by Kaci Hart
“If you believe that then you don’t know Caleb as well as I thought you did. Why don’t you stop making excuses to run away from a chance at love? You’ve got your dream guy right there and still you find a reason.”
Sarah released a slow, heavy sigh.
“I know. I’m hopeless, aren’t I?”
She didn’t hear Penny’s response. No doubt it was some mixture of sarcasm and real care. If only it wasn’t so hard. Penny would never understand though. Sarah had waited so long to start dating that the whole idea was frightening to her. It was so much easier to just stay in her own little world, content with life as it was.
That’s exactly what Sarah would have done if it was any other guy. But it wasn’t. It was Caleb and she was going to have to be careful. She really didn’t want to end up hurt.
***
Caleb grabbed the loaf of dense, country style bread and took out two slices.
“What you doin honey? Why don’t you let me get it for you?”
“Ma, I’m not even wearing the boot anymore so you can stop treating me like I can’t help myself. I can make my own sandwich.”
“I guess.”
He saw her twisting to look out the window and he followed her eyes to see Sarah walking into the stables.
“You know ma, on second thought, maybe I will let you make me one more sandwich. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Yeah, I figured you’d say that when you looked outside.”
He was already moving towards the door when his mom said it. He turned around and smiled at her on his way out. He didn’t care how obvious it was. He wanted to see Sarah.
It had been a couple of days since he’d stopped by the vet. He had been hoping the whole time that she would take him up on his offer and call but she didn’t. He had to admit that it was disappointing. He wasn’t going to let that stop him though. She was in the stables checking on the mares again, no doubt. He’d just head on out there and talk to her. When he got there, she was running her fingers through Bliss’ mane.
“Hi Sarah.”
She turned to him.
“Caleb. Sorry for not calling you.”
“No, don’t apologize. I know you’re busy. Why do you think I’ve resorted to following you into my family’s stables? Plus, this way I get to hang out with two of my absolute favorite females at the same time.”
He saw her eyebrows scrunch as she lightly laughed at him.
“What?”
“Well I’m not sure if you know this but we women aren’t too keen on being bunched in with the other female animals as your favorite gals.”
“You know listening back to it now. . . not my best choice of words. I’m lucky you were apologizing for constantly skipping out on all my attempts to hang out with you alone instead of with the horse. When you think about it, I was driven to say that out of desperation to spend some quality time with my friend.”
“Nice save attempt, but you still compared me to a horse.”
“But my favorite horse. What am I saying? Sarah, please say something before I dig the hole any deeper.”
“Okay. I see you’ve gotten rid of your walking boot.”
“Yep. I went to Dallas yesterday and they said that it looks good enough for me to lose the boot and regain myself a little sweet freedom.”
Caleb jumped up and down with his arms in the air in mock celebration. Moments later he realized his error when he landed awkwardly on his foot.
“Ouch!”
Sarah moved closer to him, and gave her shoulder for support.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It looks like I’m still working out the kinks in this freedom thing.”
“You still have to be careful with it Caleb. Here, let me help you.”
He put his arm around her and walked with her as she struggled to help him to a seat in the stable.
“Thanks but now I just feel stupid.”
“Why? You’re just happy to be out of the boot. Those things are so restrictive.”
“I don’t mean that. For the past week, I’ve been trying to figure out how I was gonna get you to spend a little time with me. If I had known that all it took was for me to get hurt again, I would have broken my other foot when I first saw you.”
He knew he wasn’t imagining things. She was flustered and blushing as she tried to respond to him. There was no way she didn’t enjoy being around him. He didn’t want to get his hopes up too much though. Since he’d seen her last week, she’d been going back and forth with him. One second she’d be making jokes and smiling at him like she didn’t have a care in the world, and the next she was reserved, like she had to hold back. He couldn’t help but think he was overlooking something very obvious.
“I . . . I . . .”
The look of relief when she was interrupted by Drew said everything.
“Sarah. There you are. Sorry that I missed your call yesterday. Can we talk?”
“Sure,” she responded.
She turned back in Caleb’s direction.
“Sorry. I came to talk to Drew. I need to go.”
“Yeah.”
As they walked off, Caleb could clearly see that there was something between Sarah and Drew. If that wasn’t enough, the look that Drew had given him over his shoulder certainly said it all. It was a cross between ‘back off’ and ‘I’m not afraid of you’. Caleb didn’t know Drew that well. From what his mother had told him, Drew moved to Stanton Falls within the past year to train full time for competitive riding. She had failed to mention the part where he and Sarah were apparently an item.
