Lakeside Redemption

Caleb was going to get kicked out of the neighborhood if that fur ball didn’t stop barking.

He threw back the covers, pulled on yesterday’s jeans and T-shirt and padded barefoot to the living room. Flicking on the lamp on the table next to the coffee-colored leather couch, he winced at the sudden brightness and shot a one-eyed glance at the clock hanging above the doorway that led into the dining room.

4:15.

He groaned and stretched out on the Berber carpet in front of the dog crate, which had become his new middle-of-the-night normal since bringing the little guy home a few days ago.

Riley looked at him with large, soulful eyes and whimpered.

“Hey, little man, some of us need to sleep.” He pushed his fingers through the metal and scratched the dog’s muzzle. Riley licked at Caleb’s hand.

What had he been thinking? He didn’t have time for a dog. They needed exercise and companionship.

He could handle a walk around the block, but his hiking and running days were over. Besides, he had his hands full caring for the girls. Now he had something else to take care of.

Rubbing the heel of his hand into one eye, he released the latch on the crate. Riley bounded out, searching for freedom.

Caleb scrambled to his feet, biting down on his bottom lip as pain shot to his right hip, and scooped up the pup.

Carrying him to the back door, he switched on the outside light and let Riley down. He scurried across the patio and sniffed the grass for the best spot to do his business.

Caleb dropped onto a white plastic yard chair and waited.

Stars sparkled against the early morning sky with soft light smudging the horizon. A hint of a breeze ruffled his hair and cooled his face. The Turners’ house next to his corner lot sat in darkness.

At least Riley’s barking hadn’t disturbed them.

Having moved to Shelby Lake less than a month ago, he’d bought the one-story ranch with a large fenced backyard on a quiet residential street.

Once things settled down, he’d get to know his neighbors Shawn and Pam Turner. Maybe invite them over for a barbecue. They had a daughter a little older than Ella. Shawn was a fellow cop with the Shelby Lake Police Department, and Pam taught third grade at Ella’s new school.

But first he needed to finish unpacking and get the girls’ swing set assembled. Maybe they’d even like a swing hanging from the sturdy oak shading the patio. The yard called out for summertime picnics, roasting marshmallows over an open fire and running freely without having to worry about city traffic.

Down the road, once his heart healed from his ex-wife’s betrayal and desertion, he’d consider finding someone who wanted those same things, someone who realized he was enough.

Maybe.

Right now, he was just too exhausted to think about sharing his heart again.

But that didn’t stop Zoe James’s face from flashing through his mind.

If he hadn’t been so focused on the girls, he would have recognized her much sooner, especially with that butterfly necklace she never took off.

Once she realized who he was, though, she retreated inside a polite shell. For a few minutes, she laughed easily with his daughters. The sound of her laughter and the joy in her smile were exactly as he remembered.

No one else had those green eyes with glints of gold that wandered into his dreams every now and then. Eyes that touched his soul. Eyes belonging to his college roommate’s girlfriend and Caleb’s former secret crush.

Seeing her again unleashed a memory of another time, another place...a memory he didn’t allow his mind to visit because the pain of that time nearly undid him.

She had gotten under his skin from the moment they met at Bartlett University during his junior year, when she had been a freshman needing a tutor in algebra. Despite the hours they shared in the library, she had fallen for his roommate when the twerp serenaded her like in some cheesy romantic movie.

Zoe’s engagement to Kyle the same weekend he and Kyle had graduated had nearly ruined him, so he dropped all contact with her on purpose. Marrying Valerie on the rebound hadn’t done either of them any favors. Focused on his law-enforcement career and his family, he’d lost touch with his college buddies as well.

That seemed like a lifetime ago, but seeing Zoe again stirred up a lot of memories, particularly the ones he had created with her, such as walking her back to the dorm after tutoring, celebrating her exam success with ice cream, and that night at the go-kart track after Kyle ditched her to go out with someone else behind Zoe’s back.

Maybe he’d be able to get to know her all over again.

As friends.

Being new in town, he could use a friend.

Riley ran to Caleb, pulling him out of the past, and stared at him with eager eyes. Caleb reached down and lifted him, rubbing his furry head. “Good boy.”

They went back into the house. Caleb snapped off the light and locked the door. He reached into a bag of dog treats and tossed one to Riley, who caught it and scurried under the coffee table to devour his snack.

Even though his eyes burned, he probably wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. He hadn’t slept a full night in the past year. Nightmares or unexpected shooting pain often woke him out of a deep slumber.

Caleb headed for the couch and reached for his laptop, only to have the power cord come up short. He stared at the chewed cord, then at the pup whose muddy-brown eyes were the picture of innocence.

“Dude, really? I bought you a pile of chew toys. Why my cord?”

Riley rested his chin on his paws and whined.

“I get it, man. I do. You’re lonely, too.” Caleb set the laptop on the floor and lifted the little bundle of fur out from under the table. “It stinks, doesn’t it?”

Riley trembled in his arms and clawed at his T-shirt as he tried to crawl up his chest.

Why hadn’t he waited until they were more settled to get a dog?

The delight on his daughters’ faces as they played with the puppies at the Canine Companions booth had sealed the deal. After Valerie walked out on them, Ava had clammed up, refusing to speak. He missed her chirpy, chatty voice.

He’d lasso the moon out of the sky and serve it to her on a platter if it would help her speak again.

That’s how he’d ended up with a puppy on his chest.

Caleb stretched out on the couch and readjusted the dog. Riley settled into the hollow of Caleb’s neck, warming his neck with his puppy breath.

As he curled an arm around the little body, warmth flowed to Caleb’s heart.

For a moment, the loneliness that was his constant shadow evaporated.

Why hadn’t he been enough for Val? He had been committed to making their marriage work, even after he realized her dependency on alcohol came first in her life.

Maybe he should have tried harder to get her more help to stay sober.

She’d checked out of their marriage long before he ended up in the hospital, recovering from surgery after one bullet shattered his femur and another took out his partner during a drug raid gone bad. Valerie, the one who promised eight years ago to stay by his side in sickness and in health, deserted him and the girls for some idiot she’d met online.

He’d do whatever it took to create a stable home again, and help his daughters heal from their mother’s abandonment. He’d make sure they knew they were enough.