It Had to Be You: Special Bonus Edition with free novel Blue Flame (Lucky Harbor) Read online

  “You can do this for me. I know you can.”

  “Shit,” he said again, but reached for his pen and a pad.

  Jake paced around on the ranch, unsettled and unhappy. When Joe called, Jake didn’t feel like talking. “I’m sorry, Joe, but it’s a bad time—”

  “I know. Just listen, you got to hear this.” Joe sounded jubilant. “We just found out Billy has a fascination with fire, a fascination that predates you. In fact, over the past two years, the kid started no less than three fires at his school. Can you believe it? No way will any case against you or the department or anyone stand up to that. Celebrate, man, cuz it’s over.”

  Jake stared at the phone. “Are you serious?”

  “As a heart attack.”

  Jake didn’t quite know what to do with himself after that. He pocketed his cell phone and paced around some more. He wanted to be excited, but he also wanted to share it with someone. With Callie. But two hours later, she was still gone.

  She’d called in and talked to Amy, saying she wasn’t going to be back in time to do the meet and greet for the new guests, or even the afternoon ride, but the crew would show Amy what to do.

  Amy had looked so proud to be given this job that Jake had to swallow his frustration when Amy had hung up without finding out where Callie was.

  And why she couldn’t come back.

  And why she’d taken the Jeep for a ride, instead of Sierra. He managed not to hassle Amy, but he didn’t have to be so gentle with his own brother. Jake grabbed Tucker and pulled him aside. “Where the hell is she?”

  Tucker didn’t speak for a moment, and when he did, his voice was utterly void of the derision and sarcasm Jake expected. “She’s probably upset, and doesn’t want to upset us. She’ll stay away until she has it together.”

  Jake stared at him, searching for any sign that Tucker was lying, that maybe he really knew where Callie was, but his words sank in, as well as his sincerity. “Damn it.”

  Tucker actually looked sympathetic. “She’ll be okay.”

  Yeah, but would he? “She’s got guests coming.”

  “I know.” Tucker scratched his jaw. “She’s never missed a meet and greet before, not even after Richard died.”

  But she missed this one, and as he pitched in and helped, working with the entire crew, he realized how much he’d learned over the past two months. He knew how to coax the guests into enjoying themselves, he knew what and how much to feed each of the animals. It was all second nature.

  Now he stood in the corral with Stone, Eddie, and Tucker, getting the horses ready for an afternoon ride with the guests. At two o’clock on the dot, Eddie and Tucker both looked at their watches, then patted Stone on the back.

  Jake looked between them, confused, and Eddie said proudly, “He’s gone two weeks without a drink.”

  Stone nodded. “Fourteen days.”

  “That’s…” Tucker stopped to count. “Over three hundred hours.”

  “Three hundred thirty-six,” Stone corrected, and snagging his arm around Eddie’s neck, kissed him noisily on the cheek.

  Eddie swiped at the spot with the back of his hand. “What was that for?”

  “For being my brother.” Stone grinned. “Love you, man. Love you all.”

  “Jesus, you sure you’re not drinking?”

  “Tell me you love me back,” Stone said with a grin.

  “Shut up.”

  “Come on, tell me.” Stone made kissy face noises near his brother’s ear until finally, laughing, Eddie shoved him away. “Fine, you idiot. I love you. Now you’d better remember that cuz I’m not going to repeat it.”

  Tucker laughed, too. “You’ll repeat it, soon as you need to borrow some money.”

  Jake smiled, but, damn, he’d really wanted this place to be nothing more than a plot of dry land filled with a bunch of animals that ate too much, and a big house that drained him dry.

  But there was more, so much more. A family lived and breathed here, a family and a group of people he cared about deeply. While he stood there absorbing that, his cell phone rang. “Jake,” his real estate agent said, “you have another offer. A bigger one.” When she rattled off the terms, he stood there, dazzled and stunned. “Jake? All it takes is a yes from you and I’ll get the paperwork going.”

  Eddie and Stone were now helping two of the guests get on horseback. Everyone was laughing, taking pictures. Tucker showed yet another guest how to put on a bridle. Marge and Lou were handing out hats and gloves. Amy had come out, too, and sat on the fence watching, smiling. Smiling.

  “Jake? You there?” came his agent’s voice.

  This place had come to mean more to him than he could have ever dreamed, and if he felt that way after only six weeks, he could only imagine what Callie and these guys all felt after spending years here. This was their home, their life. “I’m sorry,” he said into the phone. “Turn the offers down. Both of them.”

  Callie sat staring at Matt in shock. She was still in his office. She’d planted herself there, refusing to leave until he secured her the loan she wanted, and then called Jake’s Realtor on her behalf to make the offer. “What did you just say?”

  “I’m sorry, Cal. He turned down the offer.”

  “Why?”

  “The agent said the ranch was already sold.”

  “He really did take that other offer.” She dropped her head into her hands. “How could he?”

  “He can do whatever he wants. It’s his place. Look, you gave it your best shot, but it’s over. Fini. The end.”

  Stunned, she shook her head. “It…can’t be.”

  “Maybe you should have let me tell him who was making the offer.”

  “I told you, I didn’t want him to know it was me, because I wanted to do this fair and square. Without emotional debts or attachments.”

  Matt sighed. “You and I both know it’s far too late for that. If he’s in your life, you’re attached. Just as you’re attached to that godforsaken piece of land, and all the people on it. Everyone knows this about you, baby, so it’s time for you to admit it. You leap with your heart, and just let your brain along for the ride.”

  She stared at him, horrified to find her eyes filled with tears.

  “No.” He shook his head and pointed at her. “Don’t do that. Shit,” he said when she didn’t—couldn’t—stop, and thrust a box of tissues at her. “Christ, dry up, would ya? You didn’t even cry when I screwed around on you.”

  “Shut up, Matt.” She blew her nose. Sighed. Leaned back and studied his ceiling.

  Matt came around his desk and sat next to her, tentatively putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s too late for tears now.”

  She sniffed. “I know.”

  “Good.” He snatched his tissues back. “You should also know, my emotional debt to you is now paid in full.”

  “Yeah.” She sniffed. “Hope I didn’t put you out.”

  “Hey, can this be about me now? My entire life is falling apart, and you’ve taken up hours of my time.” He sighed. “What do you think the chances are that people won’t notice that my partner is a raving lunatic?”

  Amy stood in the kitchen creating dinner. Thick, meaty sandwiches on bread she’d baked earlier, with a side of fresh coleslaw. She was humming to herself and having a good time when Tucker came into the kitchen.

  He walked right up to her, pulled her away from the counter, and turned her to face him.

  She held a knife in one hand, a celery stalk in the other. She took in his expression, which was tense and grim, and felt her stomach drop. “What is it?”

  “I’m going to kiss you,” he said.

  The breath shuddered out of her lungs, and it wasn’t fear or revulsion that did it, but sheer shock, and…a trembly sort of anticipation so foreign it took her a moment to recognize it for what it was.

  “I know you don’t like to be surprised,” he said. “So I thought I’d warn you.” His head lowered slowly, his eyes steady on hers. “Ready?” he whi