"You can drop him at his preschool," Leah said, still enjoying the feel of his arms around her.
He leaned back so he could look at her. "What about letting my mom and dad take him?"
"I don't want to be a burden."
Caleb shook his head. "They would love it. You saw the way they were with him yesterday. Do you still have any concerns?"
In truth, she didn't. Leah just didn't want to become too dependent on anyone else in case all of this somehow disappeared again. But at what point did she finally put the past behind her and begin to build a future that included all of Jonah's family?
"No. If you're sure he wouldn't be too much trouble for them."
"He won't. Besides, it would make me feel better if he were with us or family until we have his asthma under control." Caleb pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Now get ready. I'll make breakfast."
For the first time that she could remember, Leah felt relaxed and rested as she worked around the plants she loved. Even Mack's ramblings about working with a group trying to get marijuana legalized didn't irritate her the way it normally did. Her good mood was the result of more than Caleb's kisses, though those had been out of this world. The real plus was in not feeling she had to worry about Jonah for every second he was out of her sight.
Until she escaped it, Leah hadn't fully realized how much her living situation had been draining her. Now she was gone, she felt almost guilty at how relieved she was to be out of her parents' house, away from her father's tyranny, and her mother's downtrodden compliance with every edict her father uttered.
The early morning bride-to-be and her mother had been easy to deal with. As soon as Leah had shown them pictures of a bouquet comprised of white calla lilies, red roses, and ivy, the bride had fallen in love with it on the spot. Once they had settled on the bouquet, the rest of the flowers were easy to choose.
"You have a real gift for handling brides and their moms," Mack admitted after mom and bride had left.
"I don't know about that," Leah said, "but I do enjoy it. You don't, and I think that's the biggest difference."
"You're right. I like to be on the farm more than I like to be here. If I thought I could find a buyer for this place, I'd sell it in a snap."
Leah's heartbeat picked up, but then she pushed away the wild thoughts entering her head. Where would she find that kind of money?
Mack shook his head. "I wish I'd never promised my dad I'd keep this place going. He's a lot more committed to this area than I've ever been."
Leah was confused. "I thought your dad had passed away."
"He did, but a promise is a promise, so I won't close it."
She traced her finger over the image of the bridal bouquet still on the table in front of her. "You would sell it if you could?"
Mack laughed. "Sure. But who would buy it? Mountain Meadow is like an old lady not going anywhere but too stubborn to die."
"That seems a bit harsh."
Mack rolled his eyes. "You'd feel the same way if you'd ever gotten out of this town."
He turned on his heel and headed toward the greenhouse, leaving Leah behind him feeling embarrassed and a bit angry. She didn't see a town dying. She saw people bringing in new business, like Becca Allred with her bakery or Caleb with his sports bar. Eli Mercer had come back to buy his parents out of their restaurant. He obviously possessed enough confidence in the town to make an investment in it.
Sure, Leah hadn't been other places, but those three had. All of them had come back. Mack was wrong. Mountain Meadow wasn't dying. It was starting to grow again. The question was whether Mack's business would grow along with it, or if he would continue to neglect it to death.
Those thoughts were still chasing through her head after lunch when the bell over the door jingled. Leah looked up from the arrangement she was preparing, a smile of welcome on her lips that died the moment she saw her mother come through the door.
"Mama. What are you doing here?"
"Is that any way to greet me?"
Leah wiped her hands on her apron and came around the counter, stopping a couple of feet away from her mother. "It is when this is the first time I've seen you since Jonah had to go to the hospital."
She had already decided she wasn't going to back down from her parents anymore. There had been enough of her taking the path of least resistance.
Her mother frowned. "How can I see you when you're living in sin with that Allred boy?"
"His name is Caleb, Mama, and he is Jonah's father."
Her mother's lip curled as she let her gaze drift to Leah's bare fingers.
"I don't see his ring on your finger."
