How could she know it happened in real life?

  The only difference was for her it didn’t happen like it did on the screen. In this case, they completed the job they were doing together and immediately he flew off to start another project.

  “You’ve fallen in love with him, haven’t you?” Naomi interrupted her thoughts.

  Piper’s attention came back to the kitchen. Naomi was sitting in front of her with a cup of coffee. Piper hadn’t seen her sit down, or even remembered that she was there. The breakfast plate in front of her was getting cold.

  “Is it that obvious?”

  “Only to an old girl like me.” She smiled.

  “Naomi, do you think he’s coming back? I mean for more than to get his stuff and fly off again.”

  Piper heard the desperation in her own voice. Naomi reached across the table and took her hand.

  “That’s a question you’ll have to ask him.” Naomi looked Piper straight in the eye. “Before you do, be sure you want to hear the answer.”

  *

  WHAT ANSWER DID she want? Piper asked herself that question as she slowly rode back to her house. Cal was gone, the crowds had returned to their homes and businesses. Her ranch reminded her of a ghost town. No noise, no activity, just the pressed grass that so many feet had crossed and recrossed. The empty metal skeleton rising monstrously toward the sky and the remnant of remembered noise seemed to mock her. Yet in all that quiet, she didn’t hear Cal. What interview was he on and where in the world would it take him?

  And why hadn’t he called? Didn’t cell phones work where he was?

  The comment Naomi made stayed with her. Did she want him to say he was staying in Montana? She thought of the offers she’d had after the success of the stunt. She could write her own ticket, but it would mean going back to Hollywood and resuming her life there. Cal was probably already returning to his.

  Was she too wrapped up in her own efforts that she hadn’t thought about what might be shaping Cal’s life? Piper knew the answer to that. She’d been singularly focused on herself. A wave of guilt accosted her as she thought of how he’d been there for her, yet she wasn’t even interested enough to ask anything about what he would do.

  And now he was gone. He’d taken her heart with him and he didn’t even know it.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE HOUSE SEEMED too quiet when Cal entered it. It was nearly midnight and Naomi was long gone. He assumed all the guests from the last few days were back in their own worlds. And Piper...

  She was alone.

  Grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator, he downed it facing Piper’s ranch. A full moon hung in the sky, but Cal could still see the light on in her bedroom. He knew which of the rooms faced his ranch and he thought of her in that space whenever he saw it. Holding the empty bottle, he wondered why she was still awake. People in the Valley tended to go to bed with the sun and rise with it, too.

  Cal knew he and Piper didn’t adhere to those rules. They’d been together day and night for months. He wanted to talk to her. It was how he’d spent much of his time and he missed that now. He wanted the noise of her clicking keys on her computer or the sound of her watching the video of the accident and their own construction of the framework that she ran through.

  But the only thing present now was the sound of his breathing or his footsteps as he ambled through the empty rooms.

  The light in her upstairs bedroom went out. She was probably going to sleep. Then a few moments later, a light went on downstairs. He could barely see it because of the rise in the land. For a moment, he wondered if he was wishing it on. Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, he checked the phone log. Several calls from her popped up on his display.

  He smiled, hoping they meant she’d missed him. He’d missed her, but she had a decision to make and he didn’t want to influence her. He had one to make, too, but it depended on several things happening.

  Typing carefully, he sent her a text. Are you awake?

  Yes was the rapid reply.

  Can we talk?

  Yes came again.

  I’ll be right there.

  Cal’s spirits along with his heartbeat rose. He felt light on his feet, wanting to get to see her, confirm the mental image he carried with him all the time. Passing through the kitchen, he spied the cake Naomi always seemed to have under a dome on a glass pedestal. He cut two slices and in seconds was in his truck, racing over the ground he’d driven hundreds of times in the past months. The dust cloud behind him was visible in the rearview mirror. Stopping in front of the house, he was out of the truck the moment he shifted it into Park.

  Piper appeared on the porch. He expected her to be wearing a robe over pajamas, but she was fully dressed in jeans and a long sweater. It took all his energy not to rush forward and pull her into his arms. He’d missed her, missed her red hair highlighted in the sun, missed her smiling face and bright eyes, missed seeing her day in and day out. Still, he took the steps two at a time. They faced each other. Neither spoke for a moment. Cal felt awkward. He wanted to see her, had rushed to get to her. Now he was searching for words.

  “I brought you a dessert.” He pulled the two slices now meshed together inside a plastic container. “It’s what people used to do to be friendly. I’m not sure if that’s still the truth, but I was taught that way.” He repeated the words he’d said to her months ago when he first stepped on her porch.

  She smiled widely, trying not to laugh. Getting control of herself, she said, “I don’t eat a lot of carbs.” Her response was the same as she’d given him at their first meeting. “Where did you go?” Piper asked, changing the subject.

  “After I left you?” he asked.

  They had been on this very porch.

  “I called several times, but you didn’t answer.”

