Crazy Little Thing Called Love Read online

  Praise for Beth K. Vogt

  “Take the safe way or risk it all for love? In Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Beth Vogt takes her characters (and readers) on a journey where the choice must be made. Move forward or stay mired in the results of the past? Choose the safe path or risk everything for a love that takes your breath away? Settle or fly? In the journey, readers will be reminded that God can turn our old mistakes into a beautiful present.”

  —Cara Putman, award-winning author of Shadowed by Grace

  “Crazy Little Thing Called Love is another winner! I truly love Beth Vogt’s voice, and the characters she has created here are authentically honest. Logan and Vanessa’s love story is one that will stick with me for a long time. They’re imperfect people with a past, trying to make it through on their own steam, like everyone else. But God has other plans for their future. Better plans, more than they could ever imagine. I loved every page I turned, eager to discover what would come next! This is a wonderful story with a heartfelt message of forgiveness and redemption.”

  —Catherine West, award-winning author of Yesterday’s Tomorrow

  “Second chances at love, storm-chasing danger, and a destination wedding? I’m in! Beth K. Vogt’s newest book, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, hits all the right notes, touching on more serious subject matter without losing any of Beth’s signature charm. This is sure to be a favorite addition to any fan’s Christian romance library.”

  —Carla Laureano, RITA Award–winning author of Five Days in Skye and London Tides

  “In Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Beth Vogt shows us that indeed love is crazy, in the best possible way! This story had everything I’ve come to expect from a Beth Vogt novel: high-quality writing, a deep spiritual journey, and a poignant love story. Throw in the fun of a destination wedding and you have yourself a story that is sure to touch hearts and entertain readers. I can’t wait for the next installment!”

  —Katie Ganshert, award-winning author of The Art of Losing Yourself

  “Curl your toes into the sand and relish the delicious warmth of Destin, Florida, in Vogt’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love. A must-read with engaging characters, rich scenery, and the high tension of a hurricane that carries us into love, forgiveness, and the joy of discovering treasures once lost.”

  —Katherine Reay, author of Lizzy & Jane

  “With Crazy Little Thing Called Love, author Beth Vogt has unequivocally established herself as a master storyteller. Her characters leap off the page and invade my life, making putting the book down almost impossible. Her novels have a place of honor on my shelves with others I return to again and again.”

  —Edie Melson, senior editor at NovelRocket.com

  “Logan Hollister is a storm chaser by profession, but he’s never been able to tame the storms in his personal life. Crazy Little Thing Called Love is an exciting, romantic adventure as Logan and his ex-wife, Vanessa, are forced to confront both a hurricane and the emotional storm that rages between them. Beth Vogt takes readers on a heart-pounding journey through both the present and the past even as her characters try to sort out their future. Second chances are a rare gift, and Beth unwraps this one perfectly.”

  —Melanie Dobson, award-winning author of Shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor and Chateau of Secrets

  “Beth Vogt has done it again! Her heart-tugging characters and writing makes you feel like you’re right there on a sunny—and sometimes stormy!—Florida coast. I especially loved the underlying themes of mistakes and regrets turned to joy and new hope. Another winner!”

  —Melissa Tagg, author of From the Start and Three Little Words

  “Second-chance love at its crazy best! Beth Vogt is a master at wringing tears from the eyes and sleep from the soul in a tender love story that both heals and haunts.”

  —Julie Lessman, award-winning author of the Daughters of Boston, Winds of Change, and Heart of San Francisco series

  “Beth K. Vogt’s amazing ability to create complex, true-to-life characters with realistic flaws and emotions keeps me hungering for her novels before they’re even available for sale. The depth of her stories pulls me in, leaving me to ponder the spiritual truth she has woven into the plot long after I’ve finished the book. Beth’s novels are automatic buys for my keeper shelf.”

  —Lisa Jordan, award-winning author of Lakeside Redemption

  “Beth Vogt is a master at capturing the sometimes stormy emotions of the human heart. In Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Vogt takes the reader on Vanessa and Logan’s road back to each other—a journey that is both deeply felt and realistic. She makes us believe in the power of second chances, all the while reminding us that it’s never too late to have faith in our first love.”

  —Kristy Cambron, author of The Butterfly and the Violin and A Sparrow in Terezin

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  For Sonia, Shari, and Mary, my Preferred Readers:

  Writing novels is easier knowing the three of you have my back.

  Just remember: I called “dibs” first!

  Friends . . . they cherish one another’s hopes. They are kind to one another’s dreams.

  —HENRY DAVID THOREAU (1817–1862), AMERICAN AUTHOR

  ONE

  What we once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

  —HELEN KELLER (1880–1968), AMERICAN AUTHOR

  Thousands—even millions—of women had routine choose-a-church, select-a-dress, plan-a-reception kinds of weddings.

  For some unknown reason, she was not one of those women.

  Vanessa scanned the brochures spread out across the scarred top of her mission-style coffee table, her plate of Chinese beef and broccoli shoved to one corner. Photographs of white sandy beaches curving around sparkling oceans presented an enticing mirage for a destination wedding. And then she reread the list of medical workshops her husband-to-be would be attending two days after they exchanged I do’s.

