Love Inspired August 2014 – Bundle 1 of 2 (58 page)

“You look great.” Bree waved at her. She looked cute in a loud print standing beside
the lanky IT guy who worked in the school district’s administration building.

“You, too,” Paige mouthed as she and Caleb moved across the room.

After the next song concluded, Principal Timmons took the stage and announced the
start of square dancing. “The chaperones will run through the first two songs and
then everyone else can form squares and join.”

“Ready?” Caleb pumped her hand.

“I guess I have to be.” Paige grinned at him.

They launched into the first song, and Paige did what Caleb had asked her—she trusted
he could lead her. She looked right at his face the whole time. There were a few missed
steps, but they laughed it off, and judging by the applause at the end of the second
demonstration, no one in the crowd minded.

Caleb led her off the floor.

Bree flashed a toothy grin. “You did good, kid.”

“I missed a couple steps.”

“Eh. We all do. I always think dancing is like life in a way, and I like to picture
God as my dance partner leading me in all sorts of new and fun steps. Sometimes I
mess it up, but He’s right there to catch me in the midst of those stumbles.” Bree
waved. “I have to go.... Don’t want any girls flirting with my cute IT guy.”

After a few songs the square dancing morphed into normal teenage dancing, which consisted
of students standing in circles, shuffling their feet and raising their hands in the
air every once in a while. Paige and Caleb made the rounds for their official chaperone
duties and checked the hallways for mischief. Students kept asking to take pictures
with them.

Caleb squeezed Paige’s hand. “I have to go make the announcement for Barn Dance king
and queen.”

“I think I’ll grab some fresh air while you do that.” Paige stepped outside and breathed
in the crisp evening air.

I know the dance. Trust that I can lead you. Can you do that?

Caleb spoke the words earlier today, but she knew now that they applied to her relationship
with God. For too long she’d pictured God above the world, too worried about everything
else to consider her life, but it changed everything to imagine Him this way—reaching
out His hand, asking her to trust Him.

“You care about me, don’t You?” she whispered to the night sky.

Hadn’t Caleb told her that God gave her worth the moment He created her?

“I trust You.” A rush of calm seeped into her heart, untying binds she hadn’t even
realized were there.

* * *

Timmons cornered Caleb before he could make it back to Paige.

“I have a small favor to ask of you.” The principal wore a rather large Stetson hat
and a huge belt buckle.

“Wasn’t me chaperoning this dance a small favor?” He scanned the dance room. Where
was Paige, anyway?

Timmons winked at him. “Admit it. You’re having a good time.”

“Okay.” Caleb crossed his arms and shook his head good-naturedly. “What’s this favor?”

“I don’t know if you heard, but Coach Quinn was rushed to the hospital this afternoon.”

“The basketball coach? Is he all right?”

“He’ll have to have his gallbladder removed and won’t be able to perform his coaching
duties for the next few weeks. I asked Lenny, but he can’t do it because coaching
would interfere with that indoor soccer club he plays in. You’re the only one I know
on staff who plays besides him, and the boys have an important game this Thursday.
League rules are that they must be accompanied by a coach or they have to forfeit.
I’d hate to have all the students’ hard work go to waste.”

Thursday. He’d have to make sure Paige didn’t go to Sarah’s Home that night. “Sure,
I can fill in for him.”

“I knew I could count on you.” The principal slapped his back.

Caleb turned back to face the main part of the room and spotted Paige right away.
She was surrounded by some of the other single male teachers. They were fluttering
around her like mosquitos to a bug zapper. If only they would fry when they touched
her, it would serve them right. He saw one offer his hand...probably asking her to
dance.

Caleb quickened his pace.

If he felt that strongly about seeing her talking to other guys, then it was time
to tell her.

* * *

Paige excused herself from her present conversation with two other staff members as
Caleb started to cross the room.

He glanced at the people she’d been talking with. “Everything okay?”

“Everything’s great.”

“Were they trying to get you to dance?” He scrubbed his hand over his chin.

She pursed her lips. “Caleb Beck, if I didn’t know better I’d say you were jealous.”

“Maybe I am.” He took a step closer.

“We were brainstorming ideas for the spring musical.” She jutted her thumb back toward
two of the men—one was the choir director and the other taught journalism. “That’s
all.” She fought a yawn.

