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“Sorry. I shouldn’t assume—”
“No, don’t be sorry. You’ve got me,” he said. “I’m glad you know that.”
It helped ease the ache in his chest when he thought of his baby sister, drawn across the country by a man who’d used her and then left her behind like she was worthless. He wanted to tell her what she was worth, but she wouldn’t be interested in hearing it from him. It wasn’t how the two of them operated.
“Well, anyway,” she said. “I don’t even know where Levi lives, and I promised to go out to see his mom soon, so I guess I’m going to have to tell her about … everything. And ask her for Levi’s address. But then I was thinking I want to, you know, move on with my life. I think I need a lawyer. If you still want to help, maybe you could help me with that?”
Caleb reached over to squeeze her shoulder. “Yeah, I can help you with that.”
They ate together on Ellen’s porch. Katie gazed down the driveway, looking lost and far away. Caleb tried to imagine what she was feeling, but it was impossible.
“Thanks,” she said after a while.
“What for?” He hadn’t done anything.
“For being awesome.” Her smile didn’t quite make it.
“Listen, if there’s anything you need me to do for you—anything at all—”
“I know.” She tipped to the side and rested her head against his arm. “You’re already doing enough.”
Chapter Twelve
He scared her half to death. Ellen was walking through from the kitchen, about to take the stairs up to her office loft, when she spotted Caleb on the front porch, leaning against the siding. He wore his soldier face, presiding over two squished-looking pizza boxes by his feet.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, rather pointlessly. He was doing precisely what he’d said he would do. No doubt he always did.
“Keeping the Huns out of your house. You left the door wide open, and you didn’t even lock the screen. Where have you been?”
“I went for a quick walk in the woods with Carly,” she said, stepping onto the porch. “But we stuck close to home. Zero danger, cross my heart. Except from heat stroke.”
The urge to make excuses annoyed her. She still hadn’t promised not to leave the house; he still hadn’t asked her to promise. The woods were mostly on her property, and she’d never encountered another soul back there.
And this time, she hadn’t even been trying to antagonize Caleb. All she’d wanted to do was to watch her movie. Carly had come over three minutes into it and begged and whined until Ellen gave in and agreed to take another walk with her.
She glanced at the glass of ice water she’d carried through from the kitchen. “You want something to drink?”
He crossed his arms and shook his head. “Did anybody take your picture?”
“Nobody even saw us.”
He made a face, sort of half-amused, half-resigned disgust. Like a guy who fed a stray dog all his best table scraps and pretended to mind. Such a male face.
“What are you smiling at?” he asked.
“Nothing. Do you even own shorts?”
“Sure. But I’m working.”
“This is not in your job description.”
“You might be surprised.”
She mirrored his posture, leaning against the house opposite him. Something in the set of his jaw, the intensity of his mood, made her want to tease him. This wasn’t the Caleb she was used to. He needed lightening up. “Is that your best guard stance, all slumped like that?”
“No, this is my defeated stance. It’s for when I’ve given up hope of protecting the women I’m supposed to be taking care of.”
“Really? You look very relaxed. Not at all defeated.”
