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  “Fat chance of that.”

  Zinnia laughed. “Like I said, if I didn’t know you better. But,” she stared another instant into her cousin’s eyes, “something is definitely up.”

  “Hello,” the decidedly male voice carried over Callie’s shoulder, his arm extended past her to greet Zinnia. “Nice to meet you. I’m Zane Crandall.”

  Lowering her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose, Zinnia mumbled, “I think I know what’s up,” before accepting his hand. “Zinnia Colby. The pleasure is all mine.”

  Callie elbowed her cousin. She didn’t need anyone picking on him. Not now. Not when she wasn’t sure exactly what was going on.

  “I had to practically move heaven and earth to be here for the game this weekend. I know I’m a few days early, but I came within inches of having to back out and decided I’d better get here while the coast is clear or I might never make it. So, here I am.”

  Good heavens, how had she forgotten that Zinnia had promised to come up this weekend? Maybe her mind—and a few other things—were too distracted by the handsome hunk, now chatting casually with her cousin. One thing was for sure. With Deidra’s practice test scheduled and the big faculty student game weekend, the last thing she needed was a handsome distraction. Maybe.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Dave, it’s Zane.”

  “Hey, man. This is a surprise. How ya doing?” his friend of many years greeted him.

  “Can’t complain. I’m spending a few days at a lake in New England.”

  “Yeah, I heard about your company. Sorry. But it’s a good time of year for that part of the country. Not too hot, not too cold.”

  Some things were getting very hot and it had little to do with the weather in this part of the country. “It’s a great place to take a break. You should steal a few days before the school year starts and come hang out.”

  “I wish I could, but the weeks leading up to the semester are my most packed.”

  “I bet.” There had to be something he could say to coax him out here. Or he could simply tell him. “Listen, I’ll get straight to the point.”

  “That sounds serious. Something wrong?” The instant concern in his friend’s voice was reassuring. It was always nice to know that no matter how many years passed since college, friendships didn’t expire.

  “No. Not all. If anything,” he felt his face widen with a grin, “things are looking really good.”

  “Are we still talking about why you called?” It was obvious Dave was muffling his amusement.

  “Sort of.”

  “That’s always a good start,” he chuckled.

  “You’re always looking for good ball players.”

  “Mm.”

  “I’m tutoring a girl about to start her senior year.”

  “Tutoring? Career change?”

  “No. Just helping out a talented kid.”

  “Sounds like we’re getting to the reason for the call.”

  “We are. She’s good. Real good. If you’ve got a spot still on your team, I think it would be worth coming out to see.”

  Silence hung for a long moment. “You do realize by now I pretty much have my teams laid out.”

  “I do. I remember how it works.”

  “And you’re still calling me?”

  “I am.”

  Another block of silence passed. “Is she really that good?”

  “How many times have I called you about your players since we graduated?”

  “That good?”

  He nodded and a few seconds passed before he realized Dave couldn’t see him. “Yes. I’ve been watching her at practices. Wanted to be sure before calling you that she’s as good as I first thought. Solid. Worth you making the trip.”

  “I see.” His tone grew more pensive.

  “So.” He chuckled. He knew how Dave’s mind worked. “How soon can you come check her out?”

  “Where am I flying into?”

  “Doesn’t matter. Boston, Manchester.”

  “Okay.” Dave sighed and fingers pecking at a keyboard could be heard. “I think I can make it work this weekend, but you’d better not be pulling my leg.”

  “Nope. I’ll text you where I’m staying. Plan for a couple of extra days. You’ll love it here.”

  “We’ll see, but you’re lucky you’re getting me at all.”

  “Fair enough. See you in a few days.” He disconnected the call and made fast work of showering and putting on some dry clothes. From the bit of conversation at Zinnia’s car, he was pretty sure lunch in the Hart dining room was going to be standing room only.

  ***

  A beat up old Scion pulled up beside Zinnia’s car and out popped the teenage star of the softball show. Deidra had come over to Hart House every night for tutoring and had made great strides in such a brief time. The kid was as ready as she would ever be for the test. Even if it was only practice, they do say practice makes perfect, so a couple more sessions couldn’t hurt anyone. Besides, that would mean in a week’s time she’d be more than prepared to knock the real thing out of the park.

  “Where’s Mr. Crandall?” Deidra asked.

  “He’s gone to his cabin to change into dry clothes. He’ll be back for your session soon,” Callie answered.

  Lucy looked up at the teen. “Are you ready for the school year to start?”

  “Not even close.” Deidra reached for a cookie from a pile on the island. “I don’t mind Mr. Crandall teaching math, but the rest of my teachers are pretty boring.”

  “I heard that.” Callie reached for a cookie herself. She couldn’t blame the teen, she preferred Zane’s company to most people as well.

  The conversation shifted from boring teachers, to sports, to the new boy in town, and had come around to who got the last piece of Oma’s plum pastry when Zane came into the room.

  “It’s only fair that I get the last piece.” Zinnia smiled sweetly at everyone. “After all, I haven’t had any of Oma’s pastry in longer than everybody in this room.”

