Chapter Twenty-Three

CHARLOTTE SILENTLY GROANED when she glanced out into the reception area of her law office and saw yet someone else waiting. Velma Sue. The groan wasn't for Velma Sue per se, even though the woman did often elicit that response from Charlotte. No, she was reacting that way because this was her sixth visitor on a day when she only had two appointments scheduled.

Apparently, her legal services were in high demand.

She could thank her mother's rise in popularity over that. Izzie had posted her recorded encounter with Paul, and now she was basking in some hometown glory. Too bad that glory had spread to Charlotte and had spurred people to come in with some legal issues that were in some cases downright willy-nilly, all so they could get a firsthand account of Izzie's heroics and the incident that'd gone down at Port in a Storm three days ago.

Charlotte was proud of what her mother had done, and Izzie was thrilled because of her soaring popularity, which would likely get her reelected. But Charlotte was even prouder of Harper for finally standing up to her dad. So she'd accommodated her visitors and provided a firsthand account or two, but she had been far more interested in dealing with their legal concerns and sending them on their way.

That dismissal was what she'd been doing to Rose Gonzales, who'd wanted Charlotte to go through her mail to make sure she hadn't missed anything important in it. Rose hadn't. Well, unless coupons for groceries totaling over ten bucks was important. Even so, she hadn't charged Rose and had thought with the woman's exit she might finally get a chance to close up shop and get out of there.

But there Velma Sue sat.

Charlotte gave another silent groan but had to admit she would have had that reaction had she seen anyone but Cal hanging around. Then she wouldn't have groaned, but she might have been wary. After all, there were less than forty-eight hours until his leave was up, and she was expecting a goodbye from him anytime now.

"I explained to Velma Sue that you were busy today," Mandy said. She was at her desk, and there thankfully wasn't a doll in sight. Izzie's fame might have helped with that, too, since there'd been plenty of volunteers who'd stepped up to transport the dolls to Frank.

"And I told Mandy I wouldn't be taking up much of your time," Velma Sue was quick to counter. "I just wanted to talk to you about these paper cuts."

This time, Charlotte wasn't able to bite off the sound, and the groan happened aloud. Still, she would have brought the woman into her office and heard her out if it weren't for two things.

First, Charlotte got a text. From Cal. You busy?

Once she'd settled down the fluttering in her stomach and heart and had fired off the outright lie of No , she spotted Harper.

Harper wasn't in her wheelchair but using a walker, the one that Alden had rigged with the tennis balls for her. Alden and Jodi were with her, and they were heading into Desi's Diner.

Charlotte smiled. Progress. And she still intended to call it that, even though Harper was scowling some and Jodi looked ready to bolt. Still, they were going inside a diner, so that was a huge step.

"Heard Harper's daddy is disowning her," Velma Sue remarked, obviously noticing what had gotten a portion of Charlotte's attention. Another portion of her attention was waiting for a response from Cal.

Yes, that was true. In fact, one of her unscheduled clients was a phone call from Paul.

"All right, then," Velma Sue said when Charlotte didn't confirm or deny the disowning. "Are you ready for us to talk about the lawsuit for these paper cuts?"

The woman held up her right hand, and while there were some old marks and age spots, there didn't appear to be any recent scarring. Charlotte was about to remark on that when her phone dinged again, and she nearly smacked herself in the head when in her haste she hobbled it so she could read the text.

It was from Cal.

Good. Glad you're not busy. Want to meet me at the swimming hole at the creek where I fell out of the tree?

Charlotte had a split second to wonder why that spot, but she sent off another quick reply, a yes , and added Be there soon . Only then did she tamp down all the heat and glee that was rushing through her.

This could be it.

The dreaded "Goodbye, but I hope we can still be friends" conversation. She'd been steeling herself against it for days, and yet this still felt like a punch of surprise. There was also a lot of dread in the mix.

"I have to go," Charlotte said, glancing first at Velma Sue and Mandy. "Could you schedule an appointment for Velma Sue?"

"But I'm here now," the woman protested.

Charlotte didn't even pause at the protest, and she wished that putting the woman off like this would stop her from coming back. Sadly, it wouldn't.

Charlotte hurried to her car and started driving. With a good five miles to go, however, her split second of wonder returned and lingered. Since that particular spot by the creek was on Donnelly land, it was private, and it was possible Cal wanted that privacy to give her the crushing news. Of course, she wouldn't let him see her reaction. She'd plaster on a smile and would then give in to her emotions when he wasn't around. If this was indeed a Goodbye or a Farewell for now , she didn't want his parting memories to be of her breaking into a million little pieces.

Of course, she had no one to blame but herself for the potential breakdown. She'd known what she was getting into when she'd started this fling with Cal. Still, it felt as if at some point the decision to be with him had been taken out of her hands. Her heart and certain parts of her body had definitely been calling some of those shots.

She drove onto Saddlebrook, following the dirt road that led to the creek. This was sort of the dividing line for the ranch with fenced pastures with Angus cattle on one side and a pasture of Andalusian horses on the other. Not all the horses were pastured, however, since Ice Man was moseying by the creek helping himself to the spring grass there.

It was a beautiful scene worthy of a postcard, but there was an even more incredible scene.

A naked Cal.

Well, almost naked, anyway. He'd stripped down to his boxers so she had a great view of his body. All the toned and tanned parts of him. Of his incredible face, too.

