“I have the perfect place for them.” Cain said he couldn’t do that. “Yes, you can. My mom and I were given the same sort of help when I was about five. Without the help, there is no telling how we might have gotten where we are today. I’ll make a call right now, and we’ll have you moved in— Are any of the things in the house anything you want?”
“No. A few items that will fit in a suitcase. Pictures, but nothing we purchased.” He laughed a little. “I don’t know what to say about this. I mean, you have no idea how much this is going to mean to us and our growing family.”
Caleb did know. And he wasn’t kidding about them getting a hand up. It had been Mary and Ben that had helped them by cosigning on the house they’d lived in up until his mother had passed away. Talking to Arthur while Cain called his wife, he told him to buy the two houses he’d seen earlier today. Nodding that he would, he made his way to the room he thought would be the study.
After deciding he was as much in love with this room as he was all the others, he turned to Tabby when she entered the room. She looked beautiful with the sunlight from the stained glass window behind him. The desk that had also been left behind was the perfect place for him to sit while he thought about all the things he wanted to do to her.
“Cain is going to start working next week. I hope you don’t mind, but I have Kylie looking into some things he mentioned after you left. Do you have him a home?” He nodded and said that it would need to be furnished. “Can I move in here with you? If so, he can have what I have at my apartment to start off with. And anything you might have left over at your home.”
“I spoke to Mary this morning before heading out. They’ve taken very little, so there would be plenty more for him to round out the edges of the house. It’s five bedrooms, so he can grow as much as he needs to. And I would be happier than I think I’ve ever been if you were to move in here with me.” She moved around the desk to the window that looked out over the expanse of their backyard. “What is it you’re thinking about, Tabby? Something that I can do or help you with?”
She turned to look at him, and he could see the tears as they made their way down her cheeks. Moving towards her, he held her in his arms while she spoke in broken random sentences that he didn’t really understand until she asked him not to break her heart.
~*~
Tabby made her way back to work with a lighter heart. She was still afraid that Caleb was going to hurt her, but what he’d told her had reassured her that he was going to try his best not to hurt her in any way. She really felt foolish for sobbing like she had, but it had been weighing heavily on her mind and heart, especially after being glib about her moving in and him taking her so seriously. The conversation the two of them had had would be with her forever, she thought. And it had only been his declaration of making sure she was happy that made her feel like he was falling into this relationship as quickly and as head over heels in love as she was. Only the man in the parking lot when she pulled in, Shep, made her feel the sinking heart feeling all over again.
“I just want to talk to you. Please?” Nodding, she told him security was going to be aware that he was in the building with her. “I deserve that. All right. I’m going to be on my best behavior. I promise you. I’ve gone to see my parents today. We had an exceptionally long talk.”
“Good for you. I’m hoping you’re not here to take my job from me. I will fight you for it.” Shep laughed. “I don’t think this is funny, Shep. I’ve been working extremely hard here since I was put in charge.”
He whistled when they entered the building. “You have been. Christ, this is amazing.” She realized she had forgotten to ask Caleb for help with the break rooms when Shep entered the one that was currently being used. “I love how you’ve had the concrete taken down to let in the sunshine. It makes the room seem larger and brighter.”
Showing him around made her feel better. He was complimenting her on the things that she’d done already and suggesting things she’d not thought of. Making her way to her new office, she laughed a little when she found not just Arthur putting her chairs together, but Cain was working on them as well. There was a message on her desk for her to call the contractor.
“I have to do this. Will you wait?” Just as he said he’d come back, Kylie joined them. She said she’d take him around to see the rest of the things that were going on. “Are you sure you don’t mind? I won’t be long, I don’t think.”
“Take your time. We’ll work around the building, and I can point out things that you have going on. Besides, I think you have some paperwork to sign off on with Caleb. Arthur said he has things squared away for you guys.” She glanced at Arthur, and he winked at her. “I’ll be fine.”
~*~
Shep hadn’t been so impressed in all his life. In just a few short days, not only were things moving to improve the areas that people worked in, but he could see that the employees seemed to be having a good time. Of course, he’d not spent a great deal of time here, much less on the floor, but he liked what he was seeing.
Finally, they ended up in the room that was earmarked for a break room. There was nothing to show for it, not yet, but someone had put up sticky notes—he thought it might have been Kylie—as to where things were going to go.
“I had a long talk with my parents.” She asked him how that had gone. “That wasn’t what changed my mind about myself. I am a jerk. But since my dad didn’t know I was coming, he wasn’t there. A doctor’s appointment that he’d made weeks ago. Anyway, my plan had been to be there to talk him into letting me come home and not have to work. But then I wandered in the dining room and found all these photo albums.”
“Abby’s.” He nodded. “Caleb brought them at the request of your parents. They wanted to see her, as they had missed so much of her life.”
