Telling herself that patience was a virtue, Lili showed her family around Stardance Ranch and introduced them to every Alleycat they encountered. Unfortunately, they never saw Brick. Her parents dined at the Yellow Kitchen that night, feasting on Ali Timberlake’s fabulous red sauce. When dinner ended, her parents bid Lili an early good night and retired to their room at Angel’s Rest since they planned to make an early departure the following morning. Derek hung behind and asked her to take him to a hot spot to have a beer. Briefly she considered taking him to the Bear Cave, but she knew his reaction would be similar to Brick’s. So instead, they strolled over to Murphy’s Pub and found a table for two out on the patio.
Derek didn’t waste any time. “Are you sure about this, Lili?”
“Sure about what?”
“Mark. Brick. Whatever the hell you call him.” He spun a paper coaster around on the table. “Tiffany did a real number on him.”
“I know that.” She took a sip of her beer. “He’s a risk for me. I’m well aware that he might never get over her. But I’m also sure that if I don’t give it a shot I’ll regret it.”
“You’ve changed, little sister.”
“For the better, I hope?”
“Yes. Not that there was anything wrong with you before. You’ve … grown. You’re confident. Strong.”
Her mouth twisted in a wry and slightly sad smile. “It’s all a front. I’m quaking in my shoes. He left and hasn’t come back.”
“That’s Mark.” Derek sipped his beer. “If you’re set on having him, it’s a good sign, too. For run-of-the-mill stuff, he makes his mind up fast, but if something is important, if it seriously matters, he has to chew on things awhile before he comes to a decision.”
“I don’t want him to love me with his brain,” she grumbled. “I want him to love me with his heart.”
“Well, that’s easy. His heart is already there, Liliana. His head needs a little time to catch up.”
“He told you this while you were pummeling each other?”
“Nah. I know him. He’s my best friend. Which is why I know he’s gone over you. No way would he have an affair with you if he wasn’t already a little in love with you.”
Little wouldn’t cut it, Lili thought later as she delivered her brother to Angel’s Rest. She hugged him good-bye and was about to get back into her truck when she heard her name.
“Isn’t this a lovely coincidence?” the innkeeper said. “I intended to stop by Stardance Ranch tomorrow morning. This will save me a trip. Here, my dear. I have something to give you.”
“Oh?” Lili asked as Celeste reached into her pocket and withdrew a small piece of jewelry. “What’s this? How beautiful.”
“It’s the official Angel’s Rest blazon awarded to those who’ve accepted love’s healing grace. Your parents shared news of your reconciliation tonight. I’m so happy for you all, Liliana.”
“Thank you, Celeste. I am, too.” She looked closer at the silver medal. It looked familiar. “Nic Callahan wears one of these.”
“Yes, she does.” Celeste’s blue eyes gleamed with pleasure. “Nic and Gabe both wear the blazon. Theirs was the first I awarded, in fact. Though the blazons aren’t easy to earn, you will see quite a few of them around town. Now it’s time to go to work to seeing that Brick earns his. I plan to get started on that first thing in the morning.”
Lili wanted to ask her if she knew where Brick had gone this afternoon, but she didn’t have the nerve. “This is a treasure, Celeste. I’ll wear it proudly.”
The two women visited a few minutes longer; then Lili took her leave. As she made her way back to the RV camp, her thoughts returned to the discussion with Derek. She’d like to think he was right, that she already owned a piece of Brick’s heart, but if that was the case why had he run off? Had her honesty been a mistake? “TMI, Brick?”
Well, time would tell. One thing Lili knew for certain, being a little in love was okay for a summer romance, but not for a lifetime.
Back at the Ranch, she went to his tree house. He still wasn’t home, so she decided to wait for him. He didn’t come home all night. At 7:00 a.m., she returned to her trailer.
If he was going to make a walk of shame—legitimate or fake—then she intended to be around to witness it.
He still hadn’t returned by nine when Patsy knocked on her trailer, Sugar at her heels. Lili took one look at Patsy’s face and knew something was wrong. “What’s happened, Patsy?”
“Lili, I need you to do me a favor.”
“Of course. Anything.”
Her friend handed her Sugar’s leash. “I need you to take care of Sugar for me.”
“I’m happy to babysit. You know I love her.” Lili knelt and briskly scratched the dog behind the ears. “Who wouldn’t love you, you beautiful girl?”
“Not babysit, sunshine. I mean permanently.”
Lili’s heart all but stopped. Slowly, she climbed to her feet. “Patsy?”
