Chapter 15 Caroline
CAROLINE
Thirteen years ago
Caroline pulled the sheet of cookies out of the oven and breathed in the warm, chocolate smell. They were double chocolate—Justin’s favorite, and if he arrived on time, they’d still be warm.
Skye padded into the kitchen of the small house they shared and sighed. “Wow. That smells amazing.”
Caroline scooped one up with a spatula and offered it to Skye. “They’re for Justin’s birthday, but you can have one.”
Skye grabbed a paper towel before letting Caroline slide it onto her hand. “Best roomie ever. So, are you sure your family won’t decide to drop in unannounced tonight?”
Caroline’s parents had surprised her a few times since she and Skye set up house together, but being able to spend time with Justin without meeting at her family’s land on the edge of town was a definite plus to having her own place.
“I told them I had to be at work early in the morning.” Caroline held up a finger. “Which is not a lie. I do. And I also told Mom I had dinner in the slow cooker, so she doesn’t have an excuse to stop by to bring me food.”
Skye lifted her cookie. “Smart girl. I know you hate lying to them.”
Hate was a mild word for the twisting in Caroline’s gut. She couldn’t go much longer without telling her mom, at least, that she was in love with a great man. She’d always told her mother everything.
“I’ll tell them eventually. It would be a whole lot easier if his dad would stop terrorizing them.”
Ever since Justin had gone to college, it was as if Chuck was bored. The sickening truth was that he didn’t have Justin to fight with to take up his time.
“So glad Justin isn’t awful like his dad,” Skye said before stuffing the cookie into her mouth. “He must be adopted.”
“Unfortunately, Chuck is his real father. I’d hate to see what kind of damage Chuck could do to someone he isn’t related to if he’s so hateful to his own flesh and blood.”
Skye’s whole body shivered. “You’re right. Justin was dealt a bad hand.”
A knock came from the front door, and Skye brushed the cookie crumbs off her hands onto the paper towel. “That’s my cue. I’m going to Joe’s to watch a movie. I’ll text when I’m on my way back.”
“You don’t have to leave when he comes over,” Caroline said as she untied her apron and hung it on the hook beside the mail slip on the wall.
“I definitely do. You two are sickeningly sweet.”
Caroline halted and gasped, resting a hand on her chest. “Why are you saying that like it’s a bad thing? Sweet is good.”
Skye scrunched her nose. “You’re too sweet. I said what I said.”
Laughing, Caroline turned her back on Skye and went to let Justin in. “Fine. I’ll see you later.”
“Love you!” Skye called before the back door closed behind her.
Caroline pressed her cheek against the front door. “What’s the password?” she sang.
“Snickerdoodle,” Justin said.
She threw the door open, and Justin rushed into her, sweeping her off her feet and swinging her legs in the air as they twirled. Holding onto him, she gave in to the weightlessness of flying. Her arms tightened around his neck as the scruff of his short beard scratched against her face.
“I missed you, cupcake,” Justin whispered against her ear as his embrace tightened around her ribs. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you more,” Caroline breathed. “Happy birthday.”
Justin set her feet on the ground without releasing her. “Thanks. What smells so good?”
“Is it the pot roast or the cookies?” she asked.
Justin’s eyes bulged. “I get pot roast and cookies?”
“Of course!”
He lifted her again. “Best birthday ever.”
The steady thud of his heart pounded against her ear as she melted against him. She missed the smell of him when he was at school. She missed the way he held her and the sweet way he spoke. It tore her apart every time he left.
“Are you hungry?” she asked as he started to sway with her wrapped up in his hold.
“Starving.”
She pulled away and grabbed his hand to lead him toward the kitchen. “How were your grandparents?”
Justin was silent for a moment before speaking. It was almost as if he needed to prepare himself for the conversation. “Not great. Jan has pneumonia again, and Keith isn’t doing what he’s supposed to at rehab.”
Caroline released Justin’s hand to pull a large tray out of the cabinet. “What did the facility say about that?”
He leaned his back against the counter beside her, crossing his arms over his chest that had filled out even more in the last few months of practice. “They said he has to either start trying or they’re going to kick him out.”
That brought Caroline to a stop with the large spoon hanging over the slow cooker. “What? Can they do that?”
Justin shrugged. “It’s a rehab facility. If he isn’t willing to do the rehab, I’m sure they’ll find someone who will.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I have to find him another place to stay.”
They’d talked about this before. Most assisted living facilities were too expensive for Justin or his grandparents to afford. In fact, they were more than Caroline and her family could afford either. “Have you found anything?”
Justin pushed a hand through his hair. “Not yet. They just told me.”
“Right. Sorry. You know what? Let me do some looking around. I’ll show you the ones I think are best, and you can just choose.”
Justin stilled, looking at her with an expression she couldn’t read. He’d been so stressed and tired lately, he rarely smiled anymore. “You don’t have to do that.”
Caroline rested the spoon into the pot and laid her hands on his chest. “I want to.” She kissed his chin. “I can help you.” She kissed one cheek. “Just let me. I know how much you care about them, and I love how adamant you are about helping them.”
Justin’s arms immediately wound around her waist, pulling her in. “I don’t deserve you.”
“I just want to help,” she whispered back. “We’re in this together.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead and stepped to the side. “Get the plates. I’ll get this out of the pot.”
That brought a smile to her face. “It’s your birthday. I’m doing everything, mister.” She pointed toward the table. “Sit.”
He told her about baseball and school while she moved the roast, potatoes, and carrots to a serving dish. Since she didn’t plan on going to college, soaking up his stories was as close to higher education as she’d ever get.
Her dream didn’t require a degree, and Justin’s technically didn’t either.