  TIAs AND STROKES: STATE OF THE ART APPROACH

  ADVANCED AIRWAY ENDOSCOPY COURSE

  HOT TOPICS IN PEDIATRIC EMERGENCIES

  Not the typical themes for a honeymoon following a romantic destination wedding. She’d be lounging on a tropical beach, sipping a refreshing drink flavored with pineapple and coconut, adorned with a tiny paper umbrella. Meanwhile, Ted would be safe from the sun’s rays, watching PowerPoint presentations, and earning Continuing Medical Education credits.

  Ted leaned forward, shuffling through the pamphlets, his brow furrowed behind his silver wire-rim glasses, his dark hair flopping onto his forehead. With a well-practiced motion, he smoothed it back with the palm of his hand.

  “Where’s the one I’m looking for? Bahamas . . . Hawaii . . . Aha! Florida.” He opened the trifold paper, laying it on top of all the other brochures with a flourish, as if he were presenting some previously undiscovered medical cure. “There. I know it’s not as exotic as the other locations, but it offers the best selection of workshops for CMEs.”

  Vanessa took a sip of her soda, her glass of Coke flavored with a squeeze of real lemon carrying the punch of caffeine she needed. The “Knife and Gun Club” had been out in full force last night, and she’d seen familiar faces for the full twelve hours of her paramedic shift. Some of the same instigators who’d been at the bar brawl she’d reported to at the beginning of the evening also showed up at the subsequent knife fight in an alley
and again at the shooting at one of the seedier Denver apartment complexes. After more than five years as a paramedic, she shouldn’t be surprised by anything. And, most days, she wasn’t.

  She needed to concentrate, which was a challenge when all she wanted was to give in to her body’s demand for sleep. Picking a destination-wedding site based on what medical conference to attend cued discordant background music in her mind—an off-key version of “Isn’t It Romantic?” Vanessa understood the need to multitask, but was it necessary to coordinate their wedding with the needs of Ted’s medical career?

  “Can’t we just stick with the original plan?” She indulged in a morsel of her seasoned beef before continuing. “Get married in our church here in Denver like we talked about? Keep things simple?”

  “Don’t you see how perfect this is?” Ted waved his chopsticks at the brochure, somehow managing to not drop any sauce on his chinos. “I’m always behind on my education credits. It’s almost October, and look how I’m scrambling to get some before the end of the year.”

  “Well, yes.” Vanessa resisted the urge to say, Tell me something I don’t know. Both their schedules wreaked havoc on their romance. “But won’t a destination wedding cost more than a local one?”

  “I’m going to have to travel to a conference anyway, right? We’ll kill two birds with one stone . . .”

  Vanessa rubbed her temples, a few more notes of “Isn’t It Romantic?” interrupting Ted’s logic as his words lobbed a verbal rock at her wedding plans.

  “. . . combining the cost of the travel for the wedding and the conference. What’s our projected guest list? About one hundred thirty people? Destination weddings are expected to be much smaller—even as few as thirty guests. And we don’t pay their travel costs.” Ted settled back on the couch, a smile spreading across his face. “What do you think, Nessa?”

  This was one of the things she loved about Ted: he was practical. But sometimes maybe a little too practical. She leaned one elbow on the table, running her fingers through her hair, which she’d released from its customary braid. She stopped when the still-unfamiliar engagement ring snagged in the strands and twisted around her finger. The classic-cut round diamond set off on either side with six smaller diamonds was just a half-size too large. When would she find time to get it resized? She was either on the clock for four days straight, or off—and recovering. Trying to sleep or catch up on paying bills, maybe clean her apartment, while checking her in-box to see if she’d received any response to her applications to physician assistant school.

  And now she was planning a wedding. Or rather, replanning a wedding.

  “I guess it makes sense—”

  “Of course it does.” Ted reached for his water, draining the last of the liquid from the bottle. “Our schedules are crazy, and I don’t want to be behind on CME next year, too. By planning the wedding for the April conference, I’m getting a jump start on credits.”

  Brilliant. A bit lacking in the relationship category, but she hadn’t fallen in love with Ted because of the way he’d swept her off her feet with flowers and chocolates and Hallmark cards. Unlike their adrenaline-fueled jobs, the pace of their romance had been slow, Ted’s patience enabling their friendship to ease into a love that would last through whatever the future held for them.

  “So where in Florida is this meeting?”

  “It’s in the Panhandle, I think.” Ted flipped the colored flyer over. “Let’s see . . . oh, that’s right. Destin. We’d fly from Denver into Atlanta and then—”

  Destin?

  No.

  Vanessa stiffened as if she were in the middle of a childhood game of freeze tag. Ted’s verbal “touch” dragged her into the past and turned her into an ice sculpture. She needed to tell Ted no . . . and no . . . and no. But she needed to be able to breathe to form words.

  As if in slow motion, she curled her fingers into fists. Forced one inhale. One exhale. Her gaze landed on the potted philodendron, wilted from neglect, which sat on her dining room table. What had the well-meaning ER nurse said when she’d handed Vanessa the plant for her birthday months ago? “Everyone needs a plant or two in their home—and it’s almost impossible to kill a philodendron.” Imagine that—she’d performed the impossible.

