Closer To You (Callaways Book 11)

  Table of Contents

  CLOSER TO YOU

  ALSO AVAILABLE

  Prologue

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Epilogue

  Excerpt – BEAUTIFUL STORM

  Book List

  About The Author

  CLOSER TO YOU

  Barbara Freethy

  ALSO AVAILABLE

  The Callaway Series

  On A Night Like This (#1)

  So This Is Love (#2)

  Falling For A Stranger (#3)

  Between Now and Forever (#4)

  Nobody But You (A Callaway Wedding Novella)

  All A Heart Needs (#5)

  That Summer Night (#6)

  When Shadows Fall (#7)

  Somewhere Only We Know (#8)

  If I Didn’t Know Better (#9)

  Tender Is The Night (#10)

  Take Me Home (A Callaway Novella)

  Closer To You (#11)

  Once You're Mine (#12) Coming Soon!

  Lightning Strikes Romantic Suspense Trilogy

  Beautiful Storm (#1)

  Lightning Lingers (#2)

  Summer Rain (#3)

  CLOSER TO YOU

  (Callaways #11)

  From #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy comes CLOSER TO YOU, a suspenseful, heartwarming and page-turning novel.

  Renowned scientist Ian Callaway believes in numbers, logic and reason. His life is an equation that always adds up, until his mentor asks him to do him a small favor. This favor sends him out of his lab and smack into Grace O'Malley, a free-spirited, beautiful elementary school teacher, who believes in love and miracles.

  He was only supposed to deliver a package from Grace's estranged father, but a sudden snowstorm, a gathering of world leaders, and unexpected danger changes everything.

  Ian doesn't know if he wants love, but he could sure use a miracle. If he can find a way to believe in Grace and the impossible, he might just get both.

  CLOSER TO YOU

  © Copyright 2016 Barbara Freethy

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  ISBN: 9781943781188

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  For information: barbara@barbarafreethy.com

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/barbarafreethybooks

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  Prologue

  Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland

  Seamus Donelan rubbed his tired eyes as he looked up from his computer. It was almost ten, well past time to call it a night and go home. The university's janitorial staff would be in to clean his office soon. He needed to leave and let them do their work, but returning to his empty apartment would only remind him of how alone he was and how long he'd been alone.

  When he'd been younger, caught up in his ambitions, inventions, and patents, home had been the last place he'd wanted to be. To change the world, he had to live in that world—all over that world. He'd traveled for weeks, sometimes months, at a time. He'd told himself he'd had a higher purpose, one that would benefit millions of people. But his family hadn't seen it that way.

  One day he'd come home and his wife and two daughters were gone. Tricia had taken his girls back to the States, to her parents' home in San Francisco, to the city she'd grown up in. Yes, they'd had a bitter fight the night before, but he'd never imagined she'd leave him in such an abrupt and brutal way. She hadn't even called him on the phone. Instead, she'd left him a letter reminding him of how many times she'd warned him and pleaded with him to put their family first; he didn't remember hearing one damn word.

  The truth was that he hadn't been listening. He'd been caught up in his passions and his ego, his belief that he deserved everything that he desired. He'd been living in a cloud, confident that he could have it all, that he could walk above and over everyone else, and that no one would ever get hurt.

  A lot of people had gotten hurt—especially his daughters—and that was a pain he would never be able to let go.

  With a sigh, he got up from his chair and stretched his arms above his head. He felt more tired than he had in a long time. He'd thought teaching would rejuvenate him, but the young minds he saw every day in his classroom only reminded him that his youth had passed. He had done more than most men in science. His legacies would live beyond him—all but one of his inventions. That one had to be hidden away—forever.

  He walked across the room. On the coffee table in front of the brown leather couch was a large box he'd started packing earlier in the day. Three months ago, he'd promised the young and brilliant scientist Ian Callaway that he'd send him his great-grandfather's earliest science journals, and tomorrow he would do that.

  He hadn't meant to take so long, but things had come up, and he'd hesitated over asking Ian for a favor in return. Finally, he'd written Ian a long note. He hoped Ian would come through for him. But only time would tell.

  A creaking door and a footfall down the hall suddenly got his heart pounding. His office door was locked, but he was very aware of how alone he was in the building.

  It was probably just the cleaning service, he told himself, but he wasn't convinced. Too many odd things had happened lately. He thought he'd covered his tracks, but now he had the terrible feeling that his old life was catching up with his new one.

  A shadow appeared outside the frosted glass of his office door. He could see nothing more than the silhouette of a man, a man working on the door lock. He didn't have much time.

  He ran over to his desk and opened the locked drawer with shaky hands.

  He grabbed what he needed and then moved back across the room. He placed the item carefully inside the box he was sending to Ian, hidden away under the journals, and the small package addressed to Grace. Then he closed the box, quickly wound the packing tape around it and dumped it through the postal service drop slot in the wall behind his couch. Hopefully, it would go out in the morning no matter what happened tonight.

