Crushing on Kate

by Theresa Paolo

  She hurried back down stairs and came to a screeching halt at the landing. His bike that usually sat in this very spot was missing. Even if he went out for a ride he would’ve been back in time to open his store.

  Kate grabbed onto the banister and lowered herself onto the stairs as horrible pictures unfolded in her mind. What if he had an accident? What if he hit his head? Or took a tumble down one of the hills?

  Her heart slammed against her chest, making it impossible to breathe. She struggled, taking in short desperate gasps, trying to control her erratic heartbeat.

  “Calm down,” she muttered to herself as she focused on air going in and out of her lungs. “It could be nothing. You could be overreacting,” she continued to talk to herself. “But what if you’re not? What if he’s hurt?” She didn’t need to ask herself twice. In her gut, she already knew the answer.

  But where was he? If he was on the trail it covered over twenty miles of single track that looped in and out of the woods. She thought about hitting the trails herself, but what if he was unconscious? Or couldn’t walk? What good would she do?

  And what if a bear or a mountain lion came upon him before she did? The likelihood was slim, but rational thought had vanished around the time she realized he was missing.

  Missing.

  Afraid to waste another second, she jumped up from the stairs and got back in her car, heading to the one person who would be able to help her.

  ***

  Hot searing pain exploded in Caleb’s leg, shooting through his thigh and radiating right in his groin. “Fuck me!” he cried out as he collapsed back on the ground. At this rate, he was going to die out here and never get the chance to tell Kate he was sorry. That he was an idiot. That she was nothing like Gia, but that scared him more, because maybe she was too good for him.

  Even if she was, he wasn’t letting go. Not this time because he was going to spend the rest of his life trying to be the man she deserved. If only he survived long enough to do so.

  Walking was out of the question, but maybe he could crawl. He shifted his weight and got on one knee but the minute he went to bend the other, pain rendered him useless, dropping his pathetic body to the ground.

  He couldn’t walk, and he couldn’t crawl, but maybe he could drag himself. He lifted up on his elbows and used them to pull his mangled body, but since he hadn’t eaten anything since god knows when and being completely out of water, his strength was dwindling. He made it all of twenty feet before he collapsed onto the ground again.

  He propped himself up against a tree and closed his eyes, bringing Kate’s face into full view. He focused on her porcelain skin, the bluish green color of her eyes, those perfect lips that could breathe life right into him. He could almost feel them move against his skin as she worked her way down his body. He let every other thought float away as he imagined her lips all over him. The way she kissed away any building tension.

  He thought of only Kate and her beautiful mouth until the pain was no longer front and center in his mind.

  ***

  Kate barely had her car in park before she threw the door open and jumped out, making a bee-line for the front door of the Red Maple Falls police station.

  Kate stepped inside the small building. The walls were a rich golden yellow that were accented by polished oak desks and moldings. Martha, the dispatcher and Matt’s assistant, glanced up from the computer and gave Kate a wave.

  “What do we owe the pleasure?” she asked.

  “Is my brother here? I need my brother.” Kate hurried toward Matt’s office, but when she peeked through the door he wasn’t there.

  “Honey, are you okay?” Martha asked as Kate moved passed her and toward the hallway that lead to the bathroom and break room. “Kate, sweetie?”

  “What’s going on?” Kate heard Matt’s voice and spun toward him.

  “Matt!”

  He must’ve seen the panic on her face because he ran to her side. “What’s wrong?”

  “Caleb is hurt.”

  “What do you mean he’s hurt? What happened? Where is he?”

  Matt rested a hand on her arm, and the familiar touch sent a spiral of emotions coursing through her. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes and she tried to hold them back, tried to answer Matt’s questions, but she couldn’t get words around the big, hot lump in her throat.

  “He’s hurt,” she said again.

  Matt guided her to a chair and urged her to sit. He said something to Martha, and she disappeared. He took her hands and squeezed them tightly just like he did when they were kids and she was too worked up to speak. “Easy now,” he said. “Breathe.”

