One in a Million (5 page)

Troy’s mouth quirked at the very corners in an almost smile and Tanner felt like he’d been given a winning lottery ticket.

An hour later, he dropped Troy off at school with a “Try to stay out of trouble.”

The teen slid out of the truck and had to hike up his too-loose jeans or lose them.

Tanner shook his head. Been a damn long time since he couldn’t walk for risk of mooning everyone around him.

Troy vanished inside the school, and Tanner sat there watching him go, feeling everything his own mom must have felt every single day—a terrorizing love and an equally terrorizing fear that he’d somehow screw up this parenting gig.

Finally he pulled out of the school and headed to the bakery. He needed his day’s fix of coffee, and possibly a lobotomy for his inexplicable desire to see Callie again.

Up until a week ago he could’ve gotten coffee in the hut, but Cole and Sam had gotten into a paintball fight and the machine had been the only casualty. There were other, closer places than the bakery to get coffee.

Eat Me Diner, for one.

The town’s bar and grill, the Love Shack, for another.

But Tanner took the extra block, parked, and strode into the bakery, unable to pretend he was doing anything other than hoping for another glimpse of the awkwardly sexy strawberry blonde who’d made him smile for two mornings running.

The tables were all filled, even the back corner one that he already thought of as “their” table. A woman was seated there, head down, eyes glued to her laptop.

Callie.

She was in real pants today, skinny jeans tucked into black leather boots that revved his engines, and a long, soft sweater the exact color of her jade-green eyes. She was chewing on her lower lip, staring at her screen, seemingly oblivious to the rest of the world.

But thanks to the military Tanner was a master of reading the tiniest minute details, and he caught on to the fact that she was watching him out of the corner of her eye. Not so oblivious to him at all, a fact that was somehow both cute and hot at the same time.

As he watched, a guy walked up to her, gesturing to the empty chair at her table, clearly asking if he could sit.

Callie blinked up at him and shook her head.

The guy moved off.

Someone else immediately moved in, and she waved them off as well, a frown on her face.

Most definitely a lobotomy, he thought, and drawn to her like a magnet, he bought two coffees, four doughnuts, and moved in close. “Morning.”

She jumped and looked at him, her cheeks going pink. “Um. Hi.”

“Hi.”

She paused and, looking endearingly nervous, offered him a rather self-deprecatory smile.

And he realized…

She’d been saving the chair for him.

He liked that.

He liked that a whole hell of a lot.

And that’s when he thought maybe his day was going to get better after all. “That guy you turned away wanted to buy you a coffee,” he said.

“He would’ve had more luck if he’d been offering doughnuts.”

Yep. Definitely getting better, he thought, and handed her his bag of doughnuts.

B
y the time Tanner grabbed the empty chair and pulled it out for himself, Callie’s heart was knocking hard against her ribs in panic.

And okay, a little bit of lust as well. Or, you know, a lot.

In checking up on her grandma, she’d been through Lucille’s social media pages. Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter…and she’d inadvertently learned a lot about Lucky Harbor’s citizens.

One in particular.

Tanner Riggs was Lucky Harbor’s current most popular bachelor. Actually, Lucille had called him the Last Hot Single Guy for Two Hundred Miles. Callie wondered if he knew. Not that she was going to be the one to tell him if he didn’t.

“Real pants today,” Tanner noted. “I like the boots.”

She’d argued with herself earlier when she’d gotten out of the shower and stared into her closet. Yoga pants or jeans? Don’t care or care?

Turned out she cared. Hence the jeans.

And the boots. “They’re my kick-ass boots,” she said.

He smiled and she forgot how to breathe. Just plain forgot.

“You plan on kicking any ass today?” he asked.

“Too early to tell,” she responded. Look at her, all smooth and cool. “But I wanted the odds balanced in my favor if anything comes up.”

“I like the way you think.” He straightened out his leg, letting out a long, careful exhale as he did.

“You okay?” she asked quietly.

“Yes.” He drank deeply of his coffee and her gaze was drawn to his throat as he swallowed.

