Caleb (The K9 Files Book 11) by Dale Mayer (sneezy the snowman read aloud TXT) 📕

She looked at him, grinned, and said, “You didn’t even notice this morning.”

“For that, I’m sorry,” he admitted. “I was hung up on my problems.”

“That’s all right,” she said. “Today you have good reason to be.” She did a little twirl in front of him. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s damn sexy,” he said. She wore a bright sundress with big flowers and high heels. Her hair was up and somehow had curls on the side; he didn’t know where the flowers came from, but she had them in her hair, and she looked fresh, sweet, wholesome; everything he always wanted. He shook his head. “How is it I never saw you before?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I didn’t notice us myself until it was too late.”

“Damn.” He reached out an elbow, and she tucked her arm through his and said, “Come on, big guy. Let’s get this over with.”

“My brother first,” he said with a note of sadness.

“You were friends a long time before her,” she said quietly. “It’s your choice whether you want to stay friends after this.”

He looked down at her, but he didn’t even know what to think because part of him was not even sure what was coming. As he walked toward the parking lot’s back entrance, his brother stepped out from the church. Dressed in a black suit, he stood nervously in front of them. He tilted his head. “Caleb. Thanks for coming,” he said. “I understand it took a little persuasion, but I’m happy to see you here.”

“Well, I’m here,” he said. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I owe you an apology,” his brother said in a surprise move.

Caleb just stood and waited.

“I didn’t know about her trying to pass off my child as yours,” he said. “That I would never have condoned. You know how much I’ve always wanted a family. She didn’t tell me that we were pregnant. At the time, we had a major ripping fight because I didn’t want to settle down. I wanted to travel the world a little bit,” he said. “She didn’t tell me she was pregnant. I didn’t know until I came back, and I heard the rumors that she’d lost the baby. And that you were devastated, and so was she. But it didn’t take much to do the math, and either you were screwing around on me or she had lied to you.”

“Well, you know which one that was,” he said in a dry tone.

“I do, and again I’m sorry. She’s not the most upfront person, and she hates confrontation,” he said. “So she took the easy way out, as she was petrified to be a single mom.”

“And yet, you would have been there whenever you came back.”

“She figured we were done for good, after the ugly fight we had.”

“So instead she threw her lot in with me and, of course, hated every minute of it.”

His brother winced at that. “Well, the trouble was, she was still in love with me, and I was still in love with her. True, she should never have married you, and I can’t apologize enough for that, and I’m not the one to apologize for her faults. That’s her job, but I can tell you that she probably won’t.”

Caleb snorted at that. “Yeah, that would make more sense.”

He winced. “And I owe you another apology. She told me that her marriage to you was over, and that you guys were broken up.”

“Ah, you mean, when you were screwing around on me with my wife while I was stationed overseas,” he said in a hard voice. But his brother faced him bravely and said, “Yes, in all fairness, I didn’t check with her all that close. I was too damn happy that her marriage was over and that she was free again. I was pretty upset when I found out that she’d married you. I hated you for it for the longest time.”

Caleb stared at him in surprise.

But Jackson continued, “I know it doesn’t make any sense, when I’m the one who walked away, but it didn’t take me long to realize what a mistake I’d made,” he said. “What I’m trying to do,” he said and took a slow deep breath, “is bury the hatchet and see if we can get on from here.”

“I get that,” Caleb said. “An awful lot of hurt remains right now. And a lot of it is directed at your wife,” he said. “Or your soon-to-be wife. My ex-wife,” he said. “I’m not sure how that’ll work going forward.”

“I know,” he said. “You probably don’t want anything to do with us because of her behavior—if nothing else—but also for mine,” he admitted. “We did not do well by you in any way, shape, or form, and, for that, I’m really sorry.”

Caleb stared at his brother in surprise. Of all the things he’d expected, this was not it. It also showed a ton of maturity coming from his kid brother, who found it easier to walk away from any strife. In that regard, Jackson and Sarah were the same. “Where do you see us going from here?” Caleb asked Jackson.

“I want what I always wanted. I want you to stand up as my best man,” he said. “But I will understand if you refuse because of Sarah. And I also understand that, from here on, you probably won’t want to spend any time with us because of her. Yet I will tell you that she’s pregnant again and that you’re about to become an uncle.”

That shock wave just hit him like a ton of bricks too. Caleb and Sarah had always talked about having kids and raising them together.

“I know that’ll bring up a lot of other emotions and hard feelings,” Jackson said. “I don’t know how to make it right, so if you’ve got any suggestions, please let me know.” And, with that, he fell silent. He just stared at Caleb, not knowing what