Page 25 of Caleb's Salvation
“Yes, but how do you feel about him?” Kate pressed. “Does he make you…you know…all tingly and warm inside?”
“She means do you want to fuck him,” Eve said bluntly.
I scrunched up my face. “No. But I think that’s because when I compare him to Caleb…he’s not…well, he’s not Caleb.”
I didn’t have to explain any further as they all knew I had athingfor Caleb. I’d been working onThe Break Down Calebplan for weeks with nothing to show for it.
I’d tried to convince him he still owed me a date. He didn’t budge.
I’d tried to get him to come to the cabin on the pretense that the stove was clogged. He came, declared it not clogged and left before I could even open the bottle of wine I’d bought in an attempt to loosen him up.
Sometimes when he came to Bud’s I would just sit at his table between running orders, watching him and the guys play. I’d rub his back between his shoulders, hoping he’d give me some small sign he was interested in me. Nothing. Not since the night he made me sit down to take a break.
The truth was he was hanging out less and less with the guys.
So scared of me, apparently, he was willing to change his habits.
“The thing is, I’ve been here for six months now. I’m lasting through the winter just fine despite assurances I couldn’t hack it, and there hasn’t been one sign from Caleb that he intendeds to crack. And it’s not because he’s not interested. I know that. He just doesn’t want give in to it.”
“Please.” Shelby snorted. “They all acted as if winter up here was like living on the other side of The Wall inGame of Thrones. I was convinced there were going to be zombies at every turn the way Cal talked about it.”
“They’re not zombies, they’re White Walkers,” Kate said, taking a sip of her beer. “And you have to admit it’s freaking cold and miserable most of the time.”
“It’s not cold and miserable when you’ve got a real man in your bed,” Eve cackled.
“I wouldn’t know about that,” I said with a bit of blush. It took some getting used to the way people spoke up here. Eve could always find a way to make me blush.
“Sam had to have a father,” she pointed out.
I rolled my eyes. “Trust me. Dave was not a real man. Just someone who I thought could save me from my life. Big mistake.”
“Amen, sister,” Shelby agreed.
It was funny but for as close as we’d become, I really didn’t know what had brought them to Hope’s Point other than the contest. The same was true for me. Telling people your father kicked you and your child out onto to the street was not exactly a story you led with when you wanted to make new friends.
I sighed. “Dave took off the second I told him I was pregnant. And I’m here because my pop kicked us out of the house. He’s a preacher and couldn’t handle that I’d sinned and Sammy was the result of that. I was living in a women’s shelter. I saw the ad on Facebook on a library computer and thought…maybe Caleb could save me, instead. I don’t know why—he just looked to me like the type who would charge into a burning building to save a cat. You know? In hindsight, I was pretty naïve.”
“My uncle wanted to turn me into a porn star,” Shelby admitted. “I needed an angel and I got one.”
“My dad was a crooked cop killed in a drug bust gone wrong,” Kate added. “I didn’t know he was dirty. Jackson did, though, because he was once set up by my dad and served time because of him. Still, he did the whole contest thing to reach out to me. Saved me from my life, too. So it’s not the craziest idea.”
“Wow,” I breathed, having had no idea what Shelby or Kate had faced in their own lives. “We sure are pretty messed up. What about you, Eve?”
Eve seemed to consider the question. “Oh, I didn’t have any of your problems or anything like that. I came up here to kill Zeke because he had this monster bounty on his head. Of course I ended up falling in love with the big guy. You know how that goes.”
“I knew it,” Shelby whispered to Kate. “I told you she could kill people.” Then to Eve she said, “But you don’t kill people anymore, do you?”
“Absolutely not! I’m a mother,” Eve said to me as if I would understand. Then she winked. “I only maim them. And even then, it’s just the bad guys, I promise.”
“Anyway,” I said, trying not to think about exactly how Eve maimed bad guys. “I came for Caleb over a picture, a profile and stupid instinct. Which obviously was ridiculous. Beyond that really, since he wants nothing to do with me. So I should at least give Ty a chance, shouldn’t I?”
I could see them looking at each other, communicating without saying anything out loud.
“What? Tell me!”
“I’ll tell her,” Shelby announced. She turned in her chair to face me directly. “I think you should go out with Ty, but I only think you should do it because that might be the thing that pushes Cal to act.”
“Cal is stubborn,” Kate jumped in. “Maybe even more so than Jackson, which is hard to imagine, but he’s not indifferent to you. Not a little bit. When we’re all here and you’re working, he has to force himself not to look at you. You know his story, don’t you?”