Caleb got up and started to walk back into the house--all the while feeling like a complete idiot. Smiling with her and saying all those things. Of course she had a boyfriend. As caring, smart, and funny as she was, how could she not. He was the one who had made the mistake of assuming that she was single.
Now he wasn’t so sure. From where he was standing, it looked like she’d done alright for herself. He didn’t see any reason to push her any further when he knew she had someone in her life. Especially when he was going to be leaving in a few weeks anyway.
He still thought it sucked. Being near her just reminded him of how much he’d liked her in the past. How much he still liked her now. In the past, her dad was the guy that got in the way--now it was Drew. No matter what, he couldn’t act on what he felt about her. The last thing he saw before he walked into the house was her giving Drew a hug.
Maybe it was just never meant to be.
Chapter Four
Sarah kneeled on the dining room table. She imagined that anyone looking in on her would think she was a pure fool, but she didn’t care at all. She was scared out of her wits. When she’d first hopped up there, she’d felt lucky. Now she felt trapped. She had tried to call every guy she knew. Her dad wasn’t picking up his cell phone and her brother was at work. When he answered, he thought it was a joke and when she told him she was serious, he laughed her request off as being “completely ridiculous if you think I am using up my sick time to save you from a lizard. Bye.” He then hung up the phone on her without another word.
Sure, she looked silly but there were a few things that scared her to the point of behaving foolishly and a lizard was one of them. She remembered how she hurdled her couch one time running from an insect on her floor.
What a time to reminisce.
The worst part about it was that the lizard wasn’t even moving. It was like he was camped out on a tile in her kitchen floor. She threw a plastic cup at it to shoo it away but all the lizard did was dodge and move back to the spot that it had seemed to claim as its own. Sarah rolled her eyes.
So much for the whole he’s more afraid of me theory. Is this kamikaze lizard scared of nothing?
There was absolutely no way was she moving unless that lizard ran out her front door. It wouldn’t give in. Instead it stubbornly stared at her. As if daring her to move even an inch. There were only a few more people she could think of to call.
That meant that the number she was going to dial would be to Caleb’s parents’ house.
He did say for me to call.
She kept her eyes on her unwanted visitor as she dialed the Emerson’s number. Each time the phone rang, she willed him to the answer.
Pick up Caleb. Pick up Caleb.
After four rings that seemed to last forever, she heard the sound of the phone lifting off the hook.
“Hello.”
She wasted no time with small talk.
“Caleb. Please tell me you can come over now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Promise you won’t laugh.”
“That’s a sure set up for failure. I learned a long time ago that when someone asks you to do that, it’s the funniest thing you will hear in forever. I promise you that I’ll try not to. Really.”
Try or not, she didn’t know. But his laughter was genuine and real. If she wasn’t scared out of her wits, she might have even thought it was cute. Instead she gave him a second to laugh at her before rushing him off the phone to come over. Fifteen minutes later he knocked on her door. She shouted at him from her perch atop the table.
“Come in.”
She heard the door open and then seconds later saw his smiling face peek around the corner. She saw him look down before shaking his head at her in laughter.
“Really? I thought the part about being on the table was a joke.”
“Caleb, you have known me all my life. When have you ever known me to joke about lizards?”
“True.”
“You sure took your sweet time in getting over here.”
“Hey, I was asleep thank you.”
“Fine. Just get it please.”
He walked into the room
“Where is it?”
“Right there.”
She pointed a shaky finger at the monster on the floor. He started in the direction of the lizard when she stopped him.
“What are you doing?”
“What you called me here for. I’m going to get the lizard.”
“With your bare hands? No way.” She pointed towards one of the kitchen counter. “Middle drawer. Gloves. Triple them.”
“Triple them? Seriously?”
She shot a look at him that said it was not up for debate. He sighed and pulled the layers of gloves over his hands.
“Satisfied?”
“Yes.”
A minute later he was returning from releasing the lizard into the grass out front.
“There. He’s gone.”
“Thank God. If you have never been before, today you were officially an answer to prayer.”
“I’m a wide receiver for a professional football team. I’ve been told that by everyone from the quarterback to the fans and everyone in between.”
“Well add a non-football related one to the list.”
She took the hand that he’d extended to help her off the table.
“What’s so funny now?”
“Everything. For starters you and this lizard. I forgot just how scared you were of them. Or maybe I figured you outgrew it like a normal human being. What I really don’t get is how you can be a vet and still be scared of a lizard. Isn’t it in the handbook that you have to love all animals?”
She thought about it. Sure, on the surface it was true. Lizards were animals and she was a vet but the creepy crawly kingdom wasn’t the one she liked. Big animals like dogs, horses and elephants were nothing. She could deal with them. She had her limit and the lizard was currently holding the top spot.