“Are you ready to head home? Timmons said he was fine to close the dance without me.
It’s only got another fifteen minutes until they start clearing out anyway.”

“Sure. I’m tired.”

He offered his arm and she took it. Her feet were sore from wearing brand-new boots.

They shuffled out to the truck and climbed inside. Caleb laid his arm across the back
of the bench, the warmth of his fingers only an inch from touching her neck the whole
ride home. Why didn’t he just make a move already?

He put his hand back on the wheel to help him steer as the truck bumped its way up
Maggie’s driveway.

Instead of just dropping her off, he put the truck in Park. “The sky’s so clear now.
Look at all the stars. Care to watch them with me for a couple minutes?”

“I’d love to.” Paige smiled at him through the dim light. He motioned for her to meet
him at the back of the truck where he pulled down the tailgate.

He slipped out of his coat and helped her into it. “It’s a little colder than I thought.”

“Thanks.” She cuddled into the warmth of his jacket.

“Let me help you up.” Caleb put his hands on her waist and then didn’t move.

Not knowing what to say, Paige smoothed her hand down his chest.

He responded by touching his forehead to hers. “There are a million things going through
my mind right now, and I can’t find the words. I’m so worried something will happen,
and this will all disappear. Nothing bad can happen to you,” he whispered.

The old Paige would have considered his words bordering on controlling, but she knew
Caleb better now. This fear came from the core of his soul and it meant he cared,
really cared about her to voice that. It had taken her a lot of mistakes and years
to learn that not only men slay dragons, but women were capable of waging battles
against other people’s greatest fears, as well.

She licked her lips. “But Caleb...if something ever does happen to me—” she gulped
“—it’s not your fault.”

He pulled back and studied her face. “Don’t you know by now, I’m crazy about you?”

Paige released an uncharacteristic giggle. “I’m pretty crazy about you, too.”

After a deep breath, Caleb squared her face in his hands. He looked her in the eye
as he started to lean closer. She swallowed hard, biting the edge of her lip to keep
from tumbling headfirst into that delicious, liquid-chocolate stare.

Automatically, she tipped her lips to meet his. She drank him in, lingering in his
kiss and savoring the feel of his hands in her hair. It was like nothing she could
have imagined. Caleb’s kiss was a blessing—a gift that made her feel secure and cherished
instead of like something had just been stolen from her.

No more fighting her feelings with this man. It was time to see what an honest relationship
looked like.

Chapter Thirteen

S
he still had a couple of minutes before Caleb would be there to pick her up for a
date. Immediately after their kiss last night he’d asked her to go to lunch with him,
and of course she said yes.

Paige trailed her fingers over the Bible passage she read in a loving caress. At the
church held inside a movie theater that she’d attended with Maggie, the pastor talked
about a book of the Bible called the Psalms. When she got home she found a cozy chair
on the porch and went back over what she’d learned during the sermon.

Fall slowly crept into Goose Harbor leaving the afternoon cooler than it had been
the past couple of weeks. Darker clouds started to roll in over Lake Michigan and
a bit of a breeze whistled through the spindly porch rails. The air smelled like rain.
Paige tucked the afghan she’d carried outside with her a little tighter around her
shoulders and took a sip of the warm mint tea from the mug she balanced on the edge
of the handrail.

She really liked this David guy who’d written a large chunk of the Psalms. He wasn’t
like some of the churchy people she’d come across in life—the ones who told her she
had to act perfect all the time. Not at all. David argued with God. David ranted.
David cried out and wept. He celebrated with singing and dancing. This man was completely
flesh and blood who made a lot of terrible mistakes like anyone else. The only thing
that separated him from others was that he loved God. That’s it.

But that made all the difference.

He came to God with every aspect of his emotions—ones Paige had always felt like she
shouldn’t bother God with—yet God called David a man after His own heart.

She reread the words David scrawled so many years ago and let them take root in her
mind.

When I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust.

The porch creaked as Maggie stepped outside with a dish towel over her shoulder. ���It’s
a nice day to read the Bible out of doors, although it looks like we might get some
rain tonight.” She nodded to indicate the worn book in Paige’s lap.

Caleb’s truck bumped up the driveway.

Paige pushed out from under her afghan. “I’m going to be honest with you. I’ve been
away from this book for a long time. Actually, I don’t know if I ever really read
it before.”

