Felicia Mason - Sweet Devotion

“So, how have you been? Really been, I mean?”

Marnie chuckled softly, relieving the sudden tension in the car. The history between them didn’t get discussed very often. “I’ll answer that if you admit you have a secret thing for Amber Montgomery.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow. He knew that to deny it again would be protesting too much.

So they drove the rest of the way to her home in silence.

Caleb didn’t regret asking the question about how she was really doing. He still wanted an answer, but maybe it was still too soon for her. Maybe it would never be the right time. He worried about Marnie. On the outside, everything looked okay, but they never talked about the thing that stood between them—the element that connected them. By not talking about Roy, they could pretend everything was just fine.

He pulled into the driveway, careful to skirt the thick tree trunk that pushed through the gravel. He knew Marnie would rather cut off one of her own limbs than cut the tree down, so at some point the driveway would have to be realigned and rerouted around the ancient oak, the only non-maple tree on Maple Street.

He came around and opened the passenger-side door, an old-fashioned habit he’d been taught as a child. Some women liked it, others made fun of him for doing it. Marnie, he knew, was in the first group.

“For the record,” he said as if they’d never stopped talking, “Amber bakes a mean cookie, but I don’t have a thing for her. And anyway, she’s not interested.”

Marnie opened her mouth to say something, then apparently changed her mind. “Thanks for the ride, Caleb.”

He nodded. “Anytime.”

He meant it, too, but didn’t know how to go further—to say the important things that stood between them.

So he saw her to the door and waited until she let herself into the house. She turned in the doorway, looking soft and vulnerable and painfully beautiful.

“Do you want to come in for a cup of coffee?”

Yes.

But he knew the way he was feeling right now, it was best if he went on his way. “No, it’s kind of late. I’ll just head on home.”

She hesitated. “All right, then. You take care. Thanks for the lift.” She turned to go, then paused. “Caleb?”

“Yes?”

She raised a hand and stepped forward. “I… I just thought you could use a hug.”

Caleb closed his eyes.

No. No. No. Yes.

She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close. Caleb stored up every moment of the brief embrace.

“Thanks again for giving me a lift. And, Caleb, if you like her, you should tell her. Amber’s a nice girl. You take care, okay?”

When he nodded, she waved from the door and then closed it.

Caleb Jenkins stood there for a while, watching lights go on as Marnie made her way through her home, a big house made for the family she very much deserved but didn’t have.

Marnie had always been a special woman, blessed with a gift for making people feel exceptional, wanted, loved. That’s why she was such an asset to Sunshine and Rainbows. The children blossomed under her care.

There were so many things he wanted to say to her. He wished he could explain. To open up with her the way he’d always wanted to. But he didn’t have the right—had never had the right to hope for anything more than polite friendliness with Marnie. Especially now.

Making light of his social life, or lack thereof, came easy to Caleb. He dated now and then, and flirted with a few women like Amber just to keep the loneliness at bay, but nothing serious.

How could he get serious about any other woman? His heart had always belonged to Marnie Shepherd—his brother’s wife.

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