arrives believing he knows what the town needs in a design for the new butterfly sanctuary: something quick and something that will help him get his family’s business back on track. But as often happens in this town, leaving isn’t as easy as he expects, especially when his work becomes entangled with Calliope. Which means his carefully mapped-out plans for the future are about to take a major detour.
There are some of those who might think Calliope’s name is familiar, and that’s on purpose. Once upon a time, back in the early ’80s, I used to watch Days of Our Lives, my grandmother’s top soap opera. Her favorite characters were Calliope and Eugene. Talk about quirky. They just made her smile. And that’s what Calliope’s goal is in life: to make everyone’s day a bit brighter and to make everyone, especially you, readers, smile.
Happy reading,
Anna
For you, Grandma.
And for all the readers who asked me
for Calliope’s story.
I hope you enjoy it.
Contents
WITH HIS TAILORED jacket tossed over one arm and designer tie knotted hard into his throat, Xander Costas stood on the bottom plank of the steps and cringed at the deafening roar of waves crashing onto the beach before him. “Well, they’ve got plenty of water and sand, that’s for sure.”
He’d never understood the appeal of water, other than as a hydration agent, of course. The ocean was so unpredictable. Uncontrollable. So...loud. The way the tide left a foamy film across the damp sand reminded him of a badly topped-off latte or a rejected Jackson Pollock painting.
He was a city boy, born and bred. His family joked he had steel for bones—strong, unbending. Their code word for stubborn, no doubt, but he didn’t take offense. Steel stood the test of time—it shaped civilizations. Nature served its purpose, but it wasn’t the first thing Xander thought of.
Yet here he was, thousands of miles from home, placing all his hopes—and his family’s financial future—on an ocean-side town rebuilding its reputation as green and nature-friendly. A town that, up until a few months ago, few people had ever heard of.
Xander’s fists clenched as he forced himself to inhale. He nearly choked on the briny tang that scraped the back of his throat. His lungs would need at least a week to adjust from the smog-tinged air he’d been inhaling for thirty-three years. He missed the blaring traffic, the hard strength of cement and reinforced concrete, and what was with that sun? Didn’t California know it was only weeks before Christmas? His first without snow. He never thought he’d miss the snow-capped bite of an early winter cutting across his skin, and as the late afternoon rays beat down on him he wondered if he hadn’t just traveled across the country, but perhaps been transported to a different planet.
What on earth had he gotten himself into?
“Cash! Tabitha!”
The sound of urgent children’s cries accompanied by the frenetic, enthusiastic barking of two dogs drew Xander’s attention to the shore. Not only did the dogs dive snout-first into the ocean, but their adolescent owners also hurried after them. The boy hit the water face-first and came up sputtering, his
