Page 34 of Second Chance Fate

As soon as Sue Ann left, Caleb asked, “Do you know how Owen got a smile out of Gus?”

“Oh, um, yeah, he told me he didn’t think Gus was mean; he just missed his wife and doesn’t like to talk. But he thought he might be lonely, so he started sitting by him and not talking. One day, Gus turned to him and asked him if he knew any knock-knock jokes. Owen told him one. Then he asked him the same thing the next time he was there. So now, every time Owen goes, he tells Gus a knock-knock joke.”

“Wow…that’s…wow.” Caleb looked impressed.

Or maybe she was projecting because she wanted him to be; she wasn’t sure. “So…” she started and had no idea what to say next.

“So,” Caleb repeated.

“Sorry…” She shook her head. “I don’t know where to start.”

“How about the beginning?” he suggested.

“The beginning.” Taylor nodded. She took a deep breath when she noticed Caleb looking past her. She turned around and saw a woman walking toward the table.

“I’m so sorry. Can you excuse me for a second?”

“Sure.”

Taylor watched as Caleb stood and walked over to speak to the woman. She used the interruption to try and gather her thoughts. The situation was what it was. She just needed to give him the facts. That was it.

“You are one lucky lady,” Sue Ann commented as she set the iced tea on the table. “You know he’s got quite the following, and I’m not talking about his congregation. You should see the women lining up to date him.”

“Oh, we’re not on a…this is not a…” Taylor wasn’t sure how to explain what this was. She couldn’t exactly say that this wasless of a date and more of a Maury Povich episode where she was going to be telling Caleb that he was a father. “This isn’t a date.”

“Well, all the same, there’s a lot of people who would love to be “noton a date” with Hot Pastor.” Sue Ann winked before heading over to another table.

Taylor ran the script over again in her head. She knew the major points she needed to hit and hoped she’d be able to make them without being interrupted or overheard. She didn’t want it to be general knowledge until she could speak to Owen, which wasn’t going to happen until she could figure out a way to do it that would cause the least amount of stress.

“Sorry about that.” Caleb apologized as he joined her once again.

“No problem.”

She sat across from him and told herself the butterflies she was feeling were there because of the conversation she was about to have and not because Caleb had the dreamiest brown eyes she’d ever seen before. Her nerves were caused by a word starting with “a” that had seven letters, but it wasn’t “arousal”; it was “anxiety.”

“Um, right the beginning. This should be easy. I’ve rehearsed it so many times in my head, but imagining it and sitting in front of you are two very different?—”

“Sorry, hold that thought,” Caleb said a moment before a man arrived at the table.

His beard had more salt than pepper, he wore a red flannel shirt, and he could have been cast as the Brawny Man’s grandfather.

Caleb stood and shook his hand. “Mr. Hayes, how’s Phoebe?”

Brawny Man clasped Caleb’s hand as tears formed in his eyes. “She’s doing great. Her and the boys. They’re all settled in Seattle. I’m just driving through on my way to see them. I’m grabbing one of Sue Ann’s apple pies, and when I saw you I just…I had to come over and thank you. I don’t know what we would have done…how we would have gotten through without you.”

“It wasn’t me. It was everyone. And you know, we’re still here if you need anything. Just a phone call away.”

Taylor had no idea what the man had been through, but she could feel the intensity of his emotions radiating off of him. She felt like she was intruding on a private moment.

The man sniffed as he wiped away tears that had fallen with his thumb and pointer finger. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I just…I’ve been meaning to thank you, but there’s just no words to?—"

“No thank you necessary.” Caleb and the man did the one-armed man hug. When they stepped back, Brawny Man was looking down at Taylor. “Mr. Hayes, this is Miss…”

She saw that Caleb wasn’t sure what to introduce her as. “Taylor, just Taylor.”

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He tipped his hat to her. “I’ll let you two get back to it. Thank you again.”

“I mean it, I’m a phone call away if you need anything,” Caleb reiterated.

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