He dived into the creek just as she came to a stop. He stayed under for a couple of seconds before his head surfaced. The water sheeted down his face.

And onto his smile.

That smile eased a lot of the knots in her stomach. Eased some of the pressure in her chest, too. But just because he was glad to see her didn't mean the next few minutes were going to have a happy ending.

"Why meet here?" she asked when she stepped from her car. She even managed a smile though she was certain hers was a lot more tentative than his. "Returning to the scene of the crime?"

"Something like that. This was the site of a big turning point for me. Almost dying. Doing that life-pact with Noah."

He didn't mention the part about Harper knowing the limb was unsteady, but that had played into it, too.

"I'm glad you were able to come," he added a moment later while he treaded water. "I heard you were awfully busy at work."

Of course he'd heard about that. Most of the people who'd come in to see her today were also big gossips.

Charlotte nodded. "I even had a call from Paul. When he asked me to do the paperwork to disown Harper, I declined. But I told him I was doing my own paperwork to adopt her."

Cal laughed. "Good one. Harper will get a kick out of that."

She agreed and thought Harper just might. So far, Harper had shown zero signs of taking back anything she'd said—or given—to Paul.

Charlotte walked closer to the water, slipped off her shoes and stuck in a toe to test the temperature. It was only slightly cooler than a swimming pool.

"Thinking about coming in?" he asked in that sexy drawl that caused some heat to start swirling inside her.

It was so tempting to give right into that heat, especially since this part of the creek offered a boatload of privacy because of the trees, but if there was going to be skinny-dipping, followed by sex, then she needed to get something out of the way first.

"I figured you'd asked me here to talk," she threw out there.

"Oh, I did," he was quick to assure her. He tipped his head to his clothes that he'd left in a pile by one of the large boulders. "And I wanted you to see those."

Since she doubted he was talking about his Levi's, she went closer and saw the pictures. There were six of them, all group shots of Cal winning various competitions. In these, Cal hadn't erased himself with a pen or marker. Instead, there were circles drawn around him. Highlighting him. And in each one of them he was smiling. He was celebrating.

He was happy.

No doubt about that, and her heart felt as if someone had clamped a fist around it. "I get it," she said. "You want that level of happiness again."

His smile dropped. His forehead rose. "Uh, not quite. In all of those pictures, I had just done my best. And gotten lucky," he quickly added. "I wasn't thinking about quitting but moving on to the next competition. Then, Harper nearly died, and that changed everything."

And just like that, her emotions flipped, and her heart ached not for herself but for him. Sometimes it was easy to forget the impact this had all had on him.

"Those pictures made me see I've been looking at this all wrong," he went on. "I was asking myself if I was too broken to go back to the cockpit. What I should have been asking myself is why I thought I was the only one who could do a job that's important...but not one I want."

Charlotte mentally repeated that and was processing it when Cal hoisted himself up out of the creek, walked to her and completely clouded her thought process by kissing her. He was all wet. And wonderful. So was the kiss, even though it wasn't a particularly long one. Still, it was a magic kiss because, unless she was totally off base with her interpretation, Cal wasn't taking the job.

"I don't expect Audrey to ever understand or approve, but that's on her, not me," Cal went on. And he kissed her again.

Charlotte was torn between just giving in to the heat and getting that creek sex or getting this all clarified. The kiss was quickly moving her to choose option number one, but then Cal stopped again, and he pointed to the tree. Yes, the very one he'd fallen out of when they were eight.

"I was thinking of climbing that," he said. "If I fall and bash my head on a rock, will you rescue me?"

"Of course, but don't fall out of it," she quickly added. "In fact, don't even climb it. We're not eight years old anymore."

He grinned at her, went to the tree and started the climb. Whatever point he was trying to make, she didn't approve.

Or so she thought.

But the moment he reached a tree limb that had grown big and strong just above the old broken one, Cal maneuvered out onto it. And then dropped into the water. Nowhere near the rocks but in the center of the creek. Water splashed up, dousing her and causing her to gasp.

Then causing her to laugh when Cal took off his boxers and threw them at her feet. "I think I need rescuing now," he said.

Charlotte stripped off her top and skirt, tossing them on the rock next to his stuff, and then she jumped in. Since this was a narrow spot, she made it to him in one leaping stroke. He caught onto her, pulling her to him, a moment before he dropped down under the water.

He resurfaced with her bra. The man certainly had fast hands.

"Now that you've saved me," he said, "I'd like to make a life-pact. I owe you, and you can ask me for anything, and I'll have to do it."

"Anything?" she asked.

"Anything," he verified.

"It's a biggie." And what she was about to say was a huge risk. "Don't run if I tell you I'm in love with you. Just accept it and understand you don't have to do anything about it. And you most certainly don't have to love me back."

She might have continued to ramble on. Blasted nerves. But he kissed her and made all those nerves go away.

"Don't run if I tell you I'm in love with you," he said. "Just accept it and understand that you don't have to do anything about—"

"I want you to do something about it," she interrupted, and she was reasonably sure her smile couldn't get any wider and her heart couldn't get any fuller.

She'd taken the risk and heard exactly what she'd wanted.

Cal was in love with her.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Cal asked in that tempting drawl that only he and Lucifer could have managed.

"Everything," Charlotte said, and she pulled him back to her to get started on doing just that.