40. Coming Home

Chapter 40

Coming Home

Joy smiled at the woman as she accepted the key fob. When she located the vehicle in its stall, she stood back and surveyed it, repressing a shudder. It wasn't so bad, was it? She needed something to get her from point A to point B, and this would get the job done.

She stowed her bags, settled behind the wheel, and got acquainted with the controls. AC was critical, as was the sound system. Thoughts bombarded her brain like the fireballs raining down from the Leonids meteor shower, and she visualized stuffing them into a sturdy, compact suitcase and zipping it shut—a little trick her therapist had taught her.

Connecting her phone via Bluetooth, she cued up the audiobook she'd picked for the long drive ahead. She guided the vehicle out of the slot, seated her sunglasses on the bridge of her nose, and wiggled her butt until she sank as comfortably as possible into the seat. Then she sat back and tried to lose herself in the story. Maybe, just maybe, she could forget the last conversation she'd had with Sterling.

When Charlie parked on the empty lot behind Crystal Harmony Haven, his truck was one of five, even though it was early, only 6:00 a.m. The sun was already lighting the mountains that surrounded the bowl that held Fall River, setting it afire. He loved these late-summer mornings, when the crisp mountain air carried the tang of the approaching fall. Soon the leaves would turn, elk would bugle, and snow would clog mountain chutes and roads.

He clambered out of his truck, and Sunny and Luna sprang from the back seat and trotted beside him like little ladies … until they spied their new favorite human and tore across the yard toward him.

"Hey, hey!" Cade laughed as the dogs barreled into his spindly legs. It was a miracle the kid stayed upright, but he was stronger than he looked. Sinewy and tall, he'd be a force when he eventually filled out. In the meantime, he could get a workout here and with the club hockey team that would start up again in a few short months. Between Charlie and his teammates, they'd teach Cade to ice skate and puck-handle. He was already working on his strides with shiny new rollerblades he'd bought with his first Past Perfect paycheck.

Charlie joined him and the dogs and handed him a bag of day-old pastries he'd bought at Mountain Coffee the day before. "You're here early."

Cade ruffled the dogs' necks. "Yeah, well, I've gotta help my mom paint the exterior of our house before the weather turns, and I wanted to be sure I had things ready for you."

"Thanks. I appreciate that." Cade hadn't even worked for Charlie a week, but he already loved the kid's attitude. He wanted to learn everything , and he reminded Charlie a little of himself at that age, when he'd tagged along with his grandpa and soaked up the old man's knowledge like a sponge.

If Charlie had listened to Noah, he might have hired Cade sooner and avoided some of the BS that had gone down. Then again, if Cade had come to work for him earlier, Charlie might never have found out about the plan to put him out of business.

"Who all's here?"

Cade jabbed a thumb over his shoulder just as Angus, Charlie's new lead carpenter, strolled out the back door and swiped the bag from him. "Hey! Those are mine!" Cade's voice cracked with his protest.

"You'll hafta fight me for 'em, young buck," Angus teased in a fake brogue.

Charlie hadn't realized at the time he offered to take Cade on that the kid came with a mess of dudes who knew construction. Some were musicians in a band called the Celtic Knots—Cade's mom, Luanne, happened to be carrying on with their leader—while others were related to those musicians. Cade had mentioned Charlie was looking for help, and presto! Instant work crew. While they didn't live in Fall River, they were only about thirty minutes away, which was a short commute in the mountains. Charlie had yet to figure out the family tree and who was a brother, a cousin, an uncle, but that would come in time. Bonus: he might get to jam with them when they needed someone to fill in.

Luna's sharp bark brought Charlie back to the present and the knuckleheads wrestling over Cade's breakfast.

"Angus, let him have the damn bag so he can finish up and get home to his mom—unless you want to show up in his place and explain to his mother why you're helping her paint the house."

Angus relinquished the bag in a heartbeat.

Inside, Charlie took pictures of the mantel they were going to remove. He would take it home and work on it there, and he couldn't wait. Now that he had more guys working for him, he might carve out time to work on his carpentry.

A week ago, life had been in the toilet, but now? It was close to perfect with one huge exception: he still hadn't connected with Joy, who was off gallivanting someplace mysterious and unreachable. Maybe she was avoiding him, and it really was over.

God, the thought sat in his stomach like a chunk of concrete. He shook it off. "I'm heading to the other job site, then I have a meeting with a possible new client who wants to renovate the old emporium."

"Nice!" Angus enthused. "What are they looking to turn it into?"

