by Jaz Primo
That sounded far less reassuring to me.
Kat’s smartphone buzzed and the bed lurched as she whipped around to snatch it from the nightstand.
“A dark-haired woman in a Jeep?” she asked.
I quickly rolled over. “She’s okay. Don’t hurt her.”
Kat gave me a flat stare. “No, let her continue.”
She calmly laid her phone down and gave me an inquisitive look.
I shrugged. “Her name’s Bel. She’s a waitress at Cooper’s Café. She’s been very welcoming to me since I arrived here.”
Her brow arched.
“It’s not what you’re thinking—”
“And precisely what am I thinking?”
I gave her my best wan look. “You know what…we’re not doing anything.”
“I should hope not, particularly for your sake,” she said. “That being said, why is she coming here?”
“Hey, I didn’t invite her or anything.”
“Well, she’s on her way here now so you better get up and put some clothes on.”
I rolled out of bed and half-stumbled into my only remaining fresh pair of jeans and T-shirt from my backpack while Kat watched me with a dubious expression.
“We’re just friendly acquaintances,” I said.
She flung the sheets from over her and stood, her nude body looking ravishing to me.
“You’re, uh, going to put some clothes on, too, right?” I asked.
She gave me a hard look and pointed out toward the living room. “Go.”
I closed the bedroom door and hurried toward the front door as I heard the sound of an engine outside.
I opened the door just as Bel stepped onto the porch holding what looked like a foil-covered dish.
“Hi, Caleb,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if to stop or not when I saw the SUV parked out front.”
“Hi, Bel,” I said, opening the front door. “Really, I’m glad you stopped by. Please come in.”
She stepped inside. “I’m not interrupting or anything am I?”
“Not at all,” I said. “My partner decided to join me here.”
“Partner? Well, you left the café last night in a hurry and forgot the dessert that came with your meal. So, then I thought about how kind you were to step in with—Anyway, I decided to bake this for you,” she said, handing me the pie. “It’s just a small way to say thank you for your help with Kevin.”
I peeked beneath the foil to see, and smell, a fresh apple pie.
“I love apple pie,” I said. “Thanks so much. Won’t you come in?”
I shut the front door in time to turn around and see Kat entering the room.
“Um, hello. I’m Bel.”
Kat crossed the distance between them to extend her hand. “Katrina. I’m Caleb’s significant other; his partner, as he just mentioned.”
The term mate had become so ingrained to me that it sounded awkward for Kat to be classified in any other way. However, no human that I’d ever heard of had used the term mate, either.
“Pleased to meet you,” Bel said. “I hope that I haven’t intruded.”
“You mentioned Caleb’s help with something, I believe?” Kat prompted. “Kevin?”
“Well, yes,” she said. “My ex, Kevin, was being an ass, as usual, and Caleb kindly intervened at the café last night.”
“Ah. Well, Caleb is an easy touch, and he’s all about knights in shining armor,” Kat replied with a pointed look toward me.
I tried not to wince.
“I’d better get going,” Bel said, once again looking at me. “I just wanted to drop off this pie for you.”
“Thank you,” I said. “That was very kind.”
She smiled at me. “You’re welcome. Perhaps I’ll see you at the café again soon.”
I glanced at Kat, whose brow arched inquisitively.
“Perhaps,” I said. “Though I’m not exactly sure when we’re leaving.”
“Likely sooner than later,” Kat interjected.
“Oh,” said Bel. “Well, if I don’t see you again, Caleb, it was very nice meeting you.”
I shook her hand. “The pleasure was all mine.”
I held open the front door for her.
“By the way,” she said, lowering her voice as she stepped beside me. “Kevin brought over a check for the most current child support payment. He promised to get together what he’s overdue on very soon, too. I can’t thank you enough.”
I waved goodbye to her before closing the door.
“Aren’t you a regular Prince Charming,” Kat said. “She’s very pretty.”
“There’s no need for jealously,” I said. “She’s a lovely lady and it was nice to make a friendly acquaintance on my journey.”
“So, you haven’t met many other friendly people along the way?” she asked.
“Some here and there, I suppose.”
I decided not to mention the night at the hotel in Buffalo when the drug dealer stopped by my room.
“I realize now that it’s not necessarily always better somewhere else,” I said. “It doesn’t seem to matter much where you go; everyone has problems of some sort…”
“That’s very true,” she said. “You’ve gained a bit of wisdom during your trip, I see.”
And I had Bel to thank for it.
* * *
We stayed at the cabin for the remainder of the day just talking more about things. Kat and I discussed thoughts and feelings that had been on my mind, including our lack of time together.
To her credit, she said that she would work to ensure that our visits were more frequent.
We also spent more romantic time together, which was definitely the highlight of the day for me.
By mid-afternoon, I had eaten half of Bel’s apple pie, which tasted amazing, and had eaten the remainder of the cold cuts in the refrigerator.
