Page 20 of Second Chance Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings #5)

“Did she also tell you that out of all her nineteen grandchildren, Francesca was engaged up until, oh, um…” Frankie pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the time.

“—about four hours and thirty-six minutes ago, give or take. Technically, she still is engaged because after she found out her fiancé is a lying, cheating man-whore, she didn’t wait around to break things off.

She packed a bag and got on a plane to come see her Yaya, who she thought would be the one person in the family who would support her decision not to marry the rich prick everyone else saw through glasses that they had to have gotten from The Bachelor himself; they are so rose-colored. ”

“I do support!” Mrs. Costas tone was defensive as she gestured wildly toward Caleb. “See! Support! Support! Right in front of you!”

Caleb’s phone buzzed, and he pulled it out of his pocket and saw it was a message from Judy, a link to pics from the Godly Gigglers meeting. As much as he was enjoying meeting Frankie and would love to indulge in Mrs. Costas’ baklava, he figured this would be a good time to make a graceful exit.

“I have to get going.” He patted his leg, which Minnie knew was the signal that they were leaving. She stood. “It was nice meeting you, Frankie.”

“You too, Hot Pastor.”

“Nice to see you, Mrs. Costas.”

The women were still arguing as Caleb and Minnie headed back out to his Jeep.

He wasn’t happy at all that Frankie was cheated on, but he was happy that Mrs. Costas wasn’t alone in the house any longer.

Even though he knew it wasn’t healthy for him to stop by as much as he did, he did worry about her.

He’d planned on looking at the photos once he got back to the office, but when he got into the driver’s seat, something made him press his finger to the hyperlink.

His screen filled with photos of exactly what Judy had described; all five of the women in the group were huddled around Carolina, each taking turns holding the cutlery.

They were definitely in good spirits, no pun intended.

He was about to close the screen and head back to the church when something, or should he say someone, caught his attention.

The image was so tiny, he could barely make out her features, but somehow, he knew it was her.

He dragged his thumb and forefinger in opposite directions on the screen to enlarge the photo.

When he did, his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest like the Kool-Aid Man.

She was in Brewed Awakenings, talking to Audrey. Audrey, who was married to his best friend Josh, had spoken one-on-one with her . The two women appeared locked in a serious conversation.

He backed out of the driveway and sped down the street.

He couldn’t believe his luck. This was the best and only lead he’d had on who his mystery woman was.

After seeing her at church yesterday and missing her after, he’d tossed and turned in his bed all night.

His sleep score had been 20 on his Oura ring, which was the worst he’d ever gotten.

Even last year, when a young mother at his church had a brain aneurysm while her husband was deployed, and he stepped in and cared for her three young children, ages six weeks to four, he’d had better scores.

Last night, he couldn’t sleep, and when he did, it wasn’t restful. He’d had vivid dreams of her . Dreams of the X-rated variety, which weren’t the best for him to be having.

Caleb tried to keep his mind off of sex as much as possible. He’d been abstinent since accepting the position of senior pastor, and his plan was to remain that way until he was married. The more he thought about sex, the more difficult refraining would be.

He’d found abstinence a lot easier before the mystery woman showed up.

If anything, dating was much less messy when you took sex out of the equation.

But he’d been thinking about it a lot more since the first time he saw her.

His mind was regularly taking trips to the gutter and camping out there.

Even now, just the thought that he would find out her name had him buzzing with he could call excitement, but if he were honest, it was arousal.

Caleb pulled up to Brewed Awakenings, feeling more focused and motivated than ever, and jumped out of the Jeep.

Minnie followed and headed inside with him.

When the bell dinged above his head, he was surprised to see Viv seated on a stool behind the counter.

She was a co-owner of Brewed Awakenings with her sisters, but since she started her own event planning company, Broken Nail, she’d cut back on her hours drastically.

And since she was growing a human inside of her, she’d been in less and less.

“Hey, Viv.” Caleb smiled, hoping to mask his disappointment that Audrey wasn’t there. “How are you feeling?”

Viv glanced down at her belly and then back up at him. “It takes me twenty minutes to get up when I sit down. I can’t shave my legs. I don’t know what my feet look like, and my bladder is being used as a speed bag.”

He just nodded, not sure how to respond.

“I feel fucking pregnant; that’s how I feel.”

“Right.” He nodded.

