Love Built to Last

by Lisa Ricard Claro

  Maddie reached into her back pocket and unfolded Jack’s last note. She read it for the hundredth time, then folded it up and tucked it away again. She carried it every second of every day, just for good luck.

  She grabbed her phone from her purse and punched in Cal’s number. She bit her lip and waited, heart pounding, nerves stretched taut, praying he’d answer. Her foot tapped a rapid tattoo on the travertine tile.

  “Hello. You’ve reached the voice mail of Caleb Walker—”

  She clicked off the call with a frustrated sigh. Disappointment washed over her. She’d try again tomorrow. Annoyed with Caleb for avoiding her, and herself for caring so much, she stomped upstairs to crash with Agatha Christie and Third Girl.

  Maddie tossed her phone on the nightstand and fluffed the pillows before settling down with her book. She cleaned her glasses and considered going back into her contacts after school started. She rested the book on her knees and lay back into the pillow, shutting her eyes for a moment to ease the burn behind them.

  Just resting the orbs. That’s what Jack would say.

  Sometime later, the phone trilled. Maddie jumped, disoriented. She blinked two, three times to readjust her brain, and plucked the cell from the nightstand. Her heart slammed against her chest when Caleb’s name appeared on the display. Her finger twitched over the “accept” button. Finally, a call from Caleb and she was too nervous to answer.

  She tapped the button at the last second. “Hello?”

  The immediate silence sent her hopes plummeting. The pulse in her throat beat so hard it hurt. Did she answer too late and miss the call? Did he change his mind? Worse, had he misdialed?

  “Hi. Sorry, did I wake you?”

  Maddie closed her eyes and let the richness of Caleb’s voice wash through her. That voice, oh, that voice, deep and warm and just the slightest bit husky, that voice sent her reeling and dreaming and aching. She could listen to that voice all day. Happiness made her giddy. It took her a minute to find her breath.

  “Maddie?”

  “Hi.”

  “Hi.”

  “Thank you for calling me back,” she said, her voice raspy.

  “We should talk.”

  Maddie nodded like a bobble-head and cursed herself for being an idiot when a moment later Cal’s voice came through the phone with a tentative, “You still there?”

  She blinked. Oh, sweet Lord, he didn’t see her nod. Of course he didn’t. “Do you think you can, um, come by—sometime? I’d like to talk in person.”

  “How’s right now?”

  Unshed tears burned at the back of Maddie’s throat and behind her eyes. She managed only one word, and it scraped through her lips in a desperate whisper. “Perfect.”

  “Good, because I’m on your porch.”

  She squeaked, dropped the phone, scrambled off the bed, and flew down the stairs, slamming to an abrupt halt when she reached the kitchen. She forced herself to walk to the door. She closed her hand over the knob and took a moment to practice her yoga breathing. It was probably a good idea not to look too eager. Even better not to hyperventilate.

  She pushed her glasses up and yanked the door open, and there he was standing on the other side of the screen.

  Maddie’s heart climbed to her throat and dropped back into her chest with a thud. She pushed the screen door open. When Cal made no move to come in, she stepped out. Maddie noticed a host of things in the flash of a second—the black rim around the irises of his mossy eyes and the fact that his hair waved over his ears, that the pulse in his throat beat hard and steady, and the mouth that sent shivers through her on contact curved in the barest hint of a smile.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Hi. How do you like the desk?”

  Did he really come here to talk about the desk, like a customer service follow up? Maddie swallowed. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  She cleared her throat. “Where’s TJ?”

  “He’s at home with Shelley. They’re fixing dinner.”

  The words hit Maddie like a punch to the throat, knocking her back two physical steps. She sucked in a breath and reached her arms behind her to grasp the porch rail when she bumped into it. Her shock radiated outward like a nuclear blast. Why would he rub that in? Was he so stupid he had no idea that it would hurt, or didn’t he care?

  Her words croaked out. “So why are you even here?”

