The Nurse's Secret Suitor

The time had come to bite the bullet. Caleb had to let Bri—and by extension, Kate—know he was in town. He rolled up his sleeping bag after the third night in the empty cabin and glanced at the diminished pile of leftover war rations that he’d been living on, along with stale canteen water, for the past three days. Stalling was no longer an option.

True, he still didn’t know how he was going to tell either Kate or Bri about his interlude as the masked patio bandit...but if days of mulling over that question hadn’t given him an answer yet, he wasn’t likely to find one. He’d have to wing it.

He dialed Bri’s cell phone. She answered on the first ring.

“Caleb! Finally. I was so worried! How are you?”

“I’m good.” Mostly. He steeled himself against homesickness rustling through him like the breeze as he walked familiar landmarks toward the lodge kitchen. He knew Bri and her fiancé, Ian, baked goodies on Saturdays with Ian’s daughter, whom Bri was adopting. There they were. His heart swelled seeing the warm family scene through the window. After the rough year they’d had losing Mom, he loved to see his sister smiling. Excitement welled over having a little niece to spoil. “I have a surprise for you.”

“What’s that?” Bri helped Tia stir some kind of dough.

“Look outside the yard window to your left.” Caleb smiled.

Bri blinked over, saw him and dropped her phone. Her shriek carried all the way outside. Ian looked up sharply as Bri rushed from the lodge and threw herself at Caleb.

“You’re home! When did you get here?” Her words muffled over each other as she wept and hugged the stuffing out of him.

“Not long ago.” Three days after a yearlong deployment wasn’t long, right?

Ian approached with a grin and Bri’s pink batter-laden phone, which she’d apparently dropped in the bowl. Ian wiped it then hauled Caleb into a man-hug. “Good to have you back.”

Caleb eyed him funnily. “I’ll put up with mushy stuff only because we’re gonna be family now. Seriously, dude. What up? I ask you to bodyguard my sis and get a brother-in-law out of the deal. Smooth, man, smooth.” Caleb laughed, as did Ian.

Caleb knelt when Ian’s daughter skipped up. “Hi, princess. You must be Tia.” Caleb stuck out his hand but Tia plowed past it and hugged him. What was it with all these huggy people?

“You’ll be my new uncle who buys me all the noisy toys!”

Caleb snickered. Ian eyed Caleb with a smirk. Bri planted her hands on her hips. “Is that what Caleb told you, Tia?”

Tia nodded her head proudly. “Yep. Uncle Caleb.”

Caleb grinned. “Speaking of toys, I have something for you here.” He went to dig in his pouch pocket for the frilly doll he’d picked up for her. When he pulled it out, one of his blue camouflage kerchiefs slipped loose and fluttered to the ground.

Bri’s eyes snapped right to it. She paled as she slowly looked up to stare at Caleb.

Four disbelieving blinks preceded her stare shifting into a glare.

He averted his gaze but felt his sister’s acrid gaze as she studied him. Somehow, she knew.

After a minute of chatter from Ian and Tia, Caleb chanced a glance at Bri. She chewed the inside of her cheek and looked worried.

Ian looked from one to the other, obviously picking up on the tension between siblings. “So, Caleb, I bet you’re hungry after the long flight. Let’s get you fed.” Ian motioned them in.

Bri’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, just when was your flight in, Caleb?”

He cleared his throat. “The details are sketchy.”

“Not for her.” Bri shook her head and stomped away.

Ian’s forehead crinkled. “What’s that about?”

Caleb sighed, knowing he’d deluded himself thinking he’d have a chance to explain his side of the story before his sister found out the truth on her own. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

Once inside, Bri cornered him. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

He clenched his jaw, knowing the time had come to face the music. Or, in his case, the firing squad. Wordlessly, he nodded.

“What were you playing at, Caleb?”

“I wasn’t playing!” he protested. “I’d just gotten in. I had a costume ready because I’d planned to be in time for the ceremony, but my flight was delayed. I thought I’d be able to at least stop by the reception to congratulate Mitch and Lauren, and then I saw her there, crying...”

“Her parents had informed her, moments before, that they are getting divorced after thirty years of marriage.”

Caleb knew that, because Kate had shared it with him. Bri mentioning it meant Kate’s parents were still at odds. Caleb’s heart sank. “Poor Kate. I was hoping they’d reconciled.”

“Reconciled what?” A voice sounded from the front door.

Kate. Could he convince Bri to keep what he’d done a secret? Doubtful—she was too angry with him. His reckoning had come.

Caleb pinned Bri with his gaze and leaned in. “Let me be the one to tell her. Please.”

“Fine.”

Caleb sauntered toward Kate like she was a human gallows. Bravery fled. He was certain she’d be upset or disappointed to learn the bandit she’d shared a special moment with was him. It would ruin his chance at being a friend for her. But there was no other option.

Swift motion to his left drew his attention. Bri put a restraining hand on his arm and nibbled her lip like she wasn’t so sure now. “On second thought, Caleb, that thing we just discussed?” She sliced a hand across her neck. “Abort mission. I’ll explain later.”

Kate approached, sweeping silky brown bangs from her eyes with choppy motions. “Wow. Welcome home, Landis. Should I leave? Feels like I walked in on a private conversation. Strange, considering I believe you were discussing my parents’ divorce when I walked in.” Kate sounded aggravated.

Caleb couldn’t blame her. No doubt she thought Bri had been oversharing about Kate’s private business. He could clear up her confusion in no time at all...so why wasn’t Bri letting him?

Bri stepped between Kate and Caleb. “I’m sorry. I should have asked you first before saying anything.”

Kate shrugged, flipped hair over her shoulder. “Doesn’t matter. It’s only Caleb.” She retreated, buddy-buddy with Bri, to the counter, effectively blowing him off.

It’s only Caleb? So that’s where he stood?

He tried to remind himself her dismissal wasn’t supposed to bother him. After all, he’d spent the past three days thinking about why they wouldn’t work together as anything but friends.

Tia skipped from the woodsy forest-critter-themed kitchen where Ian looked occupied cleaning up a baking mess out of earshot. “Miss Kate, can you be my taste tester?”

“Ooh-rah! Cupcakes. My fave!” Kate leaned down to take a bite.

With Kate distracted, Bri dragged Caleb outside onto her gleaming redwood deck. “You don’t need to tell her yet.”

“Why not?”

“I’m worried about her. She’s taking the news about her parents really hard—especially since her grandfather’s sick, too. She needs something to cheer her up. You signed your note BB, so she thinks you’re a benevolent bandit. I think the BB could brighten her days and give her something to look forward to.”