It Had to Be Fate (An It Had to Be Novel Book 3) (27 page)

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CKNOWLEDGMENTS

It just so happened that my acknowledgments were due during the last week of my day job as a real estate appraiser. I was feeling trepidations about giving it up to write full time, but also extremely grateful to those I had worked with for the past twenty-five years. I will miss my coworkers, Monique and Debbie, and my business partner, Stephanie, along with so many more in the mortgage and title business. Thank you all for the well-wishes as I start this new chapter in my life. (No pun intended.)

As always, I want to thank my critique group, Robin, Sherri, and Louise. You guys are the best. And I wish only the best for my dear friend Laurie Sanchez as she faces the greatest battle of her life. I look forward to celebrating your victory very soon!

I am so grateful for my editors at Montlake, Maria Gomez, Charlotte Herscher, my poor copy editors, and the rest of the Montlake team for making this business of publishing books such a joy!

Thanks to my agent, Jill Marsal, whose tireless work ethic is simply amazing. I am eternally grateful to her for putting up with an overthinker like me.

And a tremendous shout-out to all of my kind readers. Without you, my dream of being a full-time writer would have never come true, so a heartfelt thank-you for your support.

Lastly, thanks to all my many family members for always supporting me, encouraging me, believing in me, but mostly for just loving me. There is no greater gift than that.

READ ON FOR A SNEAK PEEK AT TAMRA BAUMANN’S NEW NOVEL
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IT HAD TO BE THEM

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hypochondriac could be a doctor’s worst nightmare, but Ben Anderson had reason to be particularly fond of the one sitting on the padded exam table in front of him. She was the mother of the only woman he’d ever loved.

He’d run every test he could think of on Kline Grant’s mother but could find nothing wrong with her. She’d had a new dire illness every Monday for the last six weeks and today was no exception. He was tempted to borrow her phone and delete her WebMD app.

“I have just the thing you need.” He grabbed a small bottle of vitamins from his white lab coat and handed it to her. “Take one every morning for a month, and you’ll be good as new.”

Mrs. Grant flipped her glasses to the top of her gray head and frowned at the label he’d had his nurse, Joyce, dummy up for him. “What is this?”

“It’s a new miracle drug and perfectly safe.” He laid a hand on her shoulder. “You trust me, right?”

She lifted her chin and smiled at him. “You know I do, Ben. Did I mention Kline is finally coming home?”

Her words were a punch to his gut. It’d been over ten years since Kline had been back. “No, you hadn’t mentioned that.” He looked away from her curious eyes and busied himself with notes in her chart while his system settled.

“I told her I wasn’t well enough to travel all over the darn world to visit wherever she’s teaching now, like I have in the past.”

Tahiti, last he’d heard. Kline had wanted out of Anderson Butte so badly, and had lived in four other cities and three countries since their breakup. Not that he kept track of her or anything. “You’re well enough to travel if you want. Sand, blue water, and warm weather might do you good.” Of course that made him think of Kline in a bikini, dammit.

Mrs. Grant waved her hand. “Oh, she’s done with that job. It’d only been until the regular teacher came back. I told her we need a science teacher here while her cousin takes maternity leave soon. But you know Kline. Itchy feet. No way she’d ever come back to live in this one-stoplight town . . . blah, blah.”

Good. Because Kline had broken his heart so hard he had sworn he’d never get close enough to another woman to let that happen again. He’d let her go, thinking she would come back after a year or so because she had missed him. After five had passed, he’d moved on to just plain being pissed about it. Hopefully she’d be in and out and they wouldn’t run into each other.

“She’s coming tomorrow and plans to be here through the end of the month. Then she’s thinking of substituting in Denver for the rest of the school year.”

That meant she’d be in Anderson Butte for three long weeks. Hard not to run into someone in their small town for that long.

He helped Mrs. Grant off the table. “Have a nice visit with Kline. And be sure to take those pills now, okay?”

“Will do.” She slid her purse, big enough to carry a fifteen-pound turkey, over her shoulder. “I’m going to try to set Kline up with Ryley Benson while she’s here. He always asks about her. That way she’ll have a date on her birthday.”

Kline’s birthday was November 15. Exactly a month after his. But his neighbor, Ryley Benson, was the last person Kline would be attracted to. Ryley had been the big jock in high school, entitled and rude, and hadn’t changed a bit. Not Ben’s problem, though. He couldn’t care less who Kline dated.

Mrs. Grant shook her head and walked toward the door. “Kline is going to be the death of me, always just dating for fun. She says no commitments and especially not marriage for her. But I’d like a grandchild before I kick the bucket. I imagine your dad feels the same about you, Ben. Both you and Kline are so good-looking and yet neither of you has ever married. It’s odd, don’t you think?”

“Nope. And you’re only sixty and not going anywhere anytime soon. Bye now.”

“Thanks for the pills.” After she waved goodbye, the exam room door softly closed behind her.

