Love Walked In (Stevens Book 7)

Chapter 3

Norah followed the winding drive through the fields of bluebonnets.  It was her favorite time of year in Texas. A blanket of blue was draped over the landscape and it was breathtaking.

Eventually, a large two story house appeared in front of her.  It was a beautiful warm house made of stone with the sun glinting off of a tin roof.  Norah had talked Lizzy out of making her attend the party since she did not do well in large gatherings, and the idea of meeting such a large family and all of their friends at a formal gathering seemed overwhelming. Not to mention she had a hard time finding summer dresses that covered all of her scars.

She parked in front of the house and looked over at Scarlett who had jumped up and started sniffing the air as soon as the house had come into view. She smelled something exciting and on a ranch it could be just about anything.

She grabbed her lead just in time to keep her from bolting as she opened the car door.  She was ready to go and find where such a heavenly smell was coming from and Norah had to fight her to close the door. She had just turned from accomplishing the task when Lizzy appeared on the porch with another woman who was just as beautiful as Lizzy, but where Lizzy was fair she was dark.

"You made it!" Lizzy said coming down the steps to greet her.  "Norah, this is my sister Grace, she's married to my oldest brother."

Scarlett had stopped to smell both of them but quickly started to strain at the leash again when she realized they weren't what she wanted.

"My, she's a large dog,how do you manage to handle her?" Grace asked with a smile.

Scarlett lunged for the open front door. "Usually she behaves better than this but there's something that smells good to her and she's eager to find it."

"That is probably the bar-b-q," Grace suggested, still smiling as she watched and embarrassed Norah continue to struggle with Scarlett. Norah gave Scarlett a sharp command and she sat with a whimper.

"I'm afraid you'll only be able to meet a few of us right now, the rest have disbanded to take care of ranch chores or clean up the mess left from the party," Lizzy explained as she led the way though a beautiful room with a stone floor and cream walls. There was a double set of French doors that led off of the room onto what looked like a stone terrace.

"No problem," Norah said, secretly relived that she was going to be able to meet them all in stages, she could hear laughter and the murmuring of voices coming from the terrace.

"This way." Lizzy motioned for her to follow and Grace had gone ahead and joined the group outside.

As Norah stepped out onto the terrace her heart stopped then jump started.  It was the same feeling she had had the one time she went on a roller coaster.

Caleb. So handsome, leaned back in a chair with one arm laying on the table next to him and a beer in his hand. She watched for a moment as his other hand played with the bottle cap, his large nimble fingers rolling it along his knuckles.  He was grinning at something that had been said and he was wearing a white dress shirt and black slacks.  The white shirt was perfect foil for his tan skin where it was open at the neck and he was wearing what looked like a bowtie loose around his collar. His hair was longer then she remembered and it curled on his collar.

Just then his blue eyes met hers and she watched as they went from laughter to shock and then to steel. His grin died and his face became a mask and 'her Caleb' disappeared before her eyes one more time.

All conversation stopped while they just stared at each other for what felt like minutes but must have been just seconds, and Scarlett, who had found what she had been hunting, broke loose from Norah and lunged for Caleb.