"We haven't gotten to the point where we're ready to discuss something like marriage. We're trying to get to know one another."
"Then you admit you were little better than a whore when he got you pregnant."
Leah drew a deep breath. "I think you need to get to the reason you came by today, or you need to leave...and I don't care which one you choose."
Her mother dug around in the old-fashioned clasp handbag she carried, pulling out a thin stack of envelopes which she held out to Leah.
"I came to bring you these. I don't see no need to hang onto them anymore. After all, you've chosen to live with that man and endanger your immortal soul. Your daddy says we must turn our backs on you because you're going to hell, so I won't keep these any longer."
As her mother continued to speak, Leah had taken hold of the envelopes. She shuffled them one by one, reading Caleb's name and address on each successive envelope. It was beyond her comprehension.
"Where did you get these?"
"Out of the mailbox." Her mother's stare was defiant.
Leah could only gape at her mother open-mouthed. The first one or two Leah had put into their mailbox out on the main road, but at least two more she had dropped into the mailbox outside the post office. Her mother had stolen them? All Leah could do was shake her head.
"You know, Mama, I think you need to leave. I think we're done. You deliberately prevented me from being able to contact Caleb. As sick as I was while I was pregnant, and then as sick as Jonah has been, and you interfered with me trying to let Caleb know what was going on?" Leah stalked past her mother and opened the shop door. "Please leave, Mama, and don't come back."
After she shut the door behind her, Leah leaned against the door, feeling faintly sick to her stomach. With shaky hands, she pulled out her phone and started to call Caleb, then she remembered he was moving in the last of the liquor and the food this afternoon. He would be swamped. Swallowing back the emotion clogging her throat, Leah shoved her phone back in her pocket along with the letters.
They could talk about this tonight. And she would apologize for what she'd thought and what her parents...her mother...had done.
Now the hours crept by as she waited for Caleb to pick her up. He was running a little late, which she supposed was only to be expected since it was getting down to the wire for his opening of Last Call. Mack had long gone by the time she heard the crunch of gravel in the drive out front. Looking up, she saw Caleb's SUV. Leah hurriedly turned off the lights, set the alarm, and locked the door behind her.
After pulling open the SUV door, Leah glanced at Caleb's face. He looked tired, but in a good way.
"Everything went well, I take it?"
He grinned. "We're ready for the soft opening Friday night. It's just friends and family. You'll be there, right?"
Leah buckled her seatbelt. "I'm not sure you'll want me." She handed him the sheaf of letters. "I owe you an apology."
Caleb leafed through them, his brows drawing together in a frown. "They don't have a postmark. What's up, Leah?"
"My mother brought them by. She admitted she stole them from the mailbox."
"Why? I'd think your parents would have wanted you to find me, wanted you married."
"I don't know, Caleb. I don't understand the rationale at all. I don't even know if my father was involved, or if it was Mama on her own." Le
ah pinched the bridge of her nose where a dull pain had set up house. "I'm not sure it matters, but I do know I need to apologize to you."
Caleb shook his head. "You don't need to apologize. This proves you made an effort, and also shows why you never got a response from me. What it doesn't explain is the phone calls, and that must have been an issue on my end. I can track it down, if you want, or we can let it go and move on."
Leah took a big breath. "I'd like to move on."
"From where we were last night?"
She knew what he was asking. Caleb wanted her...preferably naked and in his bed. Leah wanted the very same thing, even if it was just sex on his side. "Yes."
He grinned, the tiredness she'd noticed earlier a thing of the past. "All right. Shall we seal the deal?"
He leaned toward her. Leah met him halfway for a kiss that held a promise of the heat to come later. Caleb kept it short, leaning back after a moment.
"Stopping so soon?" she asked.
"I think we need to pick up Jonah, and I'd prefer to do it without having to face my parents with a raging hard-on, but we will definitely pick up where we left off later."