  Cal’s eyes widened and he took two steps toward her, his hands extended in supplication, expression aghast. His next words flowed from his mouth in a rush. “No, Jesus, no, I don’t mean it like that. That came out so wrong. I just mean she’s watching him for me this afternoon. She bought these pizza kits for TJ and Henry so they’re fixing homemade pizza. We’re not—” He ran a hand through his hair, frustration oozing through his voice. “There was no hook up, Maddie. Ever. Never.”

  They stared at each other. Maddie’s heart continued to pound, but her breathing steadied by a slim margin when Cal mollified his expression with a wry smile and said with a disbelieving laugh, “She hired me to replace her windows.” He dropped his head back and studied the porch ceiling for a second, then looked back at Maddie, his eyes shimmering with light. “I’m making a terrible mess of this.”

  “Yeah, you kind of are.” Her lips tugged upward. “Maybe I should start.”

  “That’d probably be good.”

  Maddie bit her lip and considered her words. Sweet Lord, she’d spent the last three days imagining what she’d say to Caleb if she had the chance, and now here he stood in the flesh, smelling of sunshine and looking like sweet masculine heaven, all tousled and sexy, and a traffic jam of words collided in her throat. Cal needed to understand about Jack, and Maddie figured she better get it right.

  “The day Jack died we had a terrible fight. I was being childish and stubborn, and I wouldn’t kiss him goodbye or say that I loved him. People think there will be a tomorrow, but there isn’t always. Anyway, later that night, after I found out about what happened to Jack, I went and sat at his desk. I just stared at that mess of papers, hating myself.

  “I don’t know what gave me the idea to ask Jack a question, but I did. I asked him if he knew that I loved him. I closed my eyes and reached under all that stuff, and I grabbed the first thing my fingers touched.” She let out a shuddering sigh. “It was the Valentine’s Day card I’d given him. And that’s how it started. I had never said goodbye to Jack, and then I didn’t have to because he was still around. I could talk to him every day, tell him I loved him. It eased my guilt.

  “When I asked Jack who to call for the kitchen, it was your card that came out of the pile. Twice. And then I met you, and sweet Lord, Caleb, I fell so hard, so fast, and you filled up every part of my heart until there was hardly any room for Jack. And when the flood happened, I felt so overwhelmed with guilt, and I took it out on you. I said things I didn’t mean. I hurt you. And I’m so sorry.”

  Cal took a step toward Maddie, but she shook her head. If he touched her, she’d never get the rest out. He stopped and held his place, but she felt that powerful pull in her belly, that quickening that made her tremble.

  “I was a mess for a few days. The guilt was horrible. And then Brenna said some things that made me see that Jack wasn’t trying to make me feel guilty. He wanted me to let him go. That’s why I didn’t take your calls, why I didn’t try to call you.” Maddie swallowed but the lump in her throat wouldn’t be dislodged. She forced the words out in a quiet hush. “I had to say goodbye to Jack. I didn’t think it was right or fair to talk to you until I’d finished doing that.”

  Maddie pushed away from the porch rail and straightened her shoulders. She willed Caleb to read the honesty in her eyes. If he was going to forgive her, it wasn’t going to be from pity. She cleared her throat and imbued her voice with as much strength as she could muster. “It was wrong of me not to call you and explain. I should have, weeks ago. You deserved to know. I’m sorry, and I hope wit
h my whole heart that you’ll forgive me.”

  Maddie waited for Caleb to respond. Say something. Sweet Lord, please. Anything.

  The seconds of silence scraped her raw. She kept her eyes on his, swallowed hard, and bit down on her lip. No more tears. She’d already cried a river, and if Caleb was going to tell her goodbye for a second time, if she had to watch him walk away again, well, at least she could say that she showed a little backbone and had learned the lesson Jack taught her about letting go.

  ***

  Cal listened to Maddie’s explanation, took in the words while he memorized her face, the wide cinnamon eyes flecked with generous drops of gold, the silky skin that bloomed red when she became flustered—which was pretty much all the time—the soft lips that laughed and teased and rendered him helpless with need when they moved over his. Everything he had come here to say—the practiced apology, the well-worded explanation, the heartfelt plea, all evaporated from his mind. There was really only one thing to be said. The only thing that mattered.

