Chapter 10 Caleb
CALEB
I finish into my own hands with a grunt since Piper’s breasts are not here for me to spill on. Fuck, if I recounted all of the ways I came on her, I’d be working up another erection.
Deep in her throat.
All the way inside of her pussy.
Right on the peak of her nipple, where I know she’s most sensitive.
I clean myself up before I become too consumed with my own thoughts again. That’s what got me into this mess at two AM. I woke up with the urge, like I’m a pubescent teen again who can’t get his libido in check.
I would’ve given it to her hard if she gave me the green light yesterday morning.
But she doesn’t want to cave.
I climb back into bed and shut my eyes, but there’s only so much tossing back and forth you can do before you know it’s a waste of time.
Unable to sleep, I shoot restlessly up from the bed and check the house to make sure everything is in working order. Living out here is all fun and games until an axe murderer decides to show up on the porch, like in the movies.
And now I don’t just have Ellie to watch out for, but Piper and her son.
I could use a night shift tonight to escape my own head. Marco chews my ear off enough for me to forget about Piper.
About what we had.
We’re safe in the tent when the rain starts to pour.
It’s late, and her pulse ticks steady as she lies in my arms. It’s like I was born with the sole duty to hold her. To shield her. To protect her from the world.
From the demons that she’s never been able to get away from.
Rain pitter-patters on the nylon roof.
I’ve never felt more at home than I do now.
I wander through darkness and arrive outside Ellie’s room. I carefully open the door and check on her. She sleeps better out here than she ever did in Long Island. She carries less stress on her shoulders—that’s why. School here isn’t an issue like it was back in New York.
“Daddy?” She stirs in the sheets and pokes a confused head up at me. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing, sweetheart. Just checking in to make sure you’re okay, that’s all.”
My heart clenches with bittersweetness. She’s why I’m doing all of this. Ellie is the reason I had to leave.
She’s also the reason I came back. I knew she’d fall in love with Maple Crossing just as much as I did…
Although I realize now that it wasn’t the place that felt like home.
It was Piper.
And too much has changed for us to ever go back to the way it was.
“Do you always come into my room at night?” Ellie questions, now wide awake. She sits up on her elbows and waits.
The girl won’t settle until her question is answered.
“Yes, occasionally.” I step into her room and close the door behind me, kneeling by her bed. “Just to make sure you’re safe. You couldn’t even begin to understand how much you mean to me.”
She smiles but I can tell she isn’t completely sated. “Piper keeps telling me that she and Sonny are only staying here temporarily.”
“Yes.” I stall at the mere mention of her name. “We’re waiting on the insurance claim to go through.”
“Why can’t they stay here? We have enough space.”
“It’s not as simple as that, sweetheart.”
“Adults love to throw that one around.”
I laugh at her attitude. “Throw what around?”
Ellie groans and sighs, as though doing her best adult impression.
“Nothing is ever simple as an adult. I don’t see why they can’t stay.
Piper makes mean breakfast pancakes, and Sonny is just about the only second grader boy I can stand.
Actually,” she sidenotes, “I can stand him better than the boys in my own grade. Ugh.”
I stiffen up on the floor. “What did you just say?”
“About Piper’s mean pancake-making skills? Mean doesn’t mean bad, Dad. Come on. I already told you about this before.”
“Not that.” I stroke an absent-minded finger over my lip and hope that Ellie slipped up. “You said that Sonny is in the second grade. When’s his birthday?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that he’s eight.”
Which would make him a year older…
Piper told me that he was seven.
It makes the gap between his conception and me leaving even closer…
“Goodnight, sweetheart. I’m sorry for disturbing you.” I kiss Ellie on the temple and close her bedroom door softly behind me. It takes a lot in me to move so slow when my pulse is spiking.
Piper lied about Sonny’s age.
It’s wrong of me to storm into her bedroom in the middle of the night. But she felt the need to lie to me about her son’s age, and I need to know why.
I tear open her door and find the bed empty.
Why is my pulse shaking like this is an emergency?
“Hart?” I hiss as I make my way downstairs, searching the kitchen to see if she’s helping herself to a midnight snack. I snap on the light and make myself dizzy by swinging my head back and forth.
She can’t have gone far. Not with Sonny still in the house. His shoes are still lined up outside on the porch the same way they were yesterday. She wouldn’t take off and leave Sonny without shoes.
I look up and see her glaring at me through the window.
“What are you doing out on the porch at this hour?” I walk over to her.
“Couldn’t sleep.” She shrugs and gets back to staring into space.
There’s nothing much to do out here except sit and listen to crickets. After what almost happened earlier this morning, Piper is probably trying to catch as much fresh air as she can.
“Sonny is eight.” I decide to get straight to the point. “You told me he was seven.”
This makes her bolt upright. “Um…” She falters, turning to meet my gaze with an explanation she clearly doesn’t want to give me. Her mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she finally answers, turning away from me.
I study her side profile and know that she’s keeping something from me.
“Why not?”
The next time she looks at me, her eyes are fiery. “It’s best to not speak about some things.”
“I don’t know if that’s—”
“Remember when I asked you about why you started firefighting and you gave me the driest response?” She gives me a second to recollect. “Yeah. I accepted that you weren’t ready to talk about the true reason why, and moved on. Allow me to do the same here.” She keeps watching me sharply.
In that instance, some things are better left unsaid. I didn’t want to revisit my childhood and the guilt that motivated me all the way to the station. The same goes for Piper and her previous relationship, I suppose.
“Okay.” I rise from the chair and offer my hand. “But you can’t stay out here. Please. Get some rest.”
She looks up at me pointedly. “What are you doing awake?”
I shrug, unable to come up with a better response other than: “I couldn’t sleep either.”
This elephant in the room is even bigger than the first.
We both slept like babies whenever we were together. The fact that we can’t sleep says more than either one of us wants to admit.
“A few more minutes,” Piper says, turning back to face the yard. “I’ll be in soon. Promise.”
I drag myself upstairs and toss and turn even more than before. I slip between intervals of waking and sleeping, and rise with the sun when I feel its warmth through the window.
Piper is still at the back of my mind, even when I’m brushing my teeth. It doesn’t help that we share one bathroom. She couldn’t have placed her toothbrush any further away from mine if she tried.
A sudden knock jumps my mind back to the present. I spit, abandon the toothbrush, and head downstairs to see what someone could possibly want at seven thirty in the morning.
As soon as I open the door, everything makes sense.
“Mr. Taylor.” I couldn’t say that man’s name cheerily, not even if I tried. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Like I don’t already know he’s here for Piper.
“Is she in?” James Taylor makes eye contact with me briefly and sticks his head through the door. Does he want to make a cup of coffee for us all while he’s at it? Talk about an invasion of privacy.
I close the door a little, careful not to bang it against his precious face. He’ll probably find a way to file a lawsuit against me.
“If you are referring to Piper Hart—yes, she’s in. But your visit will need to be brief.”
“All due respect, Mr. Rourke, the visit will take as long as it takes.”
When will it be time for me to punch this prick in the face?