A Thrill to Remember (17 page)

THE TELEPHONE RANG.

As she’d been doing for the past three weeks every time the stupid thing jangled, Meggie jumped and made a mad dash for the receiver.

Caleb?

“Hello?”

“Meggie?”

Her hopes fractured. “Kay?”

“What’s going on?” her friend demanded in a none-too-pleasant tone of voice. “Your mother just told me that you’re not coming home for the holidays.”

“I can’t afford the time off from work,” Meggie said.

It wasn’t a total lie. She’d recently been promoted, so there was no problem with her job. Although she was entitled to take time off at Christmas, even after taking a leave of absence this past summer, working overtime during the holidays would go a long way toward earning her additional brownie points with her boss.

But the real reason she’d told her mother she wasn’t coming home for Christmas had nothing to do with work and everything to do with Caleb. She wasn’t up to facing him again. Not yet. Not now. Not until her heart had plenty of time to heal. Whenever the hell that might be.

“I’ve got to tell you, Meggie, Sadie is really hurt you’re not coming back for their wedding.”

In the tumult of her messy love life she’d forgotten all about Jake and Sadie’s wedding. “I’m really sorry. Tell Sadie I’ll make it up to her.”

“If she’s lucky a girl only gets married once,” Kay chided.

“You’re right. I’m a terrible friend. What can I say?”

“Just tell me what in the hell happened between you and Caleb.”

“Caleb?” Meggie heard her voice rise an octave. “Who said anything happened between me and Caleb?”

“Oh, come on. The way you two were making goo-goo eyes at each other at the Metropolitan party, the way Caleb came home in an utterly black mood, the way he scowls whenever your name is mentioned…I’m not dumb.”

Stunned, Meggie blinked. “You knew that Caleb was Don Juan?”

“Well, of course I did.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because you and Caleb both needed a grand romantic adventure. I don’t know what happened, but you two need to make up. It’s as obvious as the noses on your faces you guys were made for each other.”

“It is?”

“For a smart woman you can sometimes be pretty dense, sister-in-law mine.”

“You don’t understand. This thing between me and Caleb is very complicated.”

“Whatever. But by behaving like a spoiled brat you’re hurting a lot of other people.”

“Spoiled brat?” Meggie felt herself growing angry.

“Yes, spoiled brat. Just because you and Caleb aren’t speaking to each other doesn’t mean the rest of us should have to suffer. Your folks want to see you for the holidays. Sadie and Jake want you at the wedding. And there’s something else you’re needed for. Metropolitan found out Bear Creek’s health-care needs are grossly underserved and they’re planning on holding a Christmas bachelor action as a fundraiser for a new clinic. They wanted to know if you’d serve as spokeswoman.”

“They did?”

“Yes. Caleb’s going to be in the auction.”

Meggie gripped the receiver tighter. “That’s not really an enticement.”

“Okay, here it is. My big confession. I need you to come home.”

“You?” Meggie laughed. Kay was the most self-contained woman she knew. “Why would you need me?”

There was a pause.

Anxiety gripped Meggie. “Kay? You and Quinn aren’t having problems, are you?”

“No. Nothing like that.”

“What is it then?”

“I need a nurse to assuage my fears.”

“Are you sick?” Alarm swept through her at the thought her sister-in-law might be seriously ill.

“Well, not exactly.”

“What then, exactly?”

“Quinn and I were going to wait for Christmas day to spill the beans, but since you won’t be here, I might as well tell you now.”

“For heaven’s sake, Kay, tell me what?”

“I’m pregnant.”

“LET’S HEAR IT for bachelor number three,” Kay spoke into the microphone. “Put your hands together for the single remaining bachelor from the Bachelors of Bear Creek Metropolitan ad. You know him, you love him, our own Caleb Greenleaf.”

Wild applause, catcalls and whistles greeted Kay’s announcement. Liam Kilstrom shone the spotlight and played a short refrain of “Bad Boys” as Caleb strutted out on stage in tight blue jeans and a red flannel shirt. He looked so handsome Meggie forgot to breathe.

Jitterbug nervous, she stood at the back of room, her heart in her throat, running her hands over her brand-new outfit. Red leather pants, red silk blouse, red cowboy boots. She had arrived a few minutes earlier, slipping through the doors and lurking among the crowd. So far only Mack—who had flown her in from Anchorage—knew she was home.

The Bear Creek community center, gaily decorated with red and green Christmas lights, was packed to the rafters with women of all shapes, ages and sizes, eager to bid on the bachelors and add to the charity coffers for the Metropolitan clinic fund.

Meggie’s stomach knotted. She chewed her bottom lip. She was willing to spend all her savings if that’s what it took to win Caleb away from the next highest bidder.

“Let’s start the bidding at a hundred dollars,” Kay called out. “Who’s willing to fork over a hundred dollars for the pleasure of this man’s company?”

Two dozen hands shot up.

Meggie cleared her throat. “Five hundred dollars.”

“Goodness, ladies, you hear that? Someone is willing to shell out five hundred dollars.” Kay grinned. “Do I hear five hundred and ten?”

Most of the women who’d bid earlier dropped out, all but one saucy lady that Meggie recognized as Lizzy Magnuson, a friend of Sadie’s. Lizzy had recently moved to Bear Creek from San Francisco.

Boldly, Lizzy waved a hand. “Six hundred.”

“Seven hundred,” Meggie exclaimed.

Kay shaded her forehead with her hand. “Okay, who’s Miss Moneybags in the back of the room?”

Meggie moved closer to the stage, pushing through the crowd of women, her eyes on Caleb.

He stared at her, first with shocked surprise. Then a wide grin spread across his face and his eyes crinkled in greeting.

Meggie’s heart soared. He was happy to see her!

