Chapter 31
Calista
“Sometimes, the greatest love story is the one where you learn to love yourself—flaws, weird noises, and all.”
—Eloisa Hobby
Gavin Gonzales was her father. The truth dribbled through her brain. Gavin. Not Benjamin Dempsey. Gavin, the man who had loved Mamá desperately. The man who now wanted a relationship with her.
Calista Gonzales.
Wow, that was gonna take some getting used to, but it made her so happy. Grinning, Calista rushed from the beach to the cobblestone path where she parked her borrowed golf cart.
Joy knocked inside her as she sped toward the cottage where Reid and Gavin were staying. The cottage with the fig tree her mother had planted and nurtured all those years ago.
She fingered the locket at her throat and fought back tears, tears of both grief and overwhelming happiness.
“Oh, Mamá, I’m so glad you were loved the way you deserved to be loved, but so sorry you never got to be with him.
I won’t make the same mistake with Reid.
I won’t keep pushing him away the way you did with Gavin. Thank you for the lesson.”
At the cottage, she was so focused on getting to Reid, she didn’t notice Orion off to the side of the house unloading luggage from the trailer hitched to her golf cart until she was halfway up the porch.
Calista supposed it was Gavin’s luggage since he’d arrived so late last night, long after everyone else had gone to bed.
“Reid’s not here,” Orion called.
Calista jerked around to face the teenager, caught off guard. “Do you know where he went?”
“He left.”
“To go where?”
Orion reached up to shift her baseball cap, moving the bill to the back of her head. “Home.”
“He left the island?”
Orion shrugged. “I heard him tell Eloisa that there was nothing here for him anymore.”
Calista’s pulse skittered, alarmed she wasn’t in time. “So he just left without saying goodbye?”
“Maybe he’s Irish,” Orion said.
“Huh?” Calista blinked.
“You know, an Irish exit, when someone sneaks out the door without telling anyone at the party goodbye.”
“I can’t believe he’d leave before the tournament,” she said, indulging her hurt.
Orion’s eyes narrowed. “Did you break his heart?”
“I think I might have,” Calista said. “But I want to fix things.”
“You better hurry.” Orion consulted her watch. “The Hobby Island ferry keeps a tight schedule. It’ll depart in ten minutes and it’s a ten-minute drive if you take the path, but if you cut through the Majestic Meadow, you can shave off a couple of minutes. Be forewarned, though—”
“Thanks,” she told the girl, jumped back into the cart, and took off, goosing the thing as fast as it would go.
Calista veered from the path, her thoughts careening as wildly as her ride, bouncing and bobbing over uneven terrain. Would she be in time to stop him from getting on that ferry?
The golf cart bottomed out, jarring her teeth.
Ouch. She’d probably owe Eloisa a new golf cart after her mad dash through Orion’s shortcut.
She bumped over a divot the size of a dinner plate and her foot slipped off the accelerator.
She battled to get her foot back into her flip-flop.
Ack! Flip-flops probably were not the proper footwear for a dramatic romantic gesture.
Go, go.
She crested the rise and saw Majestic Meadow stretched out before her, a carpet of wildflowers from lupines to black-eyed Susans to Prairie Fire, but she bulleted by so fast the landscape blurred like a Monet.
Reid had brought her here for a picnic during one of their dates. They had stretched out on a blanket and smooched up a storm. The memory pinged inside her. She needed more of his kisses. More of him.
The shimmering ocean lay beyond, and she could see Marshmallow Landing below. The ferry was pulling up; the passengers on board looked like tiny dots and there was only one person standing on the pier, waiting to board.
Reid.
Hell-bent on reaching him in time, Calista didn’t see a familiar shape sitting in the thick grass until she was almost upon it.
Suddenly, Shushu leaped up from the flowers, dooryard violets entangled in her feathers and dangling from her head as she took off running beside the golf cart.
The ostrich must have thought they were in a race. She galloped beside Calista, her long legs vibrating the ground, head thrust forward as she zoomed alongside her.
Startled laughter shot from her throat. If the racing ostrich didn’t get Reid’s attention, nothing would.
The ferry docked. Arriving guests disembarked. She was closer now, close enough to see Reid standing to one side, letting everyone off before he got on.
“Reid!” she yelled, but the wind snatched up the name and threw it back at her.
The commotion, however, spurred Shushu, who picked up the pace and weaved in front of the golf cart.
Terrified she would run over the ostrich, Calista trod on the brake.