Chapter 18
Caleb's tiredness had fled. Now all he could think about was getting Jonah from his parents, taking him home and getting him fed and in bed as soon as possible. Then there would be time for Leah. And he intended to savor every moment. This time around, there would be no disappearing act.
At some point, he guessed they would need to delve a little deeper into what her mother had done because it could have implications for Jonah. Like, was her mother a threat to his safety? The woman had gone to great lengths to prevent Leah making contact with Caleb, to the point her mother had committed a crime.
Caleb forced himself to concentrate on his driving. He was relieved when he reached the farm that Noah's SUV was nowhere in sight. Guilt immediately followed the feeling of relief. He should be happy Noah was doing something away from the farm. His twin spent entirely too much time brooding, but at the same time, his absence was one less obstacle in the way of him getting Leah home.
First, though, he was going to have to endure the teasing from his parents. There was a twinkle in his father's eye as he asked, "Are you sure you won't stay for dinner? There's plenty of food."
Leah was busy gathering Jonah's belongings and chatting with Caleb's mom. Caleb narrowed his gaze on his father's innocent expression. "Really tired, Dad. It's been a busy day at Last Call getting things ready. I'm looking forward to getting home and taking a shower." Leah joining him there would be even better.
Both his parents extended at least two more invitations to stay, which Caleb politely refused. Silently, he ignored their knowing, humor-filled looks. First of all, it bothered him they had some inkling how desperate he was to get Leah home, and secondly it bothered him they had some inkling how desperate he was to get Leah home. They were his parents. They weren't supposed to know about those inklings, let alone have them.
As he put the SUV in gear, Leah said, "Don't you think you were a little rude to your mom and dad?"
He snorted. "They know why I wanted to get out of there."
Silence.
He glanced her way. "It's awful quiet over there."
"They know you want to..."
"We. And yes. Don't ask me how. Parent radar or something. It apparently doesn't stop when you become an adult."
Leah blew out a heavy breath. "Whew. That's kind of scary... and embarrassing."
No way was he going to let that spoil the evening. As soon as they reached the front door to his house, he put the SUV in park and glanced in the rearview mirror. Jonah was napping. Caleb slid his arm along the back of Leah's seat and leaned in to nuzzle her neck.
"Jonah," she protested.
"Asleep," he said and brushed his lips across her cheek until he touched the corner of her lips. His body leaped in response when she turned to meet his kiss. The heat and passion flared, exactly what he wanted, what he hoped would happen.
"Let's go inside. I'll give Jonah his bath if you want to go ahead and whip up some breakfast for dinner."
"And after?"
He grinned. "After we get Jonah to bed, I thought we could watch some of the baseball playoff games."
"Funny." Leah opened the car door and swung her long legs out. Caleb watched her butt.
"Jonah, buddy," he whispered to his still sleeping son. "I hope you're really tired out."
Leah opened the back door and unlatched the restraints securing Jonah in his car seat. "Come on, baby. You want me to carry you?"
Caleb hurried around the car. "I'll take him."
She looked as if she wanted to protest, but Caleb was determined. He wanted time to cuddle his son, but Jonah was also getting heavy, and Caleb wanted to make things easier for Leah. She worked hard, and he suspected that Mack or no Mack, she would always take on more than she probably should.
Jonah nuzzled against Caleb, wrapping his sturdy little legs around his waist. Man, there wasn't much better than that. Sure, Caleb was used to his nieces and nephews, but this was different. When they reached the juncture that would take them either upstairs or into the kitchen, Leah stopped.
"Are you sure you want to take on bath duty?" Her brows arched.
"I got this."
As he negotiated the routine of getting Jonah bathed and ready for bed, Caleb marveled. A month ago, had anybody asked him about someday having children, he would have laughed it off. Who needed kids when he already had a whole truckload of nieces and nephews? Luke and Jake were working double-time on that score. Now he knew differently.
