Page 57 of Second Chance Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings #5)

Caleb watched from the deck as his dad threw a baseball in the backyard with Owen. They’d taken a short break so Owen could have some cookies when his blood sugar dropped below a hundred, but now his dad and son were at it again.

“He looks just like you.” His mom stepped beside him on the deck. “I actually can’t get over it.”

“I know.”

“And it’s not just his looks; it’s his mannerisms, too. He does that middle finger knuckle pop that I tried so hard to get you to stop doing.”

“I know.”

“So, I was thinking…” His mom clapped her hands together.

Oh boy, Caleb knew that whatever came next was going to be something he wouldn’t like. His mom’s way of softening the blow was to preface whatever punch she was throwing with ‘so, I was thinking.’ He mentally put up his guard and got ready to bob and weave.

“I know that you and Taylor are legally married, but?—”

“Mom, I know that—” Caleb cut her off as he defended his reasons for why he got married without them there, in the hospital.

“I know why you did what you did, and I understand,” she interrupted his interruption.

“It was the right thing to do. You were taking care of your family. You got married to the mother of your child. Your father and I are so proud of you. However, you got married, but you didn’t have a wedding .

” She took a deep breath. “Your dad would never admit this, but he has always dreamed of standing up with you as you exchange your vows and being the person who declares you husband and wife. You know that he doesn’t ask for much for himself; he’s spent his entire life doing for other people.

And it’s not him asking now; it’s me.” Emotion filled her eyes as they pooled with tears.

“I’m not asking for a big wedding at the church; I know that’s too much, and it’s just a building that holds mixed emotions for you.

I was thinking maybe we could have something here.

In the backyard. Something small. Just family and anyone you guys want here on Saturday. ”

“Saturday?”

She nodded. “Yeah, before word gets around and it turns into a circus.”

If it were just up to Caleb, he’d say yes, absolutely, no question. But it wasn’t just up to him. “I don’t know. I need to talk to Taylor.”

As if he’d summoned her, Taylor walked out onto the deck at that exact moment. She’d been inside on the phone with Mario, a nurse she’d bonded with at the hospital; he’d called every day to check up on her.

Taylor's blonde hair framed her face in soft waves, catching the last rays of sunlight and giving it a golden sheen.

Her blue eyes, the same color as the sky at its clearest, sparkled with excitement.

The shirt she wore was a perfect match for her eyes, accentuating their brightness.

Her skin, sun-kissed and radiant, seemed to glow in the fading light.

Her ruby red lips, full and inviting, begged to be kissed.

When Taylor approached them, his mom patted his hand as her eyes widened in a very non-subtle gesture suggesting this was a perfect time for him to speak to his new wife about the wedding she’d just proposed as she made an equally lame/obvious excuse to go inside, subsequently leaving them alone so they could speak in private.

“Oh, I think I might have left the stove on.”

Taylor clearly picked up on his mom’s odd behavior as she watched the woman who gave birth to him pretend to have a crick in her neck so she could tilt her head toward his wife in yet one more obvious attempt to indicate he should ask her about what they’d just talked about.

When the Queen of Subtlety disappeared into the house, Taylor looked up at him. “Did I interrupt something? I can go back inside and?—”

“No.” He reached out, snaked his arms around her, and pulled her against him.

He didn’t want her to go anywhere. In fact, if it were up to him, she’d never be more than an arm’s length away from him so he could hold her anytime he wanted.

She’d been inside on the call for less than ten minutes, and he’d missed her.

Really, truly missed her. That had to be some kind of record.

Who misses someone when they just walked into the other room?

Actually, now that he thought about it, he remembered his dad saying those exact words about his mom on several occasions.

She would start to stand up to go do something, and he’d tighten his hold around her to keep her in place beside him on the couch, or if they were in the kitchen and she was going to leave, he’d wrap his arms around her waist and keep her in there while he was cooking, or if he were in the church office and she started to walk out, he’d tug her toward him and pull her onto his lap.

Then if she said she had to do something like laundry or run errands, and that was why she was leaving, he’d tell her that he’d help her or do it for her if she waited for his show to end, or for him to finish cooking, or for him to complete whatever work he had to do, and then that’s exactly what would happen. He wanted her near him all the time.

The first time Caleb heard John Krasinski’s quote from The Office, “ When you’re a kid, you assume your parents are soulmates; my kids are gonna be right about that,” it struck a chord with him.

