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“Hi,” Caleb greets as I approach, grinning lazily as he looks me up and down.
“Hi,” I reply, taking him in too. The dark hair, the strong arms, the crinkles in the corners of his blue eyes that are the only indication he’s fourteen years older than the first time I saw him.
His smile turns wicked. “You lookgood, Matthews.”
Matthews hasn’t been my last name for years, but hearing Caleb say it makes me feel seventeen again.
“I look like a whale, Caleb.”
“Just your belly.”
I scoff.
“I’m kidding.” Caleb takes a couple of strides forward, so my bloated stomach is touching his. “Seeing you pregnant with my kid is actually sexy as fuck,” he whispers to me, right before he kisses me.
I melt against him, as much as my belly will allow. He hasn’t been home in three weeks. Not the longest stretch we’ve been apart—not by a lot—but distance never gets any easier. Especially when you’re separated from someone you love as much as I love Caleb Winters.
This reunion is especially sweet. Not only because we’re close to becoming a family of four, but because we’re through the last separation in what has felt like an endless stretch of them.
Caleb was drafted to play in Chicago after we graduated from Clarkson. Not as far as he could have gone, but not an easy commute from Landry.
We split our time between Illinois and Kentucky as best we could. I spent a year working freelance for larger papers in the city, before starting a full-time position at theLandry Gazette. That limited my time in Chicago, especially once I found out I was pregnant with Hazel.
Caleb had already told me he intended for this season to be his last before I found out I was pregnant again. We weren’t trying, but we weren’t being careful either. Neither one of us was surprised.
And I’m glad he didn’t feel pressured to make the decision about retiring. Equally relieved I won’t have to take care of a three-year-old and a newborn on my own. I’m able to do most of my work for the paper from home, and we have a couple of barn staff who help out with the barn work, but it’s still a lot to manage.
But more than simply having someone to share the workload with, I missCalebwhen he’s gone.
“Is the pie done?” he asks as we head for the front porch.
“Yes, but it’s for the party tonight.” I glance at him in time to catch his grimace. “You forgot.”
“More like I temporarily removed the knowledge from my brain.”
“I got him a tie. I didn’t know what else to get. Plus, every time I see him he’s wearing one, so I figured it would get some use.”
“Thanks, Len.”
“You going to make it tonight? You look exhausted.”
“The guys set up a whole goodbye thing. It went late and was a little crazy.”
“A little crazy? So drugs, clubs, strippers?”
Caleb rolls his eyes. “It was not that wild. It was mostly getting wasted at sports bars and rehashing old games.”
“Landry’s going to be a real change of pace, huh?”
I’ve lived here full-time since I had Hazel. This is Caleb’s first time returning with no plans to leave.
“Awelcomechange of pace.”
“Good.”
Caleb holds the screen door open for me. “How many people did my parents invite?”
“Hazel said five hundred, but I’m hoping she’s wrong.”
