by Cheryl Wyatt
“Everything okay?” Kate bumped his shoulder. “You can talk to me, Caleb.”
He shot her the sarcastic look her statement deserved. “I’d have an easier time doing that if you would return the favor.”
“Ouch.” She pretended to drag a sword out of her back.
“People are drawn to you, Kate. You’re a natural leader. It’s a gift I believe you were born with.”
“I respect your opinion, Caleb.” She smiled. “And I love that you give God the credit He’s due. You’re not as far from Him as you think.”
He stared at her, not even sure what to say. Was she right? If people were given gifts, someone had to plant the gift there. “But being a leader means you also have to show people how to depend on others. No one should have to feel that they have to shoulder everything alone. If you don’t share your struggles, you scare people away.”
Kate laughed, but it didn’t sound very happy. “I think I scare people no matter what.”
* * *
Empathy swarmed Kate
Lord, be with Caleb, whatever is troubling him.
They watched Tia catapult her dolls off the merry-go-round. She went to her. “They’re going airborne.”
“Yes! Dollies do fly, after all.”
“Tia, you ready to head back to the cabin?” Kate suggested.
“Noooo! We’re not done here.” She scrambled her dolls and ran to the slide, shoving them down then following. “Wheeeee!”
“Two more times, then we have cupcakes to make.”
Caleb grinned wryly. “That ought to entice her to go.”
Kate leaned in. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to pry.” Yet everything in her yearned to uphold him. She wanted to add “just know I’m here” but he was right. She couldn’t ask Caleb to open up when she didn’t. That would be total hypocrisy. Kate regretted her walls.
Once they had Tia, Mistletoe and a huge stack of dolls secured in Kate’s Jeep’s seat belts, Kate headed for the driver’s seat then stopped. “Here, Caleb. Why don’t you drive?” She’d noticed him eyeing it in envy at times.
“Thanks. Weird as it sounds, I miss my truck.” Getting behind the wheel didn’t do much to lift his mood but that was fine by Kate.
Kate kept Tia entertained all the way to Bri’s cabin. Caleb didn’t say two words all the way.
Once there, she helped Tia gather her dolls.
Caleb led Mistletoe out of the Jeep. “I’ll be back in a bit. I’m taking him for a walk.”
Kate suspected Caleb needed the walk more than the dog did. Especially when Caleb ended up jogging with the dog on the trail adjacent to Lakeview Drive around Eagle Point Lake, near Bri’s cabin and lodge retreat grounds.
Kate ushered Tia inside. “We’re going to make cupcakes but also a healthy snack.”
“Not broccoli, I hope.” Tia’s face squished into a scowl.
Kate pulled out a recipe for the snack they were going to make. “This little veggie scooter is on our agenda today.”
Tia squealed. “That is so cute! Let’s do it first!”
Kate spread out ingredients and poked a cucumber slice and cherry tomato half into each end of two pretzel sticks, which made two sets of wheels. She set them two inches apart then laid a two-inch-long turnip rectangle cross-bar atop the two pretzel sticks forming the scooter body. She used a toothpick to attach the end of an olive on the front, its red pimento forming a headlight. She helped Tia poke a third pretzel upright in the front of the “scooter.” Peanut butter held a smaller pretzel handlebar to the vertical pretzel in front. “Voilà! We’re done.”
“Let’s make more!”
Caleb came back shades calmer, although the red that splotched his chiseled cheeks proved he’d exerted himself. Since the dog didn’t seem winded, she was certain he’d picked Mistletoe up at some point and run with him in his arms. “Those are awesome, guys.”
“Thank you.” Kate handed him a veggie scooter. “Try one.”
“I was hoping for a cupcake instead.” He winked at her, making her pulse flip. Kate smiled as Caleb moaned over the scooters.
“These are really good. Who needs cupcakes?” He winked at Tia who giggled. Kate knew the feeling. If this prince had any more charm, Kate and her resolve would be in serious trouble.
