But how?
And why?
Those were questions she didn’t have answers to, and the hike to the cave kept her too occupied to begin unravelling those answers.
Whether full of the bloom of spring wildflowers, or buried beneath a foot of snow, she had no problem finding her way. She knew where she was, and how much farther they had to go. Her thoughts focused on the task ahead rather than the man behind them.
Jen’s incessant chatter had her gritting her teeth, but that wasn’t what fueled her anger. With each agonizing step, that anger intensified, because Caleb had no right coming back into her life.
The boy who walked out had the nerve to return guns blazing to save the day, and he looked even more handsome than she remembered. He swept back into her life with lethal devastation, unravelling years of work putting him out of her mind.
It wasn’t fair he looked that good. The tumultuous excitement at seeing him came as a shock, and she struggled to bury that reaction deep down where it would never see the light of day, because it made her think of things she’d rather forget.
But wasn’t that what she wanted?
To see Caleb again?
To have him in her life again?
No!
Anger stirred within her, pushing out the unwanted excitement. The way Caleb saved Bear’s life might be the one thing which irritated her the most. She didn’t want to be indebted to him. She didn’t want him here at all.
Except, wasn’t that what she’d dreamt about for the past seven years? Him walking into her life, sweeping her into his arms, and kissing her until the world disappeared? Yes, she wanted all of that. Her father had urged her to move on and forget Caleb. She never could. As much as it hurt to lose Caleb, the thought of forgetting him hurt worse.
Instead, she dreamed of him coming back to her. Movie scenes filled her dreams as he ran toward her, arms outstretched, cue corny music as he swept her into his arms and spun them around before planting the most epic kiss in the history of mankind on her lips.
She hated useless fantasies.
Why was he here? Did he think he could sweep in and save her?
That added to her growing list of things which pissed her off because being saved had been what she needed; first by Bear and then by the man who ripped out her heart. Caleb might star in her late-night fantasies, but he had also been the one who taught her fairytales weren’t real.
Her shotgun had been useless. Using it would’ve killed Bear along with that damned cat, and her father’s gun, while powerful, had its own issues. It would be nice to think she had perfect aim, but the truth was she was a passable shot. She could take down a charging bear, but her dog and a mountain lion locked in mortal combat?
That had taken the skill of a true marksman.
She tried not to keep tabs on Caleb. In a small town, however, that was impossible. His mother went on and on about her Marine, his selection for sniper recon, and then acceptance into the coveted Delta Force. Frankly, she didn’t care to know any of it, because it meant he was living his dream, a life without her, and thriving. In the meantime, her dreams disappeared.
The air clotted with his betrayal and abandonment. She could barely breathe.
“How much farther?” Sally’s voice tightened with pain as they navigated a particularly steep part of the trail. The girl deserved a damn medal. Despite her injuries, she never once complained during the arduous hike.
Jen, however, wouldn’t shut up. It was too cold. The wind blew too hard. Her eyes watered from the cold, blinding her. That comment had come with a screech which had Caitlyn hiking her shoulders to her ears. The girl needed to suck it up, grow a pair, and shut up. Complaining only made things worse. Caitlyn tuned out yet another string of complaints to scan the ridge ahead.
In stark contrast to Jen’s incessant complaints, Caleb said nothing during the hike to the cave. Too busy shouldering most of Sally’s weight, Caitlyn didn’t have the energy to check on him, and less of a mind to ask what the hell he was doing up in the mountains; although she could guess.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that mystery out.
Before he saw his mom, Caleb’s first stop would’ve been Marge’s. A rescue in the mountains would’ve been top on the list of juicy gossip Marge couldn’t wait to unload.
Up a short incline, across that ridge, the cave would come into view. They were almost there. Promising shelter, safety, and security, it would provide refuge from the storm. A new burst of strength drove her forward.
“It’s not too far now.” She pointed, giving Sally time to follow the direction of her finger.
