Love So Unexpected (The Lawson Brothers Book 6) (10 page)

When she came to her senses, and her heart started slowing, Caleb let his fingers slide out of her before turning her to face him.

“You ready for that swim now?”

She stared at him in confusion. “You don’t want me to do the same for you?”

His cheeks turned adorably red. “You already did.”

Her brows drew together until understanding dawned. She dropped her gaze to the water, then back to his face. “Was it good for you?”

“Better than good.” He eyed her. “I won’t tell you when it happened though. You might toss me back in the water.”

She wrapped her arms around him. “Not a chance.”

The next day, Caleb sat in the shade of a tractor with the men who worked on the farm, eating lunch that Sofia had cooked and taken out to them in the field.

“Can Sofia cook again?” Marco asked. “Or share this recipe with your mother. Don’t get me wrong, Mrs. Lawson is a good cook, but this is home.”

“I’d pay for it,” Jose chimed in, and Caleb perked up a little.

“You would?” Caleb stretched out his legs. “Do you think other guys would at the farms that don’t do lunch for them?”

“They wouldn’t step twice,” Paco said, and Jose elbowed him. “What?”

They all laughed.

“Not step. Think.” He pointed to his head and repeated himself in Spanish. “Make sense?”

“Yes. That one gets me. So many to remember,” Paco said, then finished off his water.

As they cleaned up their trash, Caleb couldn’t get their comments out of his head. Sofia hadn’t found a job yet, and he was worried her lack of employment would send her to Roswell earlier than planned. Either his parents would help her, or one of her friends. Maybe even someone from her family, although Sofia insisted that she wouldn’t ask them for more help than they’d already given her.

Mind made up, he climbed the side steps of the tractor and called out to Marco.

“I’ll talk to my mom and Sofia.”

“Thank you.” Marco turned to the other men, assuming his position as supervisor and motioning to them. “
Amigos
.”

Caleb surveyed the field before him and pulled his sunglasses down over his eyes.  He had a date with Sofia Monday night, so he’d wait until then to speak with her about it. First, he had to talk with his mom, and not because he thought he needed her permission. No, he needed his parents’ advice.

If Sofia were to take on making lunch for surrounding farms, she would have to set up a way to get the food to them, or have them come to her. Somehow, if she agreed with his suggestion, he’d find a way to make this happen.

He’d find a way to ensure that Sofia stayed in Jessamine permanently.

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O
ff in the distance, the sun was setting and fireflies were making their presence known. Sofia sat near him on the front porch of his parents’ house, painting her toenails a bright shade of orange that brought her bikini to mind. Which made him think of skinny-dipping with her. Even with their bottoms intact, the entire experience was one he wanted to repeat.

“Your mother said that the owners from surrounding farms called, wanting to know if I could make lunches for the men who worked for them,” Sofia said.

Caleb’s hands stilled on the lengths of twine he was braiding in order to make a rope. “Word got around fast,” he said, pride surging for her. “What do you think?” He already knew what his parents thought. Last night, he asked for their opinion and possible use of their kitchen. They had immediately said yes.

She smiled a little. “I’m willing to try it. Dinah said I could use the kitchen and the garden. She even said she’d loan me the money for ingredients she didn’t have on hand.”

“Bet it wouldn’t take you any time to pay her back either.”

One of her dark brows arched. “You think so?”

“I know so.”

She fairly beamed at his compliment, then went back to painting her toenails. “I can start out doing it two days a week to see how things go. There’s only me, and your mother still needs my help.”

“We’re here to help you, too,” he said quietly. “Who knows what could happen with this? Maybe you’ll start your own restaurant.”

She laughed. “Do you know how much it costs?”

“A lot.”

“Yeah, a lot, but maybe one day ... Although, I could do what my friend Carla did and get a food truck.”

“Like the kind you see at the fair or football games, and they serve hamburgers and hotdogs out of them.”

“Something like that.” She glanced up at him. “Only the one Carla has is amazing. The kitchen is practically state of the art. She even has a portion of it dedicated to a soda machine and fixings.”