“I’m packing up. I’m afraid my summer is coming to an end earlier than I had hoped. It’s time for me to go home.”
Emotion lodged in Lili’s throat. She would not cry. Patsy would not want her to cry. Nevertheless, her voice trembled as she asked, “What can I do to help?”
“I wouldn’t mind an extra pair of hands. Maybe come by in an hour? Now I’m going to walk around camp and say good-bye to the girls.” Her mouth lifted in a sheepish smile. “I considered sneaking off like a thief in the night, but that’s not who I am. I’ve always met life head-on. No sense changing things now.”
“No. No sense changing things now.” Lili blinked hard, fighting back her tears. She was doing way too much crying of late. It had to stop. “I should come with you.”
“Thank you, but no. This is something I need to do myself.”
“Not now. I mean going home. I’ll go with you.”
As the dog wound between both women’s legs, Patsy gazed at Lili with a tender smile. “And cut short your summer romance? I won’t hear of it.”
“But—”
“No. Absolutely not. For you to leave Eternity Springs now would be spectacularly bad timing. I won’t be the reason your summer doesn’t last forever.”
“Patsy, I could—”
“No! Now, be a dear and get Sugar some water. She’s the thirstiest dog I’ve ever known. You have a water bowl she can use, don’t you? I should have brought that with me, but I packed everything up in a box—her bed, bowls, toys, and food. It’s heavy, so I stopped in at the office and asked Josh to bring it over for us. He said he’d do it shortly. Poor man was fighting the computer over something. He looked to be at the end of his rope.”
Yes, well. It can’t help to have his boss up and disappear on him.
Patsy departed to make her rounds of good-bye. Lili filled a bowl with water for Sugar and the dog drank her fill. Then Lili sank to the floor, wrapped her arms around Sugar, and indulged in a good cry until a knock sounded at her trailer door. “Lili?” Josh asked. “I’m sorry to bother you, but would you take a look at something for me? I think Brick has some serious trouble.”
* * *
Brick lowered his safety glasses, fired up his chain saw, and went back to work. After camping out at River Camp’s ghost town, he’d been up working since dawn. A little demolition. A little repair. Nothing helped a man work out his aggressions like swinging a crowbar or hammer or running a chain saw.
Except for sex.
Don’t go there.
He wouldn’t think about sex. He wouldn’t think about Liliana. Not anymore.
That’s all he’d been doing since yesterday afternoon. Her voice wouldn’t stop echoing through his brain. I’ve fallen in love with Brick Callahan.
He should have seen that one coming. Why hadn’t he? Had he been blinded by the sex? He clenched his teeth as he put the saw to wood. Eyes wide shut. That’s me.
He’d cut a week’s worth of firewood when he finally set aside his chain saw, yanked his work gloves from his back pocket, and pulled them on, then loaded his arms with firewood. He turned around and damned near dropped the logs.
Two pickup trucks were parked not fifty feet away. The tailgates were down and four men sat watching him work.
The Callahan brothers.
Well, hell.
“Didn’t realize he’s deaf as well as stupid,” Matt drawled.
“Comes part and parcel with that hard head of his,” Luke added. “You know, we really should have gone with ‘Granite’ for his nickname rather than ‘Brick.’”
His father sighed theatrically. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe that he is the fruit of my loins.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Brick demanded.
Gabe explained, “It’s what we call in Eternity Springs an intervention. Usually the women are involved, but we thought we’d cut you a break. Don’t forget that you owe us.”
“Brother,” Brick grumbled.
“Brothers,” Mark said. “Here to kick your ass.”
Brick tossed down the logs and braced his hands on his hips. “What did I do?”
Luke slid off the tailgate. “Nothing. That’s the problem. We had a visitor this morning.”
“In Texas?” Nodding toward the three elder brothers, he added, “I thought you guys went home.”
“We did.” Matt slid down from the truck, too. “Our wives made us come back for the weekend. They have something going on with Celeste.”
“So I have her to thank for this?”
“You should count your lucky stars,” Gabe said, moving to stand beside his brothers. “You’ve been around town long enough to know that, too.”
“I don’t want or need a damned Angel’s Rest medal to hang around my neck.”
“What did I say?” Matt groused. “Dumb as a box of rocks.”
He crossed the distance to Brick and used his index finger to poke him in the chest, punctuating his words as he spoke. “Hear my words, young man. You are a fool if you don’t learn from the mistakes of others. I came within an eyelash of blowing it with Victoria because I was hardheaded, too. Thought I had to go the road alone. Wasn’t honest with her. I wouldn’t admit that I loved her more than life itself. When I finally came to my senses, it was damned near too late. I had to set up this huge, wild-ass James Bond scenario to win her back. Believe me, you don’t want to be parasailing in a tux and with a dog on your back. Be smarter than me, Mark Junior. Don’t blow this.”
