Page 43 of Fated Despite the Moon

"We could do that. Tomorrow I could take you around the church we're renovating, if you want. Show you what I've been working on."

She nodded. "I’d like that.”

Caleb couldn’t help but let happiness bloom inside him at the thought that she was taking an interest in what he was working on.

“I'm just going to clean up."

Caleb stood. "Let me help you."

Together they cleanedthe kitchen and packed up the pies and cakes, cutting everything into pieces and putting them in baggies to take to Caleb’s crew in the morning.

Finally, she headed up to her bedroom around nine. Caleb’s wolf whined wanting to go upstairs. Caleb wanted to go up too. He'd not been able to get their too short kiss from the night before out of his mind. It had been important to go to Griff. He'd been worse than Caleb had ever seen him, but all-night Caleb's mind had been on Makayla. And now that he was alone with her, all he wanted was to feel her lips again.

Caleb headed to his room and glanced at the adjoining room he hadn't shown Makayla yet. He walked to it and pushed open the door. Inside waited an old wooden cradle with a blue quilt hanging over the edge. In the corner of the room sat an antique crib with faded white paint that he'd picked up at a thrift store six weeks prior, and the antique rocking horse that Makayla's mom had shipped up the week before she'd arrived, along with an entire box of Makayla's toys from her childhood. Knowing what he did about Makayla's trouble with her mom, it made him wonder what would happen when she saw what her mom had sent.

Slowly he closed the door. He'd seen her come to life over the past weeks. Seen her façade fade away, revealing the woman he’d hoped was inside. The carefree girl with the unbreakable spirit he'd once known. She'd always been the first to jump off Sandy Pointe into the lake. The first to challenge Logan. The last to back down from a fight. And even though it had been almost a decade, he knew that girl was still in there.

Caleb reached into his pocket and pulled out the sonogram photo. He rubbed it with his thumb. He hoped the baby was a girl.

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning Caleb woke up and found Makayla ready to go. Standing at the front door, she looked so different in her leggings, maternity shirt, and sneakers. Sweet. Refreshed. Natural. The look suited her though she would never agree. Pregnancy looked good on her. And his attraction to her only continued to grow the more herself she became.

"I found this old milk crate out back. Is it okay that I put the goodies in it?" She pointed to the box at her feet.

"Take whatever you want. What’s mine is yours."

She picked up the crate but he took it from her, and they headed out. Caleb opened the truck door for her and put the crate on the back seat. She managed to hop into the truck on her own. He closed the door after her then jogged to the driver's side and slid in.

"Do you always leave the keys in the truck?" she asked.

He shrugged. "No one really steals here in Wolf River. And if they did, I'd assume they only did it because they really needed it. Plus, Wolf River isn't that big. I'd find it pretty quick."

She smiled and shook her head.

"What?" He turned on the truck.

"How is it possible you are this nice?"

"I don't really consider it being nice. I'm just not that attached to material things."

They headed down the dirt road, and Caleb reminded himself he needed to get the road graded at the very least. He couldn't help but chuckle when she started singing along with country music on the radio. If you could call it singing. When she hit a particularly high note, he winced.

"What? You don't think I can sing?"

Caleb glanced over at her wide eyes, unsure of how to answer.

She burst out laughing. "Oh man, you should see your face. Am I really that bad?"

Again, he wasn't sure what to say. "Well... I mean you're not that bad, it's just..."

"My mom says I sound like a barn owl killing a field mouse."

"Well, you're better than that for sure."

She turned up the radio. "I don't care if I am or not. I like to sing." She chimed back in with the song, staring at him the whole time.

Caleb couldn't help but smile. There she was. The plucky little girl from the lake.

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