“Hi. My name is Bella, and this is Caleb. We stopped by to drop off this apple pie I made.”
“I don’t see why you have to give my pies away, baby,” Caleb said.
“I left you two at home,” Bella said, rolled her eyes, and stepped into the house.
Anna bit her lip because she couldn’t get over how the huge man kept begging the little woman, and she ignored him.
After Bella set the pie on the counter, she turned and held out her hand. “So, you’re Anna?”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay. You’ve been busy.” The woman walked over to Zachary and introduced herself.
“We haven’t met yet.”
Zachary shook her hand, and Anna jumped when the man growled beside her.
“Let go of her fucking hand, asswipe.”
Anna pressed her hands to her mouth. She couldn’t decide whether she was amused, appalled, or fearful.
“Stop it, Caleb, or I won’t make a pie for a week.”
Caleb gasped and then turned to look at Anna. “Did you hear that? She can be so vicious when she’s angry. So don’t piss her off.”
“You’re the only one who pisses her off, dickhead,” Zachary said.
Anna covered her mouth to hold back her laugh. She couldn’t hold it in when she looked at Bella to see her hands on her hips and a frown on her pretty face.
“Amen,” Bella said.
Caleb hissed. “Why are you being so mean to me?”
“I thin—” Zachary said.
“Shut up, fuckwad,” Caleb said to Zachary and then turned to Bella. “Baby…”
Bella sighed. “We need to leave. It was so nice meeting you both. I hope you enjoy the pie. Maybe we can get together when he’s feeling better.”
“I’d like that. It was nice meeting you, too,” Anna said. She watched open-mouthed when Bella walked out the door, and Caleb followed, begging her not to be mad at him.
She looked back at Zachary’s astonished expression, and she couldn’t hold it back, she laughed. Zachary smiled and then started laughing. They both laughed until tears ran down their faces.
“Oh, my God. Is he always like that?” Anna asked.
“This was the first time I’ve ever seen them together, but I hear it’s the norm for those two.”
She heard a phone ring in the bedroom.
“Baby, can you get that? It’s on my bedside.”
Anna rushed into the bedroom, snatched it up, and ran back to him.
“Thank you,” he said to her and then answered the phone. “This is Stone.”
She listened to his side of the conversation as she rummaged through the contents of the fridge, freezer, and cupboards. They were all packed with food.
She heard his tone get serious and lower, so she couldn’t hear.