Page 1 of Click of Fate

Prologue

LEAP OF FAITH

RUTH

My name isRuth Ann James, and I’m in the business of love.

Let me explain.

Some people call me a matchmaker—others, a meddler. I prefer "architect of happily-ever-afters". I see things others don’t. Glimpses of love before it’s even realized, signs of connection that most would miss. I’ve never made a bad match. There have be some couples who have given me a run for my money, but I never give up, and my gut is never wrong when it comes to love. Over the years, I’ve given countless couples the little push they needed to find their way to each other.

Some are willing participants in my matchmaking magic. Others? Not so much.

Take Stella, my granddaughter's dear friend, for example. She would rather climb out a window than admit she might want love.

I've known the girl for years now. She’s sharp, independent, always ready to run before something (or someone) can tie her down. A woman like that? She needs a man who doesn’t just let go. One who holds steady, no matter how high she climbs.

I’ve watched her over the years; I’ve studied her, knowing her time will come and I will have the perfect opportunity to help her find that love she refuses to chase.

It’s important for the people in your life to be on the lookout when you're purposely keeping your eyes shut to love. It’s a task I will gladly handle—a challenge I will accept with a smile.

You see, this isn’t my first time dealing with a runner.

Decades ago, back when I was just getting started in my business of love, I had a dear friend named Margaret. Now, Margaret was a force of nature, brilliant, successful, and dead set on never needing a man. Sound familiar?

Margaret ran a travel agency—one of the biggest in the city at the time. She was always off somewhere new, booking trips for high-society clients, insisting she was too busy for love. But I knew the truth. Margaret wasn’t toobusy…she was tooscared. Her upbringing had a little to do with that, as it often does.

One day, a wonderful man named Kellen—the owner of a popular bookstore in town—came along. I knew he was perfect for her, even if it didn't seem so on paper. He was patient, thoughtful, and willing to wait her out. And wait her out, he did. Every Tuesday, like clockwork, he’d show up at her office with a new book about a different country she’d visited, or one she hadn’t. He’d tell her, “Since I can’t take you to dinner, I figured I’d bring the adventure to you.”

It took six months—six months of books, of waiting, of never pushing too hard. Margaret fought it every step of the way.

Now, I could have just let things play out naturally, but where’s the fun in that?

Instead, I may have provided him with updates on her past and upcoming travel. I may have been Team Kellen, as the kiddo’s call it these days. I stepped up my game when a trip she was taking happened to line up with a conference he was considering attending to expand his international selection inthe store; it wasn’t difficult to convince him now was the time to put all the hard work to the text.

So, when Margaret flew to Paris? Guess who just so happened to be in the bookstore café at Charles de Gaulle Airport? Kellen. She nearly dropped her coffee when she saw him. The way she’d later tell is was, “He took my hand in his, looked me in the eye and said, ‘You’ve planned every trip so far, Margaret. Let me plan this one.’”And for the first time in her life, she said yes.

They were married a year later.

Margaret thought she was running from love. But she was really waiting for someone who wasn’t afraid to hold on.

And if I’m not mistaken, that’s exactly what’s about to happen here.

I didn’t know Luke before their story began. But the moment I met him, I knew. That man? A rock. Steady, strong, unwavering. The exact kind of man Stella wouldn’t dare fall for. Which, of course, made him the perfect one for her.

And fate? Oh, it was working its magic already.

See, I didn’t orchestrate their first meeting—that was pure serendipity. But all it took was a chance meeting, just a moment in time, gone by morning. But when the magic is there, it's there, and it is more than just a coincidence when the two keep running into each other.

And as if that weren’t enough? I might have accidentally stumbled upon a tiny accomplice named Lilly, who is delightfully resourceful for her young age. Stella was going to be one of my toughest matches yet, so I needed all the help I could get.

But here’s the thing about love: it can’t be forced. It has to be chosen.

And while Luke was ready to fight for Stella, she would be clinging to every excuse she could find to run in the other direction.

Oh, my dear girl.

She hadn’t yet realized that love, real love, isn’t about losing yourself. It’s about finding someone who holds you steady when you’re afraid to fall.

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