  She took a deep breath and let the action work its way through her system to calm her. One more breath and she was finally able to speak. “We need to find him.”

  “Find him? If you don’t know where he is how do you know he’s hurt?”

  “He didn’t show up to open his store today. He would never not show up.”

  “Maybe he got confused and thought Hunter was supposed to open today.”

  “No,” Kate said the panic rising in her voice again. Matt squeezed her hands again, and she took another breath. “I know Caleb was supposed to be there.”

  “Maybe he mixed up the days. Have you tried calling him?”

  Annoyed that Matt would even ask a stupid question like that she ripped her hands out of his hold. “Of course I called him. What do you think I am? An idiot?”

  “I’m just getting information. Have you gone by his place?”

  “Yes, his car was there, so was his phone, his bike wasn’t. That’s why I think he’s hurt. His clothes from yesterday were thrown on the floor like he took them off in a hurry and then went on his bike.”

  “Why would he be in a hurry?”

  “We had a bit of a disagreement last night, and he took off. Whenever he needs to clear his head he hits the trails. I’m telling you, he went out on his bike and something happened. I’ve wasted enough time playing twenty questions. He’s missing and I need to find him. The only question left to ask here is are you going to help me or not?”

  “I can’t consider him a missing person until it’s been a full twenty-four hours. It’s protocol.”

  “Screw protocol! I’m not asking you to follow protocol. I’m asking my brother to help me find the man that I love who might be in danger.”

  Matt stared at her for a long hard second when Martha approached them with a glass of water.

  Matt mumbled something incoherent then turned to Martha. “Call the hospital see if anyone is there that fits Caleb James description. If not, we need to get together a search team. Call everyone you can think of. Tell them to meet me at the trail head on White Pines Road in an hour.”

  “I’m on it.” She turned to Kate and handed her the water then rested a gentle hand on her face. “We’ll find him, dear.”

  There was a gentle tenderness in her eyes that made Kate believe her. She just hoped when they did find him they weren’t too late.

  Chapter 20

  Car after car pulled up to the trailhead, and Kate was so grateful for her small town and all the wonderful people who lived there. Cooper and Mason came together, followed by her parents and Hadley. She hugged each of them, knowing how lucky she was. Caleb didn’t have a close-knit family to call on, not since his brother died, but Kate wanted to give that back to him. She wanted him to know he was welcome in her world with all the people who loved her. They would love him, too, as if he was blood.

  Shay showed up with Terry and Walt. Terry immediately took Kate in her arms, squeezing her tight against her chest. “When we find him, and we will find him, I say we kill him for giving me heart palpitations.”

  Despite herself, Kate laughed. “Terry, I think that is a great idea.”

  “Soon enough. I even put my flats on so he can’t run from me.” Terry lifted up her foot and pointed at her gold canvas slip-ons with gold rhinestones.

  Sam pulled up next with ano
ther local fireman, Chase Marshall. Declan Calhoun, owner of everyone’s favorite bar, joined the crowd as well.

  Kate felt the support of the community and it gave her strength, but when Cynthia and Devin, Red Maple Falls EMT’s pulled up in an ambulance fear wrapped around Kate’s heart.

  With everyone there she had managed to push all the negative thoughts to the back of her head, but now, staring at the flashing lights of the ambulance she couldn’t ignore the possibility that Caleb was seriously hurt.

  A warm hand slipped into hers, and Shay gave her a squeeze. “It’s just precaution. Caleb’s tough. Probably just got himself stuck in a rut somewhere.”

  “I hope so.” She hugged her best friend tightly. “Thanks for coming.”

  “At least someone’s happy I’m here,” Shay said, her eyes cutting to Matt.

  “He’s just worried.”

  “He’s a pain in my butt.”

  “But you love him.”

  “I do.”

  Kate smiled and though it was forced, the benevolence that was in her heart was still there. The crowd grew, and when the last person made their way down the street, every person turned in wonder. Old Man Simpson, sober as could be, walked toward the front of the group.

  “Bert,” Matt said, giving him a handshake and a pat on the back. “It’s good to see you here.”