“I’m so cold,” Jen complained.
Sally shifted her weight on her good leg and bit at her lower lip. She said nothing but gave a tight nod.
It had been seven years since Caitlyn had been to this particular cave. The day Caleb left Bear Creek, she lost all interest in coming here. It held too many memories. But there it was; a slice of darkness in an otherwise oppressive white. All around them, the wind howled, buffeting them from all sides and biting cold snapped their strength. Snow swirled in the air, falling fast, and impeding their progress. Jen had every reason to complain. Caitlyn just wished the girl would shut up.
The snow melted around Caitlyn’s legs and seeped into her boots. Her feet were cold and wet, a dangerous combination. Jen didn’t have Caitlyn’s sturdy boots or the Gators which helped to keep snow out of her boots, or the thermal pants Caitlyn wore. Both girls had ankle high hiking boots, jeans, and thin shirts beneath their jackets. They weren’t outfitted for a blizzard and suffered as a result.
“We’re almost there.” She tried to reassure the girls.
Sally tried not to be a burden, but only had the one good foot on which to hop. Caitlyn readjusted Sally’s arm over her shoulder and tried to provide encouragement.
Sally’s face pinched with pain, and her lips drew tight. This girl was a fighter.
“And you’re sure we’ll be okay?” Jen asked. “I wish the rescuers were here.”
I am your damn rescuer you ungrateful…
Caitlyn didn’t allow herself to finish that thought.
It didn’t matter, but if Jen turned around one more time to check Caleb out, Caitlyn would kick the bitch. Each time Jen did that, it made Sally stumble and forced Caitlyn to bear more of Sally’s weight.
“The storm will make it too dangerous for them to come. Don’t worry. They know where we are.” Caitlyn made sure of it, stopping along the way while the girls rested to tie markers high in the trees. Sheriff Johnson and his men would have a clear trail to follow once the storm broke. “Best to get to the cave and start a fire. In the morning, we’ll get you out.”
Caleb paused at the bottom of the last hill while she and Jen helped Sally climb to the safety of the cave. She couldn’t wait to get the girls out of the cold. Hypothermia was a real threat.
Once she had them settled, she would need to head back outside to gather enough firewood to keep them warm through what remained of the day and following night. Nighttime would be worse, but they would have protection from the elements inside the cave, and she had a few tricks up her sleeves. By the time she had Sally settled on the cold granite of the cave floor, Caleb arrived with Bear.
He towered over her, his breaths slow and measured, unlike her huffing and puffing. And she was in excellent shape. One look at him and she realized he was in far better shape. The years had been very kind to Caleb. The boy she knew had turned into a man.
This was it, the moment to look him in the eye.
What would she see?
Her emotions tangled into knots that would never be unraveled. There had been a time when she loved him. Now, all she felt was resentment and an aching emptiness. There was one problem. Her body didn’t care what she thought. One look at Caleb and warmth grew low in her belly as she took him in. Her throat went dry as his eyes crinkled with his gentle smile.
It was too much. She shifted her at
tention from Caleb’s stunning face to her poor, dejected dog.
She kissed Bear’s cold muzzle. “You'll be okay.” But Bear felt too cold. “We need to get him warm.” She turned to Caleb, overwhelmed, and hating herself for turning to him for help.
“He’s going to be okay, Cat.” The deep rumble of his voice made her breath catch.
She jerked at the nickname. He was the only one who ever called her that, and she’d almost forgotten how wonderful it sounded in his rumbly baritone.
Caleb bent to a knee. Together, they rolled Bear off his broad shoulders and gently placed him on the ground. Caleb seemed bigger than she remembered, an inch or two taller, broader, more muscular, more confident, more everything. His presence filled the cave and she pinched her eyes reminding herself that he no longer held any sway over her emotions. He gave up that right when he left, but her heart had something to say about that.
