Now and Forever 5, Love's Journey

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A Moonlight Books Novel

Romantic Suspense

NOW AND FOREVER 3: BLIND LOVE

Copyright © 2012 Jean C. Joachim

Print book ISBN:
978-1-517

First E-book Publication: April 2012

Cover design by Beth Walker

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
This literary
work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole
or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are
fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is
strictly coincidental.

Publisher

Moonlight Books

In memory of
Keith.

With many thanks for your
love and support: Larry Joachim, Diana Finegold, Sally Gallagher,
Kathleen Tighe Ball, Marilyn Lee, Elizabeth Smythe, the Tuesday
Tales group, It's Raining Men group, and my amazing editor, Ariana
Gaynor.

Chapter One

When half a dozen people get off the train
from New York City in tiny Willow Falls, New York on a Wednesday
afternoon, it’s a big crowd. The group arriving this day was an
unusual collection of men and women.

Callie Caldwell, a beautiful woman with
chestnut hair and big blue eyes, paced on the train platform. By
her side was Jason, her energetic seven-year-old, jumping and
skipping, unable to contain his excitement at meeting his only
grandfather and uncle for the first time. Kitty, Jason’s younger
sister, a pretty child with her father’s black hair and her
mother’s soulful blue eyes, followed her big brother, imitating his
every move. The train wheezed then crawled into the station.

Waiting impatiently for the father-in-law
and brother-in-law she’d never met to step off the train kept
Callie in motion. With no family of her own, she hoped they’d
accept her and maybe even love her.

“Do you think Peter will like teaching
here?” she asked her husband.

“Like it or not, he’s here for a year.
Signed a contract.”

“What about your dad?” Callie straightened
the bow in Kitty’s hair.

“He might miss teaching but he’ll love the
kids.”

“We’ll keep him busy.” Callie’s gaze
searched the passengers as they stepped off the train. “Do you see
them yet?”

“Relax, they’ll love you,” Mac whispered,
bending his six foot two inch frame down to her five foot
three.

She smiled at him and gripped the hands of
her two children tighter. Her husband leaned over and brushed her
lips with his. Then Callie spied two men separating themselves from
the crowd. Mac waved then joined them. The man with stone-gray hair
was tall and handsome. A drop-dead gorgeous, much younger man stood
by his side.

When they turned to face Callie, she noticed
they all had the same intense blue eyes. After an eight-year
separation due to teaching jobs in different parts of the world,
the men were not embarrassed to hug each other. When they
approached, excitement propelled Jason into his grandfather’s
arms.

“Grandpa, Grandpa!”

“You must be Jason,” the older man said,
laughing and hugging his grandson while trying to keep his balance.
Peter came over and extended his hand to Jason, who ignored it and
threw his arms around him.

“Uncle Peter!”

Peter, blond like his late mother, laughed,
his devastatingly handsome face breaking into a charming grin. The
three men, all well over six feet, looked like human trees
clustered around the small children and Mac’s short wife.

“You must be Callie,” Sam said, giving her a
big hug, “I’m so happy to finally meet you.”

“Sam,” she muttered, closing her eyes
briefly while accepting his embrace. She liked him right away.
Kitty, shy like her mom, hid behind Callie’s skirt, peeking out at
the men.

“And you, young lady, must be Kitty,” Sam
said. He crouched down to be eye-level with the pretty child.

She nodded, her face serious. Sam put out
his big hand, but Kitty shrank back. Callie picked up the little
girl and inched closer to Sam. When she got close enough, Kitty
moved from the safety of her mother’s arms and gave Sam a quick
peck on the cheek. He laughed with delight as the child hid her
smiling face in Callie’s shoulder.

Peter came over, introduced himself and gave
Callie a kiss on the cheek. He ran his eyes up and down her lovely
face and curvy body. He raised his eyebrows and turned to Mac with
a slight nod.

“How did you ever get such a beautiful woman
to marry you?”

“Beats me. I ask myself every day,” Mac
said, making Callie blush. He put his arm around her shoulders,
picked up a big suitcase and headed toward the car.

On the drive to Peter and Sam’s rented
house, Jason and Kitty could hardly sit still. Excitement bubbled
up inside Callie too as the car whisked past familiar sights and
she opened a place in her heart for her new family members.

Mac pulled into the driveway of the small
three bedroom house he’d rented for Sam and Peter. The wood-frame
building was on quiet James Street, an avenue filled with neat row
houses, close together on small, well-tended properties.

