Moments later he joined them and stood between Mallory and Jordyn, close enough to feel the heat from his body and smell the spicy scent of his aftershave. “Good evening, ladies.”
“How are you, Caleb?” Cecelia smiled.
“Just dandy. You all are looking lovely tonight.” He settled his gaze on each of them in turn, letting it linger on Mallory.
Her skin tingled as if it was a caress. And she felt compelled to say something. “Cecelia looks especially pretty, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He studied her friend more closely. “What’s different—”
“Don’t start with me.” Cece was used to working with men and had no problem putting one in his place.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He smiled down at Mallory. “Would you like to dance?”
More than he could or should know. “Sure.”
He touched the brim of his Stetson. “Ladies.”
“Don’t bring her home too late,” Cecelia said, brown eyes twinkling. “Oh, wait, Lily’s at a sleepover.”
Not helping, Mallory wanted to say, but when he settled his hand at the small of her back to guide her out to the dance floor, the warmth of his touch rendered her utterly speechless.
They found a spot at the edge of the dancers, and when a slow song started, he lifted her hand into his, slid his arm around her, pulling her closer against him. He took charge and there was no question about who was leading, but the truth was crystal clear to her. She would follow him wherever he wanted her to go.
“It feels like I haven’t seen you for a long time,” he said against her hair.
“Really.” Mallory was pretty sure that despite his easygoing appearance, Caleb was uncharacteristically tense about something.
“Yeah. How’s Lily?”
“Great. She’s at her friend’s. Sort of a last hurrah for the summer. But the truth is she can’t wait for school to start.”
“I remember how that feels.”
She laughed. “You make it sound like that was a hundred years ago.”
“It feels that way.”
There was a serious note in his voice, also unlike him. “Did you like school?”
“I was good at it. But give me a horse and wide-open spaces anytime.”
“A wild spirit?” she teased.
“No. Just happier outside in the fresh air.” He stopped moving and looked down, something hot and intense in his eyes. “Would you take a walk with me? Outside?”
There was that follow-him-anywhere thing again. It was a bad idea, but she couldn’t find the will to say no to him now.
“Okay.”
Caleb took her hand and led her out the back door, then around the front of the Community Center. They walked to the sidewalk and started strolling up North Main Street.
“Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?” she asked.
“I guess the whole taking-a-walk-outside thing was a clue.” In the glow of a streetlight, his jaw tensed. “Yeah, I do want to talk.”
“About what?”
“Just making sure you’re all right. I heard that you told someone we’re not serious.” His tone almost said he wanted her to deny the rumor.
“That’s right.”
“I see.” There was the tension again.
“There was speculation that we’d be married soon. I had to set the record straight,” she explained. “I thought it would be a relief to you. Everyone seems determined to make more of this than there is. You and I know we’re just having fun hanging out now and then.”
“Right.”
If she was going to set the record straight, this had to be said, too. “The fact is, Caleb, you’re not a marrying kind of guy. People do talk and more than one person has mentioned that you don’t have long-term relationships. I’m okay with that. For Lily’s sake it’s best for me to keep things casual.”
“Right. Absolutely.” He said the right thing, but let go of her hand. “Good, I’m glad you’re not upset about anything.”
“We should probably go back inside before people start making something into us taking a walk. Before you know it, the rumor will be that we’ve eloped.”
“Can’t have that.” The words should have been teasing, but his flat tone sucked out any humor.
Mallory wanted to take back this whole conversation. Rewind this episode and go back to where he’d asked her to go outside. Setting the record straight had changed things between them and not in a good way. He’d said all the right words and that should have been reassuring, but somehow it wasn’t at all.
Everything felt awful and wrong.
* * *
Twenty-four hours after Mallory reaffirmed their status as friendship only, Caleb sat alone in his house watching some stupid house-flipping show on TV. It was Saturday night, for God’s sake. He always raised hell, or at least a little mischief on the weekend. Even a date. But the only woman he wanted to be with was Mallory and she’d put up a no-trespassing sign.
The devil of it was that she’d gotten under his skin and he didn’t know how to make it go away.
He got up from the leather sofa in front of the flat-screen TV on the wall in his family room. The house was a typical bachelor’s space and decorating wasn’t a priority. Mallory hadn’t seen it; he always went over to her house. But lately he’d had fleeting thoughts of getting her opinion, asking her to help make this a place she and Lily would like. There was more square footage than hers if...
Last night she’d taken the “if” off the table.
“Damn it.” He scowled at the room. “She’s never even been here and it reminds me of her.”
Because he couldn’t get thoughts of her out of his head. He could go to the Ace in the Hole, but the place would be full of rowdy cowboys looking to hook up and women looking to be picked up. That wasn’t for him. Not anymore. Besides, it was the scene of his first non-date with Mallory and would be full of memories he was trying to escape.
