Closing her eyes, she wrapped those memories around her, filling all the sad spaces with her grandma and granddad’s love. When she opened her eyes, a calmness she hadn’t felt in a long time washed through her body. She knew, without knowing how, that her grandparents weren’t upset that she wasn’t at their funeral. One day didn’t overshadow all the days theyhadspent together. The days when they’d loved each other with a depth that would sustain them now and forever.
* * *
Four days later,Gabe parked his truck around the corner from the general store. For a few minutes he sat there, watching the people of Sapphire Bay go about their daily lives. For such a small town, it was always busy.
He checked his watch. The grand opening of Brooke’s store had started half an hour ago. On the flight to New York City, he’d rearranged his week, pushing a few appointments into the evening so that he could be back home for Friday afternoon.
His agent hadn’t been impressed, but after everything that had happened over the last few weeks, Eric was ready to cut him a break.
A knock on the driver’s window scared the living daylights out of him.
Caleb’s grinning face didn’t make it any better.
He opened the door, scowling at his friend. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“It’s called living dangerously. Welcome home.”
Gabe had done his fair share of living dangerously and he wasn’t going back there in a hurry.
“I thought your flight wasn’t arriving until ten o’clock tonight.”
“I moved my appointments around. I wanted to be here for the opening of Brooke’s store.”
“I’m heading there, too. Does Natalie know you’re here?”
Gabe shook his head. “It’s a surprise.” So were the two bottles of champagne sitting on his back seat. He grabbed one of them before locking the truck. “Did you get your project finished?”
Caleb’s smile disappeared. “Not yet. Something’s not working and I can’t figure out what’s wrong. Instead of staring at a blank computer screen, I thought I’d get out of the house and support Brooke. How was the Big Apple?”
“Busy, noisy, and productive. My book’s scheduled to be released in early December.”
“You’ll be hitting the Christmas market. Well done. Did they give you a pay raise?”
Gabe rubbed his leg. Caleb’s grin took the sting out of the cramp making him limp. “You’ve been talking to Natalie’s mom.”
“I saw them on Wednesday. Kathleen couldn’t stop raving about your book. But don’t worry, she didn’t give anything away.”
“It doesn’t matter. It will be in the stores soon enough.”
They turned the corner. Gabe stared at the number of people standing on the street. “All these people can’t be waiting to go into Brooke’s store.”
“You wanna bet? The local paper ran an article about the store on Monday. Since then, social media has been going crazy. Mabel has been adding Facebook updates all week. She even snapped a picture of Natalie and her mom helping to wrap candy. I’m telling you, Brooke’s onto something.”
Gabe wasn’t surprised. Her candy already sold well. The store would make even more people life-long lovers of her candy.
Considering the number of people in the line, he was surprised at how quickly they made it into the store. He looked over everyone’s head, trying to find Natalie.
“She’s beside the water cooler on the far side of the room. Kathleen is with Brooke, behind the counter.”
Gabe’s gaze zeroed in on the beautiful brunette standing beside Mabel. Natalie had pulled her hair into a fancy knot, leaving loose tendrils slipping over her shoulders.
She smiled at something Mabel said, and his heart squeezed tight.
He’d missed her more than he ever thought possible. The phone calls to Sapphire Bay hadn’t helped ease the loneliness that settled in his stomach whenever he thought about her. Even his noisy, boisterous, family hadn’t managed to fill the void in his life.
He’d never felt like this before. Never imagined he’d find a woman who filled his world with so much laughter and love. His brother had told him he was on the slippery slope to everlasting love. Gabe wasn’t sure about the slippery slope. It felt more like free-falling over a two-hundred-foot cliff.
Caleb nudged his shoulder. “If you stare at her like that, you’ll get arrested. Go and say hello before someone else does.”