And then his broad chest.

And flat abs.

And the way his jeans—faded and threadbare in some of the good spots—fit him. Which was perfectly. “I meant your leg,” she said.

“It’s fine.”

“Huh,” she said.

He slid her a look. “Huh what?”

“Well, it’s just that ‘it’s fine’ is a typical guy response. Men tend to use ‘fine’ as a catchall.”

“A catchall.”

“Yeah,” she said. “You know, a noun, adjective, adverb, whatever. Tell me the truth—your leg could be literally falling off and you’d still say it was fine, right?”

“Nah,” he said. “When it was actually threatening to fall off, I was most definitely not fine.”

Her smile faded and she regretted her flippancy. “I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “Shit happens. You were saving me a seat,” he said, back to teasing.

“No,” she said in automatic denial. “I—”

He flashed her a knowing grin that was so innately Tanner-Riggs-of-the-Past—all cocky, popular football star, aka the guy she’d never been able to say two words to without tripping over her own tongue—that she once again found herself momentarily tongue-tied.

“What are you working on?” he asked, gesturing to her laptop. “Ordering a litter? Designing three-D wedding invitations?”

“Both,” she managed to say in what she hoped was a perfectly normal voice.

Because you are perfectly normal, she reminded herself. You are not just a computer geek. You are so much more. You…ah, hell. She couldn’t think of a single thing when he was looking at her like that, like maybe she was amusing him again.

“Your job suits you,” he said.

“What does that mean?”

“You have this sort of…” He waved his cup at her. “Dreamy, romantic air about you.”

She let out a low laugh and he set his cup down, sitting forward, at attention. “You going to start choking again?” he asked.

“No,” she assured him. Or she hoped not anyway. “And it’s not a romantic job. It’s a technical job.”

“How are hearts and flowers and chariots technical?” he asked.

“Okay,” she conceded. “Maybe it’s romantic for a minute or two, if you believe in that sort of thing.”

“And you don’t?” he asked.

“My job is to create the right setting to culminate their romance,” she said, trying to explain her job. “That’s all I can do. I can’t guarantee a happy ending.”

He grinned.

“Not that kind of a happy ending!” she said, and laughed in spite of herself. “The stats are completely against a real happily-ever-after, not that anyone wants to think about it while planning their wedding. Which means that TyingTheKnot.com should really be called AnotherOneBitesTheDust.com. But I doubt I’d be able to make a living with that.”

“Huh,” Tanner said, cocking his head as he studied her. “Didn’t see that coming.”

“What?”

“You’re a cynic.” He gestured at her with his cup. “All wrapped up in a sweet, warm package.”

He thought she was sweet and warm.

Don’t get excited, a little voice inside her warned. He also thought you were cute. Like a puppy. And he doesn’t remember who you are. “I earned the cynicism,” she said.

“Someone break your heart?”

He didn’t say this with a mocking inflection. Nor did he sound like he was pitying her. She looked into his eyes—those hot-as-hell eyes—and saw that he was just genuinely curious. Which was the only reason she answered him. “Yes, actually,” she said. “But it was my own fault.”

“How’s that?”

His voice was low and a bit morning gruff, and she found herself staring at his mouth. “That’s a little bit personal, don’t you think?” she asked, her own voice low, too, but not because it was morning.

It was more because he was turning her on with little to no effort.

He leaned in and smiled. “You don’t want to get personal with me?”

Her breath caught. Her pulse skipped another beat. Or a hundred. And there were other reactions, too, things that really shouldn’t be happening in public. But once upon a time she’d dreamed about him wanting her. She’d even gone as far as to send him a secret Valentine, one of those anonymous lollypops with a heart that you paid a dollar to the student body fund for and then it was delivered to the recipient’s homeroom class in front of everyone.

Except Callie hadn’t sent hers anonymously. She’d signed her name.

And he’d never said a word about it.

And suddenly that bugged the crap out of her. Love sucked. Romance sucked. And even if that hadn’t been true, there was no way she was going to admit her failures out loud to a guy she didn’t really know. She shook her head. No, she didn’t want to get personal.