  “She does have a point.” Lucy shrugged. “Even Deidra here got to enjoy a slice when she was here the other day.”

  “There.” Zinnia flashed a cheeky grin, reached for the dish and fork that Lucy had set out, then waved the fork in Zane’s direction. “What have you got there?”

  “I ran over to the One Stop quickly. Katie assures me that these are your favorite.” He handed Callie a small red box with the bow almost as big. “I really am sorry about earlier.”

  “Thank you. This was very thoughtful.” She didn’t know which was sweeter, that Katie knew she had a soft spot for dark chocolate with almond and coconut, or that Zane cared enough to go out of his way to do something just for her. Untying the bow, she lifted the lid, and offering a piece to the others in the room, her heart did a flip at his hopeful expression. Who was she kidding? This little extra effort was the nicest thing a man had done for her in a very long time. Mr. Zane Crandall was definitely racking up brownie points.

  “Katie mentioned there’s a lovely waterfront restaurant on the other side of the lake. Would you be free to join me for dinner?”

  Oh yeah, this guy was definitely racking up the bonus points. “I’d be happy to.”

  “Great.” He spun around to where Deidra sat on a stool. “Are we ready to get some work done?”

  “Yes sir.” She hopped off the stool and, grinning as if she’d been given the box of chocolates, followed him into the General’s study.

  “You look pretty pleased with yourself.” Zinnia studied her cousin.

  “I plead the fifth. But I’m thinking this is turning out to be a pretty good day after all.”

  Zinnia’s gaze drifted to the empty hall leading to her grandfather’s study and smiled. “I just bet it is.”

  ***

  Zane changed his shirt and wondered what the big deal was. He invited a nice girl to dinner. This wasn’t the first time he’d done that and most likely wouldn’t be the last. Just how nervous he really was be
came quite apparent when his phone rang and he practically jumped from the surprise. “Hello?”

  “I hear you’re enjoying the sunshine and the water without me,” his grandfather teased.

  “Just killing time.” Liar, liar, pants on fire. He was definitely enjoying his free time considerably more than he’d expected.

  “Got any good prospects?”

  “Excuse me?” Was his grandfather a mind reader now?

  “Any new job prospects? You do remember you’re currently unemployed?”

  “Oh, yes. I have a couple of irons in the fire.” None of the standard options held his interest. Craig’s idea was top on his list, but at the moment he wasn’t terribly sure of anything.

  “Good. Good. Listen, I’ve had a couple of things come up, and I’m going to be delayed a couple of days.”

  “Oh?” Some days the stars did align. He loved his grandfather and always looked forward to spending time with him, but right now he was looking even more forward to spending more time getting to know one Calytrix Callie Nelson better. He hoped much better. “But you’re still coming?”

  “Roaring lions couldn’t stop me.”

  “Good.”

  “Oh, your grandmother’s calling. I have to run. See you in about a week. And tell the General I’m sorry I’ll miss the big game.”

  “Will do.”

  Finally settled on a peach button-down shirt rolled up at the sleeves, and tan slacks, Zane made his way to Callie’s home.

  “Come on in.” She lived in one of the cottages up the hill. “I just need to grab a purse and we’re all set.”

  This was the first time he’d seen her in anything but shorts and a t-shirt, or her hair not in a bun or ponytail. Beautiful blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders, and a simple dark blue dress looked worthy of the red carpet on her. “You look as beautiful as ever tonight.”

  Her steps slowed. “Thank you.”

  For the ride around the lake, he held her hand in his and felt like the dork in class who had won a date with the head cheerleader.

  “Mrs. Barclay said that Deidra’s performance in class is continuing to improve. She gives you credit for it.”

  “I haven’t done much, really. It’s all Deidra. I remember in high school I cut class one morning and the geometry teacher caught me sneaking around the building. As punishment I had to sit in the office and do hours and hours of geometry proofs. I hated them. And then something clicked. I made the connection and not only enjoyed the logic, I actually had fun finishing the rest of them.”

  Callie laughed. “You may be one of the only people in the world who learned to like doing geometry proofs.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” He squeezed her hand and pulled into the parking lot.

  “Who knows, maybe the fact that you struggled with math once upon a time too has been the magic fairy dust of why you can help Deidra when the other math teachers couldn’t reach her.”

  “Perhaps, but if you think about it, I am in a unique position compared to her other teachers. Not only do I earn a living crunching numbers and statistics to present in a form executives can recognize, and more importantly, utilize. I have years of playing pro ball under my belt and a love of sports in general, which happens to be a subject she loves. It’s easy for me to come up with lots of variations for examples to apply boring math to real life.” He slowly loosened his hold on her hand.

  “Mrs. Barclay says that Friday morning she’s going to sit Deidra down in school to simulate the testing situation and give her another practice test.”

  “Makes sense.” He circled the car and opened the door for her, holding out his hand. “Sometimes kids just get nervous taking tests. If Deidra grows comfortable with the testing scenario, it could improve her outcome.”

  “That’s what we’re hoping for.” Callie slid her hand through his elbow as they walked inside.

