by Heather Gray
The elevator began its descent, and she mulled the whole scene over in her mind. Why the envy? Sure, every woman wants to be loved, and every girl dreams of her wedding, but she’d not ever been the jealous type before.
She craved Caleb’s presence. Lily was sure of herself when she was around him. When they were apart, she started to doubt this thing growing between them. Common sense butted in. Was she being sensible, though, or was she using sensibility as an excuse to keep him at arm’s length?
Truth be told, she didn’t want him at arm’s length. Lily wanted him a whole lot closer.
The force of that want scared her.
I don’t like being confused, God. I prefer clarity. You know that. Why am I so muddled where Caleb’s concerned?
Shortly after Lily arrived home, her phone rang. Caleb’s name appeared on her screen, and she smiled as she tapped the answer icon. Seeing his name brightened her mood. “Hey, there.”
“Lily? I didn’t expect you.”
“Then why did you call?”
His voice apologized. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I figured I’d be leaving you a message. You took me by surprise when you answered.”
“I had an early day. I just got home. Are you working tonight? We could meet for dinner if you’re not.”
Caleb hesitated long enough for her to notice. “Dinner sounds good. Why the early day?”
“Are you sure about dinner? Do you need to head into work?” Hopefully he didn’t notice that she was evading his question.
“Is everything okay at the hospital?”
So much for that. “Um, yeah, it’s fine. I just… um… wrapped things up early today. No biggie. So about dinner…”
“Dinner’s fine. I’ve been appointed as a departmental liaison to the FBI on a case, so my hours are skewed. I should be out of here around six. You pick the place and text me the name. I’ll meet you at half past. Sound good?”
Liaison. Impressive.
“All right, but if something comes up, let me know.”
This time his words held a smile. “I’ll be there. Don’t you worry about it. And don’t worry about me, either.”
He’d told her not to worry, so of course she had. What was he doing with the FBI that prompted him to tell her she didn’t need to worry? Obviously something worth worrying about, or he wouldn’t have mentioned it.
Lily sat at a table with a view of the front door. The red neon trim on the outside of the diner reflected off the shiny metal siding and turned everything an interesting shade of pink. Like most Fifties diners, it had a basic menu and an overabundance of retro wall hangings. No amount of kitschy décor, though, could detract from the best wet fries east of the Mississippi. Lily was contemplating those very fries on the menu when Caleb strolled in.
He scooted into his side of the booth and sighed. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
She’d secretly hoped for at least a kiss on the cheek when he arrived. Why’d she ever tell him no more kissing? “You don’t look too bad yourself. How did your liasing go?”
“Is that even a word?”
Lily gave him her sassiest grin. “It is now.”
Caleb’s grey eyes danced. “Someone should appoint you lawmaker. None of this nonsense with things dragging out for decades in Congress. If you say it, it’s the law. End of discussion.”
“Forget it. I’d rather suture a wound any day.”
Caleb moved his silverware from one side of his place mat to the other. That was the closest she’d ever seen him come to fidgeting. Something was up, and she probably wasn’t going to like it.
“I should tell you, I don’t work for the state police.” He winced. “Well, I do, but I don’t.”
Lily rubbed her forehead. What on earth…? “So when you pulled me over, you were dressed in that uniform because you were on your way to a bachelorette party?” She was only half kidding.
Laughter turned his eyes silver. “Not exactly. It’s complicated, and I can’t tell you everything, but I can give you a bird’s eye view.”
She nodded, her insides tightening into a knot. Subterfuge wasn’t her style. That was why she’d left the hospital rather than stick around and nurse the fake Mr. Taylor.
“I was hired as an investigator for the state attorney general. One of their ongoing investigations involved the state police. I’m new to the area, a blank slate. Getting in and doing the work was easy.”
Lily resisted the urge to sulk, but her words still held a bite. “Isn’t this sort of thing supposed to be kept secret? Why are you telling me?”
“My investigation’s over. I’ll be sticking around long enough to liaise and to testify in an upcoming hearing. Then I’m returning full-time to the AG’s office.”
“As an investigator?”
His head bobbed.
“Did you really work for a sheriff’s department in rural Texas?”
“Yep, and I loved every minute.” Could a person be this genuine and still be real? He made it hard to get angry.
“What happened to wanting to spend the rest of your life in law enforcement?”
A half-nod this time. “The AG enforces the law, and I’m in its investigative branch. I still get to do what I want. The red tape might kill me, but other than that, it’s not so different.”
“How does a small town cop land a job with Virginia’s attorney general?”
“Connections. An old friend. I checked with him for an idea about where I should apply, and he suggested a position with the AG’s office.”
“He must trust you.”
“We studied criminal justice together in college. Our lives took different paths, but we’ve stayed in touch. He came to my dad’s funeral. I’d have told you sooner, but I was under orders to keep it quiet.”
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, and she gave in to it. “I’ve lived around here long enough not to be surprised by too much. I even know where Congress’s secret bunker is.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Secret bunker?”
