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4
The sun was shining brightlyin the midday as Keaton pulled up the drive to Stone Castle. The past four days had been a whirlwind after agreeing, begrudgingly, to be onFairytale Love. He’d had a physical and psych evaluation. Apparently, he’d passed with flying colors because he was now officially going to meet with one of the producers Maura Simms.
His phone rang and he saw it was a FaceTime call from his publicist Jessie Sloan. Reporters had been contacting him since the news broke, but he’d been diverting them all to her. After agreeing to do the show, she was the first person he’d called. They’d worked together for years when he’d been competing. She was a rock star in the world of public relations. They still kept in touch but hadn’t had a professional relationship since he’d stepped out of the limelight.
“Hey,” he answered.
“Are you driving?” she asked looking at the screen.
“Just pulled up to the castle for my meeting with one of the producers.”
“Good Morning Chicago wants to do a segment at Legacy before the show starts.” Jessie Sloan relayed in an all-business tone. He loved that she didn’t do small talk. “What morning works for you?”
Keaton didn’t automatically reply. This was the first interview he’d be doing in over five years. He’d forgotten how much he hated this part of being in the world of entertainment, which although it was a sport, was what MMA was. He knew it was only going to be worse in the reality TV world.
When he didn’t respond right away, Jessie pointed out, “You called me, remember? I’m just doing my job.”
Jessie had always understood Keaton’s reluctance to do interviews or have his personal life reported on. Not that there’d been a lot to report. Unlike a lot of the people in his field, his personal life had been tame. He’d had two serious relationships in his life. One had lasted two decades, the other had lasted two weeks.
The only one the press knew about was Camilla. No one knew about Avery Stone. Not his family. Not his friends. Not anyone.
When he’d moved to Whisper Lake, he’d been familiar with the town because his granddad had brought him and his cousins there to fish every summer growing up. But he hadn’t known that many people very well. He was starting his business. She was in town overseeing the renovations on the castle she’d just inherited. They had both just gotten out of long-term relationships.
They’d just…clicked.
He would never forget the first time he’d seen her. He’d thought she was an angel. Not facetiously. Literally.
He’d been on an early morning run around the lake when he stopped in his tracks. She was standing on the path; the sun was rising behind her and the rays of light matched her golden red hair. Her eyes were the same color as the crystal blue lake beside her.
Never in his life had he seen someone so beautiful.
He’d been dumbstruck and hadn’t even noticed that she was in a standoff with a wild animal. It wasn’t until she lifted one arm and yelled, “Go away! Shoo!” that he noticed the coyote that was pacing in front of her. Her shooing worked and the coyote ran off.
That was when Keaton noticed in her other arm, she was cradling something that looked like a rodent.
“Is that a rat?” Keaton had asked.
Those were the first words he’d ever spoken to her.
“No, it’s a puppy,” she cooed at the shivering peanut of a dog.
“What’s its name?” he asked, mainly in an attempt for her to look at him, which she still hadn’t done.
All of her attention was focused on the rat/puppy in her arms.
“I don’t know. I found him cowering by that rock and that coyote was about to…” She finally looked up at him and her words drifted off.
“To make him breakfast,” Keaton teased, finishing her thought.
That’s when it happened. She smiled. Not just any smile. It was a gut-check smile. It hit him like a punch to his solar plexus. It knocked the wind out of him.
In his career, he’d traveled the world and met thousands of beautiful women. But he’d never seen a smile more beautiful, more glorious, more breathtaking than the one she’d given him.
He also had never believed in love at first sight, until he’d seen her. His first thought had been to get down on one knee and propose. Never in his life had he had that impulse. Not even during his relationship with his childhood sweetheart. He’d imagined what his life would be like if he and Camilla were married, but he’d never thought about proposing to her.
It had taken him a few seconds to snap out of the momentary insanity her beauty had inspired in him. But once he did, he offered to drive her to the vet to get the dog checked out. It was there that they found out that his name was Muffin and his owner Mrs. Mildred Campbell had been sick with worry since he’d escaped the day before.
Once they’d returned the dog, Keaton asked if she wanted to get breakfast at The Drawbridge Diner and she said yes. After that, they were inseparable for two weeks. Then, he’d had to go into Chicago for a meeting with Jessie to go over his retirement strategy and when he got back to Whisper Lake, she was gone.