He walked into the kitchen with its sink full of dirty dishes and the used frying pan on the stove. There was no cute welcome sign over the sink or a framed print that said Count Your Blessings—Recounts Are Okay hanging in the nook by the table. It wasn’t warm and cozy like Mallory’s house but he had a bad feeling that was more about the company than the furnishings.
Caleb pulled a beer out of the refrigerator and twisted off the cap. On the door was a photo of him and his cousin Jonah. It was held there by a magnet that also happened to be a bottle opener. The two of them were a year apart in age and had been best friends growing up. After Jonah married it was rare for them to hang out, but they’d gone to Kalispell and bought the magnet. They’d joked that it would prevent misplacing the beer opener. But that was before Jonah’s life had fallen apart.
That was when Caleb could talk to his cousin about anything and everything. He felt like talking now. It had been too long and was way past time for the two of them to catch up.
Caleb picked up the phone and hit speed dial. “It’s Saturday night. He’s probably out—”
“Hello?”
“Hi.”
“Caleb?”
“Don’t you have caller ID?”
“Yeah, but—” there was a pause, as if his cousin was leaning back to relax “—I didn’t look. I’m working on some building plans.”
Jonah was a very successful architect in Denver. But he was also a single guy, Caleb thought. “It’s Saturday night, man. How come you’re not out painting the town instead of building it?”
“Oh, you know how it is.”
The old Jonah would have given as good as he got and asked why Caleb was cooling his heels at home. But this wasn’t the old Jonah. If they’d been in the same room, Caleb knew the other man’s hazel eyes would be a little sad, hi
nting at the heartbreak that had made him turn his back on Rust Creek Falls.
He’d married his high-school sweetheart at eighteen. For a few years all had seemed well and happy, until Jonah found out his wife was having an affair. When Lisette got pregnant, he didn’t know if the baby was his, but Jonah was determined to support her through it. And that was what he did, until she lost the baby.
He’d been really torn up about it in spite of the circumstances and afterward all the joy seemed to drain out of him. But six years was a long time. Maybe things had changed and he’d met someone.
If anyone knew how a chance meeting could change your life, it was Caleb. “Yeah, I know how it is. How are you?”
“Doing great.”
This man was like a brother and Caleb knew he wasn’t great. Life for Jonah was about work and there was no one who made it complicated or special.
“How are Aunt Rita and Uncle Charlie?”
“Fine. Your folks?”
“Good. Happy about their new grandson.”
“I heard Paige and Sutter had a baby. Congrats to them.”
“Yeah, Mom and Dad are bugging the rest of us to get on with it because they want more grandkids.”
“My parents have cut me some slack on that.” Jonah laughed, but there was a tinge of bitterness. “So, how is it being an uncle?”
“Pretty cool. I actually held him.”
“And you didn’t drop the little guy?” A trace of the old humor trickled into his cousin’s voice.
“I’m told they bounce, but I don’t know that from personal experience. He stopped crying when Paige handed him to me.”
“One look at that face of yours probably scared him.”
Caleb laughed. This good-natured ribbing was a positive sign. “My sister called me the baby whisperer.”
“Don’t quit your day job.”
“Not a chance.” Caleb grew thoughtful at the memory of holding the tiny, helpless human being. “But it does make you think about how having a baby changes everything.”
“If you’re lucky enough to have a baby.”
The sadness was back and humming in Caleb’s ear. He kicked himself for bringing up the painful subject and resurrecting unhappy memories. “Look, Jonah, I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s okay.”
Caleb didn’t say more. His cousin had left Rust Creek Falls so people wouldn’t walk on eggshells around him and he wouldn’t have to see the pity in their eyes. He could respect that.
“So,” Jonah said, “how’s everything with you?”
“Great.” There was that word again. Even Caleb heard the forced cheerfulness in his voice.
“Why do I not believe you?” There was a pause before his cousin added, “Let’s just cut to the chase. What’s her name?”
“What makes you think it’s a she?”
“So there is a problem.”
Caleb had walked into that with his eyes wide open. But the truth was that he’d picked up the phone in the first place because he needed someone to talk to about this.
“Her name is Mallory Franklin. She’s a paralegal in Dad’s law office.”
“And?”
“She’s smart. Beautiful” The word didn’t do her justice, he thought. “And a single mom.”
“How many kids?”
“One. A girl. Lily.” Instantly he had a mental image of the pretty little girl on top of a horse, laughing and happy. The vision tugged at his heart. “Actually, she’s Mallory’s niece. Her sister and brother-in-law adopted Lily from China. Last year they were killed in a car accident and Mallory took her in. She’s making the guardianship legal.”
“Hmm.” Jonah’s tone gave no indication of what he was thinking.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just...that’s a lot of responsibility to take on.”
Caleb knew he didn’t have a reputation for being the most responsible guy, but when someone needed him, he didn’t let them down. Or break a promise. He liked women and they liked him. Then he moved on. Except this time something was messing up the natural order of things.
