Page 24 of Caleb's Cause
“That’s fine,” she said, and they could tell her words were mumbled and she looked exhausted. They broke up after that, and Caleb helped her to her feet, out to his car, and caught Duane as he returned from lunch. Laurie was with him, and he jumped the gun and grinned.
“Laurie, Erin wants to talk to you. She said she might have something for you to do.”
“Thank god,” Laurie laughed as she gave Duane a quick kiss and hurried to the back door.
“What’s up?” Duane asked.
“I’m taking Katherine over to Broken, not Two, to one of the larger cabins to get her settled in. Can she have her pack back?”
“Sure, let me go get it.” He left and returned a few minutes later. “Why not take her to Two?”
“Because there’s no furniture. No couch, no table, just the kitchen with a stove, microwave, dishwasher, and refrigerator. Nothing else, not even a coffee pot. I’m sleeping on an air mattress I found in my car, and bought instant coffee.” He laughed at the look of disgust that came across Duane’s face.
“Yeah, I know. I didn’t want to say anything, because I thought I was responsible for it all, and with me trying to get my office set up before the wedding, I thought I could rough it for a few weeks.” He shook his head, then looked over both shoulders before he looked back at Duane with a grin. “Erin’s going to askLaurie if she can go to all the new cabins and see if she can’t stock them. Or at least make a list of what they need. I don’t know what will happen after that.”
“That will keep Laurie busy. I know she’s been going stir crazy with just taking the rehabilitation classes. Are you going to stay with Katherine?”
“Only until she’s settled in one of the rooms, I need to get over to my office to finish working on that.”
“Would you mind if I come over later, after dinner, to talk with the two of you?” He saw the doubt on his face and shook his head. “It’s all good.”
“Okay, yeah, seven?”
“I’ll be there.” Duane left, and Caleb climbed into his car. He noticed Katherine had her eyes closed, but had her seatbelt on, so he left her alone. Because it wasn’t as rough as driving from Two to Broken, he was able to go a little faster, and in about ten minutes he had parked at the cabin he knew was empty. Instead of waking her, he took her pack inside, and set it on the kitchen table, then he inspected the two bottom bedrooms, and liked that they were all ready for people. He then ran upstairs to check on them, and found them the same way. He went to get Katherine.
He opened her door, reached in and undid her seatbelt, and tried to wake her. She never moved, so he picked her up, and carried her inside. Instead of taking her upstairs, he took her to the downstairs bedroom, the furthest away from the front door, laid her down on the bed, and because she never moved, he removed her shoes and socks. He stood there looking at her and looked up at the knock on the door, and nodded to the three women standing there.
“We’re Marcia, Opal, and Adele.”
“That’s right. Sorry, it’ll take a little to get everyone straight.”
“That’s okay, we’re here to see if you need help?”
“She’s asleep, I carried her in here, and she never moved. I don’t want her to sleep in her jeans, and I’m not a prude, but I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to remove them.”
“We understand, why don’t you step out?” Marcia asked, and closed the door behind him. Less than ten minutes later, they were back in the kitchen. “We removed her jeans, and were able to move her to beneath the covers. She should be okay now.”
“Good, I know how uncomfortable it is to sleep in denim.”
They all left after that, but Caleb had written a note for Katherine when the others had been in the bedroom with her, and he made sure it was in the center of the table before he left.
Hours later,Katherine slowly woke and instead of jerking awake, she slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the semi-darkness. She frowned when she didn’t recognize the room, and as she saw the bag she’d carried around for weeks sitting on a chair on the other side of the room, everything she’d gone through recently came rushing back to her. She sat up quickly, looked around, and when she saw the attached bathroom, she tossed the blankets back and paused when she didn’t see that she wore her jeans. Instead of worrying about it, she grabbed the bag, and headed into the bathroom. After using the facilities, she took a shower and dressed. At the bottom of the bag, she found the phone, and after turning it on, she quickly dialed the only number programmed into it.
“I’m safe.” As soon as she gave those two words, she quickly turned it off, and not knowing whether it was untraceable or not, she removed the battery and put them both back into the plastic bag she had placed the phone in. During her trek to Fool’s Gold from Denver, it had rained for two days, and she didn’twant everything to get wet, so she had purchased some baggies to keep her clothes dry, then asked the employees at one store if she could just have one garbage bag to put the entire pack in. They had given her one.
Not knowing what time it was, Katherine slowly opened the bedroom door, peeked out, then headed to the kitchen, or where she suspected the kitchen was.
“Whoa,” she said as soon as she entered and saw a man’s naked back. He was facing the counter, but before he turned, she could see all the muscles on his back, his taut ass in his jeans, and she smiled at the sight of his bare feet. When he whipped around at her words, she sucked in her breath as she saw his well-defined muscles of his chest and stomach. “Wow.” She thought she’d said that in her head, but when he grinned, she felt her face heat and covered it with her hands.
“Excuse me,” Caleb said, and hurried away, and from faraway, he called out that the coffee was done. When he returned, he was pulling a shirt over his head, and though Katherine felt better, she was also sad that he had covered up. Because she hadn’t moved from where she’d stopped when she’d spotted him, Caleb finished making his coffee and got out a mug for her and set it on the table.
“What time is it?”
They both settled at the kitchen table, and Caleb didn’t respond until he had taken a sip of his coffee, then nodded to her to do the same. He noted that she’d risen and gotten the milk Laurie had brought over the day before, and put just a splash of it in her cup.
“Don’t be mad, but it’s six o’clock Friday morning.”
“Wait, what day did I arrive?”