She kept walking. People shifted, allowing her through.

“Seven-fifty,” Lizzy challenged.

“Eight hundred.” Meggie never dropped her gaze from Caleb’s.

“Nine hundred.” Lizzy was damned determined, but Meggie was even more so.

“A thousand dollars.” She arrived at the edge of the stage.

Caleb took the microphone from Kay and dropped to his knees in front of Meggie. His stare drilled a hole straight through her. “Sold to the lady in red for one thousand dollars.”

The crowd went nuts, laughing and talking and cheering.

Caleb tossed the microphone back to Kay, hopped down off the stage, took Meggie by the elbow and swept her out the exit and into the cloakroom.

He spun her around to face him. His intense blue eyes ate her up. “You came home.”

“I came home.” Now that they were alone, she felt her nervousness return.

“For Christmas? For the wedding?”

“For good.”

“What? But you’re a city girl. You love Seattle. Why would you move back to Bear Creek?”

“A lot of reasons.”

“Yeah?” He arched a quizzical eyebrow.

“Well, Metropolitan offered me a job running their clinic.”

“Oh they did, did they?” He pulled her into his arms. It felt so good. So right. The minute his chest touched hers everything just fell into place.

“Uh-huh. And Kay’s going to need a lot of help with that baby. Did you hear? I’m going to be an aunt.”

“You being a nurse will really come in handy.” His lips were millimeters from hers. His rich, masculine scent filled her nostrils.

“True.”

“So are those the only reasons that you decided to move back?”

“Well,” she said, enjoying drawing this out, “there is one other reason.”

“And that is?”

“I discovered I don’t need the big city for excitement, after all.”

“No?”

“Nope.”

“If that’s the case, then how do you plan on getting your kicks from now on?”

“I was kind of hoping you might help me answer that question.”

“Me or Don Juan?”

She bit her lip, dropped her gaze. He cupped her chin in his palms, raised her face and made her look at him.

“Why did you leave me that night, Meggie?” Caleb whispered.

It hurt looking him in the eyes and seeing just how much she had wounded him. “I wasn’t ready to face the truth. But then again, I wasn’t the only one running away. Why did you flee Seattle? Why did you leave me the sack? Why didn’t you tell me face-to-face?”

“I owe you an apology for that. I have no excuse. I was scared to death and that’s the honest truth.”

“What were you afraid of?”

He swallowed so hard his Adam’s apple bobbed. “That you only wanted me for my money.”

Meggie shook her head. “Why on earth would you think that?”

“When I tried to get you to take my mask off, to acknowledge who I was, you told me you needed security. I realize I’m apprehensive about money issues, because of the way my mother is, because of my childhood. But I was afraid you could never love me for myself.”

“Caleb, I meant emotional security. As exciting as Don Juan was, I needed more. Great sex wasn’t enough. I needed a strong, steady, reliable man.”

“You thought the sex was great?”

“You’re an amazing lover. An amazing man.”

“Really? You don’t mind a guy who’d rather commune with nature than join the rat race in pursuit of the almighty dollar?”

“I don’t give a damn about your money. Give it away for all I care.”

“You’re serious.”

“As a heart attack.”

Caleb couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He reached out with his index finger and pushed an inky curl from her cheek. As he stared into her upturned face, he couldn’t recall ever having been moved so deeply by anything.

“I’ve loved you since I was fourteen years old, Meggie Scofield. But because I believed I never stood a chance with you, I convinced myself the attraction was purely physical.”

She gazed up at him with a quiet acceptance in her eyes that gave him the courage to continue.

“I was a goofy kid who liked hanging out in the woods watching animals. You were older and so sophisticated. I knew you were out of my league and yet I couldn’t stop fantasizing about being with you.”

“You fantasized about me?”

“Babe, you have no idea.”

“I never thought I was fantasy-worthy,” Meggie admitted. “I mean, my butt is too big for the rest of me and I’ve got freckles and my face is sort of plain and—”

“Shh.” He placed his finger on her lips. “I love your butt. It’s perfect. I adore your freckles, and your face is most certainly not plain. I know you’ve got this idea that you’re not very pretty, and my stupid stepbrother is partially to blame for your distorted sense of yourself, but I’m sorry to disillusion you, Megs. I think you’re gorgeous and I always have.”

“Honest?” she whispered.

“I tried to forget you. I had a few flings in college and thought I got you out of my system.

“But I never could seem to connect with anyone. Not with the level of intimacy I craved. And then when you strutted into the costume party in that Klondike Kate costume, I was a goner, even though at the time I had no idea it was you.”

“I fell for Don Juan the minute I saw him, too.”

“No kidding?”

“No kidding.”

“When you whispered your phone number to me and I realized Klondike Kate was you I was totally rattled. After what we’d done in the skaters’ cabin…” He shook his head. “I wasn’t going to act on the attraction. I tried to pretend it never happened. But then I get this invitation from that committee you were on, asking me to give lectures in Seattle and I’m thinking maybe you had figured out that I was Don Juan and this was your way of asking me to come for you.”

“I didn’t realize you were Don Juan, at least not consciously,” she admitted. “But deep down inside, I knew. That’s why I didn’t call. I thought I’d just been using you to get over Jesse. But I couldn’t stop thinking about you. And when Kay told me how miserable you were, I knew I had to come home. I had to discover if there was a chance for us. Do we have a chance together, Caleb?”

“Do you really have to ask?”

She smiled. “I love you, Caleb Greenleaf.”

“You know what, Meggie Scofield?”

“What?”

He pointed above her head. Meggie glanced up, saw she was standing under a sprig of mistletoe.

“I love you, too.”

She said, “Oh,” just as his mouth closed over hers and he gave her a thrill to remember.