“Thanks.” She settled Bear on the ground, helping him into the most comfortable position. She needed to put something under him. Formed from granite, the cave floor would steal Bear’s precious body heat like a leech.
“I’ll see to the girls.” Caleb stared into her eyes, making her jerk back with surprise. The intensity of his gaze overwhelmed and she hadn’t been prepared for what she saw in their steely blue depths.
“Of course,” she said, sounding more dismissive than intended.
It wasn’t her intent to be rude, or ungrateful, but his proximity triggered old memories and brought back the pain of a heartbreak which had never healed. She didn’t need that now, not when tested by frustration and physical exhaustion. It would be too easy to open a way for him back into her heart and he no longer had that right.
The muscles of his jaw ticked at her brusque answer, but he didn’t push.
While Caleb went to check on the girls, she released the straps to Bear’s pack. Ripped from the mountain lion attack, she gave thanks for the little protection it had given him. Taking her time, she took a minute to see how bad Bear’s injuries were. Then she took off her pack and pulled out first aid supplies. Some of the cuts needed tending.
Bear tried to get up, but she held him down, easing him with her voice. “You need to stay put, Bear. Let me fix you up.”
Bear gave a whimper and his tail thumped, but he settled beneath her touch. That should be reassuring, except she took it to mean his injuries were worse than she realized. Bear wasn’t one to give up so easily.
Caleb returned. “Do you need help?” He towered over her, forcing her to crane her neck.
He was so much more than she remembered. It wasn’t fair that he had become even more good looking over the years.
She cleared her throat. “I’ve got this.”
The words came out harsher than she intended, forcing her to tamp down her misplaced anger. This was neither the time nor the place to deal with emotional baggage that no longer mattered.
“Okay.” He held his hands up and took a step back.
“Actually,” she said, easing her tone, “we need firewood. Once I make sure Bear is okay, I’ll head out and gather some, but we shouldn’t waste too much time. You should go and start collecting some now.” It was as close to a dismissal as she would give.
“Sure you don’t need help with Bear?” He crouched and stroked Bear’s fur. It brought the intoxicating scent of him far too close. One whiff and she was transported back years to the last time they were in this cave.
“No,” she blurted. “I’ve got this. Find something to burn. If they’re not hypothermic already, the girls soon will be.”
She was happy to leave to Caleb to that task. Hopefully, it would keep him out of the cave and allow her to process what his sudden reappearance meant.
Chapter 8
Caleb
Caleb rubbed the back of his neck pretty certain he’d been dismissed and not sure how to handle it. This was not going the way he expected. In his mind, their reunion ended with her arms wrapped around his neck and her sweet lips locked to his. There had been tongue action, hip grinding, and pelvic thrusting too.
Instead, Caitlyn gave him not a cold shoulder, but a frigid get-the-hell-out-of-here look. There was no Thank you, or Nice to see you, or My you look good comments. Not that conditions were particularly favorable for a raunchy romp between the sheets, but a dismissal?
Go get firewood.
She gave him an order like a private out of basic.
He stomped back out into the frigid blizzard, head shaking with the warm reception Caitlyn didn’t provide.
Wood.
They needed wood, and not the hard wood pressing against his zipper. One look had been all it had taken to take him from flaccid to rigidly erect. He missed her with an agony reaching deep to his soul and didn’t understand how she didn’t still feel their connection.
Maybe after he gathered something to burn, her cool disposition would thaw around the fire.
A man could hope.
Damn, but the years had been kind to Caitlyn. The girl he had left behind matured into a stunning beauty. Her tits had filled out for one thing. Though she lost none of her fiery temper. Torn between the woman he loved and duty to his country, he found himself at a loss. He wasn’t in a position to choose. Not after reenlisting. The Marines owned him.
Best not to think about it.
With that problem firmly lodged in his head, he grabbed at sticks and branches poking through the snow. There was enough deadwood to fuel twenty fires and he brought all of it back to the cave. On his second trip, he removed his outer coat because, despite the blizzard, his exertion was working up a sweat.