Ian called to check on Tia. Caleb asked to speak with him. When he took the phone out on Bri’s side deck, Kate figured he was filling Ian in about whatever text he’d received. Was he going to have to leave early? Kate suspected so. She hated it for Bri’s and Tia’s sakes. And a little for her own.
A knock sounded at the door. Kate opened it to find a delivery guy with a gift-wrapped box. “Kate Dalton?”
“Yes, how did you know to find me here?”
“The trauma-center crew directed me. Please sign here.”
Kate signed it and eagerly opened the card. Her heart soared. “Wherever these take you, remember God is already there. He is Lord over the dark as well as the dawn. BB.”
“That’s it! He has to be one of the single guys from church.” Kate ripped open the box and air whooshed out. “Boots!”
Tia rushed over. “Wow. Those are some snazzy shoes.”
“I know, right?” Kate’s joy rocketed when she realized the paid subscription card inside the boot meant she was going to get a pair of shoes from this company every four months.
“Three new pairs of shoes a year! I can’t believe it. This is the best gift ever!” Kate hugged them, a pair of knee-length riding boots in soft leather with buckles at the top, in her size.
“Put them on!” Tia exclaimed. She grabbed a boot and held it up.
Kate tried them on and pranced around as Tia giggled.
“I love them. This was so thoughtful.” Something hit Kate. She studied Caleb out on the deck. Maybe he knew the bandit? When they’d painted props together for the storybook ball, she’d lamented her inability to afford shoes. She needed to drill him for info. The second he walked in, she rushed him. “Know anything about these?”
He stared at her boots then his gaze reached her eyes. “They’re cute. They look good on you.”
“Landis, if you know who sent them, say so.”
He zipped a finger over his lips. “I’m sworn to secrecy.”
She launched across the floor and grabbed his bulky shoulders. “You know who he is! Don’t you?”
He shrugged. “I have a pretty good guess.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
His expression went deadpan. “Not yet. I need permission.”
“At least give me a hint!”
“I plead the Fifth.”
“Why won’t you tell me?”
He laughed. “Because I don’t wanna die before I get to ranger school.”
“He’ll seriously get mad at you?”
Caleb’s mouth twitched as he eyed the ceiling and the walls as if determining how best to answer that.
“Right.” She shook her head. “Well, if you know him, tell him it’s the best gift of all time.”
He grinned. “I’m sure he already figured that.”
“I guess you’re right. Otherwise, he’d have sent awful sugar-free candy or something equally unappealing.” Kate started thinking about all the people in her life who knew of her shoe fetish. Pretty much everyone. She was known for it. “Must be some guy from church.” Which reminded Kate. “You’re still going with us tomorrow, right?”
He nodded. “I wouldn’t go back on my word. Where’s Tia?”
“Wiping off her dolls with a feather duster.”
“They got dirty at the park, or what?”
“Yes, they were flying like jet fighters off the SS Eagle Point Park Merry-go-round carrier today on important missions.”
“Speaking of i
mportant missions, we need to get crackin’ on cupcakes.” He smiled.
“Cupcakes tomorrow.” Kate settled on the couch and motioned for Caleb to join her. “What sounds good for today’s dinner besides talking and catching up?”
He jerked and looked at her oddly. That statement hit too close to home, domestically speaking. “Sully’s.”
Caleb grew subdued again. She’d struck a nerve. Or maybe it was just hard for him to eat at this table, which held so many childhood memories from his mom and his growing-up years.
His gaze swept the cabin and she knew her thoughts were on target. Pain crossed his expression.
“This trip home makes it harder to leave, huh?”
He met and held her gaze with an intensity that floored her. “You have no idea how true that is, Kate.”
If she expected him to open up, she needed to try, too. She cleared her throat. “So, I talked to my parents yesterday.”
He blinked, surprise evident in his killer grays. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She cleared her throat again, surprised at how tough this was. “Dad’s not contesting the divorce. Mom’s hurt.”
