Page 15 of Fated Secret Baby

She shifts. “That’s really kind, but I…”

“Free of charge. There’s no one in it, and it would just become a battleground between me and the spiders,” I say quickly.

“This is a really generous offer,” she says slowly. “I’m not sure… Why are you offering this?”

“I don’t want you to have to rush. We can have our date tomorrow, catch up, and you can take your time finishing your visit with… all your friends in Oakwood. Most of the pack came with us to Colorado after Alaska.”

There. That seems neutral. Her hesitation was clearly around money, so taking that out of the equation should help. The money doesn’t matter to me. I was going to just take the loss on that one for the next month until it’s booked again, but the thought of seeing her go so quickly? It’s killing me.

The idea that she might be struggling with money, though, makes something inside me feel deeply unsettled.

Calista smooths her hair back, a gesture that I know she does when she’s nervous, and I hold my breath. Finally, she nods. “Okay. If I can stay just for a couple of days, that would be really… nice.”

I want to beat my chest and howl with triumph. Instead, I smile. “Let’s get you settled.”

Calista follows me out, and I feel a sense of relief.

She’s staying. It might just be one extra day or an extra week, but the weird feeling I have of the past repeating itself is gone.

This time, at least, she’s staying.

The next morning, I decide to head over to the rental a little early. I have a huge bouquet of ranunculus, which I know Calista likes, and I’m wearing the nicest pair of jeans that I own.

I want to look good.

I know that we had agreed to meet at the Oakwood Cafe at noon, but I can’t help myself. I want to pick her up and take her there, so I’m aiming to be at the rental about forty-five minutes prior to that. I decided last night to go all out and try to make this the best damn coffee date that there’s ever been.

I begged the universe for more time with her. I’m not going to just throw that chance away.

After I showed Calista the rental, I had to hustle to make dinner with my mom. I rushed through it, trying to keep her questions to a minimum, and eventually ended up saying that I had a headache so that I could leave early. I couldn’t sleep and decided late last night that I would pick her up to take her on our date.

Date.

My palms sweat as I grip the steering wheel of my truck. What if Calista doesn’t think it’s a date? What if this freaks her out?

When the rental pulls into view, I’ve run the gauntlet of worst-case scenarios in my mind.

I’m only left with one thought.

You have to impress her.

It’s a call to action. I grab the bouquet of flowers, careful not to crush their delicate stems, and open my door.

The rental is one of my earliest purchases. I own both of the units in this little duplex, which is far enough from the main stretch of Oakwood to be quiet and feel relatively isolated. There’s a cute little wooden bridge that goes over a babbling brook in the front yard, and I note with satisfaction that the patch job I did on the railing seems to be holding up well.

Flowers in hand, I ring the doorbell. I have to make a conscious effort not to crush the stems of the flowers with my hands.

“One second!” I hear Calista call. There are some other sounds before I hear the lock snap, and the door squeaks open.

I hold out the flowers. “Morning! Glad I caught you before you left!”

Calista’s eyes go from shocked to terrified in seconds. “Orion,” she says, stepping forward and closing the door slightly behind her. “What are you doing here?”

I look her over. She’s still in her pajamas, but her dark hair is wet like she just got out of the shower.

“I wanted to bring you these,” I say, offering her the flowers. “I thought I could take us over to the cafe together.”

Her eyes flicker with something other than fear for a brief second. “They’re beautiful, thank you, but um, I wanted to ask if we could reschedule…”

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