“Nina, there’s something I need to tell you.” He angled his head down to look into her eyes. She kept her arm around his, breath catching as their innocent contact suddenly felt charged. Caleb wasn’t just close, he was holding her.
“Yes?” Even her voice was affected by the change in mood. The one syllable came out as little more than a whisper.
Baby blues swept across her face, two pools of wonder visible in the moonlight. They were just as dazzling as the stars.
Caleb opened his mouth. Then closed it. His lips pulled up into a barely there smile. Nina had a sneaking suspicion he had decided against saying something to her. Something important. When he did speak there was a lightness to it.
“I’d like to have a dance with you tonight, if you don’t mind. I’m not going to win any contest with my moves or anything, but I don’t have two left feet either. Could be fun?”
The charge she’d sensed heated at the question. Nina felt the rising temperature in her cheeks. It was unexpected.
It was exciting.
“I guess it could be,” she answered with a matching smile. “Though you can’t get mad if I step on your feet. I haven’t danced with anyone since my junior prom.” Just like that, a coldness expanded in Nina’s stomach.
It was the truth, told in a bout of humor, but no sooner had she said it than another truth replaced it.
Her life in Florida, the one filled with heartache that still managed to touch her years later, was one she didn’t want anymore. She’d left it and its memories behind to start over. To live every second on her own terms, not anyone else’s.
As Nina swam in the steel-blue waters looking down at her, she knew that to live the life she wanted was to live a life she could control.
However, if there was one thing she was starting to realize, it was that around Caleb, that’s exactly what she lacked.
Chapter Twelve
There were no scary ladies, ghost or otherwise, lurking around the barn. Instead, what had once been an eyesore of a structure was now a thing of beauty, filled with people who were trying to forget their stressful week and enjoy one another. Music played through speakers set up in the corners. Wooden tables that had been in the main house’s storage had been cleaned and covered in delicious dishes.
Roberto wasn’t the only one who had contributed, either. Caleb spotted his mother’s homemade apple pie, Clive’s homemade-but-legal moonshine and Brando had a good portion of the table’s real estate sectioned off for his famous buffalo and cheese dip. Walking in and being hit by the wall of great and familiar smells surprised a feeling of comfort out of Caleb. Most of the employees of the ranch, plus Jazz and her husband, had come at his mother’s behest. Like Caleb, they marveled at the world she had set out to create.
“Yeah, it looks nice and smells good but we shouldn’t be letting our guard down.” Declan came up to Caleb’s side with a beer in his hand and a scowl on his face. Caleb chuckled.
“For not having a triplet link with me you sure have a weird way of knowing what I’m thinking,” he said. “Sometimes you give even Madi and Des a run for their money.”
Declan rolled his eyes.
“I don’t need your voodoo triplet telepathy to know what you’re thinking, kiddo.” He pointed to the table on the other side of the makeshift dance floor. “You keep looking at that table.” He pointed up. “The lights and—” He lowered his hand but his eyes skipped to the sitting area that had been staged like a campsite at the front half to the barn. Nina was perched on a tree stump and in the middle of a conversation with Jazz and Molly. “Right at her.” Caleb averted his eyes and took a pull from his beer. Declan snorted. “Not hard to put together what you’re thinking about.”
“Can you blame me?” Caleb asked, lowering his voice so Brando and Jensen, one of the ranch hands who helped with the horses, wouldn’t overhear them. “The last two weeks have been insane and yet look at this place. Look at everyone, Declan. They’re smiling, dancing and eating some damn good food together. It’s a good idea for them and us to be here.”
Declan didn’t look convinced. Caleb sighed.
Out in the field he had been about to tell Nina that Daniel Covington was in the hospital, beaten nearly to death. That the department was digging in to try and figure out who had done it and why. That she had been a suspect, just as he had been, though both of them had been cleared. Caleb had wanted to tell her because in the short time she’d been at the ranch and in Overlook her path had been tied to Daniel’s and, maybe the most poignant reason, Caleb wanted to be honest with her.
