Righting a Wrong (A Ripple Effect Romance Novella) Read Online Free Page B

explain.
    “Interesting,” said her father.
    Cambri glanced his way, noting an amused gleam in his eyes. “Why is that interesting?”
    He shrugged. “No reason. Just find it… interesting.”
    Knowing she’d get no further explanation than that, Cambri left the home behind and drove the rest of the way to Grandpa Cal’s place, which looked exactly the same as it had years earlier. Bless you, Grandpa Cal. The only difference was an older, charcoal-gray Tundra in the driveway.
    Cambri stayed in the car, waiting for her father to get out.
    Her father paused with his finger on the handle. “You’re not coming in?”
    “I told you I was just going to drop you off, remember? I’ve got a bunch of work to get done. Call me when you’re done, and I’ll come get you.”
    “Don’t you at least want to say hi to Grandpa Cal?” asked her father, emphasizing the word Grandpa.
    Cambri shot him a my-patience-is-wearing-thin look and unbuckled her seatbelt. But it would be fun to see Grandpa Cal again, and a couple of minutes wouldn’t hurt. She grabbed her father’s tackle box and followed him to the front door, where he gave three hard raps. A moment later, the door opened, and Jace’s handsome face appeared.
    Cambri nearly dropped the tackle box.
    “Harvey, what are you doing here? We didn’t think we’d see you for at least—” The words abruptly ended when Jace caught sight of Cambri standing in the shadows behind her father.
    “Hey again,” she said, feeling stupid and awkward. Why hadn’t her father mentioned that Jace would be here? Cambri would never have agreed to come inside, not even to see Grandpa Cal. She took a step back. “Well, Dad, it looks like you’re in good hands. What time will you be done? I’ll come back to pick you up then.”
    Her father looked at her like she’d grown two heads. “Thought you wanted to say hi to Cal. And Jace is here. Don’t you want to catch up with him too?”
    “Oh,” Jace inserted. “We already, uh—caught up at the store the other day.”
    Harvey looked from Cambri to Jace and back to Cambri. “If you two have already caught up , why does it feel like we’re all standin’ on a bunch of eggshells?”
    Cambri wished she had one of her Mom’s old hankies so she could shove it in her father’s mouth to keep him quiet. “I have no idea what he’s talking about. Do you, Jace?”
    “Nope.”
    “Great, then lead the way to Grandpa Cal. I’d love to say hello really quick.”
    Her father nodded in satisfaction and headed inside, pushing his way past Jace. “I’m sure he’s downstairs.”
    Jace continued to hold the door open for Cambri as well. She caught a whiff of something sporty and woodsy and had to catch herself from leaning in and sniffing. He smelled so familiar, like a scent reminiscent of a really fond memory.
    “What are you doing here?” she said, trying to ignore the way his close proximity brought on a severe case of the butterflies. “I thought you hated fishing—especially fly fishing.”
    “I do,” he said.
    Cambri waited for more, but it didn’t come. “Oh, sorry. The way you answered the door made it sound like you’re a regular to these, uh… bi-weekly meeting things, or whatever they call them.”
    “Fly tying nights,” Jace said, closing the door. “And I’m here to prevent injuries.”
    Cambri raised an eyebrow, and Jace sighed as though he was being forced to carry on a conversation he had no desire to carry on. “After spending two different nights in the ER getting fish hooks out of thumbs, I figured it would be less time-consuming and expensive to oversee the tying.”
    She winced as she pictured her father with a hook in his thumb. “I’m surprised they let you take them to the ER.”
    “I didn’t give them a choice,” said Jace. “I told them it was either that, or I’d admit them to Silver Linings and wash my hands of them both.”
    Cambri laughed. “I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that