Page 29 of Second Chance Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings #5)
Before he took a single bite of food, he pulled up the calculator app on his phone and quickly figured out how much insulin to give himself.
After dinner, he joked that it was time for his nightly ‘fix.’ He took large pills out one at a time from a rainbow-colored weekly dispenser, holding them up and commenting on each one before popping them in his mouth, leaning his head back, and swallowing.
“The green one gives me super strength. The blue one keeps me from turning into a zombie after midnight. The white one charges my cloak of invisibility,” he deadpanned as he took out the final pill and held it in the air like Rafiki holds Simba on Pride Rock.
“And the red one, well, that’s just a beta blocker.
” He shrugged as he tossed it up in the air and caught it in his mouth.
Owen was such a well-adjusted, confident, bright, and funny kid.
He’d watched him the entire night in a constant state of reverent awe.
Caleb tried to catch Taylor’s eye across the table to silently communicate to her what an amazing job she’d done.
But Taylor had warned him that Owen picked up on everything , so he knew he couldn’t let the fact that he was bursting with paternal pride show.
He figured he should read the room, take Owen’s lead, and try to keep things light.
As Owen set the pill dispenser back on the counter, Caleb joked, “You know, you could start a black-market pharmacy.”
Not missing a beat, Owen turned and stretched his arms out. “How do you think we can afford this place?”
They all laughed, but Caleb picked up on a brief flash of sadness behind Taylor’s eyes.
It was quickly masked, but for a moment, there had been an emotional sting.
In the photos she’d shared with him, he noticed the house they lived in back in Chicago was very…
upscale. It didn’t look like a house that a cop could afford on a single salary, but the little bit of digging he’d done on Taylor’s ex made him think he’d probably been up to some illegal activities.
Owen picked up his plate, and Caleb stood and did the same. “Thanks for dinner. It was delicious.”
“You mean the part that wasn’t burned,” Taylor qualified as she rose from her chair and reached down to grab her plate.
Caleb beat her to it. He reached across the table and grabbed it out from under her nose. “No, I mean all of it.”
He then collected the two other dishes on the table.
She looked up at him with a question mark hanging above her head. “What are you doing?”
“You cooked,” Caleb explained.
She continued staring at him as if he hadn’t answered her question.
“That means you can’t clean.” He took the dishes to the sink.
“No, it doesn’t.” She shook her head.
“Yes, it does.” He grabbed the dishwashing soap from underneath the sink. “That’s the rule.”
“Yeah, Mom. That’s the rule.” Owen backed him up, and Caleb gave him a pound.
Taylor’s head tilted to one side. “Don’t you have homework?”
“Owen can do his homework.” Caleb turned the water on. “I’ll do the dishes.”
“Yeah, Mom.”
The no cleaning if you cook had been a rule in Caleb’s house growing up, but even if it hadn’t, the dark circles under Taylor’s eyes meant there was no way he was going to let her clean.
“You’re our guest. You shouldn’t clean.” Taylor was doing her best to protest, but Caleb could see he was wearing her down.
“Okay.” Caleb shut the water off and turned back toward Taylor. who was standing next to the table. “I think the only fair way to do this is to take a vote.”
“A vote?” she questioned.
“Yes. A vote.”
“That’s not…we can’t…” she stuttered.
“Who is in favor of taking a vote?”
Both Owen and Caleb raised their hands.
Taylor rolled her eyes as a hint of a smile lifted on her face. “You’re voting on whether or not to take a vote ?”
“Absolutely,” Caleb replied. “I believe in being fair.”
“Yeah, we have to be fair.” Owen nodded.
“Okay…” Caleb pretended to count the arms in the air, which were his and Owen’s. “So it is two to one in favor of taking a vote.”
“Oh my gosh.” Taylor crossed her arms and sighed as she shook her head back and forth, her hint of a smile now spread from ear to ear.
“All in favor of me washing dishes, Owen doing his homework, and Taylor, aka Mom, taking the rest of the night off.”
Both Caleb and Owen raised their hands. He started to count again when Owen yelled, “Wait!”
