Chapter Fourteen – Caleb
Caleb woke with the dawn, his body humming with contentment before his eyes even opened, the vineyard picnic replaying in his mind like a perfect dream.
Except it had been real.
He stretched beneath the sheets, a slow smile spreading across his face as he recalled Hannah’s laughter by the stream, her face tilted toward the sun, the scent of her beside him on the blanket.
His bear stretched luxuriously within him. Best day. Best mate. Best everything.
Caleb smiled at the ceiling, allowing himself a moment to simply bask in the feeling. For the first time in years—maybe ever—the future felt like something he could reach out and touch. Not some distant, abstract concept, but a warm, living thing unfolding right before him.
A future with Hannah in it.
What other future is there? his bear asked.
He was right. Now that they had met their mate, there was no future worth imagining unless she was in it. By his side. His friend. His companion. His love.
Our mate, his bear added happily.
He could not wait another moment for that future to begin.
Caleb threw the bedcovers back and jumped out of bed, full of anticipation for the day ahead.
Joy! His bear did a backflip. And maybe... a big reveal. Me!
Maybe, Caleb replied as he dressed in casual slacks and a sweater.
Yes, if things went well, today might be the day he told Hannah everything. Laid bare his soul.
But first, he needed coffee.
Downstairs, he ground coffee beans, the rich aroma filling the kitchen as he opened the windows to let in the mountain air. Everything seemed sharper somehow, more vibrant. The coffee smelled richer. The breeze felt fresher. The sunlight seemed to catch on ordinary objects and transform them.
This is how it could be every day, he thought, imagining Hannah at the kitchen table, sharing breakfast with him before he headed to the restaurant.
He glanced at the kitchen clock and sighed. The restaurant. He only had a couple of hours before he had to head into work.
Maybe we should take the day off, his bear suggested.
Hmm. Rachel would be in for her usual shift today, but Jenny’s mom’s leak was worse than she’d thought, and she wouldn’t be back for another couple of days.
Which left the restaurant short-staffed again this lunchtime. If he took the day off, it put more pressure on everyone else.
He was torn between his duty to the restaurant and the need to be with his mate. Caleb knew what his family would say...
Our mate comes first, his bear finished for him.
Always, Caleb agreed.
Although he hated to let them down, he’d call his parents and ask them if they could manage without him for the day.
He reached for his phone, resolve settling over him. Today, he would choose her.
But before he dialed the number, his senses locked onto Hannah in the room above... a subtle shift in her presence gave way to the quiet certainty that she was awake.
Any minute now, she would come downstairs, and he didn’t want her to overhear the conversation with his parents.
She’d feel bad, insist on working another shift...
So, instead, Caleb poured two cups of coffee and set them down on the table, excitement building inside of him. He’d call his parents later.
As he sensed her approaching, he turned, a smile already forming, words of greeting ready on his lips... and then he saw her.
Something was different.
Hannah stood in the doorway, hair neatly combed, clothes crisp and practical. Her posture was straight, her smile polite. Nothing obviously wrong. Nothing he could point to. Yet the shift was unmistakable, as if someone had drawn a thin veil between them overnight.
His bear stilled, instantly alert. Something’s changed.
“Good morning,” she said, her voice pleasant but measured. The warmth had gone. It was as if someone had turned back time to the first moment they’d met—before the vineyard, before the laughter, before her hand had fit so perfectly into his. “Coffee smells wonderful.”
“Just made it,” Caleb replied, nodding toward the cup on the table. “Sleep well?”
“Very well, thank you.” She accepted the mug with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Your guest room is very comfortable.”
Your guest room. Surely after yesterday, she knew she was more than that? The subtle distance in her phrasing wasn’t lost on him.
Caleb gestured to the table, where he’d set out butter, jam, and a loaf of bread he’d brought back from the restaurant last night along with the blackberry pie. “Breakfast isn’t much, I’m afraid. Just toast. I plan to go grocery shopping later.”
“It’s perfect,” Hannah said, sitting down across from him. “Thank you.”
The space between them felt different now. Gone was the comfortable silence of yesterday, replaced by something more deliberate. More contained. Caleb buttered his toast, watching her from the corner of his eye as she did the same, her movements stilted.
“The view is beautiful this morning,” he said, nodding toward the window where sunlight spilled across the mountain slopes. “Reminds me of yesterday at the vineyard.”
Hannah glanced up, her eyes meeting his briefly before sliding away. “It was a lovely day,” she agreed. “Thank you again for taking me.”
A thank you that felt like goodbye. His bear bristled, unsettled by the formality creeping into her voice.
“I thought you might like a tour of Bear Creek today,” Caleb continued, testing the space between them gently. “There’s so much I’d like to show you.”
Hannah took a sip of her coffee, her expression carefully neutral. “That sounds nice,” she said, though her tone suggested she’d already decided it wouldn’t happen. “Though I should check on my car first. See how the repairs are coming along.”
There it was. The first step toward leaving.
His bear growled softly. Don’t let her go.
Caleb took a breath, steadying himself. “Of course.”
Hannah set her mug down, fingers tracing the rim with deliberate care. “Actually, I was thinking—while my car is still in the shop, I could cover another shift at the restaurant.” She looked up, her expression professional and reasonable. “It seems only fair, two shifts for two nights.”
The reduction of yesterday’s connection to a simple transaction—labor for lodging—made his bear bristle with indignation. She’s our mate, not an employee!
But Caleb understood the instinct behind it. He saw it for what it was now. Hannah was carefully reconstructing her boundaries. This wasn’t a rejection. It was protection.
The kind Hannah had learned early and reinforced often, until it became nearly impossible to set down—because once, it had kept her safe.
“We’d be glad for the help,” he said evenly. And he’d be glad of her company. The shift might be his last chance to break down her defenses and convince her to stay.
She nodded, looking almost relieved that he’d accepted without argument. “Although I’d still like to check on my car first, if that’s all right.”
“I’ll drive you,” Caleb said without hesitation, already reaching for his keys. “Whenever you’re ready.”
No pressure. No questions about why the sudden change. He needed to give her space.
His bear paced restlessly. Ask her what’s wrong. Make her tell us.
But Caleb knew better. This wasn’t a moment for demands or declarations. It was a moment for patience, for showing Hannah that he could respect her needs.
Twenty minutes later, they were in his truck, driving down the mountain toward town. The silence between them was heavier now, weighted with all the things neither of them was saying.
Caleb glanced at Hannah’s profile as she gazed out the window. Yesterday, she’d watched the scenery with open wonder. Today, she seemed to look through it, her thoughts clearly elsewhere.
He wanted to reach across the space between them. To take her hand and ask what had changed overnight. To remind her of the laughter they’d shared at the stream, the way she’d opened up to him about her childhood, the moment by the fire when she’d leaned toward him.
To remind her of that almost-kiss.
Instead, he kept both hands on the wheel and his thoughts to himself.
When they reached Roy’s, Hannah was out of the truck before Caleb had fully parked. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll check on my car, then head on over to the restaurant when I’m done.”
“Oh. Okay.” He took his hand off the door handle. That was it. He’d been dismissed—kindly, politely, efficiently. Just like that.
Oh, this is not good, his bear moaned.
No, it’s not. Caleb watched her go, the distance between them growing with each step she took.
His bear whined, anxious. She’s walking away from us.
Not yet, Caleb replied, though the knot in his stomach suggested otherwise.
He was scared.
Terrified, even, that this might be the beginning of her leaving—not just Bear Creek, but him.
He had always trusted fate. Had believed that because Hannah was truly his mate, everything would fall into place naturally, inevitably.
For the first time, he wondered if fate needed help.