Page 32 of Caleb’s Cause (Broken Wheel Ranch #12)

Katherine woke slowly the next morning, and as she stretched, she realized the other side of the bed was empty.

She looked at the clock and gave a small screech when she saw it was going on ten in the morning.

At least she hoped it was the morning. She jumped out of bed, used the bathroom, and rushed out to the kitchen, where she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Caleb sitting there.

He looked up with a smile, causing her heart to melt, and with his one coffee mug, he pointed to the coffee pot.

“Hold on,” he said into the mouthpiece attached to his ear, then looked at Katherine. “Fresh coffee, and I made breakfast sandwiches a couple of hours ago. They’re still fresh.”

“Thanks,” she said, and went to get herself coffee and a sandwich, then she sat at the table and nodded at the papers. “Am I disturbing you?”

“No, I’m almost done here.” He went back to his conversation as Katherine studied him as she ate. Fifteen minutes later, he said his goodbyes to the person on the other end of the phone call, sighed heavily, and looked at her sheepishly.

“What?”

“I might have just done the best thing in the world, or the stupidest thing.” He rose to get his coffee and rejoined her with a full cup. He settled back and watched her intently.

“What?” She used the napkin to wipe her face, and he only continued to stare at her for several minutes. When he didn’t respond, she knew he wasn’t looking at her, but at something in his mind. She was right when he gave himself a shake, and really looked at her.

“First, I’d like to apologize for rejecting you earlier.”

“Stop, you didn’t reject me. You prevented both of us from making a mistake before we are ready. I like you, Caleb, and I don’t want to rush into anything. We would have if you had taken me up on my offer.”

“You’re not mad?”

“No.”

“Okay, with that out of the way, I have another question for you.”

“What’s that?”

“How swamped are you with working with Naomi?”

“Not at all,” she said on a heavy sigh. “I get bored sometimes because I don’t know whether it’s me, or if it’s the work, but I’m usually done with what I have to do by noon. I stick around the barn and pet the animals, and pitch in if I have to, but the work isn’t hard. Why?”

“Do you think it might be because you’re an organized person?”

“It might be. What are you getting at, Caleb?”

Caleb scrubbed his face, sighed heavily, and sat forward with his forearms crossed on the table in front of him. “When Uncle Ry showed up at my home in Seattle after being released from the military, he was in rough shape.”

“Rough how?”

“This isn’t my story, and I know my uncle won’t tell anyone, and you need to promise me you won’t repeat anything.”

Katherine held up her hand and nodded. “I promise.” She sat there in stunned silence as Caleb told him what he knew of what Ryan, Manny, and Scott had gone through at the hands of terrorists.

What condition Ryan had been when he arrived in Seattle, and what had transpired between his mother and uncle.

“Holy shit, I’m sorry for interrupting, but your mother sounds like a bitch.”

“She is. I knew it before I even started kindergarten. Thankfully, I was friends with all the kids in the neighborhood, and when I needed to escape her tirades I could run to one of their houses. One of the things I did when I was older wasn’t necessary, but Dad told me to do it.

He worked overtime for years in order for that to happen. ”

“What’s that?”

“The college I went to was a little over thirty minutes away. I could have commuted and saved money. Dad told me no, he said he loved me and wanted me away from my mother and her toxicity. That overtime he worked went toward the pay for the dorm, and extra spending money. Mom never realized he’d worked overtime.

Anyway, between the time we were notified that Ryan had been considered MIA, to the time he arrived on our doorstep, it was over a year.

The military never told us he’d been rescued and was recovering in a hospital. ”

“Do they have to?” At his frown, she continued, “Notify you?”

“Oh, I don’t know, I do know that Uncle Ry was pissed when he learned we weren’t told. Anyway, I was already going to school for double majors. I wanted to be a physical therapist, with strong emphasis on sports medicine, but I also wanted to be a chiropractor. I am both.”

“Wow, does that mean that you’re Dr. Caleb Lassiter?”

“Yes, but I don’t really use the title, at least not yet. I’m saving it for when my practice opens.”

“That’s the building over that way?” She pointed to where his office would be.

“Yes. Okay, now onto what I did in my spare time,” he laughed when she laughed at his pun. “Yeah, I had no spare time with the double majors, anyway, I met a group of people that I befriended, and I learned as much as I could, and became successful. At least I hope I did.”

