Crushing on Kate

by Theresa Paolo

  “Shay laughed. “That’s going to happen no matter what. I think you’re more afraid about losing your heart.”

  Kate wished there was another cupcake she could shove in her mouth. She was great at discussing other people’s problems, but when it came to her own, she preferred to keep it out of conversation. It was easier to pretend that she wasn’t scared of the connection she felt between Caleb when she didn’t talk about it.

  She shrugged. “Maybe.”

  Shay reached across the table and took Kate’s hand in hers, giving it a comforting squeeze. “Don’t think about that. Think about what a waste it would be to never give your heart away.”

  “Says the girl who gave hers away at seventeen.”

  “Yes, but also says the girl that endured years of heartache because of it. But you know what? I would do it all over again—every ache and pang, because I’ve never been happier.” Tears filled Shay’s eyes and she quickly reached in her apron for a tissue. “Sorry I’m PMS-ing; everything is making me emotional.”

  Kate laughed happy for the detour from all the heaviness of their conversation.

  The door opened, and Matt walked in donned in his tan Sheriff’s uniform. He looked over at them, and his eyes narrowed in concern as he took in Shay wiping at her eyes.

  “Why are you crying?” Matt asked, hurrying over to Shay’s side. He took her chin in his hands and ran his thumb beneath her lid.

  “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

  “It’s my fault,” Kate said. “I told her Louise’s cupcakes are better than hers.”

  “Why the hell would you do that?”

  Kate stood from her chair, grabbing her garbage. “The fact that you believe me is hilarious. Nobody’s cupcakes are better than Shay’s.”

  “I heard that,” Louise said from the counter.

  “No offense.”

  Louise gave Kate a wink. “None taken.”

  “Sorry to make you cry and run, but I need to get back to the studio.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just think about what I said.”

  “I will.”

  “What did you say?” Matt asked.

  “Sorry big brother. Girl code. Which means she can’t tell you.” Kate patted Matt on the chest and gave Shay a wave before walking to the door and laughing because she knew damn well that was going to drive her nosy brother absolutely insane.

  Chapter 10

  Caleb pressed a palm into his eyes, trying to ease the headache that was growing by the minute while Terry changed her mind a million times on what customizations she wanted done with her bike. By the time she made a decision, the ground would be covered in snow and she wouldn’t even have a chance to ride the thing.

  “How about this…” Caleb said, hoping he’d be able to put an end to this. Terry had come to his shop almost every single day for the past two weeks with ideas each one more elaborate and ridiculous than the last. “You said you trusted me, right?”

  “Darn tootin’ I do,” she said, her overly red lips pulling into a smile.

  “Then let me have total control over design, capabilities, everything.”

  She tilted her head, and Caleb was surprised the massive puff of red hair didn’t pull her down. It barely even moved. He wondered how many cans of hairspray she went through in a week.

  “Will I be able to see your progress?”

  If Caleb said yes, she’d still be at his store every day… and worse, she’d be back in his work area, dictating his every move. “No. I’ll have total control and you won’t get to see the bike until it’s done.”

  “Like a surprise then?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Lucky for you I love surprises. You got yourself a deal.” Terry held out her hand, and Caleb accepted it, letting out a sigh of relief. “When can I expect it by? I’m not very patient.”

  “You? No.”

  “I detect sarcasm. You’re lucky you’re cute. I let the cute ones get away with everything.”

  Caleb laughed. The woman was exhausting and gave him a headache, but she was also a total riot. “How’s two weeks?”

  She clapped her hands together and gave a little shake of her hips. “Perfect!”

  Caleb reached out instinctively, afraid her high heels would give out on her. When he realized, the heels didn’t even budge, he let his hand drop back to his side.

  “I can’t wait to tell Walt. He doesn’t think I’m actually going to ride it, but when I drop all the weight and transform back into the bombshell he married, he’ll be grabbing at me just like he used to. I’ll be swatting those dirty hands away, and we’ll see who has the last laugh.”

