Chapter Nineteen – Caden
Caden
I rode along the north pasture fence line as the snow fell lightly around me. It was peaceful and quiet. The only sounds I heard were that of Draco’s hooves moving through the snow. When we stopped, I swore I could hear the snowflakes as they hit the ground.
Draco snickered, and I reached down and rubbed his neck. “What is it, boy?”
He threw his head up and down, and I looked around. Fifty feet from where we stood was a massive bull moose. He was staring at us with what looked like a quizzical expression.
“Easy,” I whispered to Draco, who took a few dancing steps. “He’s just out here doing his thing, like we are.”
His short, deep grunt caused Draco to stop in his tracks and stare intently. After another few moments, the bull moose started to walk away, and I could feel Draco relax under my seat. We both watched as the majestic animal moved on.
Giving him a light squeeze with my legs, I urged Draco to start walking again. My cell rang, and I reached into my jacket pocket.
It was a call from Lilibeth. I jerked my glove off with my teeth and answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Caden. Are you busy?”
“No. Is everything okay?”
“Oh yeah, everything’s fine. I wasn’t sure if now was a good time to talk?”
Draco slowly moved on. It was almost like he wasn’t in any rush to get back to the barn.
“Now’s fine. What’s up?”
“I told my parents this morning.”
Her voice sounded so sad. “I take it things didn’t go well?”
“They went okay. They’re insisting on buying me a house.”
I nearly choked. “A house?”
“My mother doesn’t think I should move in with you.”
“Why.”
“She’s worried I’m going to fall head over heels in love with you and you’ll end up breaking my heart.”
I closed my eyes. “I’d never purposely do anything to hurt you, Lilibeth.”
When she didn’t say anything for a long moment, I asked, “Are you still there?”
“I am. Um, Mrs. Harper, on the other hand, thinks I should move in sooner rather than later…but what would we tell people? Oh—did you tell your parents?”
I closed my eyes and tried to picture what Lilibeth looked like at that moment. Her hair would be tied up in braids or a ponytail. I knew she’d have a flower in it somewhere. “I did, last night. And Mrs. Harper knows now?” I laughed because I probably should mention I’d told my brother as well.
“How did they take the news?” she asked, with an edge of worry to her voice.
“They were beyond thrilled. My mom wants to make up a room in her house just for the baby,” I laughed. “I guess she’s already planning on babysitting.”
“That’s so sweet. And yes, Mrs. Harper apparently has the ability to immediately know a woman is pregnant, go figure.”
I could hear her smile, as well as the relief in her voice.
“Other than your parents wanting to buy you a house, did they take the news okay?”
“Yeah. They’re supportive. I just need to figure out a way to get them off the idea of buying me a place.
I left there this morning pretty angry. Is it too soon to blame hormones for my reactions to things?
Like last night… I’m sorry I got so upset.
You don’t have to stop having fun just because I’m pregnant.
And you can still date, Caden. Which my father made sure to remind me of. ”
My head jerked back in surprise. “You think I’m going to date?”
“I mean, I don’t know. You don’t owe me anything.”
“I didn’t date anyone before you got pregnant, and I’m sure as shit not going to date anyone now. And I’m certainly not going to be sleeping with anyone, Lilibeth.”
She sighed again and changed the subject. “Okay, um, well, my next client is here. I never thought I’d say this, but all the scents are making me feel sick. I’m glad this is my last one for today.”
“Are you closing the store tonight?”
“No, I opened. Moreen is closing today.”
“How about I take you out to dinner?”
“Caden, if we go out to dinner, gossip will start.”
I snorted. “My mother and father told me that gossip has already started. Apparently after my visit on Christmas night.”
“Oh dear.”
“How about I make us dinner at my place? We can talk more about you moving in.”
“Are you sure? I can pick something up and bring it.”
“Just bring yourself. What time do you think you’ll be by?”
She paused, and I could hear her moving papers around. “I’ll need to go home and take a shower to get all of this perfume off of me. Maybe six?”
“Anything I should avoid?”
“For the love of God, nothing with bacon.”
Laughing, I said, “You’ve got it.”
Lilibeth pulled into my driveway right behind me. I got out and walked over to her car.
“Perfect timing. I hope you’re not starving and were hoping for dinner to be ready.”
She got out and smiled, walking with me back toward my vehicle. “Running late?”
“Winter on a cattle ranch can be…interesting.” I took the bags out of the back of my truck.
“Need me to get anything?” Lilibeth asked.