“You really don’t believe in love?” he asked.

Did he think she was just being coy? “Let’s just say that I know that love isn’t enough,” she said. “And I’m not interested in it. Not for myself.” She knew this without a shadow of a doubt. After all, she’d had the perfect guy and the perfect life, and had planned the huge wedding to celebrate it—and it’d ended with her heart crushed.

Nope. Love was not enough. Not by a long shot.

Tanner startled her by running a finger along her temple, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “A definite cynic,” he said softly, meeting her gaze. “I like it.”

“You do?”

“Not exactly a romantic myself,” he said, and leaned back. “And no disrespect to your work, but I think love was something made up by Hallmark for Valentine’s Day and…well, wedding websites.”

She laughed. Touché. “So I guess you think Valentine’s Day cards are pretty dumb, too. Even if, say, you got one from a girl who had a crush on you.” She held her breath for a beat, and then someone bumped into him from behind and the moment was broken.

The cute brunette who’d done the bumping sent a big smile Tanner’s way. “Sorry,” she said breathlessly. “My fault. Let me buy you a coffee to make up for it.”

Tanner lifted his coffee. “Already taken care of.”

The woman looked disappointed but moved on and Tanner turned back to Callie. “Sorry, what were we talking about?”

Well, she’d been about to admit that she’d once sent him a Valentine’s Day card, which meant she’d also be admitting to her painful crush.

And that would lead to him saying out loud that he didn’t remember her. So she was eternally grateful they’d been interrupted. “We were discussing you being a cynic too,” she said. “You’re not…involved.”

“No,” he said. “I was married once, for about ten minutes.”

She knew all about him and Elisa. It’d been the talk of the town back then. “It didn’t work out?”

His laugh was mirthless. “No. I got beat all to shit.”

So she did have something in common with this big, built, tough, gorgeous man. “I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago,” he said. “And I did get something really great out of it. My son, Troy. But it’s not anything I’d repeat.”

She understood that. She lifted her coffee and touched it to his in a toast, acknowledging that they were in perfect sync on this sentiment.

“If it makes you feel better,” she said, “I got all the way to the altar before I got beat to shit. Didn’t actually say the I dos but it was close enough to teach me that happily-ever-afters are for fiction.” She smiled. “Don’t tell anyone, though. It’s not exactly good for business.”

He didn’t smile back. In fact, his gaze was dark and unreadable but also somehow…warm. Commiserating without pity. “Your secret’s safe with me,” he finally said softly, and they finished their coffee in comfortable silence.

Well, Tanner was comfortable anyway, at least going by his kick-back, sprawled posture in the chair.

Callie, not so much. She was wishing that she believed what she’d said about not wanting romance for herself because as she watched him, while pretending not to, she found herself aching just a little bit.

Damn, she really wished he remembered her.

“Gotta get back to work,” he said and rose.

“Right,” she said. “Me too.” She slipped her laptop back into her bag. Then she stood up and…knocked over her coffee.

Tanner grabbed a stack of napkins and efficiently cleaned up the mess in about three seconds, during which time Callie ordered herself to get a grip. “Sorry,” she said.

He shook his head. “No need.”

Good. Great. No need for her to be sorry that she was an idiot. A clumsy idiot. She gathered the rest of her things, trying to keep her hands busy.

And her brain.

Just get out the door without further incident, she told herself. But Tanner was standing close, looking down at her, his dark, dark eyes holding hers prisoner.

“What?” she whispered.

Again he ran a finger along her temple, letting the touch linger. “I’m sorry I never thanked you for that Valentine,” he said quietly. “I should have.”

And then he was gone.

C
allie was still shocked that Tanner had known who she was all along. It was the end of the workday, and she’d just met with Becca and gone over more of her wedding plans. Everything was nearly handled. She and Sam were going to get married at the B&B and then jet off to Greece where they’d rent a boat and island-hop for their three-week honeymoon. But first up was the bachelor/bachelorette party. This would take place at Lucky Harbor Charters on the boat and dock.