But then he’d looked into her dark eyes and felt something shift. Standing there in a blue dress with her hair free and flowing, Nina had become someone he wanted to protect. In every way. The whole point of the night was to distance themselves from worry and pain. Did he want to burden her with more?
No, he wanted her happiness.
“If you like her so much, just ask her to dance,” Declan said after a moment. There was a smile in his voice. “I’m sure she’d say yes. She ran into a burning building after you, for goodness’ sake. Awkwardly swaying to the beat while our mother and friends look on should be a piece of cake for you two.”
“I already asked her to dance, thank you very much.”
Declan quirked up an eyebrow. “And she turned you down?”
“Actually, no.” Caleb hesitated, wondering if he should confide in his brother. Then he caved. “She said yes, but right after that it was like she shut down. Like she’d hit some kind of panic button at the bank. You know, the ones that shoot up those metal walls to protect the teller? Her eyes glazed over and the tension in her body made me uncomfortable.”
“What did she say? Did you ask her about the change?”
Caleb took another drink of his beer. The bottle was cold in his hand. He shook his head.
“She got quiet after. I mean, we kept up a conversation but it was like we were two strangers battling through small talk. It’s not the first time she’s done it but I didn’t want to push the issue.”
“It could be all in your head, you know,” Declan pointed out. “Or maybe she’s just shy.”
Caleb had wondered about both options after they’d come into the barn and gone their separate ways. It was like Nina was avoiding him. She still was. He hadn’t spoken to her in well over an hour.
“I thought about that but neither sat right with my gut. I think it’s something else. Something I keep accidentally triggering.” Caleb paused, glancing at his mother at the food table. She was laughing. “Do you remember how Mom was after what happened happened? You know, when we were kids?”
His brother stiffened. “I remember Dad a bit more, to be honest. But I remember she was always smiling to keep our spirits up.”
“Even though you could tell she was close to breaking.” Caleb hadn’t said this to his brother before, not even to the Madi and Des, but now the observation he’d made as a child made him feel it was necessary. “One moment she’d be telling us it would be alright, all smiles and comfort, but then I’d catch her staring off in the distance when she was alone. It was like she’d taken a mask off, the one she wore for her family, and all the fear and worry would be there, in plain sight.” He sighed. “That’s what happens with Nina but in reverse. Most of the time she’s quiet, contemplative, and I swear she does this thing with her eyes that makes me feel like she’s a million miles away. But then I’ll catch her staring up at the stars or looking at the lights across the rafters, and for a moment she just—” Caleb tried to find the right word but came up short. So he said the first thing that came to mind. “Is.”
“She just is,” Declan repeated.
Caleb grinned at his brother, letting him know that he knew what he was saying sounded crazy.
“I know. I’m starting to sound like Madi when she went through her poetry phase, but I swear Declan,
this woman walks like the weight of the world is crushing her with almost every step. And I, well I just want to help.” Declan’s eyebrow rose again in question. “She did save my life, after all,” Caleb added. “I just want to repay the favor.”
Declan was, and always had been, a straight shooter. He told it like it was, never mind if you were a stranger or family. He just didn’t lie and it was as simple as that. It was one of the reasons he’d been elected sheriff in the first place. It was also one of the reasons Caleb respected him as much as he did. While Madi and even Desmond would dance around a hard truth to try and save his feelings, Declan always gave his opinion with a refreshing kind of brashness.
Now he fingered the label on his bottle before meeting Caleb’s stare. When he spoke it was with even yet not totally detached emotion.
“Just because someone saves your life doesn’t mean you know them. And just because someone saves you doesn’t mean they did it because they know you. The best part of this job is when we see ordinary people doing extraordinary things for strangers and that’s what we saw with Nina. Not everyone would have gone into that house after you but she did and you two seem to have formed a quiet kind of partnership since. But, Caleb, what do you know about her? About her past? And, honestly, what does she know about yours? Outside of the Retreat business and the fires, have you ever even told her about what happened at Bluerock Park?” Caleb didn’t have to answer. His expression must have given away the fact that he hadn’t. Declan put his hand on Caleb’s shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “You can’t expect someone else to let down their walls and open up if you’re holding out, too.”
