Chapter 12
12
Caleb
C aleb plucked a magazine from the coffee table in the living room and flipped through it without really looking at anything. Emily was seated near a window, strumming that guitar and humming along with the notes. Normally he would have slipped off to his room by now, but something had stopped him.
No, it wasn’t something . It was someone .
He chanced a peek at her, letting his gaze sweep over her. The concentration on her face was next level. He could probably get away with watching her for a full ten minutes before she noticed.
Never mind.
Caleb’s eyes darted away. Heat slithered up his neck, settling in his ears.
“Caleb?”
“Yeah,” he muttered without looking up from the magazine he held.
“Can I ask you a favor?”
This time he couldn’t avoid her. The way she was perched on the edge of her chair with her head tilted just so made her look more like an inquisitive exotic bird. He waited for her to ask her favor, unable to breathe.
Before she had a chance to let her desires known, his phone buzzed on the coffee table. They both jumped and looked at the device, then at each other. Caleb reached for the phone apologetically.
“One sec.” He swiped across the screen and held the phone to his ear. “Hey Mateo. How’s everything going?”
“I need another favor.”
Caleb chuckled despite himself. “Seems that’s pretty common these days.” His gaze darted to Emily, finding that she’d returned her attention to the guitar. Her soft strums were the only sound in the room and, consequently, the reason he realized Mateo hadn’t voiced his question. “What do you need?”
Mateo still seemed to hesitate. There was some talking in the background, but Caleb couldn’t hear what was being said. “Would you be okay with staying another week? Maybe two?”
Caleb straightened. “Is everything okay?”
“Not particularly. But it will be. I just don’t see us coming back tomorrow, and I don’t know of anyone available to oversee the care of the animals. If you can’t do it, I’ll understand?—”
“It’s fine. I can do it.” He met Emily’s curious gaze, unsure if she would want to do the same. She hadn’t mentioned any plans to leave, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have any. “Whatever you need, just let me know. Talk to you later.” He hung up the phone and placed it on the coffee table. His gaze lingered on the phone as he contemplated what it might be like to stay here without Emily.
He didn’t want that to happen.
Furthermore, he didn’t like that he felt that way. He was standing at a fork in the road while two very different forces attempted to pull him in opposite directions.
“What was that?” Emily’s soft voice echoed into his mind.
Caleb glanced up at her. “Mateo. He needs me to stay longer. They won’t be coming home as early as planned.”
She blinked several times. “Is everything okay?”
It didn’t help his situation to hear her show concern for a family she barely knew. What was it about this girl that had him questioning everything he stood for?
“I don’t know,” he stammered, still distracted by her. “He just said that something unfortunate had come up and he had to deal with it. They’ll be back in a week, maybe two.”
“Wow,” she whispered.
“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”
Her eyes darted up to meet his, but she didn’t speak right away. Her expression was impossible to decipher at this point. Then she tore her eyes from him and set them on the guitar. Her fingers trailed along the smooth lacquer while her soft voice could barely be heard. “Would you want me to stay?”
Caleb couldn’t have possibly heard her right. Why would she even ask that? What was he supposed to say to something so forward? Already he could feel his body reacting to her words. His throat closed up, and his muscles tensed. If he was honest with her right out of the gate, he would tell her that yes, of course he wanted her to stay. While he had grown to despise all the people coming and going from his house at the moment, he was still a Keagan—and a twin. As such, he craved knowing he wasn’t alone.
The lump grew bigger in his throat with each tick of the clock on the wall. If he told her what his brain told him to say—which was that what he thought ultimately didn’t matter—then he’d be lying to her and himself.
If there was one thing Caleb hated more than anything else, it was a liar. And he refused to become one of them.
His voice was hoarse, and his lungs burned as he whispered, “Yes.”
A smile tugged at her lips. She looked relieved while at the same content with his answer. Caleb exhaled and turned back to his magazine. She moved forward in her seat. “Good,” she said softly. “Because I still want that favor.”
Oh. Right. The favor. He flipped through the pages again but stopped when she spoke.
“You can stop pretending to be interested in that magazine. I haven’t seen you read a single thing since you picked it up.”
He snorted, eyeing her as he slowly closed the oversized pamphlet. “What if I just like looking at the pictures?”
She tilted her head the way she did when she was either trying to figure him out or tease him. This time, it was the latter. Her eyes sparkled, and her grin set his insides on fire. “Oh, you’re too intelligent to gain any enjoyment from mere pictures.”
The heat in his stomach expanded to his chest. “And what do you think I use to find enjoyment?”
Emily shrugged. “I think you appreciate a good conversation. You have an appreciation for exquisite culinary experiences.” Her eyes narrowed. “Back to that good conversation bit—you have a flair for words that I haven’t seen in… well, let’s just say a long time.”