Playing on a college baseball team was the only way to get noticed by the minor or major leagues, and he was pretty adamant that baseball was all he knew.
Sure, he could get a job in town, but Redemption Ridge didn’t have many glowing opportunities for someone who needed to provide expensive healthcare to aging relatives who had no means to support themselves.
Justin hadn’t grown up in a home with plenty. In fact, he’d often gone without, and the thought turned Caroline’s stomach. How could a father care so little about his son? Her family loved with everything they had. Justin’s was a completely different life that she didn’t understand.
Once they were both at the table, Justin blessed the food, and they dove in.
“This is amazing. Sorry—” Justin covered his mouth still full of meat. “Sorry. It’s so good.”
“It’s my grandmother’s recipe. Baking isn’t the only thing I like to do.”
Justin reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “You’re like the perfect woman. I don’t even understand it, but I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Jason from Bible study invited me to a men’s conference at his church next weekend.”
“That sounds great. Maybe you’ll like it there.”
Justin hadn’t grown up in a Christian home, but it hadn’t taken him long to start asking questions about Jesus once they got together. Soon, he started visiting churches around campus and found one he liked.
Justin pushed his food around the plate, keeping his chin down. “I wish I could go to church with you here. I have a lot of questions, and you always know the answers.”
“I don’t always know the answers, but I’ve been studying the Bible my whole life. It’s all new to you. Give yourself grace.”
He looked up at her then, and his smirk was back. “You’re too good.”
“Why do you do that?” she asked, a nagging irritation rising in her chest.
“Do what?”
“Diminish your own goodness. I don’t know what your dad told you, but you’re a great man. If anybody told you differently, they’re wrong.”
Justin reached for her hand across the table again. “Sorry. I love that you see the good in me and everyone else in the world. Please don’t ever change that.”
She flipped her hand over to link her fingers with his. “No one could ever stop me.”
When they’d finished dinner, Justin took their empty plates to the sink. “Can I have a cookie now?”
She chuckled as she lifted the plate stacked with the goodies. “Happy birthday.”
He took the plate from her instead of a single cookie. “Living room?”
“What are we watching?” she asked as she followed him to the couch.
“What’s that show you’ve been watching? Wait, don’t tell me. When Calls the Heart?”
“Yes, but I doubt you’ll like that one.” She took the remote and found the game show channel.
Justin sat on the side of the couch they usually cuddled on and patted the cushion beside him. “Have you sat down today?”
She made her way behind him and slid her hands over Justin’s shoulders. “I sat down for a few minutes this morning before work.”
Justin let his head fall back against the cushion and looked up at her. “Sitting down to put on your makeup doesn’t count.”
Applying pressure, she kneaded the muscles in Justin’s shoulders. “Well, then I guess I haven’t. I don’t need to sit.”
Justin’s eyes fell closed. “Yes, you do.” He let out a soothing hum as she dug deeper into the tense areas. “That feels amazing. Best. Birthday. Ever.”
“Oh, speaking of your birthday, I have a present for you.”
Justin’s head snapped up, and he turned to face her. “You got me a present?”
“Yeah. You want it now?”
Justin stared back at her with a crease between his dark brows. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”
Caroline waved a hand dismissively. “Did you think I wouldn’t? Of course, I did.” She skipped to the coat closet in the hallway and pulled out the small box wrapped in green paper with a tiny white bow on top.
Justin accepted the box from her but continued to look at it, holding it as if he’d never seen anything like it before.
She sat on the couch beside him and bent one leg so she could face him. “Open it!”
He swallowed before slowly pulling away the paper. When the white box was all that was left in his hand, he continued to stare at it.
“It’s not much, and you never ask for anything. I had the hardest time trying to figure out what to get.”
He removed the lid from the box and pulled out the dark leather bracelet.
“You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to,” she said. “Look on the inside.”
He flipped it over and read the words stamped on the inside. “Justin and Caroline.” A smile bloomed on his face. “It’s perfect.”
“You don’t have to say that. It’s nothing big.”
He reached for her hand, grasping it tightly in his. “I’m not just saying that. I don’t need to be reminded of you because you’re always on my mind, but I like wearing something you gave me.” He turned the bracelet over in his other hand. “No one has ever given me anything.”
Caroline narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve never gotten a present before.”
Her mouth fell open. Never received a present? “Ever?” she asked.
He closed his large hand around the bracelet. “Never.”
“Not even at Christmas or your other birthdays?” Her voice was climbing now. He had to be joking.
“Nope. Dad never bothered with that. My grandparents always bought my clothes and things I needed, but it wasn’t on Christmas or a birthday.”
She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. How had this happened? How could Justin have been denied this simple happiness all his life? She bit her bottom lip and sucked air in through her nose.
“Please don’t cry,” Justin begged. “I’m fine. I have all I need, and now I have everything I want too.”
Caroline reached for the bracelet as the tears stung her eyes. “Give me that. I should have gotten you something better.”
Justin jerked his hand away from her. “No way. This is the best gift ever, and no one is taking it away from me.”
He reached his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his chest. Giving in, she snuggled against him, letting the tears silently fall onto his shirt.
His hand rubbed along her back, soothing the ache of injustice. “Have I told you that this is the best birthday ever?” he asked.
“Only about five times,” she whispered. She could have done more, but what could she possibly do to match how happy he made her every day?
He handed the bracelet to her. “Will you put it on me?”
She slid the leather around his wrist and tightened it. When she looked up at him, his jaw was clenched, but he was smiling.
“I never thought I’d be this happy,” he confessed.
She slid her palm against his, brushing over the callouses to link them together. “Me either.”
Their lives could be like this forever. Peaceful, hopeful, and filled with love.