With all that planning dancing in her head, Callie helped Becca with some of the details and then picked up dinner from Eat Me and brought it to her grandma’s house.

Halfway up the walk, she stopped short at the sight of Lucille standing in her garden smooching Mr. Wykowski like they meant business. “My eyes,” Callie said, and covered them.

The lovebirds laughed. “Gotta get it when you can,” her grandma said.

Callie clapped her hands to her ears next. “Grandma!”

“Do you think they let you have sex in the old people’s home?” Lucille asked Callie. “Because I’d really miss it.”

Callie blinked at her. “What?”

“Well, you’re here to make sure I’m not crazy, and I’m pretty sure I totally am crazy. I just want to make sure, if I end up in a home, I can bring my cutie pie here and get it when I want.”

Callie gaped.

Lucille just smiled sweetly.

“That’s probably not funny to your granddaughter,” Mr. Wykowski said in a gently chiding voice, and her grandma laughed.

While Callie tried to recover, Mr. Wykowski greeted her warmly, murmured “Be good” to Lucille, and left them alone.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt anything,” Callie said. “But you’re so busy I practically need to make an appointment to see you.”

“No worries,” her grandma said. “We save the good stuff for after
Jeopardy
anyway. When you get to be our age, the dark is your friend.”

Callie was doing her best trying not to let the image of that form in her head as her grandma peered into the bag of food.

“Should’ve gone to the Love Shack,” she complained. “Jax—you remember Jax, right? The hottie master carpenter? He’s co-owner of the place, and he just announced his adorable wife Maddie is having their third baby. I bet they don’t wait for
Jeopardy
to be over, know what I’m saying?”

“Yes,” Callie said. “But I really wish I didn’t.”

Her grandma grinned as they dug into the food. “Anyway, everything’s half off at the Love Shack to celebrate. Although really, I should get to eat there free all the time since I had a hand in them getting together.”

“You did?”

Lucille smiled smugly. “You don’t know this about your dear old grandma, but I’m known as being quite the matchmaker. In the past five years alone, I’ve been responsible for…Let’s see…” She counted on her fingers. “Jax, Ford, Sawyer, Ty, Matt, Josh, Luke, Jack, Ben, Sam, and Cole.” She beamed with pride. “All found their happily-ever-afters with a little help from
moi
—even if most of them have no idea I helped them. Really, I should go into the business with you.”

Callie blinked. “You mean…”

“Yep,” she said proudly. “Matchmaking. It’d make a great addition to TyingTheKnot.com, don’t you think?”

She stared at her grandma until her phone buzzed with an incoming text from one of her brides.

Callie blew out a breath.

Her grandma leaned in to read and then grinned. “You going to let her do it?”

Callie pointed at her. “You don’t get to change the subject. Hold on a sec, one emergency at a time.” She typed in a response to her bride.

The response was immediate.

Lucille chortled in delight, and Callie again pointed at her. “No comments from the peanut gallery.” She gave her thumbs a workout dealing with the bride, and five minutes later they’d settled on animals at the reception but not the actual wedding.

“You should let her have the cow down the aisle,” her grandma said. “You could give out little air fresheners as party favors.”

Callie blew out a sigh. “That’s not a bad idea.”

Lucille hooted with laughter. “Gotta love your job, honey. It’s a beaut.”

“It’s something anyway. Now about you.”

“What about me?” her grandma asked innocently.

Uh-huh. “You can’t interfere with people’s lives like you’ve been doing,” Callie said.

“Why not? It works. And aren’t you essentially doing the same thing?”

“Yes, okay, fine. But at least I get paid for it,” she said.

Lucille beamed. “That’s because you’re smarter than I am. Have I told you lately how very proud I am of you?”

Callie’s frustration drained away. Her parents had always been so wrapped up in each other. She’d long ago gotten used to being a third wheel at her own family dinner table, but she’d always had Lucille who, quirks and all, had never let her down. “I love you, Grandma,” she whispered, and came around the table to squeeze her tight.