  The door burst open behind him. Before he could turn around, something hard came down on his head. An explosion of pain ran through him, as well as a feeling of terror.

  He'd tried to stay away from evil, but sometimes science led to the dark as well as the light.

  He fought to stay awake; he had a feeling if he didn't, he'd never see the light of day again…

  One

  San Francisco, California

  "If you don't come to Thanksgiving, Ian, we're bringing Thanksgiving to you," Kate Callaway said, the fierce light in her blue eyes matched by the same gleam in her twin sister Mia's eyes.

  Ian frowned as he ran a hand through his hair and stared at his younger sisters, who'd unexpectedly appeared at his apartment. He'd pulled an all-nighter at the lab and had gotten home and to bed a little before five a.m. "What time is it?"

  "It's three o'clock in the afternoon," Kate replied, pushing her way past hi
m. A confident, athletic, blue-eyed blonde, Kate never waited to be invited into a room. "You were supposed to be at Mom's an hour ago."

  "You look exhausted," Mia commented, as she followed her twin sister inside.

  Mia was also blonde with blue eyes, but she was softer than Kate, more artistic, more nurturing, and usually less of a pain in the ass. But the two of them together had always spelled trouble for him.

  "What have you been doing?" Mia continued, giving him a thoughtful look.

  "Or should we say who have you been doing?" Kate asked with a wicked sparkle in her eyes. "Is there someone here? Is that why you look like you just got out of bed?"

  "No. I'm alone, and I've been working. I had to get a project done before the holiday weekend."

  "Did you make it?" Mia asked.

  "Barely. What are you two doing here?"

  "Mom sent us to get you," Kate replied. "She wasn't sure you'd make it over there on your own."

  "I'm coming, but I need to take a shower and change first."

  "That does seem like a good idea," Kate said, wrinkling her nose at him.

  "Then why don't you let me get to it?" He waved them back toward the door. "We'll catch up later."

  "Promise you'll come, Ian," Mia said, worry in her eyes. "We hardly ever get to talk to you anymore now that I'm living in Angel's Bay and Kate is in DC. I barely heard anything about your trip to Ireland. I know you met with some famous scientist, but what else happened?"

  "It was all good."

  Mia sighed.

  Kate rolled her eyes and said, "Surely you can do better than that."

  "I'll fill you both in tonight," he promised. "Just give me a chance to pull myself together."

  "We can wait for you and give you a ride to the house," Kate offered.

  His gaze narrowed. "Hang on a second. Did you two come here to get me or to avoid having to help Mom make dinner for thirty-seven people?"

  "It's forty-one this year, with all the new spouses and babies," Mia corrected.

  "And Mom is acting like a drill sergeant," Kate put in. "I already set all the tables."

  "And I made three pies," Mia put in.

  "We needed a break," Kate added.

  He smiled. "No wonder you volunteered to come and get me."

  "We also wanted to make sure you were coming," Mia said. "That part was true."

  "What about the men in your lives? Where are they?"

  "Jeremy took Ashlyn and some of the other kids to the beach," Mia said, referring to her new husband and stepdaughter. "So they are safely out of Mom's crossfire."

  "And Devin is visiting an old friend in the city," Kate said, mentioning her boyfriend. "He'll meet us at the house in a while."

  "So you and Devin are still going strong?"

  "We are," Kate said with a sparkling smile. "Devin moved his investigative services to DC so I could continue to work out of the FBI field office there. We're both busy doing our own thing, but when we come home, we're together. I wasn't sure I could have a career and love, but it turns out I can."

  "Of course you can," Mia said. "You just had to find the right person to share your life, and you did. I can't wait to stand up for you at your wedding. Trust me, marriage is amazing."

  "Did you set a date?" he asked Kate, running a hand through his hair. "Did I miss that?"

  "No, right now we're happy to just be together. A wedding is down the road."

  He was happy for both of his younger sisters but also reminded that he hadn't thought about love in a very long time. Work had quite simply taken over his life. He knew that had to change. His grandmother had sent him all the way to Ireland to talk to Seamus Donelan, a former scientist turned professor, who should have served as a cautionary tale, because the brilliant Seamus had lost his entire family after putting all of his focus on work.

  He had thought about making some changes in his life after that trip, but then he had gotten unexpected funding for a research project he was involved in, which had led to a whirlwind three months of work. He couldn't believe it was already Thanksgiving, with Christmas not too far off. He would take the break he'd promised himself starting on Monday, but for now he needed to shower off his week-long work binge and get ready for a Callaway Thanksgiving.

  "Look, as much as I'd like to be your escape hatch," he said dryly, "I'd prefer it if you two left now. If you're committed to staying out of the house, you could always go chase down Dylan or Hunter," he added, referring to his two brothers.

  "They're already at the house. And Annie is on her way," Kate replied, referencing their other sister.