  That was too much information for Caleb’s liking, but he was starting to get used to Terry’s lack of filter.

  “Speaking of Walt… I left him at the restaurant by himself for too long. The last time I did that I walked into a mess. How the hell does a grown man get sauce on the ceiling?”

  “I’d say that’s talent.”

  “Or stupidity.”

  Caleb walked Terry back to the front door, wanting to get a little fresh air. “I’ll give you a call when the bike’s ready.”

  “Don’t be silly. I’m all of five feet down the street. You can stop in and let me know.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  Terry gave a wave, leaving him in a cloud of perfume as she teetered down the sidewalk in white capris and a hot pink top.

  For a second, Caleb thought about going over to Kate’s studio, but he didn’t have anybody to watch his shop. He’d been surprisingly busy over the past week and hadn’t had much time to step away. He made a mental note to put up a help wanted sign. With his recent sales, he would be able to afford the help.

  He gave one last glance to Kate’s place, hoping by some miracle she’d walk outside, but when she didn’t, he turned around and headed inside. After all, he had a bike to get started on. And he had a feeling if Terry loved it as much as he thought she was going to, she would tell anybody who would listen, and wasn’t that the best form of advertising.

  The next time Caleb looked at the clock it was well into the night. He had a rush of people come through mid-afternoon, some to chat, some to browse, and others who were serious about making a purchase. He sold a bike and a few accessories and hopefully secured a few more sales for the future.

  He finally had time to focus on the design for Terry’s bike. From the minute she walked in, he had a vision and he was excited to bring it to life. Before he could do that, he needed to order all the pieces so he could complete the puzzle.

  He flipped the sign on his door to CLOSED and headed to his office where he turned on his computer and got to work. He compared prices, wanting to save Terry as much money as possible, even though judging by the wad of cash she carried around with her money wasn’t really an issue.

  The bell above the front door sounded, and Caleb looked away from the computer before pushing away from his desk. He walked out of his office, and a smile instantly tugged at his mouth when his eyes landed on Kate holding up a to-go bag from the Happy Apple. Her hair was down, resting in waves that sat just above the scoop of her t-shirt, the same dark green as her lace bra and panties. His eyes lingered where the material met her silky skin, and he wondered what color underwear she had on today.

  “Saw your light on. Thought you might be hungry,” she said, and he moved his gaze away from the two perfect mounds peeking out of her top and back to her eyes.

  “Starved actually. What do you have in the bag tonight?”

  “Funny enough, turkey with apple, pecan stuffing. Terry usually makes it in the fall, but for some reason it was on special today.”

  “I might have mentioned to her that it was one of your favorites. Probably got the idea in her head.”

  “I’ve seen her coming in here a lot. A married woman coming and going from your place can get people talking, you know.”

  “Wait. What? No,” Caleb said as the realization of what Kate was saying dawned
on him. “She’s a lovely woman, but she’s all Walt’s.”

  Kate laughed, and man did he love that sound. It instantly warmed his heart and made him want to hear it over and over.

  “Kidding,” she said with a smile. “Besides I don’t think you could handle her.”

  “I have no idea how Walt does it.”

  “I guess when you’re meant to be with someone things like that just work themselves out.”

  “Maybe.”

  “You sound skeptical.”

  “I don’t really believe in all that jargon.”

  “That’s kind of sad. Why not? Bad breakup?” Kate asked as she setup their dinner on his desk, handing him a plastic fork as she took the seat across from him.

  “Something like that.” He scooped some stuffing into his mouth, not in the mood to have this conversation. He preferred not to think about that time in his life. Every horrible thing that ever happened to him all lead to that betrayal, and to speak of it was to relive it. “You know what would make this even better?” He pointed his fork down at the turkey.

  “What’s that?”

  “A beer.”

  Kate put her fork down and wiped her mouth with a napkin before holding her finger up. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.” She disappeared out the door, and he heard the front bell ring as she left. Where the hell was she going?

