When The Runway Went South (29 page)

"Okay, five minutes to five. Oh, Ally, You're driving' me insane."

"At least it's not a heart attack." Ally sat up and positioned herself on top of Caleb, their bodies locking together perfectly.

"I think I died and went to heaven," moaned Caleb. Fully sated, they both fell into a sound sleep.

The alarm went off at four-forty-five and Caleb unwillingly got out of the warm bed, leaving Ally undisturbed. He didn't want to wake her, so he got dressed and quietly slipped out of the room. He felt badly leaving Ally alone without saying goodbye, so he found a pen and some paper in her office and left a note. He hesitated, not knowing what to say and then jotted down he would call her.

Ally rolled over and felt the empty space where Caleb had been. She sat up and looked at the clock which displayed seven-fifteen. Caleb had asked to her to get him up at five forty-five. Drat. A wave of disappointed ran through her because he hadn't awakened her to say good bye. My God, what had she done! Ally once again rolled over and hid her face in the pillow. Thoughts of what she and Caleb did last night rolled through her mind and she found herself smiling. Well, it hadn't been all bad. Ally got up and took a leisurely shower until Tank stuck his head in the shower curtain. He flinched and whimpered as the water hit his face.

"I'm almost done, boy. Hold on." Ally quickly finished up, threw a robe on, ran across the kitchen floor to let Tank out the back door. Coming back in, she poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the table to read the paper. That's when she saw Caleb's note and smiled.

Didn't want to wake u, will call u later
.

His handwriting fit his personality; bold strokes. Ally thought of his hands when they were all over her last night and blushed. She tried reading the paper, but nothing caught her attention. Not even the comics which she usually loved. Ally glanced at her horoscope and frowned: a four out of ten. Well, that's not good. "Be careful of your feelings since they may not be reciprocated," she read out loud. "I better not bug Caleb." Ally glanced at the clock and figured she had some time before she started to make the appetizers for today's luncheon. Turning on her stereo, she hummed along with the songs thinking of Caleb.

Ally finally got dressed and loaded the food into her car. She started the car and backed out of the garage and pushed the button on the remote to close the door. It wouldn't close.
Now what?
Ally got out of the car and tried the inside opener and the garage door shut without any problems. She opened it back up and went back into the car and tried it again. It didn't work. Great, another broken appliance.. Now, she would have to see if the garage door opener would be covered under the home warranty. Getting into her car, she called Kat.

"Hey, I'm on my way."

"You're late," exclaimed Kat somewhat agitated.

"I know and I'm sorry. It's the garage door. It's not working. I finally closed it."

"Ally, maybe you should burn your house down."

"That's not funny, Kat. I'll be there as soon as I can." Ally disconnected the call and concentrated on getting to Kat's without getting a ticket.

They made their luncheon just in time and both Kat and Ally were scrambling. Ally kept checking her phone as they served, but there were no calls from Caleb.

"How much do you know about garage doors?" asked Ally as she and Kat took a break.

"I know next to nothing. You might want to call Dad."

"No, I'll figure it out. If I call him, he'll come running up here with Mother once again complaining about the house."

"When is your fridge going to be fixed? We have some pretty big gigs lined up and I'll have to take you up on the space."

"He's coming tomorrow between two and seven," replied Ally. "Then remember, the fridge won't be fully operational for twenty four hours. I also have that small fridge in the back we can use."

"What did you do for dinner last night? Anything exciting?"

Ally paled before she answered. "I just had a salad."
And I had Caleb for dessert.

"You want to grab something tonight?"

"I'll take a rain check on that because of my garage door. I have to get that fixed."

"Okay." Kat sighed. "Last night, I felt really lonely. I almost came over, but then I knew you weren't feeling all that well."

"But you were in such a hurry to leave."

"I know. I shouldn't have and I felt badly. How about I come over tonight?"

"Sure." Ally checked her phone. Nothing.

Chapter Seventeen

By the time Ally got home, her feet were exhausted and she became discouraged. What did her mother always tell her? A watched pot never boils. She called the home warranty only to learn that the garage door opener isn't covered under the warranty, only the doors. This did not surprise her. Flipping through the yellow pages, she found a company who could come within the next two hours. Ally put the phone down and went to take a little snooze before the evening.