  "We'll go," Mia said, dragging Kate toward the door. "But be there by four, Ian, or we'll send more Callaways to strong-arm you."

  "Don't worry. I'll be there. I'm starving."

  Kate laughed. "There will be four perfectly roasted turkeys, so you should be able to satisfy that appetite."

  As he opened the door, he was surprised to see a delivery man walking down the hall with a large box in his hands. He hadn't rung anyone in, and he lived in a very secure building—at least most days.

  "Ian Callaway?" the man said.

  He nodded.

  "Sign here."

  He scrawled his name on the electronic device, then said, "I didn't know you delivered on the holidays."

  "Every day this time of year."

  "How did you get into the building?"

  "One of your neighbors let me in. Have a good day."

  "A delivery on Thanksgiving?" Kate queried, a thoughtful gleam in her eyes. "What is it?"

  "No idea."

  "Do you want us to wait while you open it? You seem a little bothered at the delivery man's presence," Kate noted.

  "I don't need an FBI agent to help me open a box. I just don't appreciate it when my neighbors ring people in."

  "What kind of work are you doing these days?" Kate asked.

  He could see the beginning of a long line of questions in her gaze. "We'll catch up at dinner."

  "You never want to talk about what you do."

  "It's boring science stuff. At least, that's what the two of you used to say about my projects."

  Mia laughed. "He's got us there, Kate."

  "See you at the house."

  After his sisters left, he locked the door and set the box down on his dining room table. When he saw the address from Ireland, his worry eased.

  The package was from Seamus Donelan. Seamus had told him that he had journals from Ian's great-grandfather, who'd been Seamus's high school teacher and one of his first science mentors. He'd promised to send them along when they'd met in Ireland in the summer.

  He ripped open the box. Sure enough, there were at least a dozen old leather journals, as well as a thick envelope labeled miscellaneous. There was also a sealed smaller box with the name Grace O'Malley scrawled across the brown packaging and an address. Lastly, he pulled out a folded piece of paper with his name on it.

  Ian, I hope this note finds you healthy and happy and that you've taken some time to slow down. As we talked about during your visit, there is so much more to life than work. Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't lose everything in your quest for the biggest breakthrough the science world has yet to see. Many have come before you; many will come after you. Live your life, find love, be at peace.

  I have sent you your great-grandfather's journals. I hope they inspire you as they did me. I also have a favor to ask you. I saw that you are attending the Science Summit in South Lake Tahoe next week. My youngest daughter Grace lives there. I have tried to send her things before, but she always returns them unopened. I think if you delivered the enclosed box to her personally, she might accept it.

  I'm sure this is the last thing you want to do, but I hope you will consider granting me this wish. If not, I have put her address on the box. At the very least, perhaps you could drop it off at the mailbox. You'll note that Grace's last name is O'Malley. She took her mother's name after the divorce. It broke my heart, but what
could I say? I'd made my choice, and she'd made hers.

  Thank you so much for your consideration.

  Seamus

  Ian set the letter down with a frown. The last thing he wanted to do was track down Seamus's angry and estranged daughter in Tahoe, but he was going there on Monday, and Seamus had been nice enough to send the journals, so how could he say no? He didn't like to owe people. Someone did a favor for him; he returned it.

  He'd do the drop-off in person, and if Grace didn't want whatever her father had sent her, she could ship it back to him.

  In the meantime, he had Thanksgiving to get to.

  * * *

  An hour later, Ian arrived at his mother's house in San Francisco. He'd grown up in the large two-story house that sat on a street parallel to the Great Highway, directly across from the beach, and visiting always brought back good memories. At thirty-two, he was the second oldest of six kids. His brother Dylan had beat him by a year. Then came Hunter, Annie, and the twins Kate and Mia.

  His mom had taken time off from her nursing career when they were small, but even when she'd gone back to work, she'd always been there for whatever they needed. His dad was a retired firefighter, who now worked some construction jobs for his Uncle Kevin when his workload got busy. Both his brothers were firefighters, having followed in his father's footsteps. Firefighting was a Callaway tradition for generations, but he had never had any interest in pursuing that career. It had always been science for him.

  His sisters had also chosen different career options. Annie was a graphic designer and artist, while Mia's penchant for art history had led her into running an art gallery in the small coastal town of Angel's Bay, where she'd found the love of her life and an adorable stepdaughter. Kate had become an FBI agent two years ago and loved being in the center of the action.

  It had been awhile since he'd seen all of his family in one place. And, of course, it wouldn't be just his immediate family, but all the Callaway relatives who were in town. His Uncle Jack and Aunt Lynda and their tribe of eight would be there, all of whom were now married or involved with someone, many with kids or babies on the way. His Uncle Kevin and Aunt Monica would also be present with more of his cousins, and there might possibly be some relatives from his Aunt Elaine's family who were Coulters, not Callaways, but just as loved.