Caleb stored that information in his brain. He’d have to look into that.

“But she also has a lot of responsibilities. A lot of worries.” She screwed the cap on the bottle of polish and wriggled her toes. “What do you think?”

“One, I think you could handle the responsibilities, and two, I think watching you do your toes is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.”

“Did your wife do that a lot?” she asked, then winced. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s okay.” He set to braiding the twine again. He needed to have something to do while he talked about Iris. “I don’t remember her doing it, but I’m pretty sure she went into town to get that stuff done.” He exhaled, then got up to sit on the steps beside Sofia, needing to be physically closer to her. “Honestly, I’ve forgotten more than I remember about Iris. We were together for only two years. Probably should have waited longer to marry her, but once a Lawson man is all in, he’s all in.”

She laced her fingers with his and leaned against his shoulder. “That sounds very romantic.”

There wasn’t an iota of jealousy in her tone, and for that he was thankful. Glancing at her, he asked, “Am I wasting your time?”

“No.”

He didn’t press her for more. Instead, he maneuvered them until she was in his arms and he could kiss her cheek. “I’m glad that bus brought you to Jessamine.”

“Me, too,” he thought he heard her reply, but it could have been the wind.

Or wishful thinking.

The next day, Caleb went into town to have a talk with Apple. Typically, she spent the majority of her time running
The Jessamine Daily
, so he figured he would start there.

She was in her office when he arrived, so he knocked on the clear glass of her door and waited.

Apple’s eyes widened slightly as she crossed the room to open the door, but other than that, she showed no emotion at his being there.

“We need to clear the air between us,” he said without preamble and stepped inside.

“Please. Do come inside,” Apple muttered as she shut the door behind him.

“I think I’ve hurt you, but I don’t know exactly how or why—”

“Maybe because you were the one to take Iris from me,” she snapped.

He turned to look at her. “I didn’t take her from you. You removed yourself from her life.”

Her lips thinned for a moment. “Trust a Lawson to never admit wrongdoing.”

“Except I said I hurt you,” he pointed out. “I want to make things right.” Her face softened. “Because you are taking out how you feel about me on innocent people.”

Blue eyes narrowed at him. “I suppose Sofia told you about our conversation.”

“Bits and pieces.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t get you. We haven’t spoken in years, Apple, and now, out of the blue, you’re badgering Sofia and talking about Iris like she’s still alive.”

She waved a hand at him, as if trying to dismiss him. “I only told her the truth, but she didn’t listen.”

“The truth about what?”

“Oh ... that uh, your heart would always belong to your wife.”

His mouth dropped open. She had the decency to blush. “Why in God’s name would you say something like that? Why would you try to push Sofia away from me? Make her pity me?”

“There are other women you could date, you know,” she replied, but it didn’t escape him that she hadn’t answered his questions.

Jaw working, he crossed his arms. “You mean like you?”

She laughed. “Please. As if I’d ever be a farmer’s wife.”

“Once, I considered you a friend, and I tried to understand why you didn’t come to Iris’s funeral, because we all grieve differently, but the girl I knew way back then, she wouldn’t be like this. She was kind. A little on the shy side, quiet.”

“I’m not that girl anymore,” she said tightly. “That girl died with Iris.”

Caleb sighed. He wouldn’t get straight answers from Apple. “Sorry to hear that. I liked that girl.”

“But you didn’t love her back,” Apple said softly.

“I loved Iris,” he said evenly.

“But you were mine first.”

He blinked at her. “Is that truly what you think?”

Bottom lip trembling, she nodded. “You took me out on a date, and then to prom ... then you and Iris ran off and got married.”

Heart hurting for her, he reached out and touched her arm. “I didn’t mean for you to think anything of it. I only asked you out because Iris said that you were shy and didn’t want to go to prom without a date.”

Hurt flashed in Apple’s blue eyes. “But you took me to dinner.”

“To get the information on prom, and so things wouldn’t be awkward,” he pointed out. He searched his memories, trying to see if there was any time that he’d led her on, but he came up with nothing. “Your cousin’s heart was in the right place, but it looks as though you got hurt anyway. For that, I’m sorry.”

