A Fair of the Heart, Welcome To Redemption, Book1 (8 page)

Caleb popped the tab on his soda and took a
long pull as he considered. The two of them had been building a
bond, and the last thing Caleb wanted to do was break it. He wanted
Max to know he could trust him, count on him. And maybe, he
rationalized, Lauren was better off not knowing. Max was her little
boy, no matter how big he was, and Caleb knew how hard she’d take
the news that her ten-year-old boy had been smoking. Because one
thing he’d learned in the short time he’d known her—Lauren was an
amazing mother. “I won’t tell your mom, but you’ve got to swear to
me you’ll never touch another cigarette as long as you live.”

Max’s paintbrush stopped moving again. He
frowned. “You mean until I’m an adult, right? I can do what I want
when I turn eighteen.”

Arms crossed over his chest, Caleb shook his
head. The little stinker. “I mean ever. So promise right now or
I’ll have no choice but to tell your mother.”

Max’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “Hey,
that’s totally unfair. I’m supposed to be able to do what I want
when I’m an adult.”

With a disbelieving raise of an eyebrow,
Caleb leaned one hip against the wall. “So you’re telling me you
can rob a bank if you feel like it just because you’re an adult? Or
you can park your car in the middle of the street and hold up
traffic just because you’re an adult? You can cut in line at the
grocery store, just because you’re an adult? Wish somebody had told
me that one.”

Max rolled his eyes. “That’s just
stupid.”

“So is smoking.” Caleb had to hold back a
grin as Max heaved a resigned sigh.

“Fine, I promise. I’ll never smoke again.
Happy?”

“Delirious. Now, you ready for your next
section?”

* * *

Lauren watched a laughing Max and Caleb
stroll through the door with mixed emotions. They obviously enjoyed
each other’s company, and as Caleb gave Max a pat on the back, her
son looked up at him as if he’d hung the moon. Tears stung her eyes
and she quickly blinked them away.

She loved that Max had a male figure he could
talk to and look up to. Even if things didn’t progress between her
and Caleb, Max could still work with him on the weekends and during
the summer. If Max kept himself busy working with Caleb, he
wouldn’t be running around with his punk friends, smoking, cussing,
and Lord knew what else.

But what if Caleb decided to head back to
Chicago, his home for the past thirteen years?

“Mom, we got more than half the boards
stained! Caleb said I work a paintbrush faster’n anyone he’s ever
seen!”

“It’s true, the kid’s something else.”

Yeah, he’s something else all right.
Disappointment burned in her gut when she recalled her earlier
conversation with Mrs. Langhart. “Thank you for taking him under
your wing.” Without making eye contact with either one of them,
Lauren strode into the kitchen to check on her lasagna. “Max,
please go wash your hands for supper. It’s almost ready.”

She heard the thud of Caleb’s work boots as
he came up behind her. She flinched when his hands settled on her
shoulders.

“Something wrong?”

“No, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about
something, and you startled me.”

He dropped his hands, and she turned to face
him, plastering on as big a smile as she could muster.

“Man, that’s the fakest smile I’ve ever seen.
Come on, tell me what’s got you so jumpy.”

She moved around the counter to dig her bread
knife out of the drawer. “I got some disturbing news today, and I’m
just...I don’t know what the heck to do about it.”

Caleb flipped one of her chairs around and
straddled it. “You wanna tell me? Maybe I can help.”

“I hope you can,” she admitted. She sliced
the loaf of Italian bread in half lengthwise and starting smearing
it with a generous layer of garlic spread. “I found out today…” She
looked up and met his gaze. “Max has been smoking.”

Caleb didn’t so much as bat an eye. Lauren
dropped the knife on the counter and gawked at him. “You knew?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Well, when the hell were you going to tell
me? My God, Caleb, Emma burned her fingers on a lit cigarette.
Max’s lit cigarette.”

He cast a quick glance over his shoulder.
“Look, I’d planned on telling you, but Max begged me not to. Swore
he’d never light up again for as long as he lived if I didn’t tell
you. I thought the boy deserved that much. He’s been through a lot
this past year, needed someone he could trust.”

Ouch. Though she knew Caleb hadn’t meant to
imply that her son didn’t trust her—even if she knew that was
exactly the case—hearing the words aloud was like an arrow to the
heart.

