Page 23 of Second Chance Fate

Unlike his parents’ cats, Captain and Tennille, Garfield was not a fan of Minnie. Although Captain and Tennille weren’t fans either. They just tolerated her.

“Sit,” Caleb instructed.

On a protesting whine, Minnie’s butt hit the white and black checkerboard flooring in the kitchen. In the dozens of home visits Minnie had made with Caleb, she’d only interacted with the orange tabby twice. Both ended with Minnie gettingscratched, yet she still believed they could be best friends. Now, he hid anytime he heard or sensed her coming. But she smelled his food and his toys. It was seriously messing with her head.

Mrs. Costas stepped beside Frankie, extending her arm as if she were a spokesmodel onThe Price Is Right. “I see you met my very beautiful, verysinglegranddaughter.”

“I did.”

“Wow.” Frankie looked at her grandma and shook her head. “That was about as subtle as a bare-assed fart on a wooden pew.”

“Francesca!” Mrs. Costas gasped. “This is the pastor.”

“It’s Frankie,” Frankie corrected her. “And obviously I know that; I saidpew.”

Mrs. Costas tsked as she shook her head. “You don’t have to be so vulgar.”

“You’re absolutely right, I don’t. And you don’t have to stage a lackluster meet-cute less than two hours after I get to town. I am not that desperate.” She turned to me. “No offense, Hot Pastor.”

“None taken,” Caleb assured her, and meant it.

Caleb liked Frankie.

Not in the way he liked his mystery woman, more in the way he liked Viv, Karina, and Nikki Maguire. Actually, she reminded him a lot of all three of them. They all said exactly what was on their mind and had zero filter. He had a feeling Frankie was going to fit right in this town. If she was staying, that is. He would ask, but he didn’t want Mrs. Costas to get the wrong idea. He’d found that any interest he took in the opposite sex, even about the most innocent of subjects, could and would be misconstrued.

“So what’s wrong with the dishwasher?” Caleb asked for clarification.

“The problemwasthe gasket, which I fixed right after I got here. In fact, I was the one who realized there was a leak inthe first place. I just got back from the hardware store, where I returned the part I got that wasn’t needed. So, I’m wondering, Yaya, why did you put out an S.O.S. call after the dishwasher was fixed?”

“Did I? I must have got confused.” Mrs. Costas feigned innocence before she pulled out a chair and patted the seat. “Oh well, now that you’re here, Pastor, stay. I have baklava, your favorite. Did I tell you Francesca knows how to make my baklava, moussaka, and spanakopita? I taught her. Out of all nineteen of my grandchildren, she is the only one who learns how to cook from me!”

“Did shealsotell you that out of all her nineteen grandchildren, Francesca was engaged up until, oh, um…” Frankie pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the time. “—about four hours and thirty-six minutes ago, give or take. Technically, she stillisengaged because after she found out her fiancé is a lying, cheating man-whore, she didn’t wait around to break things off. She packed a bag and got on a plane to come see her Yaya, who shethoughtwould be the one person in the family who would support her decision not to marry the richprickeveryone else saw through glasses that they had to have gotten from The Bachelor himself; they are so rose-colored.”

“I do support!” Mrs. Costas tone was defensive as she gestured wildly toward Caleb. “See! Support! Support! Right in front of you!”

Caleb’s phone buzzed, and he pulled it out of his pocket and saw it was a message from Judy, a link to pics from the Godly Gigglers meeting. As much as he was enjoying meeting Frankie and would love to indulge in Mrs. Costas’ baklava, he figured this would be a good time to make a graceful exit.

“I have to get going.” He patted his leg, which Minnie knew was the signal that they were leaving. She stood. “It was nice meeting you, Frankie.”

“You too, Hot Pastor.”

“Nice to see you, Mrs. Costas.”

The women were still arguing as Caleb and Minnie headed back out to his Jeep. He wasn’t happy at all that Frankie was cheated on, but he was happy that Mrs. Costas wasn’t alone in the house any longer. Even though he knew it wasn’t healthy for him to stop by as much as he did, he did worry about her.

He’d planned on looking at the photos once he got back to the office, but when he got into the driver’s seat, something made him press his finger to the hyperlink. His screen filled with photos of exactly what Judy had described; all five of the women in the group were huddled around Carolina, each taking turns holding the cutlery. They were definitely in good spirits, no pun intended.

He was about to close the screen and head back to the church when something, or should he say someone, caught his attention. The image was so tiny, he could barely make out her features, but somehow, he knew it was her. He dragged his thumb and forefinger in opposite directions on the screen to enlarge the photo. When he did, his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest like the Kool-Aid Man.

Shewas in Brewed Awakenings, talking to Audrey. Audrey, who was married to his best friend Josh, had spoken one-on-one withher. The two women appeared locked in a serious conversation.

He backed out of the driveway and sped down the street. He couldn’t believe his luck. This was the best and only lead he’d had on who his mystery woman was. After seeing her at church yesterday and missing her after, he’d tossed and turned in his bed all night. His sleep score had been 20 on his Oura ring, which was the worst he’d ever gotten. Even last year, when a young mother at his church had a brain aneurysm while her husband was deployed, and he stepped in and cared for herthree young children, ages six weeks to four, he’d had better scores.

Last night, he couldn’t sleep, and when he did, it wasn’t restful. He’d had vivid dreams ofher. Dreams of the X-rated variety, which weren’t the best for him to be having.

Caleb tried to keep his mind off of sex as much as possible. He’d been abstinent since accepting the position of senior pastor, and his plan was to remain that way until he was married. The more he thought about sex, the more difficult refraining would be.

He’d found abstinence a lot easier before the mystery woman showed up. If anything, dating was much less messy when you took sex out of the equation. But he’d been thinking about it a lot more since the first time he saw her. His mind was regularly taking trips to the gutter and camping out there. Even now, just the thought that he would find out her name had him buzzing with he could call excitement, but if he were honest, it was arousal.

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