Chapter 5
CALEB
Liv…
It’s a pretty name, and it suits her. Her smile has been drifting through my thoughts since yesterday, and something catches the light in my mind each time I think of her, like sunlight sparkling through deep water.
I’m being ridiculous.
We met once before, for all of about five minutes. And after her help today, we might be up to a half an hour now. I guess it’s just been too long since I’ve paid attention to women.
And this one left a lasting impression when she made Daisy smile.
But she has an odd look on her face now that her friend is calling out to her, like she doesn’t want to go out there.
You and me both, cute waitress—Liv.
“My best friend is out there,” she says in an apologetic tone. “Her brother is on the team.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask. “Which one?”
“Van Morgan,” she says.
I nod. Van seems like a decent guy, though he’s quiet as the tomb. He’s pretty much the opposite of the good-looking girl out there laughing and hocking cupcakes while half my new teammates chase after her on the big grassy lawn behind the house.
I remember from an event here that my mom took me to when I was in school that beyond the lilac hedge that encircles the lawn, stone steps lead down the hillside to a boxwood labyrinth flanked by rose gardens and a pavilion overlooking what feels like miles of hydrangeas.
There’s supposed to be even more after that, a pond and statue garden, if the rumors are true.
But I’ve never wandered that far. Maybe one of these days Daisy and I will go exploring.
“Do you need help with anything else in here?” Liv asks.
“No, no,” I tell her, wondering if helping people is in her nature, or if it’s just a habit from waiting tables. “I guess I’m pretty much done.”
“Liv,” her friend yells again. “Get out here. Bring Stone.”
“We’d better head out there, then,” she says, shaking her head like she’s about to walk the plank.
I’m not sure how to tell her that while she’s clearly being summoned, I wasn’t even invited.
So I don’t tell her anything. I just trail after her as she heads out of my apartment. If the guys want to kick me out of my own backyard, let them try. Maybe I’ll knock a few heads together. Coach isn’t here to tell me not to lose my temper.
We move through the hall and the door out to what the Hall sisters called the veranda. Personally, I can’t figure out what makes it any different from a porch, but I certainly wasn’t going to offend those sweet old ladies when they were so kindly giving me the grand tour.
It hits me that the guys are going to fall on Liv the second we get out there, even faster than they went for the cupcakes. The idea makes my blood boil, though I’m not exactly sure why.
“I’m Caleb, by the way,” I say, grasping for another moment alone with her. “Caleb Stone.”
“I know,” she says without looking at me.
I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something flat about her voice when she says it.
“Liv,” she adds, glancing up to meet my eyes. “If you didn’t figure that out already, Liv Williams.”
“Nice to meet you, Liv,” I tell her, giving her the signature Stone half-smirk the internet seems to think is hot.
She doesn’t even blink, just nods her head.
She’s a cool customer and I’m impressed. This woman isn’t moved by fame or money, and I don’t think it’s because she has a whole lot of her own.
Liv seems so quiet and sweet, but you can sense a core of strength behind those pretty eyes, and I have a feeling I haven’t even scratched the surface of who she really is.
“There you are,” her friend yells, jogging over to us with three of my teammates following after her like ducklings. “Caleb Stone. Have you tried one of Liv’s cupcakes? They’re the best.”
She holds out a plate with three cupcakes on it. Each one has a generous topping of frosting in the shape of a pink daisy on a yellow background.
Daisies…
While I stare like an idiot, two of the guys grab cupcakes, leaving just one.
“For you, Stone,” Liv’s friend says, plucking it off the plate and offering it to me. “Give it a try.”
It looks amazing and the delicate vanilla scent makes my mouth water. But Daisy would love this. I wonder if there’s any way I can get away with saving it for her.
“I put aside a couple,” Liv says quietly, as if reading my thoughts. “You and Daisy can stop up when you bring her home.”
“Thanks,” I tell her, my voice too gruff because I’m trying not to let her see how much that means.
I pull the wrapper off the cupcake and take a big bite. I usually eat pretty healthy when I’m in training, but if Liv made this, I want to try it.
The cake is rich with vanilla flavor, but the frosting steals the spotlight. It’s all I can do not to shove the whole thing in my mouth.
“It’s amazing, right?” Hailey says, interrupting my bliss.
“Hailey,” Liv cautions her, shaking her head in a way that minimizes how spectacular her confection is.