By early evening, just past sunset, I was ready for something more substantive. Kat had engaged in a number of phone calls and was busy coordinating activities on her notebook computer, which was set up on the dining room table.
“How do you feel about dinner out tonight?” I asked.
She looked up from her email while holding her mobile phone to her ear.
“Um, I just have to finish—”
I nodded. “Sure thing.”
Some things never changed.
As I wandered into the living room, I heard her in the background.
“Listen, I’m placing this project in your more than capable hands,” she said. “I have other more pressing matters to address.”
I felt a swoosh of air around me followed by her arms wrapping around my chest from behind.
“We’ll enjoy a nice dinner together,” she said.
I smiled. “Sounds great. And I have the perfect café in mind, too.”
“Um, I believe it’s the only café around,” she said.
“Too true,” I said.
Kat and I went alone, and Bel was ending her shift as we arrived. Since I was planning to leave later that evening, I was grateful to be able to say goodbye to her, as well as thank her for the tasty apple pie that she had baked for me.
I noted that Kat observed us with a curious expression.
“Safe trip home, Caleb,” Bel said. “But I better get going. I have to pick up my kids from my parents’ house. They’re going to an Elks Club function together.”
“They sound like veritable socialites for around here,” I said.
She shook her head. “You’d think that. Dad always talks about civic involvement, but Mom said he just likes to talk to people. She said that she endures it just to save wear and tear on her ears.”
It was refreshing to hear about someone else’s life; something that sounded charmingly ordinary.
“Don’t worry though; Candace will take excellent care of you again. Hey, be sure to check in with us here if you’re ever in this part of the country again,” she said.
“You bet I will,” I said.
“Incidentally, where do you and Katrina call home?”
“We’re in New Haven, Connecticut right now.”
She appeared surprised. “Wow, you really were off the beaten track then.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m all about finding the most remote places possible, it seems.”
“He has quite a knack for it, in fact,” Kat said.
After a quick hug, I watched Bel walk away before reseating myself across from Kat.
“You shameless flirt,” she said. “And doing it right here in front of your mate.”
I flushed. “What? I wasn’t flirting!”
She adopted a sly expression. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered.”
* * *
Back at the cabin, I tossed my two backpacks of belongings into the back of one of the SUVs. Then I turned to look at the mud-splattered moped still leaning against the wall on the front porch.
“So, about my scooter,” I said.
“No,” Kat said. “No way are we taking that with us.”
“I could use it back in New Haven. I don’t have a car yet,” I said. “Honestly, I’ve grown sort of attached to that scooter.”
She rolled her eyes as a number of other vampires stood nearby observing our exchange. Someone snickered and Kat turned her attention toward them with a baleful gaze.
Everyone fell silent.
“Fine, we’ll take it with us,” she said. “My team can secure it to the top of one of the SUVs.”
Kat turned to the group of vampires.
“Yes, General,” they said in unison.
As the scooter was secured, I walked out toward the nearby line of trees and took a deep breath of the cool night air.
I was definitely going to miss the serenity of the place.
Warm arms enveloped me from behind.
“How do I compete with such beauty?” Kat asked.
I leaned my head back against her shoulder. “As if you had any real competition.”
Her breath tickled the skin of my neck and she kissed me on my jugular vein.
I turned my face toward hers.
She gazed into my eyes in that piercing fashion that always unnerved me, even while sending a shiver of pleasure down through my body.
“Am I still enough to keep your attention, Caleb?”
My throat felt tight and dry as every fiber of my being wanted nothing less than to kiss her squarely on the lips.
“Of course you keep my attention,” I said. “You’ve always mesmerized me, ever since the first time I laid eyes upon you.”
The edges of her mouth turned upward slightly. “That first night in history class.”
I swallowed hard. “That, and then the other first time.”
She frowned at me.
“You know, the first time that wasn’t ‘the first’ until my memories were returned to me by Dr. Guilhelm,” I said.
“That memory was only one day,” she said. “And you were so very young.”
The memories and emotions of that day flooded through my mind all at once, like a giant wave crashing down upon me; fresh as if only months old. Rather, only remembered for just a few months after nearly a couple of decades of being blocked.
The day that my bastard of a father was killed before my young eyes.
“It was a big day for me,” I whispered, my throat practically too tight to speak.
Her features softened and a sympathetic expression formed. “We won’t dwell over that day. Our first day was the one in your history class. That’s our first day; at least, for who we are now.”
“I know. But the other one was also…important.”
She took my face in her warm, soft hands and kissed my forehead. “Yes, my love. It always was, and it always will be. And I’ve never regretted it.”
“And that’s yet another reason why I could never, ever, be less than smitten with you,” I said.
I never wanted to ever feel differently about her, either.
I looked up into her eyes. “Look, I know you’re unhappy with me right now, but do you think there’s a chance you’ll go back to feeling the way you felt about me before I left?”