“And the cigarette Emma picked up wasn’t
Max’s, it was some punk friend of his who snuck into the backyard
while we were talking. He flicked the burning butt in the grass,
and Emma picked it up before Max could get to it. The kid split as
soon as she started crying.”

Lauren chewed on the inside of her cheek, at
least somewhat relieved Max hadn’t been smoking the cigarette that
burned his sister. “Caleb, I’m grateful you’ve taken such an
interest in Max. You’ve made more progress with him in a week than
I have in over a year. But you should’ve told me and let me decide
what to do.”

Before Caleb could respond, Max zipped down
the stairs and flew into the kitchen, an almost smug smile on his
face. “Are we gonna work again tomorrow? I bet we can finish the
rest by noon if we start at seven.”

Despite everything, Lauren laughed. “In the
morning?” Max hadn’t dragged his butt out of bed before ten a.m.
since summer break began.

Max surprised her with a sheepish grin. “I
could do it if I set my alarm clock. Can I, Mom?”

“Max, tomorrow’s Saturday. Most people don’t
work on the weekends.”

“Actually,” Caleb laced his fingers over the
back of the chair, “I’d love to get the boards finished tomorrow.
Then I could start putting the fence up on Monday.”

Lauren eyed Caleb, more torn than she’d been
in a long time. Max deserved to be grounded for a month, not
allowed to go out and have fun. Only the “fun” was hard, honest
work, and the fact that he was willing—heck, had even suggested—to
get up early to do so, was enough incentive to agree. “Fine. But
when that alarm goes off, I don’t want to hear any whining. This
was your idea, so you won’t disappoint Caleb.”

“No way, I swear. I really like staining. And
I’m good at it. You know I’m not good at a lot of stuff.”

She clucked her tongue. “That’s not true.
You’ve just never really applied yourself before. And you were
getting pretty good at the guitar until you quit.” She set the
bread, garlic side up, on a foil-lined pan.

“I was thinking about taking lessons again. I
mean, if you’ll let me.”

Lauren spun around, surprised. “Of course,
I’ll let you. You know how disappointed I was when you wanted to
quit.”

“But can we afford it? If not, I can pay for
it out of my own money.”

“Max, I appreciate the offer, but you’ll put
your money in the bank. I’ll pay for your lessons.”

“Hey,” Caleb said, “why don’t you play me
something while we’re waiting on supper? I always wanted to learn
how to play guitar.”

Max jumped up so fast Caleb and Lauren both
laughed. Lauren said, “Peek in on your sister, would you? She’s
awfully quiet, and her movie should be about over by now.”

“’Kay.” Max took off like a shot.

“He’s eager to please you,” she told him,
unsure of how that made her feel. Caleb seemed to be a great
guy—not to mention sexy as a box of Godiva chocolates—but really,
she’d known the man less than a week. Maybe things were moving
along a little too fast…hell, who was she kidding? Things were
absolutely moving too fast. For all she knew, Caleb could pack up
and skip town tomorrow, and where would that leave them? Emma was
young and would quickly forget about him. But Max? It would kill
Lauren to watch her son withdraw into his angry shell again—maybe
for good this time.

“He’s eager to please period. And I really do
love his company. The kid has a great sense of humor, believe it or
not.”

Lauren’s hand stilled. “He hasn’t told you
any dirty jokes, has he?”

Caleb laughed. “Why in the world would you
ask me that?”

Her lips twitched. “Just checking.”

“Relax, he hasn’t told me a single limerick.
It’s just when he’s telling me something, he’s so dry and witty.
Kinda reminds me of Hutch a little.”

“Not surprising. Max idolizes Hutch. I need
to take the kids to see him soon. Tell him how sorry we are about
Rosalee...your mother. Wow, that still boggles my mind.”

“You’ll never know how much it means to me
that you all knew and liked my mom.”

Lauren’s heart melted a tiny bit more. “We
more than liked her. We absolutely adored her. You come from good
stock, Mr. Hunter.”

Lauren checked the lasagna—light golden brown
and bubbly. She carefully pulled it from the oven and set it on the
counter to cool for a few minutes, cranked the oven up to 425° and
slid in her garlic bread.

Caleb stood and came around to look at the
lasagna, his expression priceless. “Man, if there was an award for
the most perfect supper, this would win, hands down.”

Lauren nearly twittered, but caught herself.
Sheesh, what was it about this man that turned her brain to mush?
Turned her from a strong, independent woman into a simpering fool?
“Thanks. Hope it tastes as good as it looks.”