He paused. “I’m sorry to hear that. Can anything be done at this point?”
“Just pray. I mean, you know, if you do. You should.”
“I know. I’m trying. I mean, I’ve contemplated starting to again. I’m not sure He’d hear me.”
“He hears you, Caleb. He loves you.”
Caleb shrugged. “Well, I’m a little rusty in the prayer department, but I’ll try, you know, to pray for your parents. I have a buddy praying, too. Asher Stone, my unit’s explosives expert. Because of his strong faith and heart for prayer, he’s also our unofficial chaplain.”
Kate smiled. “Thanks for that.” She paused, then pushed herself to speak again. “I’m dismayed that Dad doesn’t seem interested in putting up a fight. People make time for what’s important to them. What if Mom isn’t important after all? She’s played second fiddle to his military career since before I was born. She threw herself into her own career to battle loneliness and, in the process, emotionally neglected me. I got over it. We became closer in my late teens, early twenties.”
“You’re mid-twenties now. That can’t have been long ago.”
“It wasn’t. To be honest, I’m just grateful we were able to build a strong relationship at all. I know Mom is glad, too, even though she has trouble saying it. She has huge regrets. We can’t change the past but we can try to live without accruing regret from this point on.”
“It’s no wonder you’re adamantly against marrying back into the military. I see why you want out and out all the way.”
Was he right? Did this emotional detachment date back even further than she thought, triggered by a childhood spent watching her parents lead such separate, isolated lives? The other question hitting her was why did Caleb care to ask? “Are you asking me to confirm or deny? I mean, why do you want to know? Because you like figuring people out? Or is there some other reason?”
He steepled his hands and rested his chin there. “I like knowing what makes people tick.”
That he didn’t have a more personal reason for asking about her dating preferences made Kate more disappointed than she wanted to be. “I’m glad you understand where I’m coming from and why I have the dating standards I do.” Ugh. That fell flat.
“Yep. All the more reason I should wait to pursue a serious relationship myself. I wouldn’t want to subject a young bride to the pain and loneliness you and your mom are experiencing.”
“Who said I’m lonely?”
He gave her a look. “Be real, Kate.”
She surged upright. “Ugh! I’d rather endure the agony of stapling my fingers together with a suture gun than sit here and take these looks of pity from you. It’s less torturous.”
“A part of me is half-scared to ask how you’d know that for sure. Have you ever actually stapled your fingers together?”
“One accident, yes. Early in my surgical training. But that’s beside the point. I don’t want your pity. Period. So stop looking at me like a fragile piece of half-cracked glass.”
A muscle clicked in his jaw. “Like it or not, Kate, I can’t. Because in essence, what you’re asking me to do is not care. News flash, Kate. Too late. I already care.” He straightened.
“What?” What in the world was he getting at? Cared how?
“You’re my friend, Kate. Your happiness matters to me.” Disappointment rushed through her, even though she knew she should feel moved by how much he cared—it just wasn’t in quite the way she wanted.
Ack! When had that started?
She reached for his arm. “Caleb, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to lash out. I do that to those I’m closest to.”
He adopted a listening pose. It stole her breath because he arranged himself in the same manner as her benevolent bandit had. Bri’s beloved brother.
Kate gave her head a shake to detach the similarities. But one more stood out for her. She couldn’t rely on the bandit, because she didn’t know who he was. And she couldn’t rely on Caleb, because he wasn’t going to stay. Caleb lived in combat boots. And no amount of caring could keep those boots from walking him away from her.
Chapter Nine
“Can we run by my place before church?” Kate asked Sunday morning. “I wanna wear my new boots, but my outfit doesn’t work with them.”
Tia, already dressed, readied her doll Hope.
“Actually, I kinda like it.” Caleb eyed Kate’s black boot-cut jeans and dark purple, peasant-style embroidered top.
“These pants hide my boots. I want to show them off and do facial expression recon on church guys who might potentially be him.”