She stared into my eyes in a piercing manner. “Oh, you silly man,” she said, shaking her head. “I never stopped.”
She took me into her arms, tightly hugging me against her. I embraced her with all the strength in my arms, conveying everything that I couldn’t quite say in the way it deserved to be said.
“I love you, Kat.”
I felt her hand reach up and massage the back of my head and neck.
“I love you so very much, too, Caleb,” she said.
Our lips met in a passionate kiss.
I wanted that kiss to last forever.
Finally, I relaxed my arms. She pulled away from me slightly and stared down into my eyes. Then she tapped me on the end of my nose with tip of her forefinger.
“Ready to go?” she asked.
“Not really,” I replied. “I’d much rather just stay here and set up house with you.”
She chuckled. “Here? In this little cabin in the middle of nowhere?”
“I could get used to it. It’s peaceful enough.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” she conceded while taking a long sweeping look around her. “But if we stayed, the world won’t just forget about us.”
I inhaled a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Probably not. The world seems to interfere with us a lot lately.”
She gave me a sympathetic look. “I know.”
“There’s absolutely nothing we can do about it, is there?” I asked.
An edgy expression formed on her face. “Oh, I may not be able to make the world stop interfering with us, but I can sure as hell make it regret doing so.”
I smiled. “I’m okay with that.”
She took me by the hand and led me toward the front door. “Come on, then. Let’s go make the world regret they ever set eyes on us.”
As I held the hand of the woman I loved, perhaps the fiercest woman I’d ever known, I couldn’t have agreed more.
* * *
PART III
NEW REALITIES
* * *
Chapter 17
Caleb
It had only been a week since Kat and I had returned from Tar Hollow, but I already wished that we were still there.
Though Kat was warming to me more and more with each passing day, everyone else was still rather put out with me.
Roman wasted no time letting me know how much he disapproved of my leaving in the first place.
“You’re a real dickhead, Caleb,” he said. “And that was a real dickhead move, too. Let’s face it, for someone like you—”
“For a dickhead, you mean?” I asked.
“Exactly,” he said. “At least you stayed true to your convictions at the time. You made a tough decision and took a chance.”
“Thanks.”
“Of course, you’re also a putz.”
I ignored that. “I’m going down to the basement to work out,” I said, anxious to be anywhere else.
Suffice to say, some things hadn’t changed. My college home still wasn’t the most relaxing of refuges.
Hell, relaxing refuge aside, my house didn’t even feel the same.
It’s wasn’t quite complete. Something was missing.
Or, rather, someone.
Paige was gone. She’d removed most of her clothes from her bedroom, though some random articles of clothing still hung in her closet. A handful of discarded personal effects lay scattered atop her dresser, including some perfumes and gaudy-looking fashion jewelry.
However, she was nowhere to be seen. And when I’d last phoned her, the number was no longer in service.
Even more unsettling was that not even Kat had an updated contact number for her.
I called Ethan, but he said that he hadn’t actually seen her. He conceded that, during his most recent phone conversation with her, she had pointedly refused to talk about me.
“I don’t suppose you’d share that number she called from?” I asked.
“It wasn’t on the caller ID, and she didn’t bother leaving one for me,” he replied. “Caleb, she’ll probably turn up when she’s ready.”
“I hope that I haven’t complicated things between you and her,” I said. “I mean, she wouldn’t have gone off the radar if it wasn’t for me.”
“Yes, well, it’s a good thing that I’m busy here in Atlanta with the hospital,” he said. “Or I might consider coming up there to see to you myself. I’m still a little surprised over what you did.”
I winced. “Yeah, I probably deserve that. Listen, I can’t apologize enough for everything, Ethan.”
“Do you want to try to make it up to me?” he asked.
“Really? Absolutely,” I said. “How?”
“Good,” he said. “First, don’t ever do it again.”
I should have seen that coming.
“Anything else?” I asked.
“Yes. Keep some ice handy in the fridge, just in case,” he said.
I frowned. “Ice? In case of what?”
“In case I change my mind and decide to show up to punch you in the face,” he said dryly.
I swallowed. “I’ll bear that in mind.”
Yeah, people weren’t especially happy with me at the moment.
About the only person who didn’t give me some sort of crap about skipping town was Chance. When we met up at Yalehoos one afternoon after Kat and I returned to New Haven, Chance applauded my effort.
“Way to go, Caleb,” she said. “You finally showed everyone. You finally took control of your own life.”
“Yeah, and that’s worked out swimmingly for me,” I said.
“Well, maybe the appreciation for it comes later when your psyche fully metabolizes the experience,” she said.
“Thank you, Dr. Freud,” I said.
“Seriously, Caleb. I’m proud of you.”
I supposed what Chance said had some validity, or perhaps I was just trying to put a positive spin on things.