  “I am so in love with you, Madelyn Rose.”

  She stared at him for the second it took for his words to sink in. With a gasp, she launched herself into his arms, her mouth fierce on his, and god help him, there it was, that little sound in her throat that took his breath away.

  Cal tugged her lopsided ponytail free from its scrunchie—really, the thing was useless anyway—slid one hand through her hair to hold her head while he kissed her, and slipped his other hand to the small of her back to pull her against him. He explored her jaw and throat and collarbone with his lips and tongue until her body trembled and they were both breathless.

  “We done talking?” he murmured against her mouth, breathing hard and fast.

  “Just one more thing.” Maddie took his face in her hands. “I love you, Caleb Walker.” She whispered the words in a husky voice that edged him close to desperation. He slid his strong hands down her back and lower to splay over the back pockets of those frayed cut-offs he loved so well, took a firm hold, and boosted her up. She attached herself to him like kudzu, and with her legs around his hips, her mouth fused to his, and her hands clutching his hair, he carried her into the house.

  ***

  The last vestiges of sun were a lemony glow in the mid-summer sky, and purple twilight bled into the end of day. Maddie and Caleb sat together on the porch without an inch of space between them. She turned her face to nuzzle his neck, breathed in the familiar scents of sunshine and citrus and wood, and pressed a kiss on the steady pulse that beat at the base of his throat.

  She smiled, content, when his lips moved against her hair in response.

  The first of the fireflies appeared and she watched for the answering beam of others. The fireflies weren’t the only things glowing tonight, and she warmed at the thought.

  “I’m glad you finally called me back,” Maddie said. “I wasn’t going to leave you alone, you know. You were destined to receive multiple calls every day until you gave up and talked to me.”

  “Thank you for your planned perseverance.”

  “Don’t thank me. Thank Jack.”

  “Right. Because you pulled my card out of his papers. Twice, you said. I guess I do owe him a thank you.”

  Maddie moved out of Cal’s arms and smiled. “There’s something you need to see.”

  She stood up and dug into her back pocket. She sat back down and handed him a scrap of yellow paper, curled his fingers around it, and settled her hand over his.

  “The day TJ ran off I was finishing up going through Jack’s clothes. There was only one thing left, a jacket I don’t remember ever seeing him wear. It was at the back of the closet. Before putting it in the box, I checked the pockets and found this paper. Then all hell broke loose. You were pounding on the door. Pirate was barking and going crazy. I stuffed it in my pocket without reading it. The whole day was just so awful. First TJ, and then the whole Shelley hook up thing—don’t roll your eyes at me. That broke my heart—and then you brought me my purse later and broke my heart again.”

  He didn’t say anything, but smoothed his free hand over her hair and lifted their joined hands to press a kiss to the back of hers.

  “Right after that is when Brenna helped me drown my sorrows and I forgot all about that paper until late that night. After I read it, I called you. I wanted to tell you everything I told you today, but you were a stubborn ass and wouldn’t answer your phone.”

  “I thought you were drunk-dialing me, an activity which rarely ends well. And two weeks of silence from you prior to that means you can’t hold those three days over my head,” Cal said.

  “You took two weeks to call me before we even met,” she said and teased a smile from him.

  “Hey, that wasn’t my fault. My phone service was messed up.” At the dubious lifting of her brows he gave her a look and said, “I swear. It really was.”

  Maddie smiled and lifted her hand from Cal’s, freeing him to unfold Jack’s note. “Read it. It’s my last message ever from Jack.”

  The scrap of legal paper looked small in Cal’s carpenter’s hands, hands so different from Jack’s. The thought came with a bittersweet pang, but it didn’t sting, not any more. Maddie was right where she needed to be. She watched Cal unfold the note, kept her eyes trained on his face, smiled when he drew in a breath and looked up at her with amazement.

  She laughed, delighted by his response, and gave his muscular forearms a brisk rub to settle the goosebumps that popped up over his skin. A half smiled played on his lips and he read the note again, shaking his head.

  Call Caleb Walker—

  He builds things to last.

  Eyes shining, Maddie said, “So is Jack right, Caleb?”

