Wednesday left the table and walked to the edge of the courtyard. The damp smell mixed with smoke hung in the air like a residue. Where are you Caleb?
Tatum found a blanket, wrapped it around Wednesday’s shoulders, and brought her back to the group. “We’re headed up to my cabin. Join us.”
“I need to find Caleb.”
“I know, sweetie, but I don’t think he wants to be found right now.”
“You know the Hanson men better than any of us.” Sky joined her on the other side. “He needs time.”
The five women walked the trail to the cabin.
“It’s not fair,” Wednesday said.
Tatum opened the door, let them in, and went to the bedroom. She returned with blankets. “Those boys are so stubborn. They need women like us in their lives to balance them out, but that doesn’t mean it’s fair to us.”
“Tell me about it.” Eliza snuggled under a blanket. “Cameron is a bear when he gets mad.” She giggled. “I mean an even bigger bear.”
Sky joined her in laughing.
“One time, Connor got so mad over something stupid, he pouted for an entire day.” Tatum plugged in the coffee pot.
“I think this is more than a tantrum.” Wednesday propped her feet on a foot stool.
Ginger patted her hand. “How are the babies?”
Wednesday rested her hand on her bump. “They’re fine. I guess.” She pumped her thumb to the kitchen. “My doctor checked me out several times.”
“What about the cut?” Eliza asked.
Wednesday stuck out her leg from under the blanket. “Besides ruining my favorite pair of leggings and this annoying dry blood that itches now, it’s gone.”
“It was weird watching you standing there after the window exploded.” Sky took the mug Tatum gave her.
“I don’t remember much about it. There was a loud crack and then it felt like something stung me.”
The conversation fell idle. Wednesday felt sure they wanted to avoid the elephant in the room. She took a deep breath and said, “So now what do we do?”
“I’m sure insurance will cover rebuilding,” Ginger said.
“Do any of you know where the policy is?” Eliza asked.
“I bet Caleb kept that in the safe. I don’t know if Connor or Cameron had a copy.”
A reserved quiet came over everyone again.
Wednesday saw Caleb in her mind. Her pain too intense for her falcon to bear. Her falcon hid in a dark corner.
Tatum sat next to her and put an arm around her. “We’ll find him. Cameron and Connor can look once they come home. I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think you should lie down and rest. You may feel fine, but all of this is a lot to take in. You can sleep in our bed.”
Wednesday yawned. “I don’t want to sleep. I want to find Caleb and kick his ass.”
Tatum snickered. “Yeah, I get that he’s upset and needs time, but is that why he left?”
Wednesday shrugged. “I don’t know. And what did Connor say that caused Caleb to hit him?”
Eliza put her drink on a side table. “Caleb blamed his brothers for the fire.”
“What!?” Wednesday couldn’t believe that. “He’s been under a lot of stress. Blaming his brothers made no sense. It’s not like they tossed a lit match into the insulation.”
“Did the fire start in the insulation?” Sky asked.
Wednesday shook her head. “The guy told me he thought it started because of exposed wires, but once the insulation caught fire, it spread before they could put it out.”
“Did it have something to do with the workmen? I noticed a few of them high-tailed it out of there before the fire engines got there.”
Awkward silence replaced the conversation a third time.
“I wonder how the boys are doing with Maria’s family,” Eliza whispered.
“I can’t even imagine what they had to say to her parents. Do any of you know her family?” Tatum asked.
“She introduced me to her mom, once,” Ginger said. “She wanted me to convince her mom San Francisco wasn’t a den for the devil. What about her boyfriend?”
“I saw him a lot when he picked her up after work, but I never met him,” Wednesday said. Tatum, Sky, and Eliza shook their heads in agreement.
“Oh. My. God. I’ve been so focused on Caleb and the resort, Sky your boutique and the restaurant, Eliza. What are you two going to do now?”