"A shop for pets. "

Angus's big brows pulled together in one solid ridge across his forehead. "They're going to sell pets? Thought you couldn't do that anymore."

"Only dogs. But it's irrelevant because they're selling stuff for pets. Treats, toys, beds. Outfits."

"You're shitting me! Who the hell dresses their pets in outfits?"

"Do I care? No. I only care that they want to fix up that old place."

Charlie left the dogs with the crew and Angus scratching his shaggy head. Hours later, as he was wrapping up his meeting with the potential pet store client at the Grand Majestic, he got a frantic call from Cade, who'd returned to Crystal Harmony Haven.

"Boss, I think you'd better get back here right quick."

"Why? What's going on?"

"There's a lady here wants to see ya, and she ain't taking no for an answer."

"She isn't taking no."

"No, she's not. And I don't mind telling you I'm a little scared of her," he hissed. "She's tapping her foot so hard I think she might crack the sidewalk."

"All right. I'll finish up here and come straight there." Charlie sighed. Now what?

He climbed into his truck, running through a mental list of possible terrifying women. Had Bea made an unheard-of field trip to check on her permits? To quiz him about depot plans? To set him up with Becky? Shit! What if it was Becky? He shuddered involuntarily.

Only one way to find out .

He parked in the back beside a nondescript silver SUV. No doubt a tourist who couldn't find a spot on the street and decided to make this his own public parking lot. Damn it, Charlie needed to get "No Parking or Your Ass Will Be Towed" signs posted. Grumbling, he stalked across the backyard toward the Haven. Cade rushed out of the back door, looking like he was running from a killer clown.

"She wanted inside, but I said no. I told her it's a construction zone!" The kid was out of breath. Charlie's imagination sketched a seven-foot Amazon with biceps the size of his head, pointy teeth, and a nasty attitude.

He put a calming hand on Cade's shoulder. "Okay. You did the right thing. Is she still out front? "

Gulping air, Cade jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "On the sidewalk. She's …"

"Scary," Charlie finished for him, squelching the eye-roll.

Cade shook his head. "Pretty. Really pretty."

"I thought you said she was scary."

"She was."

Charlie went inside and eased his way toward the front door to take a peek at the pretty, scary lady who had tied Cade's tongue—and his brain—into knots. He heard the tap-tap-tap of her high-heeled sandal right before he caught his first glimpse of a slim woman in a flowing, sleeveless dress covered in bright yellow sunflowers. Her back was to him, and one hand held onto a floppy-brimmed hat on top of her head. Her form struck a familiar chord inside him, and his pulse went into a sprint.

He opened the door and stepped outside. "Can I help you?"

She turned, her skirt twirling around her long, tan legs. "Well, I certainly hope so after I drove all this way to check on my project." Her voice was haughty as hell, and his heart banged against his chest wall. He burst out with a smile, but her scowl knocked it from his face.

He took a cautious step toward her, then another. "What are you doing here, Joy?" Oh, that didn't sound right. "I mean, I'm happy you're here, but I haven't been able to get a hold of you, and Estelle said you were unreachable, and I … Sweetheart, is everything all right? Shit. Sorry. ‘Sweetheart' just kind of slipped out. Habit," he babbled.

Three feet of crackling air separated them, as though they stood on opposite sides of a charged electrical field. Dumbfounded, he was frozen to the sidewalk as if his feet were encased in the concrete.

She arched an imperial eyebrow. "Do me a favor."

Swallowing hard, he croaked, "If I can."

She rushed at him so unexpectedly she nearly knocked the air from his lungs. Flinging her arms around his neck, she pushed up on tiptoe. She fused her mouth to his and kissed him as though she'd been walking across the plains for days and he was a cool mountain stream. He clamped his arms around her, splaying his hands against her narrow back as he mashed her against him.

Breathless, she pulled away, her whiskey-colored eyes shimmering with tears. The hat was gone, and her hair whipped around them. "Don't stop calling me ‘sweetheart' or ‘princess' or ‘baby' or whatever the hell strikes you." She tilted her head to one side, those eyes searching his. One corner of her mouth hiked up in a hesitant smile.

When he got his mouth working, he blurted, "Does that mean you're here to stay?" He bit his bottom lip, daring to hope, afraid to hope.

She nodded and smiled as though she held a secret.

"If you're staying, what are you doing about your career? It means everything to you."

"Not everything, as it turns out. I did a lot of soul-searching after you left, and I decided you're a more vital piece of me than my career. That doesn't mean I'm giving it up, though. I worked out a compromise with Sterling where I'll go back to Chicago once a month for in-office days. We're going to test it out, but I'll make it work."