“Where they’ll be evacuated to if terrorists attack the Capitol. A patient got chatty on pain meds one day.” She folded the wrapper from her straw and kept her eyes on the table. “This part of the country is full of secrets and hidden agendas, but for some reason, I didn’t expect it coming from you. This is it, right? No other big surprises?”
He shook his head. “That’s my biggie. Otherwise, I’m an open book.”
Good. She didn’t mind the occasional surprise, but she wouldn’t want to live her life wondering where he was going each time he strode out the door.
Whoa. Where had that thought come from?
And fast on its heels came another… Investigators wear suits. Hm. As long as he didn’t get rid of the cowboy hat, she supposed she could live with it… but she would miss seeing him in uniform.
The waitress took their order, and Caleb stretched his arms out on the back of the booth, striking a relaxed pose. “Something else is on your mind.”
Lily bit her bottom lip.
“Tell me. Or ask, I guess, depending on what it is.”
She might as well say it since she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it all afternoon. “I’ve been sending you mixed signals.”
“You’ve been a little hot and cold, but like I said, I’m patient.”
“I don’t like the way I’ve been all over the map with you. That’s not who I am. I want you to know that. I’m normally pretty stable and solid. I…”
He waited.
“…I’m not making much sense.” She let out a heartfelt sigh. “Am I reading you wrong? I’m turning this into a bigger deal than it needs to be, aren’t I?”
“You sure you want to talk about this?” Caleb’s voice was guarded. “You told me not to bring it up any more.”
“Yeah.” Lily bowed her head briefly. “I need to figure this out. It’s not fair to you if… I just want to understand.”
“All right, but you asked. No getting mad at me bec
ause I’m talking about the future.”
She nodded.
“If it was up to me, we’d be married within the week.
Lily’s breath caught in her throat. He’d uttered the words so casually, but the heat in his eyes told her he meant every word. “How can you be sure I’m the one God has for you?”
“I don’t know how to explain it except to say God and I have been discussing my wife for a long time, and I know.”
“When were you sure? Before or after you gave me a ticket?”
He smiled. “By the time you drove off, I was trying to figure out how to make sure I was in that exact same spot every single morning until I saw you again. Then, later that day, there you were in Ma’s hospital room, and it was a done deal. I knew.”
The waitress arrived with their food, and once she left, Caleb bowed his head. “Thank you, Lord, for this meal and the time with Lily. I ask for wisdom as I manage this situation at work, and I ask for the safety of everyone involved. You’re a mighty God, and I thank You today for being a God who keeps His promises. Amen.”
Lily whispered an amen but couldn’t take her eyes off him. “Is this work thing dangerous?”
He offered a half-nod. “In law enforcement, everything has the potential to become risky.”
“But this has more potential than most situations?”
Another half-nod.
“Can you tell me about it?”
“Afraid not.”
She bit her bottom lip but didn’t argue the point.
“You got to ask me something. Can I ask you a question, too?”
Lily reached for a fry. “Sounds fair.”
Caleb ate a fry before continuing. “Why are you having a hard time accepting that you ought to be filing for a marriage license? I realize I’m going fast, but when we were out there watching that meteor shower — or trying to — it felt like you wanted the exact same thing. Your change in attitude came out of nowhere, or at least it seemed that way to me. There had to be a reason, though. Help me understand.”
Lily sat back. Hm. Rather than try to change her mind, he sought to understand her. What a novel concept. “Let me first say, I think I’m normal for hesitating to climb on your bandwagon. Most people would have trouble jumping into marriage — or even a serious relationship — so fast. Personally, I like to check things out before I jump in. The impression I gave you the day of the picnic… I don’t know what to say. You kissed me, and I turned into this reckless, rash person I didn’t recognize. And I liked it, which — when my senses returned the next day — kind of made me panic.”
His eyes never left her face, and the warmth in them made her want to open up, so she continued. “I’m the woman who puts her toe in the pool to test the temperature. I plot my trip out on a map before I ever climb behind the wheel. That’s my personality. It’s who I am. I’ve been that way as long as I can remember. You, on the other hand, are a leap-before-you-look kind of guy. I’ll bet you dive head-first into the pool without ever checking the temperature or looking for underwater boulders.”
“In my defense,” Caleb waved a fork to make his point, “pools rarely have boulders.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled. “So our talking right now, this is you looking, right? You’re checking the temperature, feeling around for boulders, doing all that stuff.”
“I guess you could say that.”
“Good. Ask all the questions you want, then.”
She grinned at him. “So, what do you call your beard?”
He reached up and ran his hand over it. “This thing?”
“Yeah. It’s more than a five o’clock shadow, but it’s not a full beard, either.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he chuckled. “Well, this here is my ten o’clock shadow. It’s a smidge past nine o’clock — which is a real beard style, by the way — but not quite an eleven o’clock.”
“And is eleven o’clock shadow a real style?”
“Nah.”
“So why that length?”
“You don’t like it?”
Lily broke eye contact. “I didn’t say that.”