“Don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful to be a walking incubator, but also I am sooooo looking forward to evicting this tiny tenant so I can sleep on my stomach again.

” She rubbed her belly, then sighed a huge exhale.

“I know it’s ridiculous to say sleep is one of the reasons I am looking forward to ejecting this pint-sized human because historically, brand-new people aren’t known for their good sleep habits. ”

“At least you know you’ll have a lot of help. I’m sure your sisters are going to be lining up for auntie duty. Speaking of, is Audrey around?” Caleb usually had much smoother transitions than that. This mystery woman thing was really messing with his mojo.

“Nope. She was in this morning.” Viv lifted her chin toward him and narrowed her eyes slightly. “Why? What’s up, Buttercup?”

He turned toward the couch she had been seated on in the photo. “She was talking to someone earlier today, someone I’ve seen around town but haven’t?—”

“Taylor?” Viv interjected.

Caleb looked back at her. “I don’t know. I’m not sure what her name is.”

“Blonde. Blue eyes. Bangin’ bod. Been in town for about, hmmm, six months or so, but no one knows anything about her.”

“Yes.” Caleb pointed. “That’s her.”

“Taylor,” Viv repeated with more confidence. “She starts tomorrow.”

“Starts what tomorrow?”

“Working here. Audrey hired her this morning.”

“She did?” Caleb was a regular customer of Brewed Awakenings. He already came in once, sometimes even twice a day, so he’d run into her completely organically. And she’d be here tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Crap. He had to be in Sacramento tomorrow.

“Uh ohhhhhhh.” Viv’s eyes widened as she drew out the vowel sound.

“What?” Caleb felt a wrinkle form on his brow.

Viv had a flair for the dramatic, but he had no clue what had caused her alarm.

“I’m going to need to set up another single event prrronto.” She rolled her r’s.

“Why?

“To quote Queen B herself, for all the single ladies?”

“Single ladies? Why?” he questioned again.

Was she trying to set Taylor up?

“To quote another legend, Meg Ryan in Top Gun, there are hearts breakin’ all over the world tonight because Hope Falls’ number one bachelor is off the market.”

“What are you talking about?” He assumed she was talking about him, but that was a huge jump to make from him just asking someone’s name.

“I’m talking about you and the fact that even though it took… how old are you?”

“Thirty-two,” he responded.

“Thirty-two years,” she continued, “The Hope Falls Effect, trademark—”Viv winked and smiled like she was looking into a camera lens in a toothpaste commercial, and there was a ting sound effect, before continuing,“—has finally caught up with you.”

“Did you really trademark The Hope Falls Effect?”

Viv picked up one of the Brewed Awakenings mugs they had for sale, turned it toward him, and pointed to the words across the top. He read the back of it.

HOPE FALLS EFFECT?

Hope Falls:

noun (place)

1. a small, picturesque town tucked in the Sierra Nevadas with an idyllic landscape backdrop of lush, deep green pine trees and dotted with colorful aspens.

The heart of the town, Main Street, is a five-block stretch of small storefront businesses, lined on each side with wooden sidewalks filled with a cast of colorful characters sure to enrich your life.

Effect:

verb (action)

1. someone who never thought they would ever fall in love or fall in love again and suddenly they meet their soulmate

2. a person who thought that their career was over suddenly gets a new opportunity that changes their life forever

3. someone who is running from something bad in their past, or has issues with their family, they move here and the situation resolves itself

4.those who are lonely, find support from the community

5. things magically fall into place in the following areas: love, career, friendship

6.saves people

7.heals people

8.is the missing puzzle piece in people’s lives

“Of course, I did. And you are its latest victim. Or should I say, its latest honoree. Hot Pastor is closed for business.”

Caleb grinned as he shook his head. “I think you might be getting ahead of yourself. I’ve never even talked to her.”

Her eyes grew so wide, he thought they were going to pop out of her head. “You haven’t even talked to her?”

“No.”

“Not one word?”

“Holy shit!” The second the words came out of her mouth, Viv quickly apologized. “Sorry, Father.”

“I’m not a priest, and you’re not Catholic.”

“Better safe than sorry.”

“It doesn’t work like that.”

“Agree to disagree.” She shrugged, then smiled widely and began to rub her hands together conspiratorially. “This is going to be fun.”

Was it? So far, it didn’t feel very fun to him.