Sky shrugged. “I don’t know. Doug sent me a text asking me the same thing. I’m sure the insurance for the resort will cover the store since I leased the space.” She stretched across the end table and squeezed Eliza’s hand. “The same should go if there was any damage to the restaurant.”
“It’s at the other end of the parking lot. I couldn’t tell, but I don’t think it was too damaged”
“What happened to Dottie?” Tatum asked.
“Her husband got her,” Eliza answered. “They coordinated the relocation effort for the guests.”
Wednesday put her hand to her mouth. “I forgot about the guests. What if they sue?”
“Do you think they will?” Eliza asked.
“I guess they could, but surely the insurance will help with that,” Tatum said.
Wednesday yawned again.
Tatum stood and peeled back Wednesday’s blanket. “Now I insist that you lay down.” Wednesday tried to protest. “Stop it. We can’t solve anything this second. Go rest.”
“What if Caleb comes back?”
Tatum walked her to the bedroom. “Then I’ll come get you.” She squeezed Wednesday’s shoulder. “Trust me.”
Wednesday smiled.
Tatum tucked her in and joined the others in the front room. Wednesday laid listening to their murmured voices until sleep overtook her like a heavy soupy fog.
Caleb
None of his business classes or leadership books prepared him for the pain of failure hugging Caleb like a straightjacket. Wednesday’s face haunted him. How could he have been so wrong? Family was everything. And he’d failed his.
The resort was the one gift he could give to everyone he loved. It was a gift meant to create security. Now it was the gift that severed the connection his family had to the future.
Three miles away, and the smoke still burned his lungs. Frustration fueled his momentum to move faster and faster. Soon he ran across the trails and climbed the hills in ever increasing strides.
The further away he ran the lighter he felt. The guilt dissipated as sweat rolled down his back. His muscles quivered with exhaustion. Caleb opened the connection to his falcon and in a burst of power and energy he shifted, allowing a draft to carry him across the canyon. From his elevated viewpoint, the smoke from the fire covered the land like a gray filter on a photo. He flew higher, pushing his wings harder trying to escape.
When he flew to the edge of the canyon, he circled around and flew to the other end. Caleb withdrew to the darkest part of his mind, curled into the fetal position, and withdrew. The falcon disconnected controlling every move they made.
The falcon hovered over the resort watching. He saw the final flames die and his family carrying Maria across the fallen frame. The charred hollow shell of the resort cracked as it settled. Settling on a far tree limb gave him the opportunity to observe and not be seen. His brothers and Eli left leaving the women alone. When they went inside, he flew off and settled in a cave high in the cliff walls. The bird rested in the dark, the pain of destruction too much for the alpha animal to bear.
Caleb heard a noise, a deep howl calling. Through the falcon’s eyes he saw a wolf with white paws, red-trimmed, graying fur, and bright, blue eyes fill the cave entrance. The falcon postured for flight, but Caleb knew it was Eli.
In a slow-growing, powerful hit of energy, Eli shifted into the man Caleb knew as his friend.
“Calm down, chum. I’m not here to fight. We’ve been looking for you since yesterday. You can’t hide in here.”
The falcon cawed and puffed out hi
s chest. Caleb covered his ears and withdrew deeper into the corners of his mind. His friend’s voice slicing away the wall he hid behind.
Two falcons as big as Caleb landed next to Eli. In a rapid explosion of power, Cameron and Connor shifted.
“Now what?” Cameron asked.
“He’s in there. Talk to him, I guess,” Connor said.
Caleb’s falcon raised his wings, lowered his head and drove forward. Eli retreated to the back of the cave. In defense, Cameron and Connor returned to their predatory form and braced against Caleb’s attack. Caleb dug his claws into Cameron’s sinewy wing and dragged him outside. The two toppled off the ledge and opened their wings for flight. Both oriented themselves and attacked midair. Their talons locked as they spun in an ever-increasing circle.
Caleb saw his brother behind the falcon attacking him. His guilt and anger boiled over and found a target.
