Page 2 of Caleb's Salvation
My attention turned to the woman behind him.
“You’re not thirty-five,” I announced, taking in her freckle-covered, make-up-free face.
“Hi. You must be Cal,” she said, sticking out her hand. I could see that it was trembling. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
I didn’t take it.
Eli rushed in to cover my rudeness. “Hi, I’m Eli. The contest, well, it was my idea. Cal wasn’t expecting you today, so this is a little bit of a shock for him. I hope you’ll forgive him and me, really. This is sort of all my fault.”
She looked from Eli to me. “Oh. Well, I guess I come with a few of my own surprises.”
“You’re not thirty-five,” I said again, pointing out the one lie that was obvious. I didn’t know many women who lied by adding years to their age.
She smiled then. A mischievous little smile as if she’d proven that she was right about something. “I liked your picture, and your story. But when I saw your age, I figured I needed to fudge a bit.”
There was a hint of a twang in her voice. Not deep South like Shelby. What had Eli said? She was from Texas?
“How old are you?”
She looked at me directly. Her hazel eyes filled with false bravado. “Thirty?”
“Try again.”
She huffed, and a white puff of air left her lips indicating the temperature was dropping. Had I been more thoughtful, we could have had this conversation in the truck with the heat blasting, but it was like I was afraid to move from the spot where I stood. That if I did, the universe would change in some fundamental way. I wasn’t ready for that.
“Fine,” she sighed. “I’m twenty-six.”
This time it was my turn to huff. “What the hell is a woman of your age thinking about coming here to date someone my age?” I growled. “And why the hell would you lie about how old you are?”
That’s when it happened. It was like her whole chest underneath the heavy down coat shifted. A burst of sound escaped the enclosure and I looked over at Eli to see he was as shocked as I was.
Because the sound…was a baby’s cry.
“It’s okay, baby,” she crooned, her arms now wrapping around the bundle secured to her chest. “We’re here now.” Returning her gaze to me she said, “I don’t suppose we could sit in your truck while we hash the rest of this out.”
“Holy shit. I swear, Cal,” Eli said, obviously taken aback by this revelation. “I had no idea. There was nothing about a baby in her profile. And the picture was different, too.”
“That was my mother. In the picture. She’s prettier than me, I know. As for Sam…I know it was wrong not to say anything, but I didn’t think I would get picked otherwise. I’m sorry, but I really needed to get picked.”
Perfect. Just what Hope’s Point needed. Another runaway.
“Get in her in the truck, Eli.”
“Right,” he said, grabbing her bags to store in the back of the truck while he got her situated inside. I heard the engine start up behind me. A sense of relief fell over me that in a minute or two it would be warmer inside for her…and him.
A twenty-six-year-old and a baby.
Still, I didn’t move.
Eli approached me, rubbing his hands together. “Cal, I’m so sorry. I had no idea something like this might happen or I would never have—”
“Something like this?” I said, cutting him off. “Something like a woman lying about everything in order to secure a plane ticket to escape from whatever circumstances she’s running from? Because that sounds pretty fucking familiar to me.”
He had the common sense not to say anything then.
I looked over my shoulder to where she sat in the car, pulling her zipper down to give the baby more space to move.
I had to get in that truck with them. I had to smell that hint-of-baby smell. I knew I had to do it. It was the only way to get off the runway and back to Hope’s Point. But if I did that…if I moved…then the world was going to change forever.