“Aw. Aren’t you the sweetest,” her grandma said, hugging her back. She barely came up to Callie’s chin and smelled like roses and baby powder and felt a little bit like a bag of bones, but Callie held on for a long moment.

“I suppose it might be time for me to face facts.”

Callie’s heart stopped. “What facts?”

“I’m losing it.”

Oh God. “Grandma—”

“The desire is just…gone,” Lucille said sadly.

Callie reached for her grandma’s hands. “The important thing is to realize that you’re not alone.”

“Oh, honey, you’re such a joy to me. But I can’t help how I feel. I’m going to—”

“—I’m here for you, to the end.”

“—Retire,” Lucille said, and frowned. “What?”

“Retire?” Callie asked.

Lucille stared at her. “What did you think I was going to say?”

“Nothing,” Callie said.

Lucille smiled. “You thought I was telling you I was going nuts, right? That’s a conversation for another day.”

“So you are going nuts?”

“Another day,” Lucille repeated.

“Okay,” Callie said. “But we’re going to definitely discuss, sooner rather than later.”

“So you can go back to San Francisco?”

“Yes,” Callie said. “And my life.”

“Your life.” Lucille rolled her eyes. “Your life is here, with your family—me, in case you were wondering. But I’m talking about retiring from the matchmaking game, not from my sanity.” She pointed at Callie. “Right after I match you.”

“Oh, no,” Callie said. “No. No, no, no.”

“Well, why ever not?”

“I don’t want to be matched,” Callie said. “I’m good as I am. I don’t need a man.”

“Honey, we all need a man. Whether we keep him or not, that’s personal preference.”

“Grandma, seriously,” Callie said. “No matchmaking me, I don’t need or want it. You hear me?”

Lucille was suddenly very busy cleaning up.

“Grandma.”

“Hmm?”

“You heard me, right?”

“Of course, dear. I’m old, not deaf. I can hear you just fine.”

Which wasn’t the same thing as listening, Callie knew.

“You get onto my social media accounts and do your research?” Lucille asked.

Callie went still. “What research?”

“You wanted to know more about Tanner. I left you a bunch of stuff to find. You learn everything you needed?”

Yes. And more. “I’m not interested in him that way,” she said.

Lucille grinned.

“What?” Callie asked.

“You’re pretty good at fibbing. But don’t forget who taught you how. Word is that you’re sitting with him in the mornings at the bakery pretending to drink coffee.”

Oh, for God’s sake. “We sit together so that we’ll be left alone,” Callie said. “Big difference.”

“Honey.” Lucille
tsk
ed, all disappointed. “The last thing Tanner needs is to be left alone.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

Lucille sighed. “Tanner’s daddy left him when he turned five.”

Yeah. This wasn’t news to Callie. She’d known that back in school.

“And that boy has been wild ever since,” her grandma said. “He’s got his hands full now with the people in his life, but he’s not doing a damn thing for himself. So let me repeat—being alone is not what Tanner needs. What he needs is you.”

Callie stared at her grandma. “Even if that was true, which it’s not, what about what I need?”

“Oh, you need him too, honey.”

“I don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m doing just fine.”

“See now, that’s the beauty of it,” Lucille said. “Of course you don’t
need him
need him. You support yourself, blah blah. But you’ve been hurt by life too, and let down. Your parents did the best they could, but they could’ve done better by you. You deserved more.”

“I had you,” Callie said, and had the pleasure of seeing her grandma soften and put a hand to her heart.

“Aw, honey,” she said. “I love you so. But truth now. You’ve felt alone and vulnerable. With Tanner, you’d have something you’ve always been sorely missing.”

“What’s that?” Callie asked.

“An ‘us.’”

For a single heartbeat, Callie’s chest tightened in yearning, but the feeling faded quickly. If she was being honest, she was a little afraid of the us. She busied herself with cleaning up for a long moment. “I do love you, Grandma,” she finally said. “So much. But you’re wrong. I’m good as I am. I don’t need the complication in my life right now.” Maybe ever. Bending, she kissed Lucille’s cheek. “I gotta get home. Please stop meddling in people’s lives, okay? For me? Promise?”