Connor drove for the two and hit them with enough force to break them apart. He landed on an overhanging and called his brothers.
Caleb saw his younger brother. His heart listened to his pleas, but his head burned with rage as the falcon focused his energy on another attack. He clawed Cameron sinking his talons in deeper with each strike. Each time the falcon felt flesh tear away, Caleb’s frustration grew. Why was his brother here? Couldn’t they leave him alone? He had nothing left to give anyone. Why did they want more?
The two falcons fell against a cliff wall and spiraled away from each other.
Cameron landed on the canyon floor and shouted, “Hate me. Come at me. Hurt me. I don’t care, but I will not fight you as a bird. Face me as a man.”
Caleb rushed from his dark hiding spot, shifted, and charged his brother to the ground. Cameron put up his arms and blocked his brother’s blows, but never returned a single punch. Desperation and fatigue overtook Caleb. He rolled off his brother, curled into a ball, and sobbed. His body overtaken with pain and frustration, his brothers formed a protective circle around him and let him cry until his soul laid empty and defeated.
The Hanson Brothers rested on the ground, catching their breath and letting the sun warm their wounds. Within minutes, only the deepest of the cuts remained.
Caleb stretched to move. Cameron flinched, jumped up into a defensive stance, and prepared to fight. “Are we doing this again?”
“No.” Caleb coughed and spat blood tinted phlegm. “I don’t think I can move.”
“Good,” Connor started. “That will make it easier to drag your ass home.”
Caleb rested an arm on his bent knee. “What home?”
“The resort, you asshat.” Cameron sat up, resting on his elbows.
“That’s not home. It’s gone, all gone.”
“It was a fire, Caleb, not Armageddon. Stop being so dramatic,” Cameron said.
Caleb stared in the distance. The setting sun casting long shadows around them. “Maria.”
“Yeah, Maria,” Cameron said.
“Why?”
Connor crawled at a rock and leaned against it for support. “I don’t know. Her mom asked us that too.”
“You talked to her parents?”
“We had to,” Cameron said.
“I should have been there with you.”
“It would have been nice. Why the hell did you leave?” Cameron asked.
“I don’t know. Is Wednesday okay?”
“She’s fine. The girls are looking after her,” Connor said.
“What about Kitty?”
“You mean her mom?” Cameron sat up all the way and crossed his legs. “She’s in town along with the rest of the guests that stuck around.”
“Have she and Wednesday talked?”
Connor spit out a ball of mucus. “A little. She was over at the cabin last night talking to Wednesday for a long time. Right now, Wednesday is focused on you. We had a helluva fight keeping her in the cabin and not out here looking for you.”
The brothers startled and clenched their fists when a wolf joined them. Eli shifted. “That was an awesome show. If you guys could do that again, I could sell tickets. Make all of us a little pile of money.”
“What the hell?” Caleb threw a rock at his friend.
Eli dodged it. “I’m serious. Do you boys fight like that all the time?”
“Only when one of us is being a dick,” Cameron said.
“What caused the fire?” Caleb asked.
“Technically, they are calling it an accident,” Connor answered.
A nagging dread formed in Caleb’s head. “A technical accident?”
“It looks like the work crew may not have been as safe as they could have been,” Connor continued.
Caleb shook his head. He should have followed his gut. After listening to the conversation in the dining room, he needed to investigate further, push the issue more with the foreman. But there were phone calls to answer, emails to write, and Wednesday had he appointment. This was his fault.
“What are you doing out here?” Caleb asked.
Eli said, “We could ask you the same thing. What the hell are you doing out here?”
“Staying didn’t feel right,” Caleb answered.
Cameron stood clenching his hands. “What? Supporting your family didn’t feel right.”
Connor jumped between his older brothers. “I’m not letting you two fight again. Enough. It doesn’t matter why he left. What matters is we need to get back home and figure out what to do from here.”
Cameron looked over Connor’s head to see his younger twin. “Do you think it feels right to come back now?”
