Chapter 1
“You’re a hard woman to find,” Caleb McGraw said with the soft drawl of a Louisiana native.
Snow Cameron looked up into the face she’d been avoiding for nearly eighteen months and swallowed hard. The moment of reckoning had come.
Glancing around to gauge their audience, Snow was relieved to see few customers present, and none of those even seemed to notice the handsome stranger in their midst. At least not yet. She evoked every ounce of control she had to remain calm, hoping the panic shooting up her spine didn’t show on her face.
Caleb McGraw, his jawline made for marble, and his eyes the shade of a clear blue sky, was the perfect combination of Greek god and good ol’ boy. She’d like to say his eyes were the first thing she’d noticed when she’d almost tripped over him at a New Year’s Eve party nearly two years ago, but his shoulders had been the first draw. Perfect for holding onto during . . .
Sex is what got you into this mess, young lady. Do not go there.
“Well,” she said, “my name is over the door. What are you doing here?” she asked, which may have been the most idiotic question ever, but Snow couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Except maybe, How did you find me? Or, Why didn’t you love me?
Though Snow had spent endless hours contemplating exactly what she’d do were this unwelcome reunion to occur, she hadn’t expected both fear and joy to light through her system like lightning slicing through an ancient oak. The fear was no surprise, but the joy was so unexpected she was forced to grip the edges of the cash register on the counter in front of her to keep her balance. Thankful to have the counter between them, she waited for his answer with growing dread.
Crossing his arms, Caleb smirked. “I’d think that was obvious.”
Snow studied his face, struggling to read his thoughts. Neither anger nor pleasure showed in his features. Though he loomed above her—six feet three inches of solid muscle, as she knew all too well—his stance didn’t feel threatening. If she’d spent as much time learning his mind as she’d devoted to studying his body, maybe interpreting his expression wouldn’t be so difficult.
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 hustling 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 to Lorelei as she rounded 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.” 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 spun and asked, “What do you want?”
“You know the answer to that,” he said, pinning her to the spot with an unrelenting glare.
“No, actually, I don’t.” She had a guess, and the thought made her nauseated. Another unexpected reaction.