  A few minutes later she returned, placing a fancy growler filled with beer on the desk. She handed him a glass. “Did you make this?” he asked, admiring the craftsmanship.

  “I did. I also made this growler. My brother is opening up a brewery, and he stopped by yesterday after he tested it out. He forgot to take it with him, and I’m not much of a beer drinker.”

  “Which brother?”

  “Mason. Matt’s the Sheriff, Cooper is the world traveler—the one who showed up late to the wedding—and Mason is the beer maker.”

  “I’ll have to stop by his brewery when it opens.”

  “If you like I can formerly introduce you to him. I know bikes and beer kind of go together for whatever reason. Maybe you guys can do some sort of collaboration to promote one another. He sends business your way and you send it his way. Maybe hold a tasting here while he gets the brewery up and running. I’m making a bunch of growlers that he’s going to sell in his tasting room. Earl, the owner of Red Maple Falls Wood Studios, is making the table and chairs for the tasting room. Sofie Reynolds over at Forgotten Treasures is helping Mason track down antiques that showcase the history of Red Maple Falls as well as beer. Declan Calhoun already has one of Mason’s beers on tap. My point is, we like to stick together in this town. Even Terry agreed to collaborate with Shay. She owns Sweet Dreams Bakery, I don’t know if you know that.”

  “Her maple bacon cupcake is insane.”

  “Amazing, right? It won first place at the annual festival, a title Terry dominated for years. This year, they decided to put their talents together to create the ultimate dessert—an apple tartlet cupcake, that I can tell you is out of this world delicious. You have to try it when it debuts at the fair in August. Anyway, they were each other’s competition, but they decided to come together as one.”

  “Because that’s what this town does.”

  “Exactly. So just say the word, and I’ll introduce you to Mason. Really you have nothing to lose.”

  “Okay then. Sure. Why not?”

  “Good. You can come with me to Sunday night dinner.”

  ***

  Caleb’s eyebrows drew together, and it was adorably cute. “Wait. What did I just agree to without knowing?”

  “Sunday night dinner at my parents’ house. It’s a tradition, going back to when we were kids. It was Mom’s way to get us all together when we started growing up and going our separate ways. Anyway, it’s the perfect time to meet Mason. He’s hard to pin down these days with getting the brewery up and running; he’s always off on an errand somewhere. But Sunday night I know for a fact he’ll be at my parents. And since you’ve already been subjected to most of my family at the wedding there’s nothing to be scared of.”

  “Your parents won’t mind?”

  Kate laughed. “Are you kidding me? The more the merrier. They’ll be thrilled to have someone new to talk to. Besides, Mom makes enough food to feed a small country, so she’ll be happy to have another mouth to feed.”

  “What time should I pick you up?”

  “I invited you, so I’ll pick you up. Dinner is at six so I’ll come by around five-thirty to get you. I can’t be late or Mom will send out the National Guard.”

  “Seriously?’

  “Not exactly, but she’ll start calling me and questioning my siblings, probably send Matt out to look for me and make sure I’m not in a ditch on the side of the road somewhere.”

  “It must be nice to have people who care about you like that.”

  “Nice or a pain in the ass. I guess it depends on how you look at it. What about you? You don’t have anyone who would care if you were lying dead in a ditch?”

  “No.” There was a finality to the way he said it, but Kate could hear the underlying sorrow in his tone. It was hard for her to fathom having no one to care about you when she had so many people who did. It broke her heart to think someone like Caleb was completely alone in this world. Did it bother him?

  He hid behind a carefully constructed wall, but for a brief moment she saw a tinge of sorrow. The slight glimpse of vulnerability mixed with the harsh finality of his response didn’t just break her heart, it shattered it. She wanted to ease his suffering, find a way to make him know that he wasn’t alone in this world. Not if he didn’t want to be.

  She looked up, catching his eyes. “I would care.”

  He reached out to her, cupping her face, and pulled her head to his lips. He pressed a kiss to her forehead then rested his head on top of hers for a moment before sealing his mouth over hers.

