Caleb laughed. “That’s good news. So what was it? Boy or girl?”
“A little boy. Devin Michael.”
Caleb shook Jamison’s hand. The tug in his chest was that of envy even though he was truly happy for Jamison and what he had. They were good people.
“Make sure you tell your wife congratulations from me.”
“I will. There is a potluck down at the Granger Hall in a week or two. You might get a chance to be introduced to my son then if you’re around.”
“Even if I’m on duty, I’ll make a point to stop in.”
They said their goodbyes and Caleb walked through the door into the store. He made a beeline to the back of the store where Buck kept the tarps and other rolled papers that he might be able to use on the floor. Halfway down the aisle he stopped short. Hunter Williams was crouched down looking through a box of nails. Hunter got up slowly and turned to him. Caleb hadn’t seen Hunter since he’d confronted him or the black eye he’d given him, which was now turning yellow as it healed.
“I guess I owe you an apology,” Caleb said, swallowing a big lump of pride. “It was wrong of me to jump on you the way I did.”
“Yes, it was,” Hunter said. “But I appreciate the apology. I’m not sure what you think I know and don’t know about Julie and what happened. I can assure you that it isn’t much.”
“How about we talk about it over beer down at Bojangles sometime,” Caleb said. “I think I owe you one.”
Hunter nodded. “That’d be good. But I don’t know what else I can tell you beyond what you already know. Seems you knew more about what happened than I did and I was here.”
“You said you didn’t know Julie was pregnant. I accept that. I’m not sure she told anyone.”
The pain that crossed Hunter’s face looked as if it was etched in stone. “I don’t know why she wouldn’t tell me something like that herself.”
“We may never know.”
“You know, Caleb, she didn’t just leave you. She left me too. I wondered for a long time where she’d gone until I realized I couldn’t keep her down if she didn’t want to be held down. I have had to make peace with that for long time. I’m not sure I fully moved on from that. I guess I’ll always wonder what went wrong. I wasn’t the same guy back then.”
Katie had mentioned the same thing in passing. At the time, Caleb wondered what she was talking about. Caleb had been gone for four years. He didn’t really know Hunter before he’d left for the military. He’d only gotten to know him when he returned and joined the police force.
“Well, people change.”
“I guess,” he said. “I was a bit reckless back then. I had demons…” He shook his head. “Don’t we all. But mine were bad. It made me selfish. And I can see I didn’t appreciate Julie when I should have. I want you to know that. Man-to-man.”
Caleb wasn’t going to try to slug Hunter again. But it didn’t make him feel better to hear the words. Still, he knew Hunter needed to say them. And it would have to be enough.
“Let me know when you’re up for that beer,” Caleb said extending his hand to shake Hunter’s. They shook hands and then said their goodbyes. Caleb walked down the aisle in a fog wondering why he’d even come here. He’d forgotten.
* * *
Caleb drove to the chapel with enough surface shield rolled paper to cover the entire chapel floor. As he’d expected, Katie’s car was parked in the lot and to his relief, it was the only car.
He pulled two rolls of paper out of the back of his truck and carried them into the chapel. The door was open, making it easier. Katie was still picking up debris from the room and scooping it into the rubber barrels around the room.
He dropped the paper rolls on one of the pews and walked over to her. He didn’t think he could work the day and not know what was going on.
“I need to talk to you, Katie,” Caleb said, taking a piece of wood from her hand and dropping it into one of the barrels.
“Okay. What’s going on?”
It was ridiculous. He was a man and he was looking at a woman he’d known his entire life. And yet, suddenly he felt like an imbecile searching desperately for answers when he wasn’t even sure he had a right to ask the questions.
“I’m not sure. That’s what I need to know. I want to know what your decision was about the chapel. Did you decide to sell?”
She studied his face. “I put in a counter offer this morning.”
He blinked. “You did?”
“Yeah. Kas thinks—”
“I don’t want to know what Kas thinks. I want to know what you think. If you sell this property for the price you counter offered then you could easily leave Sweet and go to school, and start a life somewhere else. Or you could have a life here.”
Katie shrugged, not meeting his eye. He hated that. “Well, that was always the plan. For me to go to school in San Francisco.”
“Are there are no design schools in Montana? Do you not want to be here at all?”
“I don’t know. When Bruce took off with all my money and all my hopes for life somewhere other than in Montana, I had no choice but to come home. New York is expensive. I could’ve easily stayed with my brother. I know that. But somehow sleeping in the guest room or on his couch didn’t seem like a good thing for woman who wanted to strike out on her own. I’m his younger sister, but that’s not all I am. I’m a woman now.”
His body reacted
