He nudged her in play. And she did it back.
They ventured off on that long hike. Caleb let her sit and rest when needed, and he would untie his sack to give her water when she thirsted. It amazed her how he never took a drink, not once. Instead, he’d use that time to observe the trees, listen to and watch the birds overhead, take pictures, record videos, and enjoy the silence. Over each old bridgethey’d walk, and he noticed that as the time went on, she got a bit more daring with stepping down to the streams to touch the cold water.
To touch the wild waters was precious to her. Savoring each clear droplet in her palms that reflected the canopy above stirred her childhood up like a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup. Caleb later helped her step onto a larger log and held her hand as she balanced on it, walking the whole thing. He’d pull down a branch for her to pick the prettiest pinecone she saw, and he taught her properly how to climb a different tree, even though she was too weak to do it.
That was until he hoisted her up.
Evie clutched the trunk nervously. But she wasn’t that high up. Her nerves eventually melted into childlike laughter, and she asked him to take a picture of her as she sat upon a sturdy branch. Throughout the trail, he pointed out certain birds to her and which ones he had hunted before. While Caleb photographed the birds, he saw the world through God’s eyes.
And she saw the world through his.
Memories had been made.
And fears had been conquered.
Evie painfully walked the last leg of the trail to the truck where she rolled onto the concrete to let her back rest. Her back was burning in aching pain, and she twisted this way and that to stretch her lumbar. Her upper back begged for an adjustment, and lying on the pavement gave her as much relief as she could get.
The ride back to Laysville was filled with conversation of all sorts, and Evie completely decided to let it go about asking about his Navy job. It no longer mattered.
The rest of the day was filled with Caleb taking her to the hardware store and teaching her about certain things. He let her pick out paint for her kitchen, and hours were spent tearing down the old wallpaper and putting up that fresh soft and pale green coat of paint. They sat on the floor against the cabinets together, still enjoying each other’s company over freshly delivered pizza.
And Caleb didn’t care what others thought or what they’d say. He stayed that night.
However, dread and worry forged in Evie’s heart as he slept by her.Her back was burning with pain. Her muscles ached to a point of breaking her emotional threshold. She wanted to cry. Her stomach felt heavy and tired. Her fingers and hands were stiff, and her feet felt like they had been crushed by an anvil. Her head throbbed. Her body craved comfort and relief. All her muscles felt like they were bursting through her skin, and her legs ached so badly that she couldn’t keep them still. She longed to stretch them hard but was too tired to do so.
She had been more physically active in one day than she had been in three months. Losing nearly eighty-five pounds didn’t mean anything if she wasn’t strong or used to moving so much. After he stopped talking to her, she had stopped her Zumba and Pilates work and stopped eating as much. Having a desk job didn’t make it easier.
Her heart was tormented. There was no way in hell she was going to be able to keep up with a man who had two young kids, horses, a lot of yard work to do, and who loved to hike and be active like him.
Evie rolled away from him and cried quietly into her pillow, clutching her teddy bear for comfort.
She wasn’t built for it. She simply wasn’t. No one could help her now. She was in too deep, and there was no way out.
Chapter Seventeen
Evie had kept her concerns to herself, vowing to become stronger. Every day she went to work, she’d get up a little earlier to force herself to make breakfast instead of lazing off with a bowl of cereal. They were hard habits she had to relearn all over again. Life had been a nonstop up and down. One minute she was flying ahead in life with good habits that stuck, and then those manic highs crashed her into a concrete wall with a depressive episode.
Maybe, just maybe, she was in one of those doubtful, depressive plunges.
She perked up. “Get it together!” she said merrily to herself. She jostled her vegetables in the pan before pouring the mixed eggs in. A fresh bowl of fruit was on the table nearby. But her nerves peaked. “It’s okay, Evie. Take it one day at a time. You’ll get used to it. It’s the life you always wanted. You can’t get afraid now.” She looked at a picture on the fridge of her and Caleb at the lake together. She nodded to affirm herself. “Take the trail one step at a time.”
A knock came at her door and Teddy hurried over to it with a meow.
“Coming!” she called as she turned off the burner.
It was Deputy Hunt. Evie tied her robe together a bit more. Notthat she was naked, but she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath her pajamas. She opened the door excitedly. “Good morning, Hunt! What can I do for you?”
“I was in the area and thought I’d stop by and ask you if you’ve seen the Sentra out here recently.”
Evie shuddered from the nasty cold that came swooping in. She asked in confusion, “Sentra? What’s a Sentra?”
“A Nissan Sentra?” he asked.
“Come in.”
Evie backed away to let him come in and she offered him coffee, which he declined politely. “Have you noticed the black Nissan Sentra outside your house recently?”
She sighed looking to the left and shrugged her shoulders, then shook her head with her lips tightened. “I literally don’t know what you’re talking about.”