Caleb grinned. “Suit yourself.” He knew for a fact no guy was going to be able to look past her pulse-arresting eyes. She’d done some fancy makeup artistry thing that gave her gorgeous blues a smoky effect and amped voltage of her natural appeal.
Took massive effort to rip his gaze away.
He buckled Tia, Hope and Calebina into the Jeep and drove Kate to her apartment. “You’re right. This is a long drive.”
“Yes, considering we need to be less than fifteen minutes away from the trauma center when we’re on call.”
“They’re inspecting your cabin soon. Next week or so.”
“Good. I will take you up on your offer to help me move.”
He nodded. “Just say the word whenever you’re ready.”
Along the drive, Caleb fought inner tension and guilt. He’d already been to Kate’s this morning before his workout, as Kate and Tia slept. They hadn’t even known he’d left Bri’s cabin.
Once at Kate’s apartment, Caleb watched her bound up the steps, enjoying her athletic grace and feminine stride.
He forced himself not to react the moment Kate saw the bandit’s gifts between her screen and wood doors. Her back was to him but he could imagine her smile. When she shifted, putting her pretty profile in view, he saw how much his note, stuffed animal and DeBrand chocolates lifted her countenance. Grinning elatedly, she clutched the gifts close to her heart and went in.
She emerged moments later wearing a knee-length bright turquoise-and-brown skirt that swirled around her legs as she walked. She still had something of a military march about her. Coupled with her feminine grace, her motion put a gallop in his chest.
“Ugh. Changed my mind. Here.” She handed the chocolate to him and a sock monkey to Tia. “Hold these. Be right back.” Kate ran back in.
“Wow!” Tia exclaimed. “My prayer really worked, Uncle C! Someone got her a stuffed animal. And she loves monkeys! My prayers came true!”
She snuggled the monkey, Hope and Calebina in her pink-and-purple-striped lap and informed the monkey he was on doll patrol.
Caleb couldn’t wait to give Tia the gift he’d ordered off the internet for her. He had it tucked under Kate’s Jeep seat.
He’d be feeding Tia’s rabid doll habit, but Kate told him about how Tia regularly gave her toys away, especially to terrified children brought into the trauma center. Tia was a balm to humanity. She deserved a little spoiling.
Caleb’s brain stormed. He knew what he was going to do. He was going to name Tia’s dolls before giving them to her. In fact, why wait? No telling how long Kate was going to be in there or how many outfits she was churning through.
He caught Tia’s bright-eyed gaze in the mirror. “I don’t know about you but I’m glad I’m not the one who has to clean up everything Kate’s closet is spitting out in there.”
Tia laughed. He laughed, too, and reached under his seat. “Hey, Tia,” he said, tugging two twin dolls out of the bag. “Check this out. You have Hope. Meet Faith and Love.”
Tia dropped everything and squealed so loudly he understood why Ian had concluded that ear-piercing vocal chords were the difference between boys and girls. On the other side of the coin, Caleb recalled lamps or end tables Mom had to replace because of his roughhousing.
“Uncle C! You’re my favorite!”
He smiled. “Yeah? Remember that when Ian’s brothers buy you toys, I got you all the cool ones.”
Tia giggled and hurled herself into his arms for hugs. She kissed him on the cheek before scrambling back and rebuckling. She busied herself playing with Faith, Hope, Love...and Calebina.
As Tia’s imagination unleashed on her new dolls, he listened, becoming convinced all the more that having a daughter would be one of the best things in the world to happen to a guy.
His mind switched painful gears to thinking about how much he was going to miss Tia and her antics. The thought of not getting to see her grow put the biggest lump ever in Caleb’s throat. He’d gotten really attached to little T, and she to him. Now he had to break her heart. He wasn’t sure if or how he could any more.
He cleared his throat, but the lump wouldn’t budge.
Worsening matters, Kate emerged dressed in a different, but even more stunning, skirt and top. He should make himself stop staring. He really should. He managed to look away, but her essence, elegance and faith burned in his imagination.
