“What should I do?” he asked Melissa.
She took a beat. “Be honest with her.”
The advice made no sense to him. “I have been honest. I am honest. What do you mean be honest?”
“How do you feel about her?” Noah asked.
Caleb hesitated. “Oh, that kind of honest.”
Noah gave him a sympathetic smile. “That kind of honest.”
“Get her to be honest with you,” Melissa said thoughtfully.
Caleb knew they were right.
They were more right than they realized. Jules couldn’t read his mind. She still thought they were adversaries. He’d turned the tables too quickly, and she needed a chance to catch up.
“She’s headed up to the house,” he said out loud. “She’s going to pack up and leave.”
“That would be my guess,” Melissa said.
Caleb realized he was wasting time standing there talking. He started to walk. Then he broke into a run.
His pace increased as he made the end of the driveway. The path angled up, and he ran harder. It would take Jules ten minutes to drive around on the road. He could make it up the pathway in seven if he pushed. And he was pushing. He was pushing very, very hard.
He took the stairs to her deck two at a time. Then he vaulted over the rail at the side of the house, scrambling up the steep grade to the side porch and the staircase that led up to her driveway.
The parking spot was empty. He dragged in huge gulps of air. He’d won the race. At least, he hoped he’d won the race. She’d better be on her way here. If she’d gone somewhere else, he didn’t know what he’d do.
Other than track her down, he acknowledged. He’d track her to Portland. He’d track her to the ends of the earth if that was what it took.
He thought he heard the little pickup.
He cocked his head, holding his breath until the sound grew louder and the blue truck appeared.
She parked, set the brake, opened the door and stepped out.
At the top of the stairs, she spotted him. She froze, staring down in disbelief, her hair lifting in the wind, her dark T-shirt snug against her body, those faded blue jeans clinging to her hips. She was so intensely beautiful.
It looked like she was going to turn and leave. If she did, he’d have to run up the stairs to catch her. He hoped he’d make it. He was in pretty good shape, but he was winded from running the trail.
To his relief, she started down.
“This has to be the end of it,” she said as she came to the step above him, seeming more in control. She stared at him in defiance.
“This will be the end of it.” At the end of this conversation, she’d have no doubt about how he felt.
“Fine.” She gave a jerk of a nod as she passed him to open the door.
He followed her inside, part of him wondering what to say, another part of him itching to get it said.
The house had seemed tattered the first time he’d seen it. But now it looked cozy. He associated it with Jules. And he loved everything about Jules.
“You’re afraid,” he said, following her into the living area.
“I’m not afraid of you,” she denied, opening a closet door and retrieving a suitcase.
“You’re afraid of us.” He was a little bit afraid of them, as well.
He wanted her so badly it scared him. He wanted her as his business partner and his lover. He wanted her today and tomorrow. He wanted to wake up with her every morning and go to sleep with her every night.
She dumped the suitcase on the aging sofa and opened it up. “There is no us.” She marched back to the closet and pulled clothes off the hangers.
“There’s definitely an us,” he said to her back.
She returned and stuffed the clothes into the suitcase. “Well, there won’t be after today.”
She was wrong about that. She couldn’t be more wrong about that.
“Jules?”
She didn’t look up. Her voice was full of snark. “What?”
“I’m in love with you.”
“Well, that’s just—” She looked up sharply. “What did you say?”
“I said, I love you.”
She looked completely baffled, more frightened than ever, and ready to bolt.
“No,” she said, her face going pale. She shook her head in denial and took a few steps backward. “You don’t. You can’t.”
“I can, and I do.”
She reached behind herself and gripped the windowsill. Her voice was little more than a rasp. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying. What I don’t know is why you’re fighting it.”
“I’m not fighting anything.”
“Jules, what we have together... It’s exciting. It’s energizing. It’s amazing. And I want it forever. I want to marry you.” He couldn’t believe that had popped out. Then he was glad it had.