“I didn’t know people did that anymore. Made those silly albums with stickers and stuff all around them. But I could see her doing it. Anyway, I started looking through the one that was open. She and Caleb had been on some kind of cruise. It wasn’t until I realized how I was looking at pictures of my sister that it hit me that she was gone.” Kylie told him she was sorry. “So am I, to be honest with you. After I had myself a long cry, which I won’t admit to anyone else, I put the albums in order and looked at each page, trying to imagine what she’d had to go through to get to the point where she was by the time she’d been on the cruise with Caleb.”
Shep thought about some of the pictures he’d seen. “The first album had a great many pictures of her and her belly growing. Ultrasound pictures of Caleb’s growth. For a tiny little thing, she was huge with her son.” Kylie warned him not to say that to any other woman. “I won’t. I’m not that stupid. But I could see that despite living where she was—it looked like a women’s shelter—she was doing well. Happy too.”
“Caleb said she rarely got down. When she was at the end of her life, she wasn’t as strong, of course, but she didn’t let it take her under too far. Caleb said they would talk for as long as she could stay awake those last few days, then he’d go and work. I think he’s still hurting for his loss.” Shep didn’t feel he had the right to say he was hurting too. He had pushed her away as much as his parents had. “It’s all right if you’re hurting for her, Shep. I’m sure she would have felt for you if things had been swapped.”
“She was a bigger person than I was. Even as children.” He had thought of her as a teenager a great deal in the last twenty-four hours. “Abby was older than me by about ten years. I was almost seven when she left home. Even back then, I was a shit. But after she left, my parents—not blaming them—but they sort of became ghosts of what they had been before. I know now that I was trying to get their attention by acting out. It worked, but not the way I had hoped. After a while, I just made a habit of being a prick. To everyone. Since they never took any notice of what I was doing to get back at them, I got worse and worse. Until my own nephew
knocked me down a couple of times.”
“Yes, well, he is a good deal younger than you are. And stronger. In better shape too. I’m betting that he—” He laughed, telling her he got it. “Someone should have knocked you around long before now, I’m thinking.”
“And I’d agree with you. Now, I mean.” He looked around the room. “I was a shit to Tabby. And when I showed up today, I knew for sure she was going to call the police on me. But she was nice and polite to me. Even showing me around the place like I was a prospective employee.”
“You could be.” Shep looked at her, trying hard not to get his hopes up. To work here, beside Tabby instead of against her, was what he’d been thinking about. He’d not even talked to his dad about it when he returned from the doctor. “I have to hire sixteen more people before the renovations are done. Also, Tabby is adding more projects that will be umbrellaed under the same name. Things that will not just help the community in hiring more people, but they’ll also be trained on things such as computers and things like that. You could help with that. In fact, Shep, you could do whatever you like. You’re far from stupid. Construction jobs are open as well.”
“I really would like to do that. Work with construction.” She nodded and stood up from the cable roll they had been sitting on. “Right now? You’re going to hire me right now?”
“I don’t see any reason why not. There are two construction crews working right now that need a man. It’s nothing more than a labor job, but it pays well, and you could use the exercise before I put you out to work.” He stood up, his heart pounding so hard he was sure she could hear it. “You seem to be dressed well enough for the job. I’m glad. But I will warn you, Shep. You cause any shit while working here, and you won’t have to worry about Caleb knocking the shit out of you. I will hurt you in ways that will make you remember me for the rest of your numbered days.”
“Will you have dinner with me?” He closed his mouth and covered it with his hand. “I’m so sorry. I have no idea where that came from.”
“Yes. I’d like to have dinner with you.” Shep asked her if she was serious. “If you were, I am. I like you, Shep. A lot. But I’m not kidding you when I tell you that I won’t put up with any of your shit.”
“No. I’m not going to promise you I’ll be on my best behavior all the time. I might slip back, but I’m sure you’ll have no trouble at all making me come around.” She doubled up her fist, and he pulled it to his mouth and kissed it before he could change his mind. “If you’re ready, we can go now. I haven’t any idea where we’ll go, but even if we end up with fast food, I’ll be happy just to be spending time with you.”
He found that he was excited too. Taking her hand when she let him, Shep felt like he could have taken on the world at that moment and—well, he wasn’t foolish enough to think that he’d come out anywhere but on the bottom part of the pile, but he was feeling like a new man.
They ended up at her hotel. The dining room was open, and that was where they ate. He was so happy it took him until the check came to realize he had no money. Not even a credit card. Laughing, as if she knew, she put her credit card on the tray, and it was whisked away.
“I know your situation, Shep. Besides, I have a company card that I’m to use. I think this is the first time I’ve used it, and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to do that with.” He told her he was sorry. “Don’t be. The next time you can pay. There will be a second time, right?”
“Yes. I hope so.” They were leaving the restaurant when they saw Tabby and Caleb. “They’re a nice couple. I mean, they are a couple, right?”
“They are. I think they sort of complete each other. The other day when they came back from looking around, I think Tabby was walking about a foot off the ground. She tries hard not to go all googly when he’s around, though.” Shep laughed and was happy for his nephew. “The two of them will be a very powerful couple too, I’m thinking. The world will be set on its ear when they start something.”
