Bri slid an arm around her. “I can’t get out of my mind the brilliant glow on your face as you described him wiping away your tears. Crazy kiss aside, I think a benevolent bandit might be what you need in life at the moment. Someone to occupy your thoughts and cheer you up.”
Kate patted Bri’s cheek. “You cheer me up.”
“But I’m swamped and it’s bound to worsen with wedding plans, Tia and bunkhouse renovations.”
“It’ll work out. I’ll help, too.” Kate flexed her arms.
“You may need to go help your mom with your grandpa. If he continues to go downhill after his hip fracture...”
“I know. If Grandpa gets worse, I’ll head to Chicago to be with my family. The last thing I want to contend with is regret. You taught me that. But Mom’s a nurse, too. She can handle it for now.”
“Then promise me something.”
Kate groaned. “That statement from you never ends well for me.” But she raised a resigned eyebrow. “But shoot, anyway.”
“Give me your word that if—if—this BB guy continues to send you notes and stuff, that you’ll stop resisting and enjoy it.”
“You’re impossible, Bri. But since I love you and your incurable optimism, I’ll agree.” Bri smiled kind-heartedly yet eyed the clock in a fidget that reminded Kate Tia was coming home from her aunt’s in St. Louis. “Let’s walk you back. I forgot Tia’s on her way home.”
The two women escaped out EPTC’s side door and walked the parking lot in companionable silence, to Kate’s relief. “What do you have planned today?” she asked as they approached Bri’s gorgeous caramel-and-golden-hued lodge.
“Ian’s bringing kitchen paraphernalia so he, Tia and I can make cupcakes. That child is a baking fanatic, like Caleb.”
Kate saw sadness cross Bri’s face. Heard the telltale break in her voice. “I know you miss your brother. When does his tour of duty end?”
“Not anytime soon. He applied for ranger school.” She pulled out her phone as they went in. “I’m kinda worried about him. He hasn’t called in a few days. I hope he’s not facing something dangerous.”
* * *
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
