Page 14 of Second Chance Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings #5)

“Who?” Josh’s brow scrunched in confusion.

“The actress who played Lagertha in Vikings.”

“Oh, damn, she’s hot.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“Who’s hot?”

Audrey, Josh’s wife, asked as she joined.

“The actress who plays Lagertha on Vikings,” he responded as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.

“Oh, yeah, she is,” Audrey agreed.

“Have you seen someone around town who looks like her?” Josh asked his wife.

Audrey tilted her head as she thought. “I don’t know… maybe…why should I have?”

“This one has a crush on her.” Josh lifted his chin towards Caleb.

Audrey’s face lit with excitement. “You do?!”

“No, I don’t.” Caleb was responding before Audrey even got the question out.

Audrey, who, unlike his best friend, was nice, didn’t give him a hard time about his mystery woman but did promise to keep an eye out before they left.

Audrey owned the coffee shop Brewed Awakenings, and she opened at five in the morning, so Josh insisted on getting her home to bed.

Caleb had a feeling his friend had ulterior motives other than just her early morning.

Caleb made the rounds, taking time to speak to everyone, including Arthur, who refused to have “Happy Birthday” sung to him. To be totally honest, Caleb was surprised he’d even shown up to his own party. He didn’t want to rock the boat.

Once the cake was cut, Arthur decided he’d had enough of the celebration and called it a night, and Caleb figured he could head out as well.

Before he left, he checked with Cindy, who worked at the retirement home, to make sure the cleanup wouldn’t land on her lap or on Junior, the maintenance man.

She assured him they had a crew of people who had volunteered.

He turned to leave, but she stopped and handed him two pieces of cake. “Would you mind dropping these off to Taylor and Owen on your way? They were supposed to be here tonight, but I’m guessing Owen wasn’t feeling up to it.”

“Owen and Taylor?” Caleb had no clue who she was talking about. They must be new residents he hadn’t met yet.

“They live at Cobbler’s Cottage.”

“They live there?”

Cobbler’s Cottage was named that because it looked exactly like you’d imagine a cobbler’s cottage would. Last he heard, his cousin Lauren and her husband Ben had bought it as an investment property to list on Airbnb. He didn’t know that it was being used as a long-term rental.

She nodded. “Yeah, for probably eight months or so. You haven’t met them?”

“No.” Caleb shook his head.

"Oh, right. You’re not here for bingo or game nights anymore.”

Caleb used to come at least every week for either bingo or game night before he got Minnie. But once he got her, he didn’t like leaving her at night if he didn’t have to.

“Oh, wait…” Caleb lifted up one of the slices of cake as if that was him. “Is this the Owen who calls Bingo?”

“Yep. That’s him.” Cindy smiled.

Caleb had heard about a kid named Owen from several of the residents at Golden Years. Caleb assumed that Owen must have a relative at the retirement home, but now he wondered if he’d spent so much time there because he lived next door.

Arthur had mentioned the kid more than once, which meant he liked him a lot.

He was teaching him to play chess and poker, and he’d commented on how smart and quickly Owen picked up both, just like Caleb had when he was a kid.

After Arthur saved Caleb’s life, he and Josh used to visit, and he’d taught them both to play chess, too.

“Sure, no problem.” Caleb agreed, more than happy to drop off the cake.

As he walked over to the cabin, he had to admit he felt a little nervous, which was odd for him.

He never felt nervous meeting people. It was just strange that he hadn’t met Owen or his mom yet.

He wondered if maybe she worked several jobs, and that’s why he hung out at Golden Years.

Eight months was a long time for people to be in town and him not to have met them.

He walked up to the door, balanced one of the pieces of cake on his forearm, lifted his fist, and knocked.

He heard the familiar sounds of nails clicking on hardwood floors and heard the command, “sit,” then “good girl,” before the door cracked open.

He wondered which breed of man’s best friend he was about to meet.

What he saw when he looked down was not what he was expecting. Large brown eyes stared up at him. Familiar eyes. Eyes that belonged to a kid he assumed was Owen. A strong sense of something he could only describe as déjà vu washed over him. It was so powerful he nearly forgot why he was there.

“Hi.” The kid smiled widely, snapping him out of the fog he was in.

“Hi, I’m Caleb.”

“The pastor,” the kid said at the same time Caleb introduced himself.

Caleb grinned. “Right, yeah. I am. And who’s this?”

Beside Owen sat a gorgeous white pit bull with a gray stripe on her ear who was stayed sitting down, but her butt was wiggling with excitement and her nostrils were flaring as she sniffed the air, stretching her neck as far as she could trying to reach the cake.

“This is Casper, and I’m Owen.”

“Hi, Casper, hi, Owen. Nice to meet you both. Is your mom around?”

“She’s in the shower. Do you want to come in and wait?”

“No, that’s okay.” Caleb doubted Owen’s mom would appreciate him inviting a stranger inside their house to wait while she was in the shower.

The strange thing was, Caleb actually wanted to accept the invitation.

He couldn’t figure out why he wanted to; he just did.

He held up the pieces of cake. “Cindy just wanted me to drop these off for you and your mom from Arthur’s party. ”

“Oh, okay, thanks.” Owen took the cake, and Casper sniffed the cellophane as they were passed.

“Nice meeting you, Casper.” Caleb reached down to pet Casper’s head before stepping back and lifting his hand. “You too, Owen. Bye.”

“Bye.” Owen smiled, then shut the door.

As Caleb walked to his car, he tried to figure out how he knew Owen.

He had to have seen him before. Maybe he had played in the youth basketball league over the summer.

Cindy said they had been in town for eight months, so it was possible.

Or maybe he’d seen him down at the river or just around town.

No, it was more than that. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew the kid from somewhere.

Not that he’d seen him, but that he knew him… he just couldn’t remember from where.