"Well, fuck me." She giggled, and he narrowed his eyes. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

One side of her mouth hitched. "Well, that's too bad."

Reaching out his finger, he traced a line along the back of her hand. "Let me amend. You're perfectly welcome to take that literally later. After I catch you up on our project and introduce you to the new crew. A lot's happened around here."

Her face bloomed with a full smile. "How much later can I act on what you want me to take literally?"

He leaned in and gave the shell of her ear a quick lick. "Remind me to teach you some patience when we're alone, dirty girl."

A familiar car drove by and honked. Another followed, and someone hollered, "Woot! Woot!" Neve, as it turned out. They both waved to her. Down the block, a small group from Mountain Coffee let out shrill wolf whistles.

He shook his head. "This town knows every single thing we do."

"Maybe that's because we're doing it on the sidewalk."

"Come on. Let's go inside so I can show you and tell you what's been going on while you've been incommunicado."

When he wheeled toward the store, he realized someone had taken down the paper covering the windows, and the grinning faces of his new crew stared at them through the glass. The guys pumped their fists, whistled, and high-fived each other.

"A bunch of romantics, all of them. They'll make great characters for your books. "

"I might not be writing for a while. I need to spend time with a certain cover model."

He laughed. "I want you to meet Cade, my foreman-in-training, and the rest of my crazy new crew. You about gave the kid a heart attack, by the way."

"Oh no! What did I say?"

"Nothing. It was how you looked. And trust me, I get it." He gave her a salacious sweep. "I love the dress. What's underneath it?"

"Guess you'll have to find out for yourself."

"Killing me."

"Do you think you can put up with a partner whose mind scatters in a million different directions at once and who has yet to figure out how to turn off her tears?"

"Absolutely. I can do that. I want to do that."

She took his hand and whispered, "I love you, Charlie." He whipped toward her, and her tears rimmed and spilled.

Cupping her head, her pulled her in tight and buried his head in her neck, breathing her in. He didn't give a shit if they had an audience. "I love you too, princess. I should have told you so in Chicago. I've missed you so damn much."

"Why didn't you?" she murmured beside his ear.

He set her apart from him, keeping his hands firmly on her hips. Arms dangling over his shoulders, she stroked the back of his head. "I don't know. I wanted to. I guess I didn't want to go out on that limb because I figured you were about to dump my ass."

"I might be nuts, but I'm not that crazy." She winked at him.

He brought her inside and introduced her to the crew as his partner and their second boss on the Haven project.

"Boys, I'm taking the rest of the day off. Don't burn anything down." They laughed and mumbled a few inappropriate jokes. He took Joy by the hand and walked her toward his truck, Sunny and Luna following close behind. As they strolled, he gave Joy the highlights of the raid.

"Cade was working for Weatherly and had a feeling the guy was up to no good. Then he noticed a fresh load of select lumber that appeared in the middle of the night at one of Weatherly's sites. He thought it was weird—not only the timing of it, but the fact that it was select, which Weatherly apparently never orders .

"Other stuff started randomly appearing, getting shuffled with other materials. When he heard about what was happening at my job sites, he put the two together. After the drywall showed up, he told his mother, and she brought him to tell me." He told Joy how the sheriff's department had uncovered a ring of thieves—that included Felix and his brothers—spearheaded by Weatherly.

Not only was Weatherly a greedy thief, but he was stupid. He'd had them use his own late-model truck and trailer for the bigger jobs, and while Charlie's cameras hadn't captured the plates, enough witnesses were willing to connect him and the truck.

They came to a stop by the parked vehicles. "Where's Weatherly now?"

"Out on bail. He's facing theft, along with a slew of other felonies. His projects have come to a grinding halt, including the renovation of Dell's."

"Is Keating involved?"

"If he is, they haven't found a connection yet. He's slick, but the sheriffs are turning over every stone. I wouldn't bet against those guys."

"I did miss all the action. I was busy driving cross-country."

"You didn't have to turn off all communication."

"No, but I wanted a clear head. I wanted to be sure this was right."

"And?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" The smile she gave him did crazy things to his heart.

"Is this your SUV? A Chevy Equinox?"

She shrugged. "It's a rental. I needed something practical that could haul my stuff and get me here. I'm trying to change my ways."

He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her softly. "Don't change too much. I like you the way you are."

"Hmm. Maybe I should swap it for a Porsche Cayenne S."

"As long as I'm not riding shotgun when you decide to see what it can do on the Million Dollar Highway, then go for it, princess."

"Okay. I'll leave you at home."

"So you can rev up other men's engines without me around? I don't think so."