  Cal folded up Jack’s note, tucked it into Maddie’s hand, and closed her fingers around it. “Please give me the chance to prove it,” he said.

  With Jack’s blessing folded between their joined hands, they watched the fireflies begin their dance.

  Epilogue

  “Where are you two taking me?”

  Blindfolded and disoriented from being spun around in front of the barn, walked first to the left and then to the right, and spun around again—mostly at TJ’s urging—Maddie allowed Cal and TJ to lead her stumbling across uneven ground with Pirate trotting along beside them.

  “Where do you think we’re taking you?” Cal asked.

  “I have no idea, but I should have worn my sweater. It’s getting chilly.”

  “Watch out Miss Maddie,” TJ said. “There’s a big stick popping out of the ground.”

  “That’s a tree root, buddy. Hold up, babe. Step around to your right.”

  “Ouch!” Maddie’s foot caught the edge of, she supposed, the tree root. Pirate woofed.

  “Oops. Not far enough to your right. Sorry,” Cal said, and Maddie imagined he made a face, because TJ giggled.

  “Will you two please tell me where we’re going? Will I get there in one piece, or in pieces?”

  “Almost there,” TJ said and giggled harder. “Just a little farther. Okay. Stop.”

  “Hey, you guys, don’t leave me!” Maddie said when Cal and TJ let go of her at the same time. She wasn’t abandoned for long. Cal moved behind her. He slid his arms around her waist, and she relaxed when he tugged her back against him.

  “You ready, Miss Maddie?” Excitement sprang from TJ’s every word and Maddie heard him shifting about.

  “Ready to take this blindfold off,” she said with a laugh.

  “Go ahead,” Cal murmured against her ear.

  Maddie tugged the blindfold from her eyes, adjusted her glasses, and gasped. TJ giggled like a maniac, clapped his hands, and bounced up and down.

  “Do you like it, Miss Maddie? Do you like it?”

  Maddie stared at her faerie glen. A gazebo with a natural shake roof formed the centerpiece, and a stone pathway wound from it. Low walls of natural fieldstone bordered the perimeter and, near the creek, the flat rocks were stacked into low benches, made to
appear as natural outcroppings.

  “Sweet Lord, Cal.” Maddie’s tone bordered on reverent.

  “I hired a landscape architect to do the walls and the pathway, but I didn’t approve anything else. I thought you’d like to see the designs and have a hand in deciding how you want this to look, maybe have Edie help you.”

  His smile lit his eyes and Maddie marveled at the glittering greenness of them.

  A cool October breeze gusted through the clearing and sent a bright collage of autumn leaves twirling and skittering over the ground. Goosebumps puckered across Maddie’s skin. She rubbed her arms, and breathed in the spicy-sweet scent of fallen leaves and pine. Someone somewhere had built a fire, and the heady odor of wood smoke wafted on the breeze.

  Cal saw her shiver and pulled his sweatshirt off. He tugged it over her head, taking care not to snag her glasses, and helped her slide her arms through the sleeves. She sighed with pleasure. The fleece held Cal’s warmth and transferred it to her body like a hug.

  “Now you’ll be cold,” she said, but stayed snuggled inside the garment that hid her hands and dropped to her knees.

  “I’m fine.” Cal didn’t appear the slightest bit uncomfortable without the heavier clothing over his T-shirt. “Come check out the gazebo.” He held her hands in his and walked backward along the stone pathway, smiling as he led her. TJ raced around the open space with Pirate on his heels, the boy whooping and the dog woofing.

  Cal tucked Maddie’s hand into the crook of his arm and led her up the gazebo’s two wide stairs as if she were a queen being escorted to her throne. She reached out a hand to trail the wood railings, breathed in the heady cedar, and admired the intricate gingerbread woodworking of the brackets Cal had set in every corner of the wide openings. She walked the interior perimeter of the octagonal structure, ran her hand across the smooth benches Cal had built there, stood in the center, and raised her gaze to the sturdy rafters. She looked over at the man she loved and gave him a brilliant smile. He stood in the entryway and held his arms out to her. She went to him and he drew her in.