Page 65 of Horn of Plenty
“Sir,” Lucce said, addressing Cal as a bead of sweat slid down his forehead. “I was able to make the reservations you requested, and your delivery arrived.”
Sir?
“Why is he calling you sir?” she asked.
Cal gave Lucce the once-over. “You work for us now, don’t you?”
“We’re excited to have Eat Elverna on board with the Blaine Agency,” Lucce answered, then handed Cal a large envelope.
“How do you know about this?” she asked.
“I was with your dad and Claudine when Chelsea approached us in the hotel lobby.” He glanced around at the people holding up their phones. “And it’s being livestreamed.”
She gasped. “It is?”
“Yeah,” he chuckled, then his expression grew serious.
“Do you want to go somewhere and talk?” she asked. But Cal shook his head, then took the tomato from her hand and passed it to Lucce.
“No, I want the world to know what I have to say to you,” he said, taking her hand into his.
She glanced over and found her father and Claudine standing together. The pair waved and gave her the thumbs-up. They had to be in on this. She’d never in a million years thought her father and Cal would come to New York. That alone was a monumental feat.
Who could have guessed that she’d experience not one but two life-changing moments today?
“You were right when you said that I only wanted part of you—the Farm to Mabel part, the part that lived in our hometown,” he began. “I was stubborn and bullheaded, and I didn’t see what was right in front of me.”
“And what’s that?” she asked.
Those stormy blue eyes of his welled with such love it took her breath away.
“My home is wherever you are, Mabel,” he said.
She closed her eyes and sighed. Coated with strawberry juice and days spent under the sun, his heartfelt words hung in the summer air.
She met his gaze. “Then you’ll be happy to know that I want to go back to Elverna. I can be happy there, Cal.”
She expected the man to jump with joy, but he didn’t. In fact, he had quite the opposite reaction. He went all stupid, broody farmer and shook his head.
“But I can’t,” he replied somberly.
He can’t?
She scoffed. “What do you mean?”
He handed her the envelope. “Open it.”
She lifted the flap, then gasped. “Is that what I think it is?”
He nodded as his broody farmer expression melted away.
She pinned him with her gaze. She’d only been gone a few days. It usually took weeks or longer to get a passport issued. “How did you get it so quickly?”
“It doesn’t hurt when the governor of your state offers to cut through red tape,” he replied with a sly grin.
Slowly, she opened the cover and saw Cal’s picture—Cal’s passport picture.
“Now we each have one.” He reached into the envelope and removed two pieces of paper. “And we’ll need these for where we’re going.” He glanced at Lucce. “Nonstop from New York. Nice work.”
