His First and Last (Ardent Springs #1) (37 page)

With shaking fingers, Snow swiped a wayward curl off her forehead and was reminded that she was wearing a hat. A very pointy hat, along with a tight black dress, red-and-white-striped knee socks, and platform Mary Janes.

Why did he have to find me on Halloween?
she thought.

The downtown vendors of Ardent Springs held a trick-or-treating event for area children every year, which would start in less than an hour. Snow had donned the witch costume to show her town spirit,
as there were still several locals who never let her forget that she was a newcomer, regardless of being a resident for more than a year now.

From her left, Snow spotted Lorelei Pratchett headed toward them from the back of the store, looking intent on learning the identity of the man staring at Snow with unblinking blue eyes.

“I’m really busy right now,” she said, hoping Caleb would agree to continue this conversation at a later time, preferably in private. Not that she wanted to be alone with him, but if anyone learned exactly who he was . . .

“Who do we have here?” Lorelei asked once she reached the end of the counter.

“Nobody,” Snow said, at the same time Caleb introduced himself.

“Caleb McGraw,” he offered, repeating his name for a second time, as Snow had spoken over him the first. “I’m here to see Snow.”

Giving her friend a you-lucky-girl look, Lorelei said, “You two know each other?”

“It’s been a while,” Snow answered, determined to keep the details slight.

“Seventeen months, three weeks, and four days,” Caleb said, shocking Snow into silence.

He’d kept track down to the day. Had he been looking for her all that time? She knew he’d eventually seek her out, as they had business that would someday need to be resolved, but since she’d mattered so little to him, Snow assumed there’d be no rush.

Unless . . .

“If you don’t mind,” she said, coming out from behind the counter, “Caleb and I need to discuss something. Could you watch the register for a few minutes?”

Lorelei’s brows shot up, but she didn’t ask any more questions. “Happy to, sure. Yeah.” Making a shooing motion, she added, “You two take all the time you need.”

“Follow me,” Snow said to Caleb, then hurried through the store
to the back room. Once inside, she opted not to offer him a seat, since she didn’t expect this to take long. “What do you want?”

“You know the answer to that,” he said, crossing his arms and leaning a shoulder against the wall to his left.

“No, actually, I don’t.” She had a guess, and the thought made her nauseated. Another unexpected reaction.

Instead of pulling out the papers she assumed he’d want her to sign, he said, “You left.” Two words that felt like a one-two punch.

“Yes,” she said, her voice weak. There was no reason to deny the truth.

“Why?”

Tapping into unknown depths of bravado, Snow answered, “Mistakes were made. I didn’t see any reason to keep making them.”

Straightening off the wall, Caleb said, “After all this time, you think that’s a good enough answer?”

What did he want from her? Some tearful explanation of how he’d hurt her? A deep, philosophical discussion about the negative effects of making spontaneous, emotional decisions and why there’s a reason the brain should have more sway than the libido?

Snow had some pride left. Even if she was having this conversation looking as if she belonged behind a cauldron and should have green skin. There was only so far she was willing to go for town acceptance, and goopy green makeup was beyond that line.

“I have a business to run here, and the kids will be arriving soon expecting candy at the door.” He didn’t need to know the fun didn’t start for another forty minutes. “If you have more to say, you’ll have to come back at closing time when I’m free.”

“When is that?” he asked.

She’d hoped her lack of cooperation would result in him storming out and never coming back. The idea of having a round two of this set up a pounding in her temples.

Tempted to lie, something told her to stick with the truth. “Seven.”

“I’ll be here at six forty-five.” With a nod, he strolled back into the
store as if they’d done little more than chat about the weather. Caleb should have been fighting mad. He should have been making demands and refusing to be tossed into the street after eighteen months of nothing.

If he ever loved her, he’d be doing all of those things. His lack of feeling wasn’t a revelation, but having the reality confirmed so clearly felt as if the betrayal had happened all over again.