  “It was your night, Piper. You were in the world you know. The one you love and want to return to. All the people who like and respect you were here. They all wanted your attention. And you deserved the limelight. You deserved some time to think things through, decide what you want.”

  “So you were giving me time by not returning my calls?”

  She moved to the edge of the porch and looked out into the darkness that a few days ago had been teeming with people.

  “Not exactly,” Cal told her. He went to stand next to her. “My first flight was to Qatar.”

  “They have cell phones there.”

  “True, but at a petroleum facility, they are strictly forbidden. I wanted to call, but I couldn’t. When I could, it was the middle of the night here.”

  “Not even when you touched down in the States?” she asked.

  Cal knew she was right. He felt guilty.

  “We’d talked so much before the stunt,” Piper continued. “After it was over, I wanted to discuss it with you.” She stopped, but before he could respond, she went on. “I realize I’d taken a lot of your time over the last few months and that you had to take care of your career. Did any of your interviews prove successful?”

  “I want to answer that after I ask you a question.”

  Her eyes opened wider and he almost reached for her then.

  “What?” she said.

  “You mentioned you had several offers to return to stunt work. I wanted you to be free to accept one or more of them. If that’s what you really wanted.”

  It was what she wanted and what they had worked toward. Cal looked at the framework in the distance. It was still standing. In the dark, silhouetted in the moonlight, it looked ominous. “The two of us spent hundreds of hours working on the stunt. Now it’s over.”

  This day had to come. Cal knew it. Why did he feel like he was losing something? He’d never felt that way before. Once a job was complete, there was the sense of accomplishment. What he felt now was a sense of loss. He and Piper had their own lives. He hadn’t planned on staying in Montana. And after her stunt, neither was she. So why was he disappointed that she might be leaving, returning to a job she loved?

  He didn’t want her to go without him. Cal was in love with her.

  “How many offers did you get?” Cal asked.

  “Is that your question?”

  He nodded.

  “Five or six.”

  “Are you considering them?”

  “I haven’t ruled them out. I’m going to have to do something with the rest of my life and I’ve worked on stunts a long time. What about you? Did you accept one of yours?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Are you going to?”

  Cal felt her voice was a little high and he wondered if she was anticipating his reply.

  “My answer depends on you.”

  “Me?” She leaned back against the porch railing. “What do I have to do with it?”

  Cal reached for her hand. “My interview was for a job in Los Angeles.”

  “Oh?” She looked out on the mountains in the distance.

  “Two choices,” he said. “And they’re on opposite sides of the world. My second meeting was with Rance Wilson.”

  “Really? Why?” She was clearly confused and impressed.

  “He offered me a job as an engineer in his firm.”

  Hope lit her face, but it quickly faded. Her body tensed. “What did you say?”

  “I turned it down.”

  Her face fell. “Rance runs the biggest and best stunt firm in Hollywood. But...you’re going to Qatar.” It wasn’t a question.

  “I told him I was going to be working with a small start-up company.”

  “Start-up?” Piper repeated. “A small start-up in the Middle East wouldn’t have flown you out there. You know Tamara’s dream to start her own business, but...”

  “It’s not with her. And she’s not starting it for a while.”

  “How did you know that?”

  Cal laughed. “Not only was I in a meeting with Rance, but Edmund King, the director who wants Tamara for his movie, was also there. He’s very enthusiastic about her. So Tamara will be busy for a while.”

  “She told me about postponing her business before she left,” Piper said. “I’m thrilled for her. But if you’re not going into a start-up with Tamara, who are you going into business with?”

  Cal smoothed the lines on Piper’s forehead.

  “It’s with you,” he said.

  For the first time, he thought she was speechless. “Me? I don’t have a...” She stopped as his meaning dawned on her. Suddenly she was on her feet and hugging him. “You want to start a business with me?”

  Cal hugged her back. For a long moment, he held her close, taking in her scent and never wanting it to go away. Finally, he released her.

  “We work well together. We trust each other. You can do the design. I can manage the engineering, building what’s necessary, and we can both do the safety checks. Eventually we can hire a crew full-time.”

  “Trust,” Piper said. “I do trust you.”

  It appeared trust was the only word she’d latched on to.

  Cal knew Piper was no longer talking about a business venture. Neither was he.

  “I trust you, too,” he whispered.

  Suddenly, she pushed him away and stood back.

  “What?” Cal asked.

  “Do you really want to go into business with me? I mean your life in all those countries seems so exciting.”

  “And you don’t think what you do is exciting?”

  “I never really thought of it that way. It’s very choreographed. But once the cameras start to roll, my heart is always up to here.” She put her hand to her throat.

  “I think we could work very well together. And I kinda like having roots somewhere.”

  Piper laid her head on his chest. “I’ve thought of something,” she said.

  “What’s that?” Cal put his arm around her. There was nothing that could dissuade him to move from this spot.

  “Tamara? When she begins her business...?”