“Something like that, but I never counted them as animals. I call them creepy crawlies. They are right there with worms, snakes, rodents, and every species of insect and bug.”
“Wow, you’ve got a list.”
“A small one yes.”
“So why do you have the sign on your door at work that says all animals welcome. I mean all is a pretty inclusive term.”
“Yes, and I know you watched Charlotte’s Web but animals can’t read the sign so they don’t know. He was just trespassing. Either way, thank you for coming.”
“No problem. What else are crippled friends for except to save their veterinarian friends from the very creatures they are supposed to be helping? It’s like that time in the seventh grade all over again.”
Sarah laughed when she thought back to an after school program that ended with her cornered by an escaped frog in the science lab.
“I didn’t think of that. It was kind of similar. And of course, you saved me then too. I could always count on you to be there.”
“Of course Sarah. We may not be as close as we used to but I’d still do just about anything to help you.”
The genuine look on his face was moving. She knew he meant exactly what he had said and it made her feel more special than she had remembered in a long time. It also made her feel bad. Caleb was one of the best friends she had ever had. Probably one of the best she ever would have. All he wanted to do was spend a little time with her. Maybe she should have just listened to Penny. Any guy that would drop everything and come to rescue a girl like that deserved some credit like he did.
“Caleb, I want to show you my appreciation by treating you to lunch tomorrow.”
She saw a surprised look on his face.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know but I want to.”
“Are you sure it’s okay?”
Okay, so I didn’t expect that response.
She looked at him. She couldn’t figure him out at all. After his many obvious attempts to get some of her time, she offered it to him and he questioned her.
“What do you mean by that? You’ve been practically begging to hang out and now when I give you a yes on a silver platter, you’re not sure?”
“No. Let me clarify. I would love to spend some time with you. I just want to be as respectful as possible. What about Drew.”
“What about him?”
“Aren’t you guys . . .?”
“Us? Not anymore. But. . .how did you know about that anyway?”
“Oh I guess I misunderstood. The other day he gave me one of those looks that make you want to sleep with one eye open just in case. It was like he was being protective of you. I just figured that must have been why you had been saying no to me so often. When I saw you two hug, I thought for sure that was it.”
“That’s why you thought we were dating? A hug? Wow. It doesn’t take much to be in a relationship over where you’re from, huh?”
“I just assumed.”
“No I get it, and it’s really sweet of you to no want to cause problems but it was a basic hug. Nothing special. The long and short of it is that I came to the ranch to talk to him. I wanted to meet him that morning to talk because he is taking so long to accept the fact that we aren’t together still. More than anything, the hug was more of an olive branch to say let’s be friends.”
“Oh, ex issues. Been there done that.”
“Not fun, right?”
“Never. So okay then, I guess I better accept soon before you start dodging me again.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I was…”
He interrupted her.
“You don’t need to explain because it doesn’t matter. You had your reasons then and you have your new reasons now. I’m just glad it’s finally working in my favor. So where are we eating lunch?”
“Picnic at a yet to be disclosed location.”
“Sounds like a good time.”
She thought so too and she was already looking forward to it.
Chapter Five
Sarah had almost always enjoyed horseback riding. It was a perfect part of a perfect day in her mind. She looked to her right to see Caleb and his horse in a slow gait beside her and counted this a one of her better days in a while.
After riding their horses for a bit on the ranch grounds, they left the ranch and took their horses to one of the hilly areas overlooking the town. When they were kids, they and a group of their friends would go riding together. Whenever she and Caleb had a chance, they would sneak off and ride their horses to a spot where they would overlook the town. It was a place that they considered uniquely theirs. They would go there and talk about everything from family issues to their futures. That’s where she was taking him on their picnic today.
When they got closer to that spot, the gallop of her stallion slowed to a walk and it seemed that Caleb finally realized where they were.
“Is this . . .”
She nodded her head and smiled.
“Yep.”
“Wow. I haven’t been up here in forever. I almost forgot about it.”
“Not me. I never forgot. Probably never will.”
She saw him staring at her with a grin on his face.
“What?” She asked.
“I was just looking at you and your horse. You always like the pretty white ones.”
“Well, besides Bliss, this handsome stallion here is my favorite horse on the ranch.”
He laughed.
“That’s funny. Do you remember the first time I met you? You were just learning how to ride and something spooked your horse. He jumped and you fell off.”
“Of course I remember. I was six years old and I cried for so long. I remember telling my mom that I never wanted to ride again. I even threw away all of the My Little Pony dolls I had. It was two weeks before I came back to your place and it was only because some cute little boy in my class promised to make sure I never got hurt. I felt like I would be okay if I went back and he was there.”