Feeling refreshed, Ally changed clothes and waited for the garage door repair man and Kat. She absolutely ignored her phone.

"Ma'am." The garage door man tipped his cowboy hat at Ally. "What seems to be the problem?"

"It's the double door that's not working. The single one is fine. If I press it to go up, it does go up. If you press it to go down, it is getting caught on something at the top there." Ally demonstrated.

"I know what the problem is already, ma'am. The motor in the unit is bad." He delivered the message grimly

"But it's only two years old," complained Ally.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. It should've lasted longer. It's only a one year warranty on the make and model you have."

"Ally, what's the problem?" asked Caleb, who appeared out of nowhere and his arm went protectively around her shoulders.

"This morning, the garage door wouldn't go down so I called my home warranty and it's not covered. Now, this man is telling me I need a whole new unit. The warranty on this is only a year."

"You've got to be kidding," said Caleb. "How did this pass inspection?"

"Um, that's not all," said the repair man. "Look at the springs on the door. It's the wrong size. On a double door like this one, you need two springs and this has only one."

"Son of a..." Caleb tried not to lose his cool. "So you're going to replace the entire unit and spring, right?"

"Yes. Now, there are three kinds of openers. This here one is the cheapest and, of course, it didn't last. I recommend the belt driven because it's quieter than the screw driven."

"Um, what's the cost?" asked Ally.

"It will be around three hundred dollars for the unit, one fifty for the springs and one hundred for the installation."

"Caleb?" Ally looked at him for help.

"It sounds reasonable because in the long run, you're not going to pay for it. I'm going to let Dottie know what a horrible inspector she keeps recommending."

"Okay, go ahead and fix it," said Ally. She tried to follow an angry Caleb as he stomped towards her house.

"Dottie? Caleb here. I'm at Ally's again because her garage door opener is broken. Not only that, the springs on the door were not up to code. Why didn't your inspector catch this? This is the third time poor Ally has had to be inconvenienced. I don't want her paying a penny for this, do you understand?"

"Caleb, these things happen all the time," explained Dottie patiently.

"No, they don't. Not all at once. Poor Ally has been here less than a month and look what she's had to go through. I mean it, Dottie."

"I'll see what I can do, Caleb." She more or less hung up on him.

"Caleb, I don't want you to be fighting with your friends," said Ally.

"I'm a proud Texan and like things done the right way the first time. This here yokel shouldn't even have his license and I'll be the first to tell him."

"I'll be right behind you," swore Ally. "It's like everyone is trying to make money off of me."

"Don't they do that in New York, too?" Caleb lifted here her chin and kissed Ally soundly.

"They do, but I know how to spot one in a second there. Here, I don't know how I walked into this one." Ally tilted her head and stared at Caleb fondly. "You know you're a darn good kisser."

"I know," smiled Caleb as he held her in his arms. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Kat is on her way over here for dinner. What about you?"

"I have a meeting to go to about the cattle. It will last late." Caleb kissed Ally again.

"How late?" murmured Ally.

"Eleven or so, it's a long day. What are you doing this weekend, specifically Saturday? "

"Nothing. Why?"

"How would you like to go to Fort Worth to a real live rodeo?"

"I'd love it," exclaimed Ally. "I've always wanted to go to one."

"I'll pick you up around noon. I told Jeb about it so he said he would cover for me if necessary." Caleb let Ally go reluctantly. "I'll be in touch."

"Thanks again for your help, Caleb." Ally followed Caleb outside and as she watched him leave, she wondered again how she'd fallen in love so fast. This feeling she had for Caleb kept growing stronger. Never had she experienced this with another man. She turned around to go back into the house, only to find she had locked herself out. Wait until Kat showed up. How embarrassing.

****

True to his word, Caleb called Ally on Friday to confirm their plans and Ally beamed from ear to ear. Since they didn't have any appointments for the weekend, Kat had made plans to go to San Antonio to visit with some friends. She had invited Ally to go along, but Ally declined, not telling Kat about her plans. This relationship with Caleb had Ally feeling uncertain of what to tell Kat. Even though Kat had hinted about it the other night, Ally had been able to divert her attention to another subject.