Page 42 of Due North
“I wasn’t talking about the food. Tobi can carry the food.”
I shook my head once to clear it. “You just said you didn’t mean Tobi.”
“It’s time you stop pretending, Caleb,” Dawn said, leaning forward on the table and crossing her hands. “You like Cecelia, and she likes you. Why are you not exploring that?”
“Because,” I said slowly to buy myself time while I rubbed my forehead.
“You work together? She’s a single mom?”
“We work together. Cece being Poppy’s mom now has nothing to do with it.”
“Fair.” She leaned back and stared me down. “Beau and I worked together. Blaze and Heaven worked together.”
My sarcastic snort was heavy in the room. “First of all, Beau worked at Bison Ridge. Heavenly Lane didn’t depend on him for every meal every single day. Second of all, Blaze and Heaven did not work together. They were frenemies for years. Nice try, though.”
Her eye roll told me she wasn’t happy. “My point is, working together is a lame reason not to explore what you can be to each other.”
“Oh, but it is, Dawn,” I said, shaking my head. “So much could go wrong. I can’t risk everything that way.”
Without a word, she walked to the sink, dumped her coffee, and set her mug down. When she turned back, her face was expressionless as she walked to the door. Dawn stopped at the threshold and turned back for a moment.
“Sometimes, risking everything is the only thing you’ve got left.”
Sometimes, risking everything is the only thing you’ve got left.
I had buried my feelings for Cecelia Douglas for so many years I didn’t know how to unbury them. And if I did let them see the light of day, was Cece going to get hurt? The answer was probably yes. I didn’t care about myself, but I didn’t want to hurt her. She had Poppy Rose to think about too.
Now, an hour later, I stood on the doorstep of the bunkhouse with my fist raised until I remembered I didn’t have to knock. I was the foreman and could go into any building at any time. All the guys were out working on various parts of the ranch, and the only one inside was the woman I couldn’t stop thinking about since I fell asleep on her pillow two nights ago.
Heaven told me my job was to find out who Caleb North was. Dawn said sometimes you have to risk everything. If I put those two ideas together, part of me said I couldn’t find out who Caleb North is if I didn’t find out who he could be with the woman he’d dreamed about dating for two years. Cripes. Now Heaven had me talking about myself in the third person.
I turned the doorknob and pushed it open, stomping my feet off and taking a moment to soak in Cece’s beauty. She stood at the stove, her apron tied tightly around her waist and her hair tied back in a ponytail at the nape of her neck. It was when she turned toward me that I noticed her apron said, ‘May the Forks Be with You,’ and her chef’s hat was black with little Yodas all over it.
I burst out laughing while I closed the door behind me. “That’s your best ensemble yet,” I said when I could speak again. “I love your aprons. I never know what to expect.”
“Oh yeah?” she asked as she set a pan down in the sink. “Which one is your favorite?”
“I think I’m still partial to the one that says, ‘your opinion wasn’t in the recipe’ because you know I always try to insert mine.”
“And the opinion better be that it was the best damn food you’d eaten all year.”
“Of course,” I agreed, nodding, but I was laughing at the same time. “I’m sure all the guys agree too.”
“They better!” She punched me playfully. “I can hold my own with any one of you guys.”
My hands went up in defense. “Of that, I have no doubt.”
She took a step closer while she looked me up and down. “How are you feeling? I didn’t want to bother you if you were sleeping.” Her hand came to rest on my chest, and I covered it with mine, holding it there.
“I’m good. I promise,” I said, winking to prove it.
“I like it,” she said with laughter on her lips. “You couldn’t do that a few days ago.”
“The medication and infusions are doing their job. I have another one to do this afternoon, but I wanted to stop in and see how you and Poppy were doing. Dawn said you’re getting ready to serve lunch in the barn.”
“Well, they’ll be doing the windows in here, and honestly, I could do it in the other bunkhouse, but the barn is just as easy since that’s where the hands gather anyway. Not a big deal, just sloppy joes and potatoes. Stop in and eat if you have time before you go to the clinic.”
“I will, but I was wondering if you’d have dinner with me tonight?”