He watched them until they noticed the two of them. Neither of them made fun of him for being with Kylie, for which he was grateful. When they invited them to join them for an ice cream across the street, it was Kylie that said yes, and they made their way there.
Shep was sure someone was going to comment on the two of them. It had been a date, he thought. However, he didn’t want to read too much into it. Kylie didn’t seem to care what anyone thought and told them what a wonderful date they’d had.
“Shep, you’re going to have to get over your insecurities.” His face heated up when Tabby spoke. “I’m glad the two of you are getting together. I can’t think of a better couple than the two of you.”
“I’m older than her.” Kylie laughed and told him she liked older, mature men. “I’m not sure how mature I am, but I think I’m about fifteen years older than you.”
“No. you’re older, but not nearly that much. You’re somewhere around thirty-five, right?” He told her that he’d be thirty-six on his next birthday. “I’m almost afraid to ask you, but how old do you think I am? A hint to you is that I’m older than my brother by a few years.”
“I thought you were in your early twenties or something.” No one laughed at him, and it was Kylie that smiled. “You’re older than that, aren’t you?”
“Yes. I’ll be thirty-one on my next birthday. I went to law school after my grandma passed away. Mostly it was to have something to do with my grandfather. Then when Arthur decided to join his firm, I finished up just about the time my brother did. We have been partners for a while now too.” She smiled at him again. “So you see, we’re not that different, the two of us. Two people that have had a late start on life in general, and now we’ve met each other. Where will it go? Who knows. But for now, I’m happy as I’ve been for a while.”
“So am I.” He was very happy and enjoyed his ice cream cone. “I don’t remember the last time I had a cone, much less one that I ate like this. Out in the open.”
“You need to get out more. Socialize. Get to know the people you’re going to be working with.” Kylie told Caleb and Tabby that he was going to be working with the construction crew. And once again, he was surprised by their acceptance. “I’ll help you with the socializing. You’ll see, we’ll know everyone by the end of the month.”
Shep had spent his entire life in this town, and he’d bet that he couldn’t count ten people that he knew. Less than that whose names he knew. Yes, he thought, this was going to be a good deal of fun. So long as he didn’t fuck up, he told himself. And he was going to try his best not to do that.
Chapter 5
Caleb was looking over the paperwork on his land purchases when someone started pounding on the door. Calling for Arthur after looking in the security camera, the two of them went to the door and opened it.
“May I help you?” The man tried to barge his way in, but Caleb wasn’t having any of it. “If you want to come in here, you’re going to have to explain to me why you tried your best to break down my front door. I just bought this house, and I’d like to be able to live here for a while before—”
“Where do you get off buying this house? Or, for that matter, all the damned land around town? I’m in charge of that shit, and you’ll just have them take your name off the paperwork right fucking now. Or else.” Caleb looked at his watch and told the realtor that it was a little early in the morning to be making threats. “Are you serious? I don’t threaten people, kid. I make promises, and I’m going to make you turn over that property to me right now, or I’m going to take you to court. See if I don’t.”
“You won’t.” The man, Dick Douglas—a more ridiculous name than he’d ever heard—asked him what he was talking about. “You. You said you were going to take me to court, and that isn’t going to happen. What I did was purchase land for the asking price that was for sale by your company. I didn’t even haggle, even though I think I could have gotte
n them much cheaper than they were priced. However, I think that had more to do with you wanting to purchase them at a lower price than me getting a good deal. All the paperwork has been filed. Legally, I might add. And my name is filed on all the deeds now. I would have thought that your buddy, Slam-dunk, would have told you about it. I must ask, why do they call him that? Slam-dunk implies that he might well have played basketball, but I think he’s much too short—”
“What the hell are you going on about? Christ. Quit emptying your head and tell me when you’re going to do as I want.” Caleb said again that he wasn’t going to do any such thing. “You don’t know what you’re doing, kid.”
“Caleb Anderson.” He looked confused again. “My name. Instead of kid, I thought you’d call me by my name.” The man looked like his head was going to explode. That encouraged Caleb to be more creative in pissing the man off. “Of course, you could continue to call me kid if you’re in the mood. It’s doubtful that anyone else would think of me as a child. But you go right on ahead and—”
The gun came out of the back of the man’s pants. When it was pointed at him, Caleb didn’t move. Nor did he allow his fear to show through. Arthur said he’d call the police just as Tabby pulled into the drive. She was out of her car and up on the porch before either man could warn her to stop and stay back.
“What the hell is going on here? Why do you have a gun pointed at him?” Dick told her to mind her own business. “Do you think it sounds like I’m going to do that? Mind my own business? I’m not, in the event your head couldn’t handle thinking and standing at the same time. How the hell do you even make sure you’re bringing air in and out when—? Never mind. You made this my business when you pointed a gun at the chest of the man I love.”
“You love me?” She grinned and nodded. “I love you too. I know this is quick and all, but will you marry me? Make me even happier than I am—”
Caleb Anderson: Berkley’s Bastards – Billionaire Romance (Berkley's Bastards Book 1) Page 6