“What did you learn?”

“How to make prosthetics.”

“Like fake legs and arms?”

“Yes, when I saw Uncle Ry had a missing eye, I thought that I could do something to help him. I don’t know if he would be open to getting a new eye, because he might not be able to see out of it, I’d have to have my friends to get in there and look at the damage.

According to him, and I’m quoting here, but according to Uncle Ry, the fuckers gouged his eye out.

I don’t know if they used their fingers, or a tool, or what. ”

“Okay, but what does all this have to do with my work with Naomi?”

“I was wondering if you would like to help me? You could still work for Erin and Naomi, but I’m going to need someone in my office when I open, and,” he said with a sigh as he pushed several papers toward her.

“What’s this?”

“Information to get a new eye for Uncle Ryan, a new hand for Erin, an arm for Opal, and a leg/foot for Adele.”

Katherine looked at him in shock, then quickly started going through the papers.

As she read, he got up, cleaned up the kitchen, and got something started in the crockpot for supper.

It was almost two hours, which he was going out of his skin, before she looked up.

The entire time, he’d kept her supplied in coffee.

“Holy shit,” Katherine said in shock as she settled back in her chair and looked at him with wide eyes. “You can do this?”

“I can, I’ve been on the phone with Staci, she’s my friend from that group I told you about, and she’s looking to break off from them and start out on her own. I told her that she could come here, just give me a few days to discuss everything with my boss, then maybe we can do this.”

“First, why is she breaking off with that group? I’m asking because I’m nosy, and because Erin will be asking the same question.”

“I understand, but she’s breaking off because she’s the only female in the group of six, and they are starting to say that women don’t belong in the field that they are in. They are being arrogant pricks about it.” He looked at her with a grin.

“What?”

“She had been secretly filling out grant applications, and when she started to say she would work with former military personnel, the grant people started listening to her. As of three weeks back, from this past Wednesday, she cut all ties with her former group and is now officially on her own.”

“Does she have it in writing?”

“Why would she need that?”

“What if she gets a grant, I’m just throwing numbers out because I have no clue, but what if she gets a grant for say, five hundred thousand, they get wind of it, and come after her saying that they deserve the money because she was with them when she filled out the grants.

” She saw his concern and held up her hand with a shake of her head.

“Another devil’s advocate moment here, Erin’s not former military, can she still try to help her if her grant is only for military people? ”

“What else?” Caleb asked as he grabbed a pad of paper and started taking notes. He looked up at her with raised brows.

“This statement or question isn’t me being mean, it’s me being practical.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“Will Staci be able to pass a background check from Duane, and Jake over at Brotherhood Protectors? Another thing to think about is this…” She waited until she had his full attention before continuing, “Will Erin even allow someone new on the property while this shit with me is happening? I’m not making it all about me, but that’s a thought. ”

“Damn,” Caleb said, dejected, and slumped back in his chair. He shook his head and looked at his notes before he looked at her. “What do you think?”

“I can’t give you an answer. I’m just someone here hiding from some very bad people. I don’t want your friend to get caught in the crosshairs of my life.”

“I understand. Will you go over and talk to Erin with me? I’m only asking because I might forget to tell her some crucial information.

I know we can’t expect Staci to come tomorrow, and I told her it might take a few days for me to get back to her.

The first step would be to see if Erin would even allow me to hire her. ”

“Yes, I’ll go with you,” Katherine said, then handed him a paper back. “You might want to revise this list.”

Caleb took it, looked down at the names and the body part which needed to be revised and back at her. “What’s wrong with this list.”

“You don’t have Reid’s name on it.”

“Reid has a prosthetic?”

“A leg, I believe he lost it, or they took it at mid-thigh.”

“Wow, I didn’t know that. Thank you for pointing it out. If you want to change, I’ll give Erin a call.”

“Why would I need to change?” she asked in confusion, then looked down and gave a squeal, she was still wearing a ratty tee full of holes, and a pair of skimpy shorts.

She gave him a wrinkled nose, jumped to her feet, and hurried to her bedroom, followed by his laugh.

To make him pay, she decided to take a shower, and it was an hour later when she emerged and nodded when he had done the same thing.

“Did you get ahold of Erin?”