Ben tossed her file onto the table and rubbed his tired eyes. The last time Betty Grant had been in, she’d whipped out pictures from that suitcase of a purse of hers. Kline still looked fantastic, a tall, slender brunette with the deepest caramel-colored eyes he’d ever seen. Eyes that used to gaze at him like he was the last chocolate éclair on earth as he made love to her. Eyes that had cried when he’d broken the news that he was coming back to Anderson Butte after med school.

She might have stuck it out with him if he’d told her the truth. That his father, and obligations to the town, had forced him into coming back home after he finished college. He’d wanted to do the right thing by her so he’d let her go. So she could live her dreams and have her adventures. But for her to never come back for even a single holiday? It had to be because she wanted to avoid
him
.

She’d accused him of not loving her as much as she loved him, of always putting his family’s needs before hers, and then she threw her engagement ring at his head. He couldn’t help that his mom had died and they had a father who wasn’t a parent to his younger brother and sisters. Someone had to raise them, and it
had
taken a lot of his time and effort. She wasn’t wrong about that. She’d been extremely patient with him—until he’d broken the bad news.

He’d lost the love of his life and the best friend he’d ever had in a single moment.

It probably had worked out for the best. He loved living in Anderson Butte, but she would’ve never been happy living in such a small town. He couldn’t imagine not living near his brother, sisters, and their kids.

Luckily, he was swamped trying to take care of the patients he had and with his plans for a brand-new clinic that would serve even more people from the surrounding area. That was, if he could convince his father to let him use the piece of land he had his eye on. Yeah. He had plenty of excuses to avoid Kline.

Shaking his head, he stood to go see to his next patient.

Ryley Benson? What had Kline’s mom been thinking? The guy wasn’t good enough for Kline. He couldn’t think of a man in town who would be.

Kline Grant laid a hand on her roiling stomach as she negotiated the curvy, icy mountain road she had vowed she’d never drive again. When she passed by the sign that said “Welcome to Anderson Butte,” childhood memories swarmed all at once inside her head.

She passed the hotel Ben’s sister Casey ran, and then the General Store run by Santa Claus, aka Fred, and then the diner across from Town Square with its pretty white bandstand in the middle. Remnants of a recent snowfall on the roof sparkled in the waning sunlight. Not much had changed.

Glancing through her passenger-side window, she caught her first glimpse of the beautiful lake between the buildings. The bright November setting sun reflected long, thin lines across the smooth surface. She rolled her window down and drew in a familiar breath of cold air, pine trees, and lake water. Maybe she’d missed that a little, but she’d not missed the nosiness of small-town life and the memories of her awkward childhood.

But after hearing her mother describe her odd symptoms, and how she was too sick to travel, not to mention the signs of confusion, she’d had no choice but to break her vow and come home. She loved her mom, the one constant in Kline’s ever-changing life, so very much.

So she’d have to talk to Ben again. It’d probably be awkward. Their breakup hadn’t been pretty. She still regretted throwing her ring at his head. She should probably apologize for that. On second thought, he should apologize to
her
for stringing her along all those years. He made promises he’d never intended to keep. Just like her last boyfriend had. She was through with men.

Her stomach seized again at the thought.

She’d just keep things professional with Ben, ask what the deal was, and then get out. Then she’d stop by the diner and pick up supper so her mom wouldn’t feel the need to cook.

She pulled into the clinic’s driveway and wound around the back to park, hoping she wouldn’t be too late to catch Ben. After she’d turned off the ignition, a marching band of nerves reverberated up and down her spine. She hated to be so intrusive, to go around her confused mother for the truth, but her mom’s strange symptoms just didn’t make sense. Well, according to WebMD, anyway.

She grabbed her purse and headed for the clinic. By the time she tugged on the glass door her stomach had gone from being upset to seriously hurting. She started for the familiar waiting room but had to stop when a wave of nausea hit and she leaned against the wall.

The sound of heavy footsteps made Kline look up and into Ben’s striking blue eyes. Still as handsome as ever. He hadn’t changed a bit. How unfair was it that men aged so much better than women?

“Kline? Are you okay?” A frown creased his brow as he reached out to help her.

She nodded, but then lost the battle with her stomach and puked on his pretty designer shoes.

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BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

Photo
©
2012 Robyn Adams

Tamra Baumann became hooked on writing the day she picked up her first Nora Roberts novel from her favorite bookstore. Since then, she’s dazzled readers of contemporary romance with her own lighthearted love stories. She was the 2012 Golden Heart winner for Contemporary Series Romance and has also received the Golden Pen Award for Single Title Romance. Born in Monterey, California, she led the nomadic life of a navy brat before finally putting down permanent roots during college. When she’s not attending annual Romance Writers of America meetings, this voracious reader can be found playing tennis, traveling, or scouting reality shows for potential character material. Tamra resides with her real-life characters—a husband of thirty years, two kids, and their allergy-ridden dog—in the sunny Southwest.