  Kate couldn’t believe her eyes and from the looks on everyone else’s faces either could they. Old man Simpson rarely left his house. The only time most people ever saw him was when he was drunk driving his tractor down Main Street.

  “Caleb’s a good man. If he’s in trouble I want to help.”

  Kate couldn’t stand back a second longer. She stepped forward and smiled at Bert. “How do you know Caleb?”

  “He showed up at my house one day, and I haven’t been able to get rid of him since.”

  A stunned Kate stared at the old man. Ever since that night she and Caleb watched him driving down Main Street, she saw something in Caleb’s eyes. He didn’t like to know about anyone being alone, because he understood what it was like.

  He was out there now, somewhere in these woods, alone, thinking nobody cared about him. But she cared. She looked around to all the volunteers; they cared. She looked at old man Simpson and smiled. He cared.

  “Let’s go find him,” she said, linking her arms through his.

  Matt stepped to the front of the crowd and stuck his fingers in his mouth sending out a loud whistle that got everyone’s attention. He thanked everyone for coming then went over safety precautions and what they should do if they found themselves in distress.

  “My mother has a cooler filled with bottled water. Take one. I don’t need anyone getting heat stroke on me,” Matt said and Kate’s mind went to her grandfather. What if Caleb was out of water? It was a hot humid day and if he’d been out there in the middle of nowhere over exerting himself…she forced the thoughts out of her mind and focused on the task ahead.

  “Good luck. I’m going to stay with the water bottles, but my heart will be with you in those woods,” Shay said and Kate pulled her in for a hug.

  “Thank you. When I see you again he’ll be with me.”

  “I have no doubts.”

  Kate didn’t want to say it but she had plenty of doubts. Too many. But she had to be strong. She thought about her grandmother that day in the hospital and how she held it together. How she found the strength within to be strong for the man she loved. Kate needed to find that strength. She needed to be strong for Caleb.

  With a deep breath, she surged forward, finding strength with each step she took.

  Chapter 21

  The sun moved higher in the sky, beating down hot unrelenting heat that clung to Caleb’s skin. His mouth was drier than the Patagonian and he was desperate to soothe it. It had been awhile since he had tried to move, so he gave it another attempt only to collapse almost as quickly.

  Pain shot through his thigh and right to his stomach, sending waves of nausea through him. He pressed his fist into the hard ground, trying to divert his attention away from the excruciating pain that was reducing him to a puddle of futility.

  He had already lost so much blood thanks to the jagged broken tree branch that pierced through his skin, leaving a huge hole in his upper thigh. He probably would have been better off leaving it where it had impaled him since when he pulled it out blood shot out like a geyser.

  The tourniquet he made with his shirt helped quench the bleeding, but the pain was a whole other story.

  Weak from blood loss and growing hotter by the second, he needed water to keep him from becoming delirious.

  It was a good thirty or so feet to his bike, but maybe there was a smidge of water left in his bottle. He used his elbows to drag himself back to his bike, opened his water bottle and held his tongue out shaking the bottle in hopes that even a single drop would fall free.

  When nothing hit his tongue, anger surged through his veins and he threw the bottle, letting out a string of curses to follow.

  Once the anger ran its course, he dragged himself to the nearest tree only a couple feet away and rested against it. He leaned his head back and stared passed the tree tops to the bright blue sky.

  “Milo, got myself in a real mess here. Doesn’t seem fair that they took you when I’m the one that can never get anything right. You would’ve packed extra water, remembered to grab your phone, put sunscreen on.” A sob caught in his throat as he thought about all the adventures they went on. How every single time Caleb made fun of him for being over prepared, but in the end Caleb was always hitting up his extra water, or bumming a protein bar from him.

  Caleb might’ve been older, but Milo was always wiser. He would know exactly what to do right now. But he wasn’t here and as much as Caleb missed his brother he wasn’t ready to cross the big bridge in the sky to see him again.

  One day he would be ready, but that day wasn’t today.

