“You are,” Katie said quickly. Then she motioned with her hand to the mess in the room. “I just figured it would be a lot easier to enlist some help to get the big stuff out of here so we can see just how much space we have to work with. It’ll go faster.”
Caleb nodded. It was a sound plan. The job at the chapel certainly was too big for just the two of them. As illogical as it seemed, he’d expected she only needed him. But of course, he wasn’t an electrician like Racer, who was sitting there studying the new plans Katie had drawn up. And he wasn’t a plumber. She was going to need some skilled tradesmen in order to get an occupancy permit and get the job done right.
With a smile on her face, she ran over to him and slipped her arms around his waist. “What did you come by for?”
“I wanted to see how things went today,” he said. “I would have called but…”
“No, it’s good you came by so you can see how things are going. Will you come by later after work?”
He nodded. “I’ll take you to dinner.”
She lifted on her toes and kissed him, and then smiled, not the least bit shy of showing affection in front of the others.
And he didn’t mind at all. He wanted them to know Katie Dobbs was with him.
* * *
Tabby and Kas were going out to dinner, so Katie decided to stop by the diner and pick up some take-out so she and Caleb could get comfortable in front of a fireplace.
“You look tired,” Katie said. “You didn’t wear yourself out, did you? Maybe it’s too soon after your accident to go back to work.”
“I’m fine. I’m stuck behind a desk, which is only marginally more productive than sitting on the sofa at home.”
She chuckled. “You don’t look fine.”
The fire crackled softly and sounded soothing, but it didn’t calm his nerves.
“Did you get a lot done today?”
“Not much. Real work starts in a week or two once I get all the bids in and schedule everything. I want to make sure all the construction is done by the fall. It’ll be tight, but I think we can do it.”
“We?”
“The crew.”
“Ah.” He draped one around her as she leaned against his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. He played with her hair and reveled in the feel of her body next to his.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He sighed. “Nothing.”
She chuckled softly. “No, not nothing. I can feel you getting tense. I thought we were going to be honest?”
“Did you talk to Sally today?”
“You’re changing the subject.”
“Maybe, but I’d like to talk about it.”
“To be honest, I’m a little nervous. The offer Callahan made was really good. But…”
“But what?”
Katie sighed. “She said the deal was good. And I’d be crazy to walk away from it without doing another thing on the chapel, I’ll be walking away with a profit even after I pay back Kas. Kas looked over everything this afternoon and said it’s a good deal.”
“You had Kas go over it with you?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”
She was right. And he was feeling slighted again, when he knew he shouldn’t be. When had he gotten so insecure about something so stupid? This was in Kas’s wheelhouse. Why wouldn’t she go to him with a real estate deal? All Caleb had was a condo in the mountains that he sometimes rented out.
“Well, he would know about these things,” Caleb said.
“You’re upset.”
He lied and shook his head.
“He’s my brother, Caleb. You are upset. You’ve been upset all day.”
“Maybe I am. “
“Why?”
He didn’t want to let her go when she pulled away and turned to look at him.
“You’ve got all this figured out.”
“Well, sure. What did you expect?”
“I thought…maybe you needed me. But it’s clear you don’t.”
Her face suddenly showed understanding and he hated the fact that Katie could see how green he really felt. He didn’t know why it should matter. Four weeks ago he would have told her to do this very thing. Get out in front of it and hire a crew if you can afford it. Get the renovations done quickly and then sell the place fast.
She’d done it on her own without advice from him. She had her brother, and knowing Kas as Caleb had all his life, he knew she was in good hands. Kas was a successful man. He’d built his fortune himself. Why wouldn’t he help his sister?
She was about to say something when Caleb heard Katie’s cell phone ring.
She’d dropped her purse on the floor by the sofa, so she reached in and pulled out her cell phone to answer the call. He watched her expression change as she spoke to the person on the other end.
“You’re kidding?” she said. “Is that normal, Sally? I mean, I didn’t even have time to think about the offer he gave you this morning.”
Needing something to do, Caleb got up from the sofa and poked the fire until sparks flew up the chimney. Then he grabbed another log and placed it on top of the burning logs.
Katie disconnected the call and stared at her cell phone.
“Well?” Caleb asked when Katie hesitated.
“I didn’t expect this. He’s made another offer that is higher than the first offer he made earlier today.”
“What?”
“Yeah, Sally said Littleton called this afternoon before she walked out the door and was surprised I hadn’t jumped on their initial offer. Since the judge dismissed everything, he said he wanted to sweeten the deal so we could have a quick sale.”
“Huh. How good was the offer?”
“It’s a lot more than I ever expected to get for it even after the chapel was finished. Kas said he had a feeling Callahan would do something like this. He probably didn’t even realize what he had until his soon-to-be ex