“The frosting is a revelation,” I say firmly.
“Thank you,” Liv says, looking down.
“Tell me about it,” Hailey says. “Liv’s amazing. Come on, sweetie, say hi to my brother.”
She leads Liv away and I’m left to finish my cupcake and hope one of the guys will give me the time of day.
The sea of my teammates parts for the two girls and thunder rolls in my chest as Sokolov grins at Liv and starts talking her up. I can’t hear what he’s saying from here, but I can imagine.
“You don’t like him talking to her, huh?” Hailey asks, sidling back up to me.
“Wingers are rakes,” I say, shrugging. “Liv’s a nice girl. That’s all.”
“Rakes?” she echoes. “Wow. Someone’s been watching Bridgerton.”
“Plenty of other words for what he is,” I allow. “But I swore off that kind of talk the day I brought my baby girl home.”
“Swore off the swears, huh?” Hailey laughs at my inadvertent pun.
Now I’m annoyed. I know she’s just trying to flirt, but I don’t want to flirt with her.
I shake my head and stalk over to the grill. Jake Rivers was there earlier, and he’s the only guy who’s said anything even borderline friendly to me today.
But when I get there, Beaumont is busy backseat grilling.
“You probably wanna turn that one,” he tells Rivers, his arms crossed over his chest.
Rivers doesn’t respond and I realize he’s staring at Hailey, like he wants to memorize her. It’s a thoughtful expression. He’s not drooling like the rest of the guys. He looks at her like she hangs the moon.
Interesting.
I wonder how Morgan would feel about Rivers looking at his sister like that.
“Rivers,” Beaumont says. “The burger.”
“Do you want to do this?” Jake asks, snapping out of whatever spell Hailey had him under, and holding out the long wood-handled spatula.
“I’m good,” Beaumont says. “Just flip that one right there.”
Jake does as he’s told, and I make the mistake of staying long enough to watch.
“Yo, Stone,” Beaumont says, noticing me. “I saw that game where you got five.”
Talk about my glory days. Five goals in a game was like a dream, and it put me in the record books with some of the all-time greats. It’s actually nice of Beaumont to bring it up.
“Thanks, man,” I say. “That was a good one.”
“So how come you don’t score goals anymore?” he asks me, his nasally tone touching the borderline between a little sarcastic and a lot nasty.
“Down boy,” Jake tells Beaumont without even looking up from the grill.
“I’m just saying,” Beaumont goes on. “If he’s first line center, he’s gotta score some goals.”
I know he’s just egging me on, and as much as I’d like to sock him one, I’m not going to let him get to me. I head back to the house, trying and failing not to search the lawn for Liv on the way.
My eyes go right to where she’s sitting on this little stone bench beside her friend, both of them laughing their heads off about something. It’s nice to see her relaxing.
Even though I barely know her, I know instinctively that she needs more days like this.
I head upstairs feeling a little happier.
A couple of hours later, I’m back with Daisy, standing outside Hall House as she takes it in.
I walked past this place a million times back in high school, but I never stopped to think about how unusual it is to see a house like this in Bluevale.
It’s not like we don’t have plenty of beautiful homes.
I grew up a stone’s throw from the historical neighborhood and its blocks of stately Victorians with the roses and rhododendrons bordering the wrap-around porches.
But the Hall sisters’ place is in a league of its own, like something out of a movie with its grand stone walls and sprawling, elaborate gardens.
“Big,” Daisy says without judgement.
“Yes,” I tell her. “It’s huge. But our apartment is just a few rooms, like in the city.”
“Okay,” Daisy says.
She doesn’t care about stuff like how big her apartment is, at least not yet. And I feel good because she clearly has faith in me that our home will be full of toys and games and all the things she likes. That’s what home is to her, no matter where. Just like she makes anyplace home to me.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Yes,” she says firmly.
We head up the walkway for the front entrance. Daisy walks more slowly than most kids her age, and her stance is still wider than her physical therapist would like. But for now, I’m focused on making her introduction to her new home as pleasant as possible, so I won’t bug her about her walking.
We step into the lobby and she looks around.
The first time I came in, I was a little disappointed. From the outside, it seems like the massive Hall House entry should be elegant and imposing. And it does have marble tile checkerboard floors and a ceiling as high as any church.