  Vanessa twisted around to face Ted where he sat on the couch, popping a piece of spicy shrimp into his mouth.

  “We need to pick another medical conference. Another location.”

  “But this is the best one.”

  Vanessa tapped her fist against her mouth. She was only going to say this once. Once would be enough. “Ted, I was married before, remember? In Florida? And Destin is near where I lived—where I was married.” Vanessa moved aside the top brochure and studied the others. Ted would understand. He always did. Maybe they could plan a nice destination wedding on a beach overshadowed by a dormant volcano? “Let’s find another conference location for our destination wedding—”

  “Is that all that’s bothering you?” Ted interrupted her, reaching down to pull her away from the coffee table and up onto the couch with him, ignoring how the pamphlets scattered onto the floor. “Nessa, that was years ago. You’re not that impulsive teenager anymore. You’re a grown woman, in love with me. You don’t have to be afraid of your past.”

  “I’m not afraid of my past.” She maintained eye contact. Kept her voice level. See? She was calm. “I just prefer not to have a second wedding in Florida.”

  “Babe, you haven’t told me a lot about what happened, but I know it was some kind of shotgun wedding—”

  Vanessa pushed away from him. “Not shotgun. I wasn’t pregnant!”

  “Sorry. Wrong word choice. I meant whirlwind. Crazy. Look, I don’t care about your first marriage. We’re having a real wedding this time.” Tugging her back into his arms, he kissed the top of her head. “Don’t you see how even more perfect this will be? You go back to Florida and have the wedding you always wanted. We’ll go down a few days early with the wedding party and a few close friends and family and do some fun things. Snorkel. Parasail. Whatever you want. Have a one-of-a-kind wedding—our wedding.”

  Vanessa settled against Ted’s shoulder, snuggling closer as his arm wrapped around her waist, and inhaled the faint musky scent of his aftershave. Listening to Ted, she could just begin to imagine going back to Destin. To get married. Again.

  “I haven’t been to Florida in years—not since I left for college, really. Well, except for my brother’s high school graduation. And occasional holidays.” But how could she explain to him that she’d never made time to drive over the Mid-Bay Bridge, to walk along the beach in Destin? That yes, she was afraid of ghosts. Specifically, of one particular ghost she might see when she strolled along the shore.

  Could she do it?

  “Trust me, Nessa.”

  Wasn’t that exactly why she was marrying Ted? Because she trusted him enough to say yes when he proposed?

  “Maybe you’re right.” She picked the medical brochure up off the floor and gazed at the tranquil photo of white sandy beaches again. “Where we marry isn’t the most important thing—it’s who we marry. And who we are when we get married.”

  “Exactly.”

  But could she do it?

  She’d been an immature eighteen-year-old girl reacting to circumstances the first time she said, “I do.” Now? She was twenty-eight. She knew who she was. What she wanted. Why she was getting married—and whom she was marrying.

  There was nothing rash about marrying Ted. Nothing at all.

  “And if I get in a few CME credit hours, all the better.” Ted sounded as if it were all decided. “I won’t be in classes all day. We can walk along the beach, ride Jet Skis, eat at some nice restaurants. Destin will be a great place to honeymoon.”

  Vanessa chose to focus on the “it’ll be a great place to honeymoon” part of Ted’s comment. “When’s the conference?”

  “The first week in April.”

  A little more than six months from now
. Absolutely doable. “We’ll have to cut down the guest list.”

  “Saving money, remember?”

  Vanessa swallowed her groan, chasing it with a gulp of her lemony cola. Ted wasn’t turning their wedding into a low-budget bridal event. She’d already gone that route once—her first wedding had cost less than a hundred dollars, including the motel room. She was all for practicality, but her parents had provided them a generous budget. They could afford a few splurges.

  “Ted, I’m agreeing to combine the wedding with your conference. But, like you said, this is my chance—our chance—to have the wedding we want. So, yes, it will be small. Probably no more than thirty or forty guests. But I want our wedding to be beautiful. Elegant.”

  “Absolutely, babe. I want you to be happy. I’ll handle the conference registration, but before I do, why don’t you call the hotel—” He circled the phone number with ink. “—and make certain they can accommodate a small wedding? Wait a minute . . .”

  “What? What are you thinking?”

  Ted tapped the end of the pen against his chin. “Don’t you have a vacation week coming up?”

  “Ye-es. I have the week after next off. To relax. R-e-l-a-x.”

  “This is perfect. You can fly down to Destin and talk to the wedding coordinator face-to-face. Check out florists . . .”

  Of course his plan sounded perfect to him—he’d be back here triaging emergencies in the ER while she hopped on a plane and handled the wedding details on her own, all the while dodging her past.

  “I’ll think about it.” She forced a smile, hoping she looked like a happy bride-to-be, eager to plan their wedding. “Let’s keep making a list. What else?”

  “Invitations—and maybe those things they do nowadays . . .”

  Vanessa scrawled a numbered list on the back of the take-out receipt from the Chinese restaurant. “Save-the-date announcements?”

  “Yes, those.”