Matt turned and walked to his truck. Luke sauntered over and took his brother’s place. “You need to get the cotton out of your head. Liliana Howe is the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Just like Maddie Kincaid was the best thing that ever happened to me. But I was a big, tough DEA agent. I thought I was the center of the effing universe. I thought I was the reason people lived and died, and when Maddie almost died I walked away from her. It took me way too long to come to understand that I didn’t control the whole universe, that I’d given her my heart and I would never be whole again if she wasn’t part of my world.
“Don’t be the idiot I was. You have the opportunity to have something special with your Liliana. Don’t let your stubbornness ruin your chances.”
He got the shotgun seat next to his brother and Gabe took his place. “Do you need me to beat you up, too?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Good. Maybe that means you opened your ears. I do have something I want to say to you. I was about as low as a man could be when I first arrived in Eternity Springs. I haven’t admitted this to more than a handful of people, but I was ready to put a gun in my mouth and end it all.”
Brick gaped at him in shock. “You mean…?”
“Yep. That day, I found my faith. I had a guardian angel on the mountain with me. Someday I’ll tell you the whole story, but the point I’m trying to make today is that you shouldn’t be dismissive of the possibility of having a guiding force in your life. Take the blinders off your eyes, Mark. Open your heart to healing. We do healing well here in Eternity Springs.”
Gabe gave his nephew a guy hug, climbed into the backseat of the extended-cab pickup, and shut the door. Matt started the engine and put the truck into gear. Brick looked at his father. “You’re not going with them?”
“Nope. I wanted to have my say with you in private.”
“Oh, joy.” But the sentiment was all bluster. Brick was shaken by the advice his uncles had given to him.
Mark hooked his thumb toward the space on the tailgate that Gabe had vacated. “C’mere and sit. I’m too old to do this standing up.”
“I repeat: Oh, joy.” He did as his father asked and sat beside him.
“I know I’ve said this to you before, but it bears repeating. I’m so thankful that after your mother died you found a home with Cindy and Paul. You were raised by fine people, son. I couldn’t have asked for better. Paul has been your father every bit as a much as I have. You were damned near an adult when I found you. As I tried to figure out my proper role in your life, I never wanted to step on his.”
“You haven’t.”
“Well, I’m fixing to right now. You and I—from the beginning our relationship has been that of friends rather than father-son. You already had a father. That’s the way it needed to be. But I think right now you need a dad. I’m going to give it my best shot.”
Mark looked his son in the eyes and said, “I know you’re scared. I get it. You truly loved Tiffany and she hurt you. It’s no wonder you’re gun shy. But dammit, son, it’s gone on long enough. You’ve gotta get over that girl!”
“I am over her.”
“Are you? Then why the hell are you trying so hard to screw things up with Liliana? Do you think Lili is out to manipulate you? Take advantage of your connections? Take advantage of your wallet?”
“No. Not at all. She’s not like that.”
“Then why treat her like she is?”
“I don’t,” Brick defended.
Mark arched a doubting brow at his son. “Tiffany was your first love. You lost her. That doesn’t mean that your life should come to an end. It doesn’t come to an end—if you don’t let it. I will always love your mother, but I had to accept that she’s gone.”
“You’re equating my mother with Tiffany, Dad. That’s not right. It’s not how I see it. My mother died. Tiffany jumped at a wallet. Two entirely different situations.”
“Not to our hearts, it’s not.”
Brick raked his fingers through his hair. “To quote Branch, ‘my heart doesn’t know whether it’s pitching pennies or playing shortstop.’”
“Your heart knows what it’s doing. It’s your head that’s having a difficult time catching up. You gotta conquer your fear, Brick. You have to take a risk.
“It took me a while to figure out how, but once I did, I moved forward and built something real and something wonderful with Annabelle. I want that for you, and I believe that Liliana is the woman you’ve been waiting for. I’ve never seen you look at a woman the way you look at her. I’ve never seen a woman gaze at you with such obvious love in her eyes.”
Mark pushed off the tailgate. “It’s your life, Son. You have to live it the way you see fit. However, I think you’ll be the biggest knucklehead on the planet if you don’t get a ring on Liliana Howe’s finger ASAP.”
“A ring!”
“Yeah, a ring. I think she has all the right stuff to be a Callahan wife.”