“Someone needs to make the first move.” Caleb spelled it out. Declan nodded.
“That’s how I see it, at least.”
He patted Caleb’s shoulder one more time and excused himself. Caleb finished off his beer and surveyed the group and the party around them. His eyes were drawn to the rafters. Strings of lights cobwebbed between them. Out of all of the decorations, Nina seemed to enjoy those the most. Just as he’d seen her staring at the stars in awe in front of the Retreat earlier, he’d caught her glancing up on more than one occasion since they’d arrived.
A small smile would brush across her lips and that invisible weight would seem to disappear. If only for a moment.
Now, across the room, that weight was back. Nina might have been smiling and talking to Jazz and Molly but the way she held herself reminded him of someone standing on the outskirts. Close enough that she looked engaged, far enough that she could disappear at any time.
And Caleb didn’t want that.
He put his bottle down, straightened his belt and walked across the room with purpose. Nina watched the walk, her eyes looking more golden than dark in the light, and received him with the same polite smile she’d been wearing since they arrived. Caleb wanted to see the real one so badly he decided exactly what he was going to do.
“Sorry to interrupt but I was wondering if you wanted to join me for that not-winning-any-contests bad dancing I offered earlier?” He held out his hand. For the briefest moment he worried she’d turn him down. Instead, she turned that polite smile to Jazz and Molly and excused herself. Then the warmth of her hand was cradled within his. Caleb couldn’t help but reflect the feeling as he pulled her along to the middle of the barn and its makeshift dance floor.
“Now, get ready to have your mind blown by how amazingly fifth grade this is about to get.”
Nina laughed and it was just as quiet as her smile.
A new song started just as his boots hit the designated dance area. It moved along a slower tempo than the previous song. Which was a relief. Trying to show Nina she could trust him while trying to keep a bump-and-grind rhythm wouldn’t have been ideal.
Caleb slid his hands around Nina’s waist and matched the slow pace. She put her hands firmly on his shoulders. There was an undeniable rigidness to them. Her cheeks were tinted red. The thought that he was the reason behind her uneasiness was a new kind of pain in Caleb’s chest.
“You know, I have to say, this place looks great,” he said to start the conversation. “I was a bit skeptical when Mom told me about fixing it up but, really, I guess it wasn’t as bad off as I thought. You did a great job here.”
“Thanks,” she said, that red tint burning darker. “It was definitely a team effort, though. I’ve never met someone as driven to throw a party as your mother. I would have given up the moment we ran into this spider in the corner that was as big as my hand.” She shuddered. “I voted to leave and never come back but Dorothy rallied on. She is definitely a spirited woman.”
Caleb chuckled.
“She definitely is that.” They swayed to the beat, holding each other. Caleb traced the woman’s face, taking in the freckles along her cheeks as he had the first day he met her. “Mom is spirited but that’s not the whole reason why she did this. Why she threw this party now, in the middle of everything going on.” He took a small breath and then dove in. “You’ve been in Overlook for about a month?”
She nodded.
“In that time, has anyone told you about what happened to our family? Or, really, what happened to the Nash triplets?”
Nina averted her eyes for a split second. She nodded again.
“I’ve heard a little about it,” she admitted. “I know you three were abducted but later escaped. And the person behind it was never caught.”
A slow wave of anger and resentment washed over him. It always happened when he thought about that day. It probably always would.