“Well, that’s the best thing about God. Each day is a new chance to start over. You’ve
come to Goose Harbor for a fresh start, and now you can be anyone you want. There’s
a verse that says just that—God is making everything new and that we can trust what
He says. You should look it up.” Maggie bowed her head and went back inside the inn.

“Thanks. I will.”

Making all things new. Paige liked that. She made a small note on her pad of paper
to find that verse later.

“Hey, beautiful.” Caleb took the front steps two at a time and grinned at her. “Ready
to head out?”

“Let me just put this stuff inside.” She started to rise.

He eased the Bible and blanket from her hand. “I’ll do it. I want to say hey to Mags.”

The moment he walked inside, another vehicle turned into Maggie’s driveway. A red
BMW spun into the parking lot heaving a spray of gravel and a dust cloud in its wake.

Paige froze.

She knew that car well. Bryan and she had shared their first kiss in that car—a clumsy
kiss quickly taken from her after an action movie on their third date.

Still having a hard time believing her ex-fiancé would have any reason to be in Goose
Harbor, Paige gripped the railing as she climbed down the porch steps.

Bryan slammed his door and then rounded the car, planting himself in her path.

She didn’t want to deal with him again. Never again. Why was he here? “How did you
know where to find me?”

“Your mother called. She says you aren’t being faithful, Paige. Out with some man
last weekend—how would that look for me if the papers got wind of something like that?
You could ruin next year’s election.”

“Well, sorry you wasted the trip, but I have nothing to say to you.”

“I’m taking you home.” He reached for her.

But she moved away so his hand caught only air.

She prayed for words and courage.

You had worth beyond measure from the moment God created you, and no one can take
that away. Not that man. And not your feelings.

Caleb’s words rushed back into her mind.

Paige straightened out her spine. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Bryan’s ears turned red and she noticed his right hand shaking.

In the years she’d known Bryan, he had won every fight, every debate. She never had
a quick enough answer for him. Days later she would think through conversations and
realize what she could have said to change the way the talk had gone, but it had always
been too late.

His glare could burn. “You’re done playing. You’re done making me look like a fool
to our friends back home. Got it? You are getting in this car and coming with me.
Now.” Bryan moved forward and seized her wrist as he spoke.

“Let go. This is where I live.” She pawed at his hand but it didn’t budge.

Secretly, for that first month after the breakup and when their wedding day came and
went, Paige had wished that he would come, just like he was now, and demand to be
back with her—to tell her he was sorry and say he wanted to be with her.

But Bryan never said he was sorry—ever—in all the years she had known him.

She had loved his confidence, loved that he always had the answers, but suddenly she
couldn’t quite see what she had found so attractive about him. Why had she been so
stuck on this man? He was certainly good-looking and possessed the charm of sweet
talk, but as for substance, all she could see now was how demanding he was, and how
often he had been looking out for only himself their entire relationship.

Caleb, on the other hand, was quiet and more guarded so he didn’t instantly attract
attention. But unlike Bryan, Caleb always put her needs before his own. When he disagreed
with her or tried to convince her not to do something, it was because he feared for
her—not because he needed to prove himself.

Bryan tightened the hold on her arm and gave her a firm jerk. Unsteady on her feet,
Paige tripped forward into him.

“Leave me alone,” she said, trying to push his hand off her again. She jerked backwards
and her elbow struck the porch railing.

Behind her, the mug of tea hit the ground shattering into jagged pieces.

“Let go of her! What’s going on?” Caleb’s questions tumbled out loudly as he rounded
the corner of the inn’s wraparound porch.

The second Paige saw Caleb she relaxed. Bryan couldn’t force anything, not with Caleb
standing next to her. Not with Caleb protecting her.

“So it was him—the lumberjack from before is the monster who let you get hurt?” Bryan
released her arm and sneered at Caleb.

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” Paige narrowed her eyes.

Bryan shook his head. “Your mom said you were out on the beach last week and hurt
your foot. She said you were rushed to emergency care and not a week later this guy’s
making you dance on an injury? Real hero type you’re palling around with these days.
You’ve known this monster all of a month and he gets you hurt.” Almost nose to nose,
Bryan stepped into her personal space.