Caleb watched as Owen kept one hand in the air, and then he held his other hand in a fist, and Casper sat up on his hind legs and lifted one paw.
“Oh!” Caleb couldn’t believe he’d left Minnie out. Of course, they needed to vote. The hand that wasn’t in the air he held out with his palm facing up, and Minnie lifted her paw in the air to give him a high five, aka vote in favor of.
“Okay, so that’s one, two, three, four…four to one in favor.” They all lowered their hands, and Caleb picked up the wooden spoon to use as a gavel. He hit the spoon on the cutting board and announced, “The ayes have it; the motion is passed.”
“Sorry, Mom.” Owen was beaming as he hooked his arm through Taylor’s and led her to the couch. “Sometimes things don’t go your way. That’s democracy.”
Caleb got to work doing the dishes, and Owen brought his homework to the kitchen table.
He was doing math, which had been Caleb’s favorite subject in school.
He helped him with a few problems and found himself getting a little choked up while he did because he was helping his son with homework.
He had to keep reminding himself that Owen picked up on everything, so he had to keep his emotions in check.
Once the kitchen was clean and the homework was done, the boys looked over and saw that Taylor was sound asleep on the couch.
She was in the corner with her legs tucked beneath her.
She wasn’t the only one who was in slumber-ville.
Minnie and Casper were both curled up, facing each other, with their heads resting on the other’s back end like the yin and yang symbol.
“She’s been really tired lately.” Concern tinted Owen’s voice.
“She just started the new job.”
“It was even before that.”
Caleb wasn’t sure what to say to him. He wanted to tell him that everything would be okay. That he would make sure they were both okay, but he didn’t want to come off sounding creepy.
He pulled out one of his cards. “Here, my number is on here. If you guys ever need anything. Day or night, I don’t care; call me.”
Owen took the card. “Okay.”
“I’m serious. Anything .”
Owen nodded.
Caleb hesitated. He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay and make sure that Taylor was okay. That she got a good night’s sleep, but that was inappropriate. He hated walking out that door knowing Owen was so worried.
“I’m sure she just needs a good night’s sleep.” Caleb knew it was a platitude, but it was the best he had at the moment.
“I wish she’d let me sleep on the couch.”
“What do you mean?”
“She sleeps on the couch so I can have my own room.”
“Oh.” Of course she does. That shouldn’t surprise Caleb. Everything Taylor did was for Owen. “She’s a good mom.”
“She’s the best,” he agreed. “I just wish she had someone who took care of her like she takes care of me and…well, and everyone really.”
Caleb wanted to be that person. He wanted to be the one to take care of her. He wished he could tell him that. He wished he could tell him a lot of things. But no matter how close he felt to him after spending one evening with him, no matter how much DNA they shared, it wasn’t his place.
Caleb lightly patted his thigh, and Minnie lifted her head. Her eyes blinked at him, and he could see that he wasn’t the only one who wished they could stay. When he tapped his leg again, she begrudgingly rose from her cuddle-fest.
“Thanks for letting me hang out. Anything,” he reiterated as he pointed to the card in Owen’s hand.
Owen nodded.
He walked to the door, and Minnie stretched before joining him. “Make sure to lock this behind me.”
“Okay,” Owen agreed.
When Caleb and Minnie walked out onto the porch, he waited to hear the click of the deadbolt before heading to his Jeep.
Part of him wanted to stay in his Jeep all night standing guard, at least until he knew Taylor’s ex was in jail for good.
But that would definitely cause people to ask questions Taylor wouldn’t want to answer.
Last week at this time, ‘Rebecca’ had been nothing more than a memory, and he hadn’t even known Owen existed.
Now, in the span of three hours, Taylor and Owen had become the most important, precious people in his life.
He couldn’t imagine his life without them in it.
They were the missing puzzle pieces that clicked perfectly into place, completing the picture.
Right now, that picture felt fragile, like he was trying to balance the completed puzzle in the palm of his hands, keeping all the pieces in place. But soon, he hoped it would be on a secure surface.