“Mallory doesn’t seem interested in anything serious.”
“Did she say that?”
Straight out, he thought. Her words weren’t vague and open to interpretation. “Yes, she said that.”
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out. If anyone knows how tough that situation can be, it’s me.”
“Yeah, I—”
“But there’s something you should consider, Caleb.”
“Go on.”
“When I met Lisette, I was fifteen. But I was convinced life with her was perfect and would be that way forever. I was wrong. You should consider yourself lucky that you’ve gone all these years without getting serious. Hindsight is twenty-twenty. You’re better off not letting any one woman get to you. In the long run it saves you a lot of grief.”
“I’m all for that, but—”
“A word of advice from the voice of experience. If there’s trouble now, it’s not a good idea to ignore the signs. You can paint over it but that stuff has a way of coming through to bite you in the ass in the future.”
“I hear you.”
“Breaking up with her was probably for the best,” Jonah finished.
This was a bad time to realize that Jonah might not have been the best person to talk this over with. Caleb’s mood was more foul than when he’d picked up the phone. He politely thanked his cousin for listening in spite of the fact that now he seriously wanted to put his fist through a wall.
Break up? There’d been nothing to break up because Mallory wouldn’t let it go that far. If anything, this talk with Jonah convinced him that he should walk away and never look back.
After all, looking for the next flavor of the week was what he did best.
Chapter Fourteen
“Is Caleb coming over for dinner?” Lily was setting the table and waited for an answer before proceeding.
“No, sweetie.”
“But he likes spaghetti.”
Mallory lifted the lid on the big pot. She hoped Lily would believe she was checking to see if the water was boiling yet, but mostly she used it as a distraction to get her emotions under control.
The memory of cooking for him came instantly, vivid and painful. The day they’d gone to the waterfall he’d joined them for dinner. He’d had two helpings of her spaghetti and meatballs, then declared himself too full for even one more bite. But when Lily left the room, Caleb had kissed her until she was breathless. His expression took on a hungry look that had nothing to do with food and everything to do with the fact that he wanted her. She wanted him, too. With a desperation she’d never felt before and had a bad feeling she’d never experience again.
But it was becoming clearer every day she didn’t hear from him that their brief, bright flirtation was over. She hadn’t had any word from him in a week, and the silence shouted that after their conversation at the dance he’d embraced her message about remaining just friends and moved on.
Mallory walked over to her niece and dropped to one knee, taking the little girl’s hands into her own. It was best to be honest because kids knew when you were trying to feed them a line of baloney.
“Sweetie...” She looked into the serious dark eyes staring back at her. It hit her every once in a while how exquisite this child was, the dark almond-shaped eyes, sculpted lips, shiny dark hair. Lily was beautiful inside and out. All Mallory wanted to do was keep her safe and happy. The news she had to deliver wasn’t going to do that. “The thing is, I don’t think Caleb will be coming over anymore.”
“Why not? He likes us.”
“I’m sure that’s true. But—” How did she put this into words this child would understand? Nobody got dumped, becaus
e there were no promises made between her and Caleb, no bad guy to focus hostility on. If he wanted to spend time with other women, feelings shouldn’t be hurt, because their agreement was all about no strings attached.
Except Mallory was hurting. She missed his charming grin, the teasing sizzles of awareness when he brushed up against her doing dishes after dinner. Watching him interact with Lily melted her heart into a gooey mess. He was so patient, funny, wise.
“But what?” Lily prompted, drawing her back into the moment.
“He doesn’t have any obligation to us.” That sounded cold, impersonal and wrong because time spent with Caleb was just the opposite.
Lily’s dark eyes seemed to grow darker, sadder. “I thought you liked him.”
“I do. As a friend.” She wanted to add more, but didn’t trust her voice not to break. When she could speak, she said, “And maybe in a while he might come over for dinner again. It’s just that we can’t expect that he will.”
“Why not?”
Again she knew it was necessary to relate the softest possible version of the truth. “Well, it’s just that sometimes relationships don’t last.”
“But he let me ride the horse and everything,” Lily protested. “He likes us. I know he does.”
“And that hasn’t changed. He just can’t be here all the time.” Mallory was absolutely certain her heart was going to break when a single tear slid down Lily’s cheek. She pulled the little girl into her arms. “Oh, sweetheart, please don’t cry. We don’t need a man around to be happy, do we? We’re okay just the two of us, right?”
Small arms went around her neck. “We’re fine.”
There wasn’t a lot of conviction in the words, but Mallory would take what she could get. “I love you, ladybug. More than you can possibly know.”
“I love you, too, Auntie Mal.”
After one last reassuring squeeze, Mallory pulled back. “There’s my girl.”
“Am I your girl? For real?”
“Absolutely.” She swallowed down the emotion that threatened to choke off her words. “When the adoption is final, it will be legal. But no matter what anyone says, in my heart you are my girl. Forever.”
From Maverick to Daddy Page 17