  The hostess led them to a corner table with a view of the water.

  “Even though I look at the lake often through my cabin window, or from your grandparents’ porch, I still find the view breathtaking from any angle.”

  “We all feel that way. I can’t imagine having been raised anywhere else. I simply don’t understand how my cousins survive in the big city.”

  “But some of them have moved back here,” he said.

  She nodded. “Iris is here now permanently, and Heather will be here permanently after the wedding, but Violet and Zinnia and Rose are true city girls at heart.”

  “You do realize how lucky you are to have such a relationship with your cousins?”

  “Absolutely. It’s hard to imagine that not everybody has that. Do you have any siblings?”

  He shook his head. “It took Mom a couple of years to have me, and then she had several miscarriages after me. So I’m it.”

  “Cousins?”

  “A few. But both Mom and Dad are military brats so their siblings, and my cousins, are scattered around. We didn’t have the interplay growing up the way you and your cousins seem to have had.”

  “But you do seem to have quite the relationship with your grandfather.”

  That brought a smile to his face. “I actually do. My mom is always teasing me that the grandfather I interact with is not the man who raised her. She got the military officer, I got the old softy.”

  “Sounds a lot like our family.” She laughed. “I still remember the General cheering me on at just about every game I ever played in.”

  “You played sports a lot as a kid?” That tidbit of info shouldn’t have surprised him.

  She nodded. “From t-ball to college.”

  “Really?”

  “Don’t look so surprised. I played select volleyball in high school, but softball was my game in college.”

  “That explains the competitive streak.”

  She eyed him over the rim of her water glass.

  “I mean, not everyone would have taken me up on the racing challenge that day on the lake.”

  “No.” She set her glass on the table. “For sure most of my cousins wouldn’t have. Maybe Lily. She had a bit of a daring streak in her.”

  “It’s the red hair.”

  Callie laughed. “That sounds like something my grandfather would say. What about you? I know you played baseball in seventh grade. Was that always your sport?”

  “For the most part, but every athlete wants to play football in high school. Girls never go for the math geek, but they love the captain of the football team.”

  “Don’t tell me you were the captain?”

  He bit back a smile. “Let’s just say you weren’t the only competitive teen growing up.”

  “Touché.” Her finger doodled along the edge of the glass. “I loved high school. No angst like some of my cousins. Just sports. Didn’t have to deal with the whiney cheerleaders and broken fingernails. It was great.”

  This time he barked out a laugh. “Can’t say that there was any risk of whining over a broken fingernail, but yeah, even though I was good at math, I can’t imagine where my life would have gone if I hadn’t been a high school athlete.”

  “And that brings us back full circle to why you’re helping Deidra, doesn’t it?”

  “You too.”

  She nodded. “I suppose. I do love making a difference.”

  One sentence and she’d hit the nail on the head. Being on the lake and working with Deidra had been an eye-opening experience in a few ways. While he was still putting all the pieces together, he’d learned at least one thing. He definitely liked making a difference.

  Through dinner, the theme of their youth dominated the conversation from the unexpected discovery that they both enjoyed their S’mores best without chocolate, to the stories of her and her sisters’ summer shenanigans. One more hilarious than the other. But the piece de resistance, the stories that had him rolling wilth laughter, were ones of poor Lucy’s matchmaking efforts. Or perhaps he should say her poor victims and her mismatched efforts.

  They talked and
laughed, and talked some more on the drive back to Hart Land, and when they reached her cabin, they continued talking as they walked slowly to the narrow swath of a porch.

  “Thank you for forgiving me. I had an especially good time.” He had yet to let go of her hand.

  “Ditto.” Her smile widened. “I really enjoyed the evening.”

  With only the sounds of crickets chirping and the occasional owl hooting, he leaned in to gently press his lips against hers. Reminding himself this was a simple goodnight kiss, he forced himself to pull away and take a step back. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

  “I hope so.”

  So did he. And wasn’t that something different.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Got it. Three large corned beef points. Six heads of cabbage. Ten pound bag of potatoes. How many loaves of soda bread?”

  Katie still did business the old-fashioned way. With paper and pencil, face to face, or over the phone. Anyone who wanted to do online orders was going to have to do their shopping somewhere else.

  “Sounds like the General is expecting one heck of an after party this weekend. Don’t know that I’ve ever known a man that wasn’t Irish to love his corned beef and cabbage as much as the General.”

  On the other end, Lucy from Hart House made a couple of passing comments about the General’s appetite and the platoon of cooks it had taken to replace her while he was deployed.

  The woman had a point, she could have fed a military base or two with one hand tied behind her back.

  “I’ll have this boxed up right away.” Katie said her good-byes and looked up to greet a young man coming through the door. “Welcome to the One Stop.”

  The gentleman seemed momentarily surprised by the unsolicited greeting. “Thank you.”

  Must be from the city. Country people are rarely surprised by a friendly greeting and a smile. “Can I help you with anything?”

  “No, thank you.” He turned down one of her very short aisles. “I’m going to be staying here for the weekend and just wanted to pick up a couple of things.”