“No doubt in my mind.”

Max came skipping down the stairs, guitar in
hand. When he saw that supper was about ready, his face fell.
“Guess there’s no time to play.”

“We must have time for one song.” Caleb
directed a questioning look her way.

“Just one.”

“Awesome.” Max sat down and got comfortable.
He strummed the guitar, tuned a string, then started playing.

Caleb watched in amazement as Max’s fingers
expertly moved over the strings and out came an old Rolling Stones
classic, “Paint It Black”. Man, the kid played like a pro!

“I told you he’s good,” Lauren excitedly
whispered, pride in her son making her even more beautiful.

“You certainly didn’t exaggerate. So, the
Rolling Stones, hey? Isn’t he a bit young to know their music?”

“His instructor is a hippie, straight out of
Woodstock. All the songs he’s taught Max are from the sixties and
seventies.”

“Then I look forward to hearing every song he
knows.”

As soon as Max strummed the last note, Caleb
and Lauren clapped like crazy.

“Crap, I forgot about the garlic bread!”
Lauren exclaimed. She ran over and blew out a sigh of relief as she
pulled the pan from the oven. “Perfect.”

“Smells awesome,” Caleb said. “Man, am I
starving.”

“Me, too!” Max chimed in. “My mom makes the
best lasagna in the world. She can cook anything, right, Mom?”

Lauren gazed at Max with a bemused smile.
“Well, I draw the line at octopus and insects, but besides that,
I’ll give anything a try.”

“Two things I can guarantee I’ll never ask
you to cook.” Caleb promised with a wink. “What can I do to
help?”

“You can carry the lasagna to the table.” She
handed him two oven mitts. “Max, please go get your sister. And be
careful of her hand.”

Caleb looked up in time to see a wave of
guilt pass over Max’s face. Poor kid still felt responsible for
what happened to Emma.

Ten minutes later, they all sat down to their
first meal as a family. Caleb nearly choked on the thought. Beads
of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Family? He eyed each one
of them and, disconcertingly, found them all smiling back at him.
Clearing his throat and pushing his reservations aside, Caleb
dropped his gaze to his plate and forked in a bite of lasagna. His
taste buds did a happy dance. Damn, the woman could cook. He looked
up again to find Emma grinning from ear to ear.

“Yummy, Ca’yib?”

He met Lauren’s gaze for a brief second and a
strange undercurrent passed between them. He wanted to kiss her so
bad he could taste her. Get a grip, Hunter. “Delicious,
punkin.”

By the time Lauren served the apple pie a la
mode, Caleb thought he would burst. “You guys don’t honestly eat
this good all the time, do you?”

“No, but we can. I mean, if you want to.
Right, Mom?” Max looked so earnest and hopeful, Caleb wanted to
assure the boy he wasn’t going anywhere. But how could he make such
a promise when Caleb had no idea where any of this would lead?
Realistically, he was a virtual stranger to them.

And he hadn’t even kissed the woman yet. That
was the problem. So much depended upon something as simple as a
kiss. If the kiss had no magic, if they broke apart without so much
as a tingle, that was the end of it.

Though, somehow, Caleb doubted that would be
the case.

Max stood up as soon as he’d scarfed down his
pie. “Hey, can we go rent a movie?”

He carried his plate and fork to the sink and
even rinsed them. Lauren raised a brow, her expression bemused.
Caleb got the feeling Max didn’t put his dirty dishes in the sink
all too often. “I’m game. It’s only a little after five.”

“Sounds great,” Lauren chimed in. “Can we
make a quick stop? I’d really like to stop at the diner and say hi
to Hutch.”

“Me, too! I can tell him I’m gonna start
taking guitar lessons again.”

The strangest sense of panic tightened
Caleb’s chest. Ignoring it, he said, “It’s already after five. I’m
sure he must’ve headed home by now.”

“Nuh-uh. He stays till seven on Fridays
`cause the bowling league lets out, and they all head over for
burgers.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t stay out too long,
though, with Emma’s hand and all.”

“I go store, too! Me, too, Ca’yib!”

Caleb let out a silent, frustrated breath,
but Lauren must have caught it because her gaze grew pensive. “If
you don’t want to stop, we don’t have to. I’ll take the kids into
town tomorrow.”