“We were eight and being stupid,” he said. Even years later he could remember the smells of summer that had clung to them, and the humidity and heat that made them sweat but not enough to deter them from playing outside. He could hear their laughter clear as day, just as he could hear their screams. “Bluerock Park wasn’t much to look at back then. No playground equipment or well-kept trails. Just dirt that, if you got lucky, led to a picnic area. Nothing fancy, just some tables and an old rusted grill. But to us? It was anything we wanted it to be.” The song grew into a crescendo. They moved along with it. Nina’s eyes stayed with his through every movement. “That day we were playing hide-and-seek. I was It so I stayed at the campsite to count while Madi and Desmond hid.”
Caleb felt himself draw in. Nina moved her hands around his neck, bringing her closer. He continued. “I’d never heard Madi scream like that before. It was like it came from the trees themselves. It was everywhere. I didn’t even know which direction to go in until I saw Desmond running.” Caleb hated the next part. Still, he wanted her to know. “The man was waiting for us with a gun already pointed. He told us that we were coming with him and if we didn’t that he’d hurt Madi.” Nina’s eyes widened. She stifled a gasp. A new song poured out of the speakers around the barn. It was slower than the last.
“There was too much distance between us and them, so all Des and I could do was promise we wouldn’t do anything. But the man hadn’t counted on Madi. See, Dad had been in law enforcement for years, just as his dad had been. He used to tell us that if anyone tried to put us in a car to go somewhere that we were to fight like hell, no matter if they had a gun or weapon, because our chances for survival were more than cut in half once we got into a vehicle. Madi took that lesson to heart. She punched—and I mean punched—this fully grown man in the throat. We hadn’t even hit our growth spurts yet and there she was, putting force into his windpipe.” Nina shook her head in wonder at the young girl’s courage. He couldn’t help but share it for a moment before getting back to beginning of his nightmare. “It surprised him enough to stagger but not drop his gun. He used it to hit Madi. It knocked her out and enraged Des and me. We rushed him and, for a little bit, the two of us had the upper hand, but then he shot the gun.”
“Oh, God,” Nina whispered. He tried to give her a reassuring smile. While it had been terrible, they had surviv
ed it. A point that he still made to himself when his thoughts turned back to that day and the two that followed.
“I don’t know if he meant to miss or was just a poor shot but the bullet grazed my arm.” He tilted his head to his left. The scar was still there on his left biceps. It was a reminder. Not that he needed one. “But, man, it bled. Freaked out Des, too. He jumped on the guy’s back and just started whaling on him but, you know, we were eight. The man had height and weight on us. He slung Des off on the ground and then—” Nina’s eyes widened. Caleb realized his grip had tightened. She didn’t complain. He loosened his hold and took a small breath. “He stomped on Desmond’s leg and broke it.”
“That’s horrible,” Nina said. “You were children.”
“A fact that didn’t stop him from threatening to kill Madi if we didn’t follow him. He carried her to the car while I pulled Desmond along with me.” He omitted the part where Desmond had cried in anguish at his broken leg but still had refused to stop, knowing it endangered their sister. “Then he got us into the car, blindfolded us, and told us to get down so we wouldn’t be seen. Normally we wouldn’t have listened but, Madi was unconscious and Des couldn’t walk by himself. I was the only one who could have gotten out and run but I wasn’t going to do that. I wasn’t going to leave them.”
To this day Caleb felt that absolute resolution that had rung in his chest then. If he’d had a chance for a redo he would have made the same choice over and over again.
“When he finally took the blindfolds off we were in a basement. No furniture but three beds. A bathroom. No windows. That was it. We were there for three days total.”
Nina shook her head, disgust clearly written on her face.
“But why?” she asked.
It was a simple yet profound question. One that had haunted him and his family for years.
“I don’t know. The only time he spoke to us after we got there was to threaten us with harming the others if we disobeyed him. That only happened when he came down with food, trying to make sure we didn’t attempt to escape. After Madi regained consciousness he focused on threatening Desmond. He was in so much pain every single second we were in that godawful place. We didn’t want to make his pain any worse... But then we realized the risk was the only way we had to save him from that same pain.”
Reining In Trouble (Winding Road Redemption Book 1) Page 11