He shrugged. “It’s long enough that my face doesn’t constantly itch but not so long that I have to worry about combing it every day.”
“If it matters, I kind of like it.”
His eyes danced as a devilish grin showed his teeth.
The evening ended too soon for Lily, but when Caleb walked her to her car, she didn’t mind. He wrapped his arms around her and gathered her in close for a hug.
This is what home feels like.
Her mind stumbled over the thought spoken by her heart. Home.
She stood on tip-toe and gave him another kiss on his scruffy cheek. “Errands are going to take up my day, but I can cook dinner for you tomorrow night.”
Caleb’s slow sexy smile sent a tingling sensation straight down her spine. “Sounds good.”
Lily, still smiling to herself, pulled out of the diner’s parking lot.
Watching Lily drive away was flat-out hard. She didn’t need to go off to her own apartment where she would have time to think up more reasons why they shouldn’t move so fast. His opinion on the matter didn’t hold much weight at present, though, and so he let her go.
He should have told her they’d be married within the month. But no. He’d said a week and meant it. Never mind that she wasn’t ready to hear it.
She would come around eventually. She had to. His dad had once told him that he’d known he’d met the one when a single look from her could twist him up until he was inside out. And that was Lily.
On the bright side, the fact that Lily left work early was a good indication that Jefferson David Taylor was no longer in her care. Whitehall would have moved Taylor the second he got word on the print. In a perfect world, Taylor being out of the picture meant any possible threat to Lily was removed. They didn’t live in a perfect world, though. And Lily wanted space. How could he protect her if she didn’t want him near? Or was he overreacting?
His heart said to follow her. His brain said to leave her be. He couldn’t hear his gut over all the noise the other two were making. A punching bag would come in handy right about then. In the past, whenever he’d felt that way, he’d gone over to his friend’s cattle ranch and helped with the work until he was too exhausted to think. Cattle ranches weren’t too plentiful in the metropolitan part of northern Virginia, though, so that was out of the question.
He ran a hand through his hair before deciding what to do. He dialed the phone as he climbed into his truck.
“Hey, Ma, don’t wait up for me. I’m gonna stop at the gym on the way home… Yep, everything’s fine. I have some energy to burn off… Will do. See you in the morning.”
Caleb grabbed his workout bag from behind the driver’s seat before going into the gym. He changed into shorts and a tank then stored the bag in a locker. He slipped his phone into its armband holder and threaded the cord for the earbuds through the appropriate spot so he could listen to his music while he exercised.
Once he got out to the floor, he went straight for the leg press. From there he moved to curls, push-ups, lat pull-downs, and eventually the chest press.
After one set, a woman sidled up to him. “Hey.”
He nodded to her. “Hi.”
“What’re you doing?”
Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose before answering. “Working out.”
“Oh,” was all she said before she wandered off again.
The whole gym scene was awkward and uncomfortable. He’d not given fitness much thought before coming north. His life in general had been full of physical activity, but whenever he’d felt the need, a small weight machine stuffed into the back corner of the sheriff’s locker room had sufficed. Since moving in with his mom, though, he spent too much time sitting around — usually stuck in traffic. Hence the gym membership.
After two more women approached
him, he decided he’d had enough of the weights. He moved over to the cardio side of the gym and climbed onto the treadmill. Setting it for a steep uphill run, he started a steady jogging rhythm.
Less than a mile into the programmed routine, his phone rang. He widened his stance and rested his feet on the outside frame of the treadmill before slipping the phone from his holder. Hopefully it wasn’t work. A quick glance at the screen told him that was wishful thinking. “This is Caleb.”
“Whitehall here. Any developments on your end?”
“I’m liaising, but that seems to be FBI talk for fetching coffee.”
“Please tell me you didn’t actually fetch it?”
He snickered. “I, uh, brought them all empty cups with a map to the coffee machine.”
Agent Whitehall laughed. “Wish I’d been around for that.”
Silence fell, and Caleb rubbed his forehead. He appreciated the heads-up about the feds coming in, but Whitehall still liked Lily a bit too much for his comfort. “Is there a reason you dialed my number?”
The Secret Service agent cleared his throat. “I’m trusting my instincts where you’re concerned. Don’t make me regret it.”
That phrase was becoming a steady refrain in his life. “Why don’t you trust me with something worthwhile, then.”
He sensed the agent weighing his words. “I’ve delivered the package to a safe location. I came back to the area because we believe the threat is still here.”
Why was Whitehall telling him instead of the FBI? “Because there’s another target or because the shooter is going to dig until he can reacquire the original one?”
“My guess? The latter.”
Caleb’s heart dropped. Lily. She’d never once said the name, but he’d known since the day he’d found Whitehall leaning against the side of his truck. Taylor had been her patient.
“Let me make a call.” He hung up on Whitehall and pushed the button to bring up Lily’s number.
He shut off the treadmill and began the trek to the locker room to collect his bag. His thumb hovered over the send button as he sorted out what to say that wouldn’t frighten her.