Caleb didn’t answer his brother. Instead he shifted and flew to the resort, landing outside Connor’s cabin.
His two brothers returned within minutes. Eli would return soon.
Wednesday ran out of the cabin as he landed. She jumped into his arms and kissed every inch of his face. “Caleb, where were you? Are you okay? What happened? Why did you leave?” She squirmed out of his arms, stepped away, and slapped him. “Don’t you ever do that again. I was so worried. Nothing made sense. We didn’t know if you were hurt or gone for good. I’ve never been as mad at you as I am right now.”
Caleb rubbed his face where she slapped him, his cheek warming under his hand.
She stepped into him again and kissed the spot under his hand. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe I did that. That should have never happened.” She choked off a sob and nuzzled deep within his embrace.
Caleb rested his chin on her head. “You have no idea how sorry I am. I don’t expect you to forgive me. What do I do now?”
She looked up at him. “I don’t know, but we have to do it together.”
“How can I provide for you and the babies, now? What will my brothers do? I’m tired. I had to go away.”
“But we are better together. If you don’t let me take care of you, how can I show you my love? When you shut me out, it’s like a slap in the face.”
Connor stepped up and put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “We don’t need you to take care of us. Believe it or not, we’re big boys.”
Caleb said to his brother, “The Libre Volare has been here when each one of you needed a place. It was here for Tatum and Wednesday. That’s why I created this. I wanted a way to provide each of you with the shelter you needed to weather your storms. Now it’s gone.”
Eli ran up to the group and shifted, landing on the ground from lack of energy.
Caleb noticed the other women standing on the cabin porch. When he noticed Kitty staring at his crotch, he become self-conscious and aware of his nakedness. What had Wednesday told her mother?
Ginger rushed to cover him with a blanket and help him stand. Caleb watched the gentle way they held each other. When did that happen?
“We will always be grateful for what you’ve given us, brother. Stop acting like this is the end. For now, let’s go inside and get clean,” Cameron said. “I could eat for days.”
Everyone, except Caleb and Wednesday, headed inside.
C
aleb held her hand. “How are you? How are the babies?”
Wednesday placed Caleb’s hand on her midsection. “We are fine. They are big, and I’m tired.”
“We have to find a place to stay.”
“I know, but let’s get through one day at a time for right now.”
“I’m sorry about Maria. I know she was your friend.”
Wednesday touched his cheek. “She was your friend too. More like family, I would say. It hurts.”
“When is her funeral?”
“The day after tomorrow. Did the guys tell you what caused the fire?”
Caleb nodded.
“If the work crew is to blame, Maria’s death will be considered manslaughter or murder.”
“We need to find out for sure. I should have done more to keep them in line.” He took her hand and walked her to the cabin.
“What more could you have done. We hired them to do a job and they should be trustworthy enough to do that job.”
“My head knows you’re right, but the resort is my responsibility.”
She stopped and faced him. “When will you realize it’s our responsibility. All of ours, your brothers, their mates, us. This is a family business. Trust your family.”
“Speaking of family, how are things between you and Kitty. I’m sorry for just bringing her here. I should have considered how drastic that would be for you. Did you tell her about us, the real us?”
Wednesday nodded. “You pissed the hell out of me when I saw her. I told her about us. I couldn’t show her, but Tatum helped me with that. It’s strained, but we’re talking. I guess it’s a start.”
They stood outside the door. “You go ahead. I need a minute.”
She smiled, kissed him, and walked inside.
He faced the direction where the resort should stand. One corner of the frame remained standing, a lone skeleton where once a thriving body lived. The heaviness of the future buckled his knees, and he grabbed the porch railing for support. His falcon called him, and Caleb contemplated returning to the canyon. Instead he walked inside unsure what the next step would be but knowing too many people needed him for him to fly away and hide.
Shelter For My Mate: Sassy Ever After (Sanctuary for My Mate Book 3) Page 7