was spread out before him, he wore an expression of extreme disappointment when he met her gaze.

“Dad, what's up?”

“The numbers on the landscaping.”

Uh-oh. “They are a little high because we're planning on using so many native plants.” Which were, admittedly, more expensive than the more popular plants one could buy from a big-box store.

“A little high? The cost analysis is twice what it should be.”

“But totally worth the extra cost.” Grace took a deep breath and placed her hands on the desk so she could meet his gaze directly. “This is a green community. It only makes sense to landscape the grounds so they meet the same standards.”

“Who is going to know the difference?”

“I will. This is my baby, Dad. I want it to be perfect.”

He scowled at her. “Or you can simply make it look good at a lower cost, an alternative you should be considering as the next CEO of this company.”

There it was. Her father must sense her emotional upheaval about taking over for him. He'd never asked if she wanted the job. He'd simply assumed she would move up when he retired. And she couldn't tell him straight out that she didn't want to be a CEO, that she wanted to explore more green building, an idea that truly excited her. Her father had already suffered too much heartbreak in his life. She just couldn't admit she didn't want to be CEO, not when he counted on her so deeply, but she wasn't going to give up on Green Meadows, not without a fight.

She cleared her throat. “So let's be clear about this. Your only objection is the money.”

“Profit is what makes a company a success.”

“Walworth Builders
is
a success, Dad. You've devoted your life to it and it has done very well by you. By us.” She tapped the papers on his desk. “How much of a difference will the cost of using native plants make in our lives? We have more than enough money.”

His frown deepened. “The economy could make another downturn anytime.”

“Then we'll deal with it the way you did before,” she reasoned. “In the meantime, you have that new shopping center going up outside of Milwaukee. If you want to cut corners on landscaping, do it there, not here. Green Meadows is going to be a beautiful home to a lot of people. Let it be all that it can be.”

“This is that important to you?”

“Yes, it is. And if there are extra costs, I'll find a way to deal with them. This is
my
project, Dad. Trust me to see it through.”

He sighed but didn't let go of the frown. “Fine. If I can't trust the next CEO of Walworth Builders, who can I trust? When you're in my seat next year, you'll come to realize that
perfect
is more of a nice concept than a reality. But with that in mind, I won't interfere in your landscaping decisions.”

“Thanks.” Grace smiled, but her face felt stiff.

CEO...next year...

She had to keep reminding herself that as much as she wanted no part of that job, somehow she would have to make peace with the fact that it was hers.