As he carried a still drowsy Jonah back downstairs, Caleb inhaled the scent of bubble bath and boy and grinned. His grin widened when he entered the kitchen to find Leah setting a super simple meal of eggs, bacon, and hash browns on the table. No, it wasn't some gourmet meal whipped up on the spur of the moment. He'd leave that to Eli and Becca. Caleb and Leah had too many other things to occupy them, and cooking wasn't front and center.
She tilted her head quizzically. "What are you grinning about?"
"Just oddly content, you know?"
Their gazes met and held. A blush stained her cheeks and she turned back to adding plates and silverware. They didn't talk much during dinner. Caleb might have grown paranoid about that except every time Leah glanced his way, pink stained the fair skin of her cheeks.
If she was even half as turned on as he was about the thought of them re-consummating their relationship, she must be aroused indeed.
"If you'll put him to bed," Caleb told her, "I'll straighten the kitchen."
Jonah was already nodding off. Caleb would have to remember to thank his parents for keeping the toddler busy today.
As soon as Leah vanished up the stairs with their son, Caleb flew through cleaning the kitchen. He opened a bottle of wine, remembering she had liked it white and sweet, and carried the bottle and two glasses into the living room.
Trying not to feel too corny as he dimmed the lights and turned on some music, Caleb kept telling himself he was doing it simply to give them a chance to unwind after a long day.
Right.
An eternity passed as he waited for Leah to come downstairs. When she did return, he understood the delay. Her work clothes from the nursery were gone and she had obviously showered given the way her wispy hair had started to curl a bit as it dried. She had changed into the terry cloth robe he kept hanging on the back of the bathroom doors.
Because she didn't have anything else? Caleb set the thought away from him for now with a note to himself he would convince her to let him get her some more clothing.
"I opened a bottle of wine," he said from his position near the fireplace.
"I see."
"Would you like me to pour you a glass?" Man, did this feel awkward all of a sudden.
"I would love a glass of wine." She smiled, looking so young and happy for a moment it took his breath away. "I can't remember the last time I've
had an adult drink with a handsome man."
He raised a brow, glancing at her as he poured the wine. As he handed her the glass, Leah said, "Actually, the last time I had a drink at all, and definitely with a handsome man, was with you."
His heart skipped a beat. Maybe it wasn't just him. Maybe the night they'd spent together had meant something to her as well.
"Then let's toast to a new beginning where we can both share more moments like this."
He could lose himself in the crystal clarity of her gray eyes. After sipping from his glass, he set it aside and did the same with hers. She melted into his arms as easily as if she had been doing it every day for the past four years. Caleb slid his arms around her waist, wondering what she wore beneath the robe and hoping he would have the answer to that sooner rather than later.
As their mouths met, he savored the taste of her. The wine turned her breath into the richest of fruits and he licked his way inside, teasing and touching. She responded, as hungry as him to get closer, Caleb let his hands glide down to her butt. He conjured up the image of her straddling his lap the other night, naked from the waist up, her body arching.
"What are you wearing under this?" His voice was little more than a growl while his fingers traced along one lapel to wear the two halves met.
"Nothing."
Holy cow. His body hardened until he thought he would explode.
"Sweet. Taking it off will be even sweeter, but not just yet."
Yes, because he had now decided he was going to torture himself with the anticipation of what was to come. Caleb led her to the couch and pulled her onto his lap so he could continue to kiss her at his leisure. She fit as perfectly as the night they'd met. The heat of their kiss left his heart racing. When he leaned back, he could see her pulse fluttering in the hollow of her throat.
She smiled at him, a sparkle in her eyes and a sweet curve to her full lips. "I don't want to wait any longer, Caleb. Take me upstairs."
Leah held out her hand and he led her up to his bedroom. A small lamp glowed near the window. Its mellow light was more than enough for him to see everything he wanted and needed to see. Caleb stepped in close and hooked his index finger in the knot of her robe belt. When she looked up at him, he raised his brows questioningly. Leah nodded.
Last Call (A Place to Call Home Book 3) Page 12