She jerked away from him. “I can’t forgive you right now. You’re the reason why I hated Iris on the day she died.”

He shook his head. “No. That’s all on you. Iris reached out to you over and over again, but you refused to let her in.”

“I don’t want hear this.”

“You need to hear this. You need to move on with your life.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “One day, you’ll get a chance to ask for Iris’s forgiveness face to face, but right now, you need to forgive yourself.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“You were seventeen, Apple. Can’t beat yourself up forever.”

Her eyes closed then opened. “I appreciate you coming to talk with me, Caleb. I know it wasn’t easy.”

“You’re welcome, but I should have done this years ago.”

She gave him a quivering smile and tipped up her chin. “Yes, you should have.”

“I’ll show myself out,” he said.

Then he walked out of Apple’s office.

***

A
lmost a week later, Sofia stood in front of the mirror, getting ready for her date with Caleb. He was being tight-lipped about where he was taking her, but she didn’t mind. It was kind of exciting.

Okay, so it was more than a little exciting.

Except ... nothing had gone to plan in regards to her move to Roswell. Iona hadn’t returned a single call, text, or email. And, while the three days she’d cooked and then sold her lunches had been a huge success, it seemed almost a waste of her skills.

She loved cooking, loved spending time with Dinah in the kitchen and Caleb in the vegetable garden. David entertained them all with his softly spoken humor.

However, she hadn’t spent four years in culinary school to cook lunch.

Was she supposed to throw all that away simply because she met a man who seemed too good to be true? Caleb was genuine, kind, and caring. He also kissed her so passionately that her toes were close to permanently curled.

But Caleb was not her dream.

Who are you trying to fool?

Career first, man second.

You did that already; maybe try it the other way?

“You’re no help,” she scolded her reflection. “And I can’t hurt him. He’s...” He was special to her, and, in any other circumstances, she wouldn’t hesitate to want more than just temporary with him.

“Things could get so bad,” she muttered, rubbing her forehead.

She consoled herself with the fact that Caleb knew she was only staying temporarily. He knew what her ultimate goal was, and hadn’t he been the one to encourage her to earn money to get to her goal faster?

“Sofia,” Dinah called up the stairs. “Caleb is here.”

“I’m coming.” She gave her reflection one last look. “Just enjoy yourself. Enjoy spending time with him while you’re here.”

He took her dancing. That had been his surprise.

Her heart fluttered in her chest as he led her inside his house. She went willingly, practically throwing herself into his arms to kiss him.

She hadn’t had that much fun since ... she wasn’t sure when. Caleb had spun her around, attempted to Salsa, and made sure that she danced to every song. Even if it weren’t with him.

His lips found a sensitive part on her neck and she moaned. “More.”

And now ... she was turned on, sweaty from dancing, and falling into Caleb’s bed.

The lamp beside the bed glowed as she laughed. “Your mattress is like a cloud. I’m never leaving.”

“You can stay with me for as long as you want.”

“Forever seems good,” she replied, then wanted to snatch back the words. She shouldn’t have said that, but it was almost as she couldn’t help herself. Almost like her heart wanted it to be true.

He simply stood there, looking at her.

She rose on her elbows. “Are you joining me?”

“I want to do more than sleep with you,” he said, slowly unbuttoning his shirt.

Grabbing her shoes, she tossed them to the other side of the bed, and then proceeded to wriggle out of her dress, leaving her in nothing but scraps of lace that masqueraded as panties. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

His hands trembled as he worked at his jeans, but he didn’t stop or falter. In a matter of seconds, he was naked. And he was hard.

And he was hers.

He placed a knee on the bed, making it dip a little. “You have to stay the night.”

She held out her arms to him. “I’ll stay.”

A wealth of emotion played out over his face, but he didn’t say anything more. Instead, he climbed the rest of the way onto the mattress and covered her body with his.

––––––––

H
is large body settled on top of hers, and she sighed dreamily, but then she got a good look at his face and gasped. Raw, stark emotion filled his dark blue eyes.