Chapter 5 #2
Cal sighed and his shoulders dropped in resignation. “I suppose I do.”
April bit her lower lip and held in her glee. Owen didn’t bother hiding anything. He ran circles around both her and Cal, chanting, “We have a lunch guest! We have a lunch guest! We have a lunch guest!” in a singsong tone.
“I’ll make sandwiches,” Cal said. The defeat in his voice was obvious, but underneath it was something else, too. He looked secretly pleased. April loved all of it. “Do you have any allergies I should know about?” he asked her.
She shook her head. Then, she asked, “Can I help?”
“You can help by keeping an eye on Owen,” Cal said. He was terse, but she got the impression that had more to do with him losing the little competition he was having with his son than it did with April sticking around for lunch.
“No problem,” she said. April made Owen sit down so she could take his blood pressure. The boy was wiggly and squirmy, but April didn’t mind. He was happy, and that was the best medicine she could think of. “Your blood pressure looks perfect,” she said.
“I know,” Owen said. He seemed proud of his blood pressure, which gave April a reason to chuckle. She finished up her examination with a little difficulty. Owen had too much energy for a kid who had been as sick as he was a few short days ago.
Cal was in his kitchen, putting together sandwiches for them.
April watched him for a minute while his back was turned.
He had so much strength in his arms and shoulders.
That was obvious every time he moved. She tried to ignore how much she wanted to touch him.
Clearly, she was touch-starved considering her nonexistent love life.
She should focus on the relationship between father and son.
That had been part of why her boss had given her the go-ahead for a house call, after all.
He was concerned for the boy and wanted someone to verify that the living conditions were acceptable.
April was pleased that she would be able to return with a glowing report.
She’d never met a more well-adjusted child, in fact.
When Cal was finished making lunch, he set the table and pulled a chair up for April. “Hope you like venison,” he said.
“I’ve never really had it,” April said. “Do you um… hunt?”
Cal nodded. “Not too often. There are only two of us after all, and we do have a good freezer.”
“How’s the electricity out here?” she asked.
“Solar,” he said. “And a battery bank. We never lose power. One of the benefits of being off-grid is that when the grid goes down, we don’t.”
“Oh, I didn’t see any solar panels on the roof,” April said. She took the first bite of her sandwich and found it delicious. So much better than cold cuts, she thought.
Cal responded, “The solar panels are in a clearing behind the cabin, several yards back. We find that they get better sun that way. In the winter, we mostly heat the place with a wood stove. Saves us battery power. And the water comes from our very own well.”
“Sounds like you’ve got everything pretty much figured out,” she said. “And these sandwiches are delicious.”
“Thank you,” he said. “We have a picky eater in the house. He keeps me honest in the kitchen.” He winked at Owen, who grinned back.
April enjoyed lunch with Cal and Owen far more than she thought she would.
Their ease in their own environment put her at ease, too.
She felt like she was on vacation, camping—glamping even.
The place was beautiful and relaxing, and the company was a joy to be around.
She’d expected a certain level of awkwardness and had been looking forward to finding out what made Cal tick.
He didn’t turn out to be that complicated in the end.
What made him tick was fathering his son and creating a home for his tiny family.
She knew there was more to him, something that made the outside world feel unfriendly and unsafe.
But what surprised her was the lack of that tension when it came to his own home.
After lunch was through, she realized she didn’t really want to leave.
The idea that she would never see the cabin again was breaking her heart a little.
If April was nothing else, she was a risk-taker. So, she decided to take a risk.
“I’d like to return in a few days,” she said, “if that’s OK.”
Cal narrowed his eyes at her, looking distrustful of her motivations. “Why?”
“Just to check on his progress and make sure he’s completed his course of antibiotics. No charge at all. We want to make sure his infection doesn’t return.”
“No charge?” Cal cocked his head at her, and she could tell he didn’t really believe her.
She decided to be honest. “It’s not protocol, nothing required by the clinic. You can, of course, refuse. Personally, I like to be extra cautious.” She shrugged. “Also, I like you.”
April could tell that Cal was about to refuse her offer, but then Owen perked up and said, “Pleeeeease!” He hung on the word in the way children sometimes do when they beg, and Cal immediately melted.
“All right,” he said. “We’ll see you in a few.”
They walked her back to her car, and Owen continuously waved at her as she pulled away.
They were such a charming family that April found herself feeling a little envious.
She was thirty, and she’d wanted nothing more than to have a family of her own by now.
Maybe that was why she was so eager to spend time with this one, borrowing them in a way, until she found a partner worth building something real with.