“Hmm?”

“Grandma.”

“Oh, all right, sure. I’ll try.”

The next day Callie had meetings straight through breakfast and she skipped the bakery. She told herself it was for the best but she had to admit she really missed the doughnuts.

And maybe also Tanner.

That afternoon she walked down to Lucky Harbor Charters to take measurements for decorations for Becca and Sam’s bachelor/bachelorette party.

The docks were a perfect spot for a party. As she got there, the late-afternoon November sun was just touching down on the water, casting a halo glow on everything.

Gorgeous.

She stood there taking in the view thinking that, with outdoor space heaters, this could really work. The lighting was perfect for pictures, the kind of lighting that would make anyone and everyone look good. It’d be a wonderful spot for their wedding photos too, which made her laugh a little. Here she was thinking to eventually move on from this job when she had decent savings and yet her eye for all things romantic and wedding-perfect never seemed to stop.

She was so messed up.

She heard a boat and shaded her eyes to see that it was the Lucky Harbor Charters’ boat.

Cole was behind the controls. When he navigated close to the dock, Tanner leapt off the boat, limped to the stern, and caught something tossed to him by his Mini-Me still on board.

A rope.

Tanner crouched low and tied the boat to the dock, then straightened and caught a second rope.

Callie found herself frozen in place, watching him move with confident ease in spite of the clear fact that his leg was bothering him. She watched as he efficiently and effortlessly tied that rope off as well and then looked up and said something to his son.

The body language of the two males told her that all was not well on the home front. Troy said something to Tanner.

Tanner spoke back calmly.

Troy said something else, not calmly.

Tanner didn’t speak again, just held his ground with steady, firm eye contact.

Troy broke it, spun on his heel, and stormed off.

And only when he was gone did Tanner’s expression change. From that easy calm to…deeply troubled.

Hollow.

It was a deeply personal moment, one Callie knew there was no way he wanted to be caught in. So she started to back up and go home, but then he turned his head and met her gaze.

Sorry, she mouthed. He gave the slightest head shake, nothing more. He didn’t approach her and she didn’t make a move toward him. And though she had the oddest urge to hug him, she left him alone.

That night, with Becca and Olivia sitting on her kitchen counter keeping her company, Callie made them all grilled chocolate sandwiches. It made her think of Tanner.

Okay, that was a lie. She’d been thinking of him since she’d left the docks earlier.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” Olivia said, chowing down on her second sandwich.

“I do okay,” Callie said. “If the recipe has chocolate in it.”

“Yeah, I’m going to need you to make a lot more of these,” Becca said.

“Is that why you’re stuffing them into your mouth like you haven’t eaten in days?” Olivia asked.

Becca grinned. “Been burning lots of calories lately.”

Olivia laughed softly and Callie sighed deeply. Then she realized they were both staring at her. “Sorry,” she said. “Sex envy.”

“Listen,” Becca said earnestly. “I know that being around the two of us when we’re stupid in love has got to be superbly annoying, but I promise you, you’ll find the right guy too.”

“I’ve already got one for her,” Olivia said.

Becca stared at Olivia and then laughed as a light bulb apparently went off. “Yes! I don’t know why I didn’t think of him sooner.”

“Because you’re having too much sex,” Olivia said, tapping a finger to her temple. “Sex brain.”

Callie sighed. “I really wish you’d both stop talking about sex. And I don’t want to find a—”

“Tanner’s perfect,” Becca said.

“—guy,” Callie finished.

“Yep, perfect,” Olivia said to Becca as if Callie hadn’t spoken. “They’re meant for each other.”

“Yeah, they are,” Becca said.

“No,” Callie said.

“Please tell me you think he’s hot,” Becca said. “Those eyes…Gah.”

Callie sighed. He did have some damn amazing eyes.

“I don’t know why we didn’t think of this sooner,” Becca said.