The modest house was painted a warm, medium
blue with white shutters and trim. Flowering shrubs softened the
angles of the front windows. The lawn was tiny but perfectly mowed
and the brick path was symmetrical. Flower boxes graced the
upstairs windows and hedges lined the small driveway to the
right.

Now on leave from Vaal University in South
Africa, Peter was in Willow Falls to teach the Survey of Western
Art course Marcia Wilton had taught before going on a year’s
sabbatical.

Sam had retired from teaching at Vaal. He’d
come to meet Mac’s new family. Callie hoped he’d stay in Willow
Falls and live nearby. Since losing her parents at sixteen, Callie
had attempted to build a happy family. She hoped Sam and Peter
would be new additions.

While the men carted luggage into the house,
Callie took a long look at Peter. He was even more breathtakingly
handsome than Mac. Peter’s nose was perfect, his naturally blond
hair was straight, thick and slightly long, his lips had the right
shape and fullness. She smiled. Kissable but masculine. Just like
Mac. His shoulders were broad, his arms muscular and his hands
square with long, slender fingers. Callie preferred Mac but she was
surprised by Peter’s looks.
He’s thirty-four years old and never
married?
Surely it must be his choice.

When they walked into the house, Peter went
straight to the piano in the living room.

“A Woodruff upright! Thanks, Mac.”

“It wasn’t easy to find a house with a
piano. We expect music in this place.”

Peter sat right down at the piano situated
against the wall by the window and did a few arpeggios to see if
the old instrument was still in tune.

“How is it?” Sam asked him.

“It’ll do just fine,” Peter said.

Jason and Kitty entered the room when they
heard the music. Peter began singing. Jason ran to the piano and
slid onto the bench next to Peter and clapped along. Kitty,
hesitated at the door, looking for her mother. Callie nodded to the
shy child and the little girl slowly wandered closer to the music,
stopping half-hidden behind a potted plant to listen to the song.
Callie wandered in with Mac, who put his arm around her shoulders.
She slipped her arm around his waist as he bent down and kissed her
when no one was looking.

“I could sit here and play all day, but we
better get unpacked.”

Peter got up with Jason to move the
suitcases into the bedrooms, then they returned to open boxes
stacked in the living room. Shy four-year-old Kitty stuck close to
her mother, but she was caught flirting with Peter once or twice,
which made everyone smile.

“Cradle robber!” Mac laughed at his
brother.

“Now the mother…” Peter said, raising his
eyebrows and looking at Callie.

Mac stopped, brows knitted, a frown on his
face as he shot Peter a hostile look.

“Don’t go there. My wife is off-limits.”

“Possessive aren’t you?”

“And jealous too, and I like him that way,”
Callie said, giving Mac a kiss.

“Dad and I are going to take the kids for
ice cream. Do you want to come, Callie?” Mac asked, shepherding
Kitty and Jason toward the door.

“I’ll stay here and help Peter get set up,”
she said, opening a box.

* * * *

Mac walked around to the driver’s side of
the car and patted his pockets, no keys. He remembered last seeing
them on the front hall table. He tip-toed quietly into the foyer so
Callie wouldn’t know he’d forgotten them. He stopped when he heard
the soft purr of Peter’s voice. Mac inched his way to the arch
leading to the living room and peered into the room, moving back to
remain unseen.

“You’ve been married awhile, Callie. Isn’t
it time you took a lover?” Peter asked, sidling up to her.

Mac held his breath but couldn’t stop
watching.

“Oh, but I have a lover, Peter,” she said,
holding his gaze.

Mac froze. His stomach knotted.

“You do?” The surprise caused his voice to
rise an octave.

“He absolutely sizzles.” Beads of sweat
formed on Mac’s forehead.

“Does Mac know?” Peter raised his
eyebrows.

“I don’t think so.” She turned away from
Peter and Mac could no longer see her face.

“I don’t suppose you’d tell me who it is,”
he asked, leaning toward her.

Callie whirled around to face him, a broad
grin on her face.

“It’s Mac. He’s hot, Peter. So hot…I
couldn’t possibly, wouldn’t ever need anyone else. Your brother is
an absolute pistol in the bedroom.”

Mac’s cheeks puffed up. He quietly emitted a
silent sigh of relief and smiled.

Peter laughed loudly.

“You passed the Peter Caldwell Loyalty Test
with flying colors.” Peter walked over to an open box needing
unpacking.