  It was soft and sweet and nothing like their last kiss, but it was just as intense. He was the first to pull away, running his thumb across the apple of her cheek.

  He didn’t say anything, but the gentleness of his kiss said it all. She wanted to kiss him again and again until her lips were raw, but a loud sound coming from outside ruined the moment.

  “What the hell was that?” Caleb asked as he jumped away and headed for the front of the store.

  Kate heard the familiar sounds of an off-key slurring America the Beautiful and knew the answer before looking.

  Caleb looked out the window and ran a hand over his face like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Is that guy driving a tractor in his underwear singing?”

  “That would be Old Man Simpson. He’s harmless. Has a problem with drinking a little too much moonshine every now and again. I’m surprised this is the first time you’re seeing him.”

  Caleb pointed a finger toward the tractor that was moving at what Kate would guess was a mile a minute. “Should we go stop him?”

  “I’m sure Matt or another one of the cops are on their way. He’s going too slowly to really put anyone in danger. Besides, it’s a quarter to nine on a Tuesday. Main Street is like a ghost town right now.

  Kate went to send Matt a text just in case no one reported the incident when she saw Matt’s cruiser pull up behind the tractor.

  “Speak of the devil. Matt’s got it from here.”

  “I’m guessing this happens often?”

  Kate nodded. “Oh yeah. Kind of a town spectacle.”

  “Bet his family loves that.”

  “His wife died when I was still in high school, and his daughter moved away as soon as she turned eighteen. He’s all alone up in that house.”

  Kate noticed something in Caleb’s eyes as he turned back to the window—understanding, maybe. She thought about the sorrow in his tone when he declared that he had no one who cared about him and watched as his eyes glued to Simpson as Matt managed to get him off the tractor and into the cruiser.

  “He really has no one?
” Caleb asked, turning away from the window.

  Kate rested a hand on Caleb’s arm, feeling the need to provide him comfort. “He has the town.”

  Caleb reached up, tucking her hair behind her ear and causing a path of goose bumps to trail down her neck to her arms. He cupped the side of her face and smiled.

  “Then I’d say he’s pretty lucky.”

  Chapter 11

  Basil Hill Farms was amazing, and Caleb hoped one day he’d be able to take a tour of the property. From what Kate had told him, there was a lot more to see that couldn’t be seen from the road or the house. She pulled the car to a stop in front of a large two story white farmhouse with a red door and a wraparound porch that was lined with beautiful flower beds. Off to the right side was a two-car garage

  “This is some house,” Caleb said, getting out of the car and admiring the property.

  “Thanks. Be sure to tell my mother; she loves hearing things like that.”

  “What was it like growing up here?” Caleb asked as he waited for Kate to join him. He grew up in a middleclass neighborhood just outside of Boston with a small yard that was just big enough to play catch with his brother.

  “Loud,” Kate said.

  “But look at all this land. I’m sure you could have easily slipped away from it all.”

  Kate slid her teeth over her bottom lip, her cheeks tingeing pink. “How’d you guess?”

  “You seem like the type of girl who can find a solution to any problem. So where did you go?”

  She lifted her hand and pointed to a far off tree. “That tree was my quiet space. Whenever the boys were overly rambunctious, Daisy was crying, or Hadley was moody, I’d sneak out with my purple Caboodle filled with all different color strings, sit under the tree, and make bracelets.”

  “You’ve always been into creating things, then.”

  “My whole life. I’m the artsy one in the family. I take after my grandma. She makes everything. Wreaths, blankets, jewelry, clothes… you name it. She also paints beautiful landscapes.”

  “Impressive.”

  As if she heard them speaking about them, the door opened and out stepped Betty Hayes. She was a little thing, but Caleb knew she packed a large personality. Her white hair was cut short, but in a stylish way. Her blue eyes were bright and stood out against her white hair and fair skin. She reminded Caleb of Judi Dench, but it could’ve just been the hair.