“Nope, just head on in. Do you remember the code?”
We walked up to the front door since I hadn’t pulled into the garage.
“I think so.”
She typed it in and then we were inside, taking off our winter things before heading to the kitchen.
Setting the bags on the counter, I said, “I got stuff to make pizzas. I hope that sounds okay.”
Lilibeth smiled, and it lit up the entire kitchen. Her face was even more beautiful than usual when she smiled.
“That not only sounds good, but it also sounds like fun.”
We worked together to empty the bags.
“Something to drink?” I asked, as I pulled a beer out of the fridge for myself.
“Do you have orange juice?”
Never in my life was I so happy that I had fucking orange juice in my house. I reached back into the refrigerator and pulled out the brand-new carton I’d bought this morning when I was in town.
“I never buy orange juice, but something told me to grab it just this morning.”
Her eyes lit up.
“Why don’t you get a glass,” I said, motioning with my head to the right cupboard. Of course, she already knew from the few days she’d stayed here. I tried not to laugh when she got out a huge Yeti cup.
“Is that big enough, Lili?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what it is, but I’m craving orange juice so bad.”
After pouring herself a full glass, she put the juice back in the fridge, then helped me with all the pizza fixings.
“What about the crust?”
Glancing at her, I smirked. “I’m making it.”
Lilibeth let out a bark of laughter. “You’re making the pizza crust?”
I placed a hand over my heart and made a face as if mortally wounded. “You don’t think I can?”
Her head tilted as she regarded me. “At this point, I don’t doubt anything when it comes to you, Caden Wilde. You probably make the best pizza crust I’ll ever eat.”
“Damn straight. You’ll be comparing this crust to all other crusts for the rest of your life.”
She chuckled. “I washed all the veggies. What do you want me to do now?”
“Start cutting up the bell peppers and onion?”
“Any certain way you want them cut?”
I shook my head. “Whatever’s easiest.”
She walked over to the sink and set the cutting board across it, running cold water.
“I see you remembered my mother’s trick for the tears and onions,” I said, as I started to mix the dough.
“We shall see if it really works,” Lilibeth said, winking at me…and causing a strange sensation to hit me square in the chest.
She moved on to the bell peppers with nary a tear, then began cutting the pepperoni.
“So…bacon?” I asked, as I rolled out the dough and shaped it for our pizzas.
“It’s the strangest thing. I love bacon.
I could eat bacon on pretty much everything.
But this morning my parents had it, and the smell made me feel sick.
Then Mrs. Harper had bacon grease in a frying pan, and the moment I smelled it, I was running to the bathroom.
” Then she turned to look at me. “Do you want to know something crazy?”
“Tell me,” I replied.
Bending down, Lilibeth picked up Misty and snuggled her for a few moments before setting her back down.
“Like I said earlier, Mrs. Harper knew I was pregnant. I mean, me rushing off to throw up was probably a huge giveaway, but when I walked out of the bathroom, she handed me peppermint water and said it was the only thing that helped with her morning sickness.”
I tossed the crust into the air. “Throwing up might’ve been a sign, but sometimes I swear that woman has this sixth sense or something. She knows things.”
Lilibeth pointed to me. “Yes! Thank you! I thought I was alone in thinking that. I bet she was an amazing teacher.”
“She was.”
We worked side by side for a few minutes in silence.
“Lilibeth, will it be difficult for you to live here? I keep thinking back to our conversation on Christmas, and I don’t want to make things hard on you.
If you’d really prefer, I can talk to Gatlin about you moving into Emeline’s cabin.
He was going to move into it in the spring, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. ”
She’d been spreading pizza sauce onto her crust when she stopped, paused a moment, then looked at me. I felt my breath catch in my throat as I waited for her to reply.
“The one thing I’ve valued more than anything in this…
friendship…we’ve started is that we’ve been honest and upfront from the beginning.
Yes, I was worried I’d fall in love with you if we kept sleeping together.
” Placing a hand on her stomach, she smiled.
“That was before the baby. I won’t lie and say I didn’t want to climb you like a tree yesterday, when you showed up in that damn baseball hat, though.
But…I can control my feelings and put the baby first.
“If we want to do this co-parenting thing the right way, then we stay friends. I can respect that you’re not looking for anything serious, and I don’t want you to think that just because we’re having a baby, I think you’re going to fall in love with me. I know that’s not ever going to happen.”
I suddenly had the urge to pull Lilibeth into my arms and kiss her. She was unlike any woman I’d ever met before.