"You can't have it both ways, Charlie Hunnicutt."

"I say I can." He picked her up and twirled her around, making her shriek.

As they lay together hours later, their bare limbs comfortably tangled together, emotions brewed inside him. He was raw, exposed, but he was safe. Joy would handle his love with care because it was precious to her. The fact that this woman who had hidden herself from everyone trusted him with her heart made him surge with pride; it completed him. She had chosen him as her refuge, and she was his. Yes, she wanted him, but it was more than that. She wanted them .

He combed his fingers through her hair, marveling at how it sifted through them like silken waterfalls. He had never felt more desired than he did with her, and not for the pleasure his body could provide, but for what his heart and his soul offered. She saw past the ridiculous cover-model exterior to the man beating inside of him, and she challenged him to be the best he could be. She drew that man out and loved him as he was.

With her, he had a chance at the happiness his parents had, that Hailey and Noah had. The opportunity would never come again in his lifetime, and he wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers.

Yeah, he could stay here like this, suspended in contentment, for the rest of his life.

Charlie toyed with Joy's hair, making her scalp tingle. She loved when he did that. "Are you going to try and find your people?"

She let out a satisfied sigh. "Maybe in the future. I'm not ready for that step yet. I mean, what if I find them and I don't like them? Somebody left me behind and never came looking for me."

Besides, I have all the family I need right here.

"Well, we'll cross that bridge together when we get there, how about that? "

"I like that idea." Joy snuggled into his solid warmth.

She couldn't remember feeling so exquisitely peaceful. And it wasn't only that she was back in Charlie's arms, but it was the future—her future, their future—that she was seizing and making hers. At last, she had an ally, a true partner in every sense of the word. Someone who would be there, who loved her for who she was, warts and all. That she could lavish with love of her own in return.

And these days she felt like a fountain bubbling over with the stuff. She had an abundance to spread around.

"Hey, I've been thinking about Crystal Harmony Haven."

"You're not planning on moving in there, are you?" She loved hearing the panicked edge in his voice. It warmed her all over.

"Why not? You're turning it into something gorgeous … and right on Bowen Street." She couldn't help but needle him.

He craned his head and looked down at her. "I thought … I hoped … Why don't you just stay here with me? I could set up a home office for you. Besides, you're going to have to sell it off to close out Helene's estate."

"Actually, I have a plan I've been considering for a while now." He hummed in encouragement, and she ran with it. "I'd like to buy it."

He jerked, and her head slid off his chest. She propped herself on her elbow and rested her free hand over his heart. Her eyes locked onto his slate-green ones, their hues shifting with the late-afternoon sun slanting in through the window. God, she loved looking into those eyes. They held bottomless depths that led straight to his soul. She could easily get lost in them and never find her way back.

"Just hear me out," she insisted. "I want to buy it so I can turn around and sell it to Hailey and Noah on a lease purchase that's favorable for both parties. That way, the estate's wrapped up, Mary gets her money, Hailey will have her dedicated bookstore, and the two lovebirds can spread out a bit."

"And what do you get?"

"I get to invest in this up-and-coming historical tourist town and make a difference. What do you think?"

He reached up and ran his fingertips down the side of her face. "You're putting down roots, Joy Holiday."

Her eyes misted. "I am, aren't I?" She'd finally found a home, and she thought her heart might overflow and burst .

"I love the idea, and Noah and Hailey are going to love it too." He kissed her with aching tenderness. "You have a big heart, princess."

She laid her head back down on his chest, smoothing her thumb over his bare skin. "I think that's the last of the problems looking for a solution."

His baritone rumbled through his chest. "No, there's still one mystery hanging out there that's bugging me. I know about the sabotage and the thefts, I know who slashed my tires and why, but I can't figure out how my medicine cabinet got so messed up."

A blaze of embarrassment licked up her chest, her neck, her face. "Um, I have the answer."

After she confessed—and they finished laughing—she told him how Estelle had tried talking her through the correct arrangement of a man's medicine chest. "How far off were we?"

"Way off."

"Oh no. Well, you can blame that on Estelle when she comes out here."

"Is she coming soon?"

"Mm-hmm. I sent her a picture of Deputy Shane O'Brien in his uniform."

Charlie burst out laughing. When he recovered, he tapped his chin. "Huh. That might work." He gave her a suggestive smile. "How about we change the subject? I have something else on my mind."

"Hmm. What might that be?"

"Let me show you."

The floodgates of desire opened up, deluging her veins. Soon he was rocking her world with a well-coordinated assault, hitting all the right spots and making her see stars.