Worried that Lorelei might stop him on his way through the store, Snow hustled to catch up and intercept any further interrogation. Though she’d been back in her small Tennessee hometown for less than six months, Lorelei Pratchett had regained the tendency to grill any strangers who dared step inside the Ardent Springs city limits.

“So how long will you be with us?” Lorelei asked as Caleb reached the table near the door where her nosy friend was straightening a perfectly organized china display.

Cutting his blue eyes toward Snow, he said, “That depends on my wife.”

Another subtle nod and Caleb exited the store, leaving bells jingling in his wake and a gaping Lorelei, shocked speechless for what Snow guessed to be the first time in her life.

“Did he say—”

Snow held up her hand, palm forward, to cut off the question, and dropped into the yellow brocade chair behind her.

Stepping up beside her, Lorelei leaned down and whispered, “Vegas?”

Surprised by the question, she asked, “How do you know about Vegas?”

Lorelei squatted, crossing her arms on the side of the chair. “You pretty much gave yourself away earlier this month, at the Restore the Ruby Festival. Spencer and I were talking about a wedding date, and you vehemently preached against the evils of getting married in Las Vegas.”

Pulling off her hat and twisting the wire-trimmed brim in her hands, she said, “Was it that obvious?”

To Lorelei’s nod of affirmation, Snow sighed. “Then yes. That’s Vegas.”

Acknowledgments

I prefer to set my stories in places with which I’m familiar, and this new series is no different. In my early twenties, I found myself at a crossroads in life, as one does in her early twenties, and made the spontaneous decision to move from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where everyone I knew and loved was close by, to Nashville, Tennessee, where I didn’t know a soul. To me, it was a great adventure. To everyone else, it was insanity.

In hindsight, it was a little of both.

I spent three years in Nashville, and of all the places I’ve lived (five states in all), it’s the one city to which I’d return in a heartbeat. The area is beautiful, the people are friendly, and, of course, there’s the music. And not just country. There’s a vibrant culture and diversity in this central Tennessee town that might be surprising to outsiders.

And so, I want to acknowledge the area that gave me a new start, which has come full circle to provide a jumping-off point for my fictitious Ardent Springs. I also need to thank Franklin, Tennessee, for geographic inspiration. If you glance at a map of Ardent Springs and one of downtown Franklin, you’ll see many similarities.

I am neither a cook nor a baker, but I did spend my childhood in a home filled with both, thanks to my grandmother, Lillian “Mickey” Bates.
She could make absolutely anything, and did. If my mother will ever hand over the ancient steno pads in which she kept her recipes for everything from spaghetti sauce to nut rolls, there will be a
Nanny’s Cookbook
let loose on the world. And thanks to her inspiration, Lorelei’s business, Lulu’s Home Bakery, is a work of love.

As always, I could never do this without my writing buddies, who listen to me whine, talk me out of corners, and constantly remind me that I
can
do this. To my editor, JoVon Sotak, you’ve proven yourself to be a gift already, and I look forward to many years together. To my developmental editor, Krista Stroever, you are awesome. That is all. Of course, my agent, Nalini Akolekar, who is a godsend and my fairy book godmother. As the dedication of this book says, I have no idea what I’d do without her.

Thanks to my street team, Team Awesome, for being so supportive and patient when I disappear on deadline, and last but not least, my daughter. It isn’t easy being a teenager. It’s doubly hard being the child of a single parent. She gives me strength, love, and undying faith every day. She makes me laugh, she makes me mad, and she makes me want to be a better person. You can’t ask for more than that.

About the Author

Photo © 2012 Crystal Huffman

Although born in the Ohio Valley, Terri Osburn found her true home between the covers of her favorite books. Classics like
The Wizard of Oz
and
Little Women
filled her childhood, and the genre of romance beckoned during her teen years. In 2007, she put pen to paper to write her own. Just five years later, she was named a 2012 finalist for the Romance Writers of America
^®
Golden Heart
^®
Award, and her debut novel released a year later. You can learn more about this international bestselling author by visiting her website at
www.terriosburn.com
.