Page 85 of Second Chance Fate

Actually, now that he thought about it, he remembered his dad saying those exact words about his mom on several occasions. She would start to stand up to go do something, and he’d tighten his hold around her to keep her in place beside him on the couch, or if they were in the kitchen and she was going to leave, he’d wrap his arms around her waist and keep her in there while he was cooking, or if he were in the church office and shestarted to walk out, he’d tug her toward him and pull her onto his lap. Then if she said she had to do something like laundry or run errands, and that was why she was leaving, he’d tell her that he’d help her or do it for her if she waited for his show to end, or for him to finish cooking, or for him to complete whatever work he had to do, and then that’s exactly what would happen. He wanted her near him all the time.

The first time Caleb heard John Krasinski’s quote fromThe Office,“When you’re a kid, you assume your parents are soulmates; my kids are gonna be right about that,”it struck a chord with him. He loved it because heknewhis parents were soulmates. He loved it so much, he’d bought a t-shirt with the saying on it. That’s the feeling he had when he looked at Taylor. That they were soulmates. He’d even left that shirt out for her to wear yesterday because that’s how he felt about her.

Taylor’s hands landed on his chest as she looked up at him, and he tightened his grip on her. “Remember that blanket apology I made being a little extra?”

The warm hues of the setting sun danced in Taylor's crystal blue eyes, turning them into pools of amber and gold. The sky was painted with streaks of orange, pink, and purple, all reflecting beautifully in her gaze as she tilted her head up at him and cautiously stated, “Yes.”

“Well, my mom was wondering if we might be open to having a small wedding?—”

“A wedding?” she interjected.

Panic replaced the setting sun dancing in her gaze.

“Just a small one, here, in the backyard, on Saturday.” He figured he might as well get all the details out at once.

“Saturday?” She swallowed with an audible gulp. “ThisSaturday?”

Her response was not a verbal no, but her head was shaking back and forth. He didn’t think she was even conscious that she was doing it.

“I’m not saying this to pressure you, but she said that my dad would never admit it, but he’s always thought he would be the one to stand with me and my bride, pronouncing us man and wife.”

“Oh.” Her eyes blinked slowly, as if a realization was dawning on her. The panic was instantly replaced with a melancholy resignation. “I didn’t even think of that. Of course, he would.”

Before they had a chance to discuss any further, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was Judy calling.

“Hey, can I?—”

“Are you at the church?”

“No. Why?”

“ADT just called; they said that the alarm on the side entrance door has been triggered.”

“It’s probably some kids again.” They’d had the same thing happen, and then they showed up and found graffiti sprayed on the side of the building. It was written off as teens, but Caleb had his own suspicions that it was Patsy Clemons. “Have you checked the camera?”

The evening before the alarm was tripped, two teens in the youth group came out and went to prom together. They took photos before prom with the youth pastor in front of the church. The following day they woke up to homophobic slurs spray-painted on the church and church sign, claiming that God hated fill-in-the-blank slur. There were no security cameras at that time, so he couldn’t prove it, but Patsy was very outspoken about her opinions and had complained even before the kids took the pictures when she got wind it might be happening. Caleb washed it all down himself, and the following Sunday, he addressed thevandalism from the pulpit, making it very clear that the church was safe and inclusive for LGBTQ. When Patsy cornered him after the service, furious over the views he’d expressed, with smoke coming out of her ears, he couldn’t help but notice that she had flecks of red and blue paint under her nails and in her nail beds. When he asked her about the paint, she suddenly got very flustered, tripping over her words, mumbled something about finger painting, and walked away. It was the only time Patsy had ever walked away mid-rant.

“The camera’s not working.”

“It’s not working?” he repeated.

“They said it looks like someone has either disabled it or put something over it; the screen is just black. But the alarm is still going off; it has been for five minutes now, so the door has definitely been opened. Do you want me to go?”

“No, I’ll go.”

“Are you sure?” she confirmed.

“Yes.” There was no way he’d let Judy handle this.

“Okay, keep me updated.”

“I will.”

Caleb hung up the phone and looked down at Taylor, who had worry etched in her eyes. “The alarm at the church is going off. It’s probably just kids, but I need to go check it out. Are you going to be okay here?”

“Yes. Absolutely. Go.”

“Are you sure?” He looked over his shoulder at Owen, who was on the grass with his dad.

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