The golf cart hit a large rock hidden in the grass and the cart flew, airborne. If she hadn’t been utterly terrified, it would have been comical. The cart slammed to the ground, blowing out all four tires.
Jolted, she gasped as Shushu ran away squawking.
Well, dammit. Shaking her head to clear it, Calista leaped from the golf cart, abandoning it and rushing toward the landing.
The ferry horn tooted as the boat turned in the water to head back to Everly.
The small crowd pooling on the deck obscured her view and she couldn’t find Reid on either the ferry or the wharf.
Up on the hill, she was still a good hundred yards away, but she wasn’t giving up hope.
Not yet.
“Reid!” she hollered, praying he’d heard her before and hadn’t gotten on that ferry. “Reid Thornton!”
Heads turned in her direction.
She tried to run, but the flip-flops hindered her. She stopped to strip them off and toss them aside, sprinting full-out barefoot. Tall grass slapped against her shins, her pounding footsteps churning up the fragrance of wildflowers.
Then her toe caught in a clump of thick clover, and she stumbled, falling forward. Don’t ask how, but she managed to fall headfirst into a somersault and roll wildly down the hill. She curled herself into a tight ball for protection as gravity pulled her toward the landing.
She slid to a halt and flopped onto her back, arms outstretched, peering up at the blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds.
Was she injured? Hmm, she took inventory. Nothing hurt. Amazing, considering the tumble she’d taken.
“Calista!”
Reid’s voice rang out across the meadow, and she jumped right to her feet to see him hurrying over to her.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she said, gluing her gaze to his. “Don’t go.” The words burst from her before she could overthink them. “Please, Reid. Don’t leave.”
He stared at her, eyes flared wide, mouth moving down, then up, then down again as if he was wrestling against hope. Or maybe that was just projection on her part.
“I thought . . .” he said, “after everything that happened, I figured you’d want me gone.”
“No! I mean, okay maybe, for a while as my trust issues got triggered, but that’s all it was. My issues.”
“You sure you didn’t hit your head when you wrecked the golf cart?” he asked.
She waved a hand. “I’m fine, or I will be as long as you stay here and work this out with me.”
He came closer. “You’re okay?”
“One hundred percent. Why didn’t you get on the ferry?”
“How could I when the woman I love was barreling down the hill in a golf cart screaming my name.” A wry grin quirked his mouth.
The woman I love. If he loved her, that meant this was fixable, right? A guy didn’t say things like that to a woman he was breaking up with.
“You saw that, huh?” Her cheeks heated.
“I did.”
“How much of it?”
“Every bit.” He reached up to pluck a wildflower from her hair.
“And you still love me after I made a giant ass out of myself?” She was breathing hard, and it had nothing to do with the circus act she’d just performed and everything to do with the man standing in front of her.
“More than ever.”
Her heart beat fast and frantic, so loud she could barely hear herself. “I was wrong.”
This close to him, she could count the freckles across the bridge of his nose. God, she loved those freckles. “I was scared and confused, and I lashed out. That wasn’t fair.”
Reid’s jaw tightened. “Calico, you—”
“No, let me finish.” She held up a hand. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. About my mom and Gavin . . . about us. And I realized something.”
“Yeah?” Reid asked, his voice neutral. But Calista knew him well enough to see the tension thrumming through him, like a guitar string strung too tight.
She took a deep breath. This was it. No more running, no more hiding from her feelings. “I don’t want to end up like Mamá and Gavin,” she said. “Always wondering what might have been. I love you, Reid. I have for years. I was just too stubborn and scared to admit it.”
He didn’t move, his face fixed in a neutral expression. “Say that again.”
Whee! He was gonna forgive her!
“I love you,” she repeated, stronger this time. “I love you, Reid Thornton, and I’m done running away from it.”
In the next second, Reid’s palms were cupping her face, and his lips were on hers. She melted against his chest, mimicking an ice cream cone in the sun, hooked her fingers in his shirt, and tugged him closer. It was messy, a little desperate and vulnerable as hell.
Applause started behind them, a singular person at first, but soon a dock full of people were clapping for them.
When they finally broke apart, both slightly breathless, Reid rested his forehead against hers. “I love you too. God, Cal, I’ve loved you for so long. Even when you were driving me crazy . . .”
Calista laughed, the sound watery and full of joy. “Good, because I have a feeling I’m gonna drive you crazy for a long time to come.”
Reid grinned, that crooked smile that stole her breath. “I’m counting on it.”