He loved it because he knew his parents were soulmates.

He loved it so much, he’d bought a t-shirt with the saying on it.

That’s the feeling he had when he looked at Taylor.

That they were soulmates. He’d even left that shirt out for her to wear yesterday because that’s how he felt about her.

Taylor’s hands landed on his chest as she looked up at him, and he tightened his grip on her. “Remember that blanket apology I made being a little extra?”

The warm hues of the setting sun danced in Taylor's crystal blue eyes, turning them into pools of amber and gold. The sky was painted with streaks of orange, pink, and purple, all reflecting beautifully in her gaze as she tilted her head up at him and cautiously stated, “Yes.”

“Well, my mom was wondering if we might be open to having a small wedding?—”

“A wedding?” she interjected.

Panic replaced the setting sun dancing in her gaze.

“Just a small one, here, in the backyard, on Saturday.” He figured he might as well get all the details out at once.

“Saturday?” She swallowed with an audible gulp. “ This Saturday?”

Her response was not a verbal no, but her head was shaking back and forth. He didn’t think she was even conscious that she was doing it.

“I’m not saying this to pressure you, but she said that my dad would never admit it, but he’s always thought he would be the one to stand with me and my bride, pronouncing us man and wife.”

“Oh.” Her eyes blinked slowly, as if a realization was dawning on her. The panic was instantly replaced with a melancholy resignation. “I didn’t even think of that. Of course, he would.”

Before they had a chance to discuss any further, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was Judy calling.

“Hey, can I?—”

“Are you at the church?”

“No. Why?”

“ADT just called; they said that the alarm on the side entrance door has been triggered.”

“It’s probably some kids again.” They’d had the same thing happen, and then they showed up and found graffiti sprayed on the side of the building. It was written off as teens, but Caleb had his own suspicions that it was Patsy Clemons. “Have you checked the camera?”

The evening before the alarm was tripped, two teens in the youth group came out and went to prom together.

They took photos before prom with the youth pastor in front of the church.

The following day they woke up to homophobic slurs spray-painted on the church and church sign, claiming that God hated fill-in-the-blank slur.

There were no security cameras at that time, so he couldn’t prove it, but Patsy was very outspoken about her opinions and had complained even before the kids took the pictures when she got wind it might be happening.

Caleb washed it all down himself, and the following Sunday, he addressed the vandalism from the pulpit, making it very clear that the church was safe and inclusive for LGBTQ.

When Patsy cornered him after the service, furious over the views he’d expressed, with smoke coming out of her ears, he couldn’t help but notice that she had flecks of red and blue paint under her nails and in her nail beds.

When he asked her about the paint, she suddenly got very flustered, tripping over her words, mumbled something about finger painting, and walked away.

It was the only time Patsy had ever walked away mid-rant.

“The camera’s not working.”

“It’s not working?” he repeated.

“They said it looks like someone has either disabled it or put something over it; the screen is just black. But the alarm is still going off; it has been for five minutes now, so the door has definitely been opened. Do you want me to go?”

“No, I’ll go.”

“Are you sure?” she confirmed.

“Yes.” There was no way he’d let Judy handle this.

“Okay, keep me updated.”

“I will.”

Caleb hung up the phone and looked down at Taylor, who had worry etched in her eyes. “The alarm at the church is going off. It’s probably just kids, but I need to go check it out. Are you going to be okay here?”

“Yes. Absolutely. Go.”

“Are you sure?” He looked over his shoulder at Owen, who was on the grass with his dad.

Her brow furrowed deeply as she looked up at him in confusion. “Your parents are the kindest people in the world; of course we’ll be okay.”

Hearing her say that, to classify them in that way, made him love her even more.

The three words were on the tip of his tongue; actually, they were trying to burst from his mouth like the Kool-Aid Man through the wall.

He’d said them to her when she slept, but he didn’t want the first time she heard him say them to be when he was leaving.

“Go,” she encouraged him again.

He pressed a quick kiss on her forehead before stepping away reluctantly and heading toward the Bat Signal of Responsibility.

With one final glance over his shoulder at Taylor’s calming presence bathed in twilight hues against the vibrant sunset skies to keep in his mind—a sight he tried to memorize to keep with him always—he put his mind to the task at hand so he could fulfill his duty as fast as humanly possible so he could get back to their shared cocoon of serenity, of love, of home.