Perspiration beaded his brow and the last thing he needed was for his clothes to dampen with sweat. The moment he stopped moving, he’d be at risk for hypothermia. Those girls were probably already dangerously close. Concern for them had him heading into the relative safety of the cave with an armful of wood when he could have stayed out and collected more.
He set up a makeshift fire ring with a few loose rocks, then stacked the wood. With a word of thanks to his mother for packing his gear, it didn’t take long before he had the beginnings of a tiny blaze going. They would need more wood to take them through the night, which meant more time searching for firewood outside. With the temperatures plunging, he would have to hurry.
During his entire time inside the cave, Caitlyn never once glanced in his direction. Her entire concentration focused on Bear. Bandages circled his gut and wrapped around his shoulder. She was taking a closer look at Bear’s throat. That dog had been a godsend. Not afraid to take on the damned mountain lion, he saved Caitlyn’s life.
With Caitlyn not talking to him, Caleb spoke to the girls.
“How are you doing?” He added another log to the fire now that a steady flame burned.
“I’m cold.” Sally’s teeth chattered.
“Can’t you make it bigger?” Jen wrinkled her nose at the smoke blowing in her face. “That’s not doing anything.”
“Put too much wood on, too early, and you smother a fire. I know you’re cold but give it a little longer to take. Okay?”
“Okay?” Sally scooted closer to the fire and held out her hands.
Jen tucked her hands under her arms and pouted.
“This is going to sound counter-intuitive, but we need to get you out of your jeans and dry them.” He took a moment to assess the girls. Above their ankle-high boots, their jeans were soaked to their knees.
Jen gasped, but he rushed to reassure them.
“I have a spare pair of long johns in my pack, and I’m pretty certain Caitlyn has some too. How about, while I go grab more wood, the two of you remove your jeans and put on something dry?”
Did he need to explain the risk of hypothermia would only increase as the wet denim dried? Sally seemed to understand, but Jen looked like she needed more convincing. What would she say if he suggested they all needed to strip and cuddle if they really wanted to stay warm? He couldn’t help the smirk tugging up th
e corner of his lip and turned away before he lost it completely.
Fortunately, the fire was taking. The cozy cave wouldn’t take too long to warm up, and he had a few more tricks up his sleeves. There were benefits to being a Delta operative. An expert at killing, he also excelled in survival and saving others. This rescue was a piece of cake compared to what his day job was like.
Sally gave a nod. “Okay.”
“Sally?” Jen practically screeched. “We’re not taking our clothes off—”
“Our jeans are wet,” Sally explained. “Don’t you remember what Professor Gadson said about mountain survival? We need to stay warm and dry.”
Sally seemed to be the smart one, but if Professor Gadson had half a brain, he would’ve also told the girls not to head into the mountains in jeans. Wool or fabrics specifically designed for cold weather would’ve been preferable.
Still nothing out of Caitlyn. He hoped to have coaxed her into a conversation while talking to the girls. Maybe addressing her directly would get a response.
“Caitlyn?”
She took her damn sweet time responding, lifting her head only when it would have been obvious she was ignoring him.
“Yes?”
“Do you have an extra change of clothes in your pack?”
“Yes.”
What was it with the one-word answers?
“Do you mind if I get it out for the girls?” The women all looked to be about the same size.
“Sure.”
Another one-word answer?
His teeth ground against one another as he bit back a string of expletives that would only make things worse. Without saying any of the many things he wanted, he went to her pack and dug. As he suspected, she had a pair of thermals rolled up at the bottom. He gave those to Jen, then went to get the pair from his pack.
With the girls taken care of, he headed back outside with his anger boiling and mood souring. Two trips later, he arrived at the mouth of the cave and nearly ran into Caitlyn as she zipped up her coat.
Caleb: Military Heroes (The One I Want Series Book 3) Page 6