Page 78 of Every Star that Shines

“Caleb, you’re not going to believe this. Tessa wants to collaborate on a reality show designed to spotlight community theatre groups and raise funds for them, and she wants me to be the host of the series!” She met his gaze. “It’s like the Universe wants us to be together. There would be some travel involved, but I can do this kind of thing from anywhere. Even Brampton.”

Caleb grinned. “Or here.”

She tilted her head. “Don’t you want to move to Brampton so you can be close to Emma?”

“I don’t have to. Monica’s staying here now, which means I can too.” He paused and took her hand again. “We can too.”

She leaned in for another kiss, this one sweet and lingering. When they pulled apart, he turned off the truck and got out, coming around to open her door. As he helped her down, he said, “I know you think the universe brought us together. But I’m pretty sure there’s someone looking out for us who’s a lot more interested in the outcome than an impersonal cosmic force.”

She met his gaze. She had gone to the same Sunday School as Caleb when they were kids, and had attended the same church until she had stopped going when she left for college. She knew he was talking about God. And for the first time in a long time, she had to admit that it seemed someone up there actually cared about her happiness. Her core warmed further at the thought. Maybe Nan and Pops were back in each others’ arms, after all.

“You just might be right, Caleb Toews.”

She hooked her arm around his elbow so he could steady her on the icy sidewalk as they made their way back toward the front door, since the emergency exit had locked automatically behind them. Some of the people walking the other way along the sidewalk saw them and smiled. Delanie was sure she was grinning like a lovesick teenager, but she didn’t care.

He shook his head, an amused grin on his face. “When are you going to learn? I’m usually right.”

She laughed. “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”

“Fortunately, I don’t mind sticking around until you do. You’ll see what I mean eventually.”

She gave him a playful shove on the shoulder. “Alright, Tony Stark. Stop your not-so-humble bragging and let’s go find your daughter. I’ve got a rose to give her.”

“And I believe we have some good news to share.” He arched a brow at her and clasped her hand in his as they waited for the doorway to clear of exiting people.

She smiled. “I believe we do.”

EPILOGUE

“So, you and Caleb, huh?” Delanie’s high school best friend, Stephanie Neufeld, glanced sideways at her with a reserved twinkle in her grey eyes. Her cheeks were rosy from the chill and exertion, and her boots clicked on the pavement with every step. The extra few inches of height they gave her meant Delanie had to look up at her. “I guess it was always kind of inevitable. In fact, I’m surprised it took this long.”

Delanie squinted against the bright afternoon sunlight slanting at them from low in the southern sky. She and Stephanie were walking south along the paved path atop the dike toward the downtown centre, sipping drinks they had purchased at Cool Beans before driving to the north end of town for the stroll. It was a warm day for early November, but it was still just below freezing. Their breath billowed around them in frosty clouds. Delanie wished she would have remembered to bring a cozy knitted toque like the cream one topping Stephanie’s mahogany curls.

“I suppose.” She smiled happily. “There was a lot of water we had to let pass under the bridge, I guess.”

“Hmm. Like what?”

Delanie shrugged and glanced at the turquoise angles and arches of the Peace River bridge ahead of them. After everything that had happened between her and Caleb over the last two months, all the years of harbouring hurt and betrayal against him seemed ludicrous. Not only was she ashamed of her behaviour, but it was taking a while to wrap her head around the new reality, and every time she thought of Caleb, it was with a strange mix of emotion—hope that the feelings she had for the man she was getting to know again would last, fear that she would let him down again. But she didn’t want to get into that now, not with a friend she had barely seen in the past ten years.

“Just stuff. You know. We were kids. What did we know about relationships?”

Stephanie gave a sardonic chuckle and glanced down at the ground. “Ain’t that the truth?” It was a statement more than a question.

Delanie pulled her lips to the side. “How about you? Anybody special in your life?”

Stephanie shook her head. “No. It’s hard to have a social life around my schedule at the hospital. Besides that, I sometimes help out at the coffee shop a lot on my days off, and I babysit my nephew, Julien, once in a while, so who has time to date?”

There was a dry note in her voice that made Delanie look twice. “Is it just a time thing? There are plenty of ER nurses with families. Hasn’t there been anyone?”

Stephanie looked up. “I did see someone briefly a couple years ago, but . . . it didn’t work out.”

“Why not?”

Stephanie shrugged. “Just stuff.”

Touché.

Delanie peered toward the river, taking in the lovely scenery—the rolling hills on the other side with buildings tucked into their folds like they had sprouted from a landscape that was a study in contrasts. Streaks of dark green where stands of evergreens grew crept up the valley in irregular wedges between hills covered in white. Above them arched blue sky broken only by a few puffy white clouds scudding across it. The sun was already dipping toward the hills on the west side of the river, though it was only around four in the afternoon.

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