Love Inspired October 2013 - Bundle 2 of 2: White Christmas in Dry Creek\The Nurse's Secret Suitor\Lone Star Holiday by Janet Tronstad

Author:Janet Tronstad
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“Tia, did you do this?” Kate indicated a frilly pink blanket Caleb was wrapped in like a burrito on Monday morning.

Tia angled the same way Kate did to watch Caleb’s broad shoulders rise and fall with sleep. “He seemed cold.”

“He looks cute.” Kate giggled, tempted to take a picture.

Caleb stirred. Breathing pattern hitched, he flipped like a pancake on the couch to face them. Forced blinks told Kate he was attempting wakefulness. A slow grin spread across his face as he took in his two admirers. “G’mornin’, ladies.”

“Cute, Landis. Although hot pink doesn’t quite suit you.”

He looked at the blanket, shrugged and grinned. It pleased Tia that he wasn’t a bit embarrassed. He stretched and rose, smoothing his rumpled T-shirt. “Wha’ time’re Bri and Ian back today?”

“Noon-ish they said. Wanna go for breakfast at Sully’s?”

Caleb started folding blankets. “Great minds think alike.”

It weirded Kate out that in a few days they’d fashioned a comfortable routine. Almost like a family.

Urgh! Her brain was working against her again. Noon could not get here soon enough.

She hoped Caleb would shave, because last night’s five-o’clock shadow looked even better at 7:00 a.m.—which was actually late for him to be getting up. “Were you awake around four?” She could’ve sworn she’d heard him up and around then.

He shrugged. “Yeah. I go work out then come back. Ready?”

“Sure.” Kate noticed he was avoiding eye contact. “I don’t have a problem with you leaving. That is to say, leaving from here while we’re watching Tia.”

“So, you have a problem with me leaving in general?”

She pulled her purse over her shoulder and kept an eye on Tia, gathering dolls to take along. “To go to Syria? I do, yes.”

Caleb stayed quiet and introspective all the way to town.

While more talkative, he was still subdued as the trio ate breakfast at Sully’s. What was going on in that mind of his?

He looked to be struggling a bit, but with what? Thoughts of leaving? Had her answer made him uncomfortable?

After leaving Sully’s diner and on the way to Kate’s Jeep, Tia skipped close. “Uncle C and Auntie K, will you take me to buy food for Miss Jonah? I have my own money.”

“Sure. But you don’t need to spend your allowance on it. I’ll pay for the food.”

Tia grinned at Caleb with extreme adoration.

He eyed Kate. “You okay with us taking a shopping detour?”

“You kidding? Me, shop? I’m in.”

Caleb bumped her shoulder. Her hand came easily up between his ribs and arm to cup his biceps. They walked comfortably that way several steps. “You okay, Landis?”

His eyelids narrowed in a distant manner and he peered off. “I will be. Things are just startin’ to hit me, ya know?”

She nodded, figuring he meant leaving. “After Bri and Ian return to get Tia, you and I can go have a heart-to-heart if you want.”

He paused and peered down at her. My goodness, his eyes were so gorgeous. “I’d like that.”

The domestic aura surged when Tia reached up and took Caleb’s free hand, making the three of them feel like a family unit on the way into the store.

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