  “You don’t have to worry about that. I spoke with her this afternoon. She’s agreed to be a silent partner in our new venture. In fact, she was over the moon about it.”

  “That’s a wonderful idea.”

  “From what I saw of her directing and overseeing multiple crews here, she’ll be a great asset.”

  Piper tightened her arms around him.

  “Now, for my one other thing,” Cal said.

  Piper looked up at him expectantly. “What is that?” She smiled.

  “I know we said we weren’t looking for a relationship. And with all that’s happened, I want to be sure that we will work together because I’ve fallen in love with you.” He said the last part quickly.

  The smile on her face told him everything he needed to know. He scanned her features, checking every detail. Her eyes were shining, all trace of the sadness she’d worn for years was gone.

  “I love you, too. I have for weeks now, but I was afraid to let you know.”

  Cal laughed heartily. “Now you tell me.” Sobering, he said, “We don’t ever need to be afraid to tell each other anything ever again.”

  He kissed her. This time it wasn’t impulsive, like when they finished the stunt. This time it was real, not a movie, not a scene. It was love.

  * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Her Island Homecoming by Anna J. Stewart.

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  Her Island Homecoming

  by Anna J. Stewart

  CHAPTER ONE

  April

  “REMY ALWAYS CONSIDERED the sunrise to be his own personal show.” Bare toes scrunching in the damp morning sand, Sydney Calvert stood on the shoreline and tried once again to swallow the lump of grief she’d been carrying around since she’d gotten the call. It wasn’t possible her big brother was gone. Not so soon. Dying without warning at thirty-four? She drew in a trembling breath and dug deep for the strength she needed.

  The tropical-tinted air kissed the white-capped waves drifting onto the shore of Nalani, Hawai’i. They’d been born here, in this tiny little cap of a town on the east shore of the Big Island. A town that now offered the promise of a new day. A new beginning.

  A breeze wound its way through the maze of coconut palms, rustling the leaves in an early-morning wake-up call. It had been too long since she’d stood here. Too long since she’d come home. Years had passed, and yet coming back now didn’t feel as if she’d been away. Didn’t feel as if anything was different. And yet?

  And yet. Sydney blew out a long, controlled breath. Everything had changed.

  The time would come when the thought of her brother wouldn’t bring a tear to her eye but a smile to her lips. She just had to hold on long enough to get there. Today she’d embrace the otherworldly quality of black-sand beaches and uninterrupted vistas of tumbling waves and surf. Surf Remy had made his own by riding it every chance he got. Surf that, today, would serve as the site of his memorial.

  Progress and time might have left their stamps on the islands as a whole, but there were pockets—so many perfect, pristine pockets—of utter and complete...paradise.

  Sydney closed her eyes, inhaled the familiar intoxicating scent of hibiscus and jasmine, and accepted what was to come.

  “I keep expecting him to run out of the house and say this was all some horrible practical joke.” Smiling, she tucked her wind-caught hair behind one ear and turned, waiting for the morning sun to dry her tears as she looked at her late-brother’s longtime girlfriend. “Instead, it’s the day we’ll all say goodbye.”

  Tears glistened in Tehani Iokepa’s eyes, her black hair long and straight down her back and set off by a solitary hibiscus blossom behind her ear. The same hibiscus flowers that made up the dozen or so leis Remy’s girlfriend had spent the past few days crafting.

  Leis that sat piled gently nearby, awaiting their final placement on the water.

  Tehani stood straight and unbending as she looked beyond Sydney into the ocean around them as if she, too, expected Remy to magically reappear. “Nalani is giving us the perfect send-off for him.” Her voice was thick with emotion, her eyes filled with longing for the man she’d loved. The man who, had they only a little more time, would have become her husband.

  Sydney held out her hand, palm open, and Tehani stepped forward, and grabbed hold. “Remy always took paddle-outs very seriously.” Sydney’s recollection was an attempt to lighten the mood. They’d had three weeks to get used to the idea that Remy was gone; that life would never be the same for anyone who knew him, let alone loved him. Remembering what had made him so amazing was the best gift she and Tehani could give each other.

  Remy Calvert had been the kind of man whose presence overwhelmed all others. But not with ego. Never with ego. With vivacity. With welcome. Love. There wasn’t a friend he wouldn’t help or a challenge he could refuse, and all of it was done with a gratitude and grace Sydney didn’t possess.

  For years Sydney had teased Remy that he could pull a smile out of a stone, but he’d taken it as a compliment and wore his charm and soul-deep love for his home on his smiling face. He’d loved their home, from the chain of islands to the simple little town of Nalani, to the two-story bungalow nestled in a thicket of coconut trees on the far end of the beach. Home.

  He’d loved this place so much he’d rarely ever left. Sydney tried to find comfort in that—that he’d died where he’d been the happiest. But comfort was difficult to come by when, at the age of thirty, she’d now said goodbye to her entire family.