She’d deal with her mother later. “It was a cut.” Paige tried to shove Bryan’s hand
off her arm again.

Wrapping his arm around her, Caleb pulled her to his side—and away from Bryan. “You’re
the only one here who’s hurt Paige.”

“Aw. Did I now? Poor Paige. Always playing the victim.” Bryan stalked closer again.

Caleb angled his body between them. “You won’t lay another hand on her as long as
I’m here.”

Don’t fight. Please don’t fight.

With her arm, she slipped her hand into Caleb’s and laced her fingers with his. She
pumped his hand once, silently asking him to cool down. Caleb didn’t know that Bryan
was a lawyer. If Caleb threw a punch, Bryan would ruin his life in court on a bunch
of trumped-up charges.

Bryan crossed his arms, and a slow, mocking smile played across his face. “I’ll never
understand you, Paige. You get down on me for seeing other people, but it sure didn’t
take you long to find a new fan club.” He snorted. “Just never figured you to end
up with Mr. Farm and Fleet.”

Caleb started to talk, but Paige tugged lightly on his arm. This battle was hers to
fight. Bryan wanted her to get emotional, too bad for him. His words held no power
over her any longer. “You are not welcome here, and you are not welcome in my life.”

Bryan fisted his hands and looked back and forth between the two of them. “Forget
you. You were always a waste of time, and it won’t take long before this new guy realizes
that, too, and leaves you for someone better. Let your mom know she owes me forty
bucks for gas.” He stalked back to his car and kicked it into gear. His tires spun
in the gravel as he drove away, forming a new cloud of dust that Paige watched slowly
settle back to earth.

* * *

Caleb worked his jaw back and forth. It had taken everything in him not to explode
at Paige’s ex-boyfriend. How could the man talk to her like that? A fraction of his
thoughts went to Bryan’s words about him—he’d accused Caleb of letting Paige get hurt.

Old guilt gnawed on his conscience.

Stop.
Paige’s foot was fine. People got hurt sometimes. It was a small cut that had already
healed.

Gently, he tugged on her arm and turned her to face him. “Are you all right?” He searched
her eyes for tears but found none.

“I’m fine. Good, actually.” A smile played at her lips.

“You sure? Some of that stuff he said...”

“I’ve never been able to stand up to him like that. I don’t think he’ll be back.”

Caleb smiled back at her. “I don’t think so, either. Do you still want to go out?”

“Yeah.” She tugged his arm close. “No use letting him ruin our day.”

Within ten minutes they were seated at his favorite booth at the Cherry Top Café.
He worked the saltshaker around and around in his hand. “There’s something I wanted
to talk to you about, but I’m not sure right now is a good time anymore.”

As she placed a napkin on her lap, Paige quirked an eyebrow.

Caleb rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t want to come off sounding like
him
.” He dropped his gaze to the table.

In an instant, her hand covered his. “Look at me.”

He obeyed.

“You are nothing like Bryan. Okay? Nothing. I’m just sorry it took me a while to realize
that.”

The waitress dropped off their food, and Caleb offered a quick prayer before they
started eating.

Paige pulled the lettuce off her burger and added more ketchup. “So...I’m all intrigued
now. What did you want to talk about?”

He laid down his soup spoon. “It’s about Sarah’s Home.”

“I’m listening.”

Caleb shared with her that Timmons asked him to fill in for the basketball coach for
the next few weeks. “The game against our school’s rival is this Thursday. I can’t
be in two places at once. I would if I could.”

She folded her hands in her lap. “Are you trying to ask me not to go to Sarah’s Home
this week?”

He nodded, once, slowly.

She looked out the window for a moment. “I know you’re asking me not to go only because
you care about me, so I won’t go.”

“Thank you.” The hoarse whisper surprised him, but it was all he could manage.

After lunch, they decided to leave Caleb’s truck downtown and walked to the dock hand
in hand. Local residents and some of their students spotted them and waved or greeted
them with smiles and catcalls.

He’d always wondered how the community would react if he started dating again. It
seemed as if they were just as excited for him to have a happy ending as he was. Now
that Paige understood his need to keep her safe, Caleb allowed himself to picture
a long future beside her. Perhaps happy endings could happen more than once in a lifetime—more
than that, despite Caleb’s mistakes in the past, God was here offering him a second
chance at a new beginning.