  “I love her,” he said as if his brother were sitting across from him. “It’s different this time. I thought I loved Gia, but I realize now I just loved the idea of her. I should’ve listened to you. You never liked her, even if you never came out and said it. But Kate. My god you would’ve loved Kate. She’s smart and beautiful, kind-hearted and fun. She also doesn’t take my shit. She’s not afraid to call me out, and she doesn’t back down.”

  Overcome with emotion, he shook as another sob rose in his throat, but no tears filled his eyes. “I wish you could meet her. I wish that you were here to stand at my side when she walks down the aisle to be my wife because if I survive this, I’m marrying that girl.”

  He let the words linger in the air as his own thoughts consumed him. What if nobody found him? What if nobody cared enough to even know he was missing?

  ***

  Kate’s t-shirt clung to her skin as she scoured the woods, looking for any sign of Caleb. Matt was a good fifty-feet to her right, and Hadley was about the same distance to her left. Mason and Cooper were bringing up their rear.

  They had been at it for only twenty minutes, but with each passing second Kate’s fear became harder and harder to squelch.

  A small square sign with a black diamond painted on it indicated a turn of the main trail that would bring them into harder terrain and a more difficult path to maneuver. Being on foot they had an advantage, but it was still challenging.

  Kate didn’t want the older volunteers taking their chances on the black diamonds, but Kate knew Caleb and she knew he wouldn’t miss them up especially if his ride was fueled by emotion. She called out to Matt, and when he looked toward her she pointed toward the cutoff of the trail.

  Matt nodded and changed course, following Kate. All her siblings followed while Matt briefly stopped to tell the rest of the volunteers to keep on track and they would meet when the two trails reconvened.

  Kate took a sip of water then swiped at the sweat beading on her forehead.

  “How you holding up?” Matt asked, coming up behind her.<
br />
  “The best I can, given the circumstances.”

  “We’ll find him,” he said.

  “Everyone keeps saying that, but as the clock ticks, my hope ticks away with it.”

  “We just started. Don’t lose hope so soon.” He squeezed her shoulder then walked ahead of her scanning the surroundings to his right while Kate looked left.

  “Caleb!” she called out his name again, her throat beginning to go hoarse. She cleared her throat and called for him again, hoping and praying that she’d hear his voice, but just like last time, he didn’t call back to her.

  ***

  It was getting harder and harder to focus. Caleb tried to keep his attention on the tree across from him, but it swayed and moved as if it was dancing to the beat of the chirping birds.

  “Hang on, buddy,” he heard and forced his eyes back open.

  “Milo? What are you doing here?”

  “Got bored watching over you. Thought I’d come down and say hi.”

  “Any bright ideas on how to get me out of here?”

  “Have hope.”

  “I lost hope the day you died.”

  Milo knelt down beside him, his head hanging down, his brown hair that was in need of a haircut like always, fell forward. After a minute, he looked up, pushing his hair back. “I know and I hate that I took it away from you. But you found a good thing here. Don’t ruin it because you’re scared.”

  “I’m not scared.”

  A humorous smile spread across Milo’s face. “You don’t have to be brave for me anymore, big brother. I know you’re scared, and that’s okay. Just don’t let that fear make you lose out on the best thing that ever happened to you because she’s not going anywhere.”

  “How do you know? You weren’t supposed to go anywhere. Mom, too. Everyone I love leaves me.”

  “Isn’t it better to have loved and lost than never to love at all?”

  “Really? That’s what you’re going with?”

  “It’s a great quote. Think about it for a second. All those memories of Mom singing in the car, slapping her hand against the steering wheel and handing us whatever she could grab to jump in as her backup singers. The way she’d smile when we’d bring home some crappy ass drawing from school and act as if it was a work of art that belonged in the Museum of Fine Arts. Or all the trips you and me took. All the epic adventures of going off the grid and just riding until our legs felt like they’d explode. The nights where we’d find a local bar to catch up and share a beer and wings. If you had the chance to erase it from your memory, so you wouldn’t know the pain of loss, would you?”