“And what does any of that have to do with the favor you want to ask me?” It was getting hard hearing her dissect him like that, and he needed to not feel quite so vulnerable around her.
“Oh.” Emily stood and moved across the room to sit beside him. “I wanted to know if you’d be willing to help me with the lyrics to my song. That stanza that you gave me… it was perfect. And I don’t want you to think that you’re working for free. I’d pay you?—”
“You don’t have to pay me.” He said it without thinking, but he found it was one hundred percent true. “It’s like you said. I like playing with words. I’m assuming you feel the same way with your music.”
She smiled. “Yeah, I do.” They sat there for a moment in silence before she spoke up again. “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get compensated for your work. If you’re writing the lyrics to a song that I perform, you should get something for it.”
He laughed, but then he realized she was being serious. “You perform music? Where? At like karaoke places?”
Emily’s eyes widened. It was short-lived, but he could have sworn she looked worried—no, she looked terrified. Just as quickly as her expression had appeared, it disappeared. She let out a strained laugh as well. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Oh. Well, I’m not going to make you pay me for it. Just give me credit or something. That’s a thing, right?”
She nodded solemnly. “Sure.”
“Then that’s enough. I don’t need anything else.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure,” Caleb said with a nod.
“What if you change your mind?”
“Then I’ll let you know.”
Her smile returned. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He nodded to the guitar. “Do you have the whole song ready? Can I hear it?”
She adjusted her hold on the instrument, then flashed him a nervous-looking smile. “Okay. I’m going to put the words you already gave me where I think they should go. Then we can go from there. What do you think?”
“I think you might as well start playing. We’re not getting any younger.”
He settled back as she started her song. Emily hummed along to the music, a melody that was so wrought with emotion he wasn’t sure he could do it justice. When she sang the words he’d already written, he knew he wouldn’t be able to let her down.
Caleb held up a hand, cutting her off at what he could only assume was the midpoint of the song. “That other stanza. If you make it the pre-chorus, we could do something like…” He closed his eyes and attempted to sing the melody of what the chorus could be. “ It’s a new love, like a wildflower in bloom. You’re the sunshine breakin’ through the cloudy afternoon. In your arms, I found a place I can belong. With this love, we’ll write our own song .”
The room went deathly quiet. He opened his eyes and found Emily staring at him, emotion brimming in her eyes.
“What? You don’t like it?”
She shook her head vehemently and leaned forward as she placed a hand on his. “I think it’s beautiful. I think perhaps I’ll change the notes here, though.” She released his hand, the departure of her warmth triggering a shiver that traveled down his spine. Emily sang the words of the pre-chorus and the chorus with a slight change, and it was enough to really emphasize the new love he’d spoken of. “What do you think about that?” she asked when she’d finalized the changes. “Do you think it will work?”
He was embarrassed to admit that he hadn’t been paying attention. He’d been so wrapped up in listening to the music, watching her eyes as she sang with so much energy, that he forgot to pay attention to the little details. Caleb cleared his throat and nodded. “I think it works,” he murmured lamely.
“Great! Now all I need are the first and second verse. Oh, and an outro.” She grinned at him widely. “I absolutely love how this song is coming together, and I couldn’t have done it without you.” She placed the guitar to the side and faced him. “You know, it makes me wonder more about you and how you grew up.”
“There’s not much to tell,” he offered. “Big family. Abandoned by their folks. Ended up making it after pulling together.” He shifted closer to her for no other reason than because he wanted to. “What about you?”
She shrugged. “Raised in Nashville. Moved to LA. I like singing—clearly.” She laughed.
“And you came to Colorado…” he drawled. “How did you manage to end up in Copper Creek? I mean, it doesn’t really make sense, right? Nashville. LA. Those are big cities. I’d reckon that Copper Creek isn’t even on most U.S. maps.”
Emily’s eyelids fluttered, and it was almost as if he could see the walls come up around her in real time. She turned her knees away from him, no longer looking him in the eye. “Simple. I needed a break. And when you close your eyes and pick a place to go, you might find yourself in a town like Copper Creek.” She pressed her lips together and stared at a spot on the wall across the room. “The funny thing is that I really love it here, you know?” This time she peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. “This town is something special. It’s one of those places that makes you believe in fairy tales.” Her smile softened. “If I could move here…” She sighed, leaving the sentence unfinished.
“Well, why don’t you?”
Her head snapped around and she gazed at him with surprise. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Emily shot to her feet and grabbed her guitar. “Sometimes people have to accept that they have responsibilities, and they can’t go on living in a fantasy just because it makes them happy.” She stared at her feet, then heaved a sigh. “It’s getting late. I’m heading off to bed. Can you turn off everything tonight?”
“Yeah,” he said, feeling more than a little off balance, “sure.” He watched her disappear, wondering if his head was spinning because of her abrupt disappearance or a hangover from spending the last couple hours in her company.