She gives me a shy, hesitant smile that lights up the kitchen like the sunrise, and I swear I’d drive her to the ends of the damn earth if she asked.
Wade stands and grabs his hat from the hook. “Whatever she wants,” he says. “Don’t let her talk you out of gettin’ it.”
He’s trying to sound casual, but the undertone is clear. He wants her cared for. He wants her settled. He wants her to feel like she belongs here, and understand what being ours means.
When the screen door shuts behind him and it’s just Joelle and me, the quiet stretches warm and charged. She fiddles with the list on the table, folding and unfolding the corner.
“Caleb,” she says softly, “you don’t have to do this. I know how busy you both are… leaving Wade…”
I stand, sliding the keys into my pocket, and hold out a hand to her.
“I know,” I murmur. “But it’s what we want. And I want to take you.”
Her breath catches, and she places her hand in mine. Even though shopping’s an everyday activity, I know it’s bigger for Joelle than most. It’ll change things. Show her the kind of life we want to build with her.
After tidying up, I grab her hand, and we walk out to the truck. The heat hasn’t settled yet, so the air is still cool with dawn, carrying the dusty sweetness of hay. I open the passenger door for her, and her cheeks pink in that way they always do when someone does something gentle for her, like kindness is still a language she needs to learn.
Wade usually barrels down the roads into town, but I take it slowly, wanting to stretch the morning out, and let Joelle breathe. I want to appreciate this small pocket of time that belongs only to us.
Joelle sits angled toward the window at first, watching the fields roll by, her hair in a messy bun, her hands foldedin her lap. But after a few minutes, she glances sideways at me, like she’s trying to figure out what to say and how to be.
“You don’t have to make this a big deal,” she murmurs.
I rest my hand on the bench seat between us, close to her thigh. “It is a big deal to me,” I say quietly. “And it should be to you. You deserve good things.”
She lets out a shaky exhale, turning her gaze back to the windshield like the compliment is too heavy to hold. “No one’s ever said that to me before, Caleb. I don’t know what to do with care like this. Even my momma used to begrudge buying me what I needed.”
“Your momma never deserved you, Joelle.”
She wraps her fingers around mine. “I didn’t come to Grayswood expecting this. You have to know that.”
“We know, sweetie.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m some kind of gold-digger like my momma. I’m not afraid of working for what I need. All I wanted was a job, but…”
“It’s becoming more than you know how to handle?” I guess.
“I don’t need handouts, Caleb. I need security for my boy and a place I can earn my keep.”
“Not two men who want to treat you like a queen?”
She squeezes my hand. “I don’t know how to be a person who can accept that.”
I squeeze her hand back. “It’s okay if it takes some time. You gotta understand that we’re men who do what we want, and what we want is to take care of all your needs while you take care of ours. Understand?”
She makes a quiet huffing sound. “You’re different from how you used to be,” she says.
“I’ve grown since you left, Joelle. That’s all.”
“I’ve grown too.” Her voice seems tinged with sadness, and I wish I could look at her without risking killing us both.
“You have. Into a beautiful woman.”
She snorts. “There’s more of me now than when I left, that’s for sure.”
“And I’m grateful for every inch, darlin’”
When I sneak a look at her out of the corner of my eye, I find her smiling softly, and I know I’ve achieved my goal.
