She laughed. “You know you always look good.”
“Ditto,” Caleb said.
She bit at those luscious lips and then looked around as if not sure what to do now.
Caleb didn’t want this visit to end so soon. He’d craved their attention and their smiles and yearned to spend time with this pair for the last two months. “Krew, you won’t believe what I have in my house,” he said.
“A lacrosse field?” Krew asked, his eyes wide.
“Close. Follow me, please.”
Krew nodded eagerly, and Emily beamed as they hung their coats on the coat rack. Caleb wanted to take her hand, but he remembered his self-control.
Caleb led the way through the foyer into the huge great room, which had two-story windows showcasing the backyard and forest beyond. There were bedrooms off the loft above the five-car garage, and there was a master suite off the right-hand side of the great room area, but the thing he wanted them to see was built under the suspended garage, down some stairs off the laundry and mudroom.
He flipped the lights on, and they descended the staircase. Turning on the lights in the huge sports court, he stepped back and gestured them in. The room had a twenty-five-foot ceiling and had originally been built as an indoor basketball court. There was also a small playset off to the side. Caleb liked shooting hoops with his brothers and friends and watching Paisley play on the playset, but he’d also added a lacrosse goal and a rebounder for wall balls. He had a variety of sticks hanging on one wall and a bucket of balls waiting for Krew.
Krew turned back to him with wide eyes, then plowed into him, hugging him tight. “I love you!” Krew screamed. He released Caleb, then ran to grab a stick off the wall, pick up a ball out of the bucket, and start shooting at the goal.
Caleb was momentarily frozen. Krew loved him? He knew they were the words of an impulsive little boy, but they were so good to hear. Caleb had a lot of people who loved him, but Krew and Emily were coming to mean as much to him as his own family.
As he walked closer to Emily, she looked up at him with bright eyes. “You tricky man. You realize he’s never going to want to leave.”
He smiled. “That’s what I’m banking on.”
“You might get sick of us eventually.”
“Don’t plan on it.”
She simply shook her head and smiled, but her quick blinking told him all he needed to know. She’d missed him too.
The next couple of hours flew by as Caleb and Krew went through drills while Emily watched, and then they made her get a stick and he taught her how to pass and catch and shoot. She claimed she couldn’t do team sports with balls, but it was obvious that she was athletic and she was doing pretty great. Caleb loved having the two of them here with him, and he loved helping her position her stick properly, sneaking in some opportunities to touch her hand or her arm.
The doorbell rang, and Krew yelled, “Just ignore it! They’ll go away!”
Caleb chuckled heartily. “You teach him that?” he asked Emily.
She bit at her lip, and he could’ve sworn her beautiful skin darkened.
“I think we want to answer this one,” Caleb told Krew. “That is, if you like pizza.”
“Pizza! Whoo-hoo!” Krew rushed toward the steps and tried to rehang his stick, but he couldn’t quite reach it.
“You can just drop it,” Caleb told him.
Krew obeyed, dropping the stick and dashing up the stairs.
“Wait for us,” Emily called.
“Ah, Mama,” Krew groaned from the stairwell, but his footsteps paused.
Caleb gestured for Emily to go first. He followed her up the staircase. She glanced over her shoulder at him, and he was glad that he’d kept his eyes on the pretty long dark hair bouncing on her shoulder blades, not focused on her backside. His mom and sisters would be proud.
“Did I imply we’d be staying for dinner?” she asked.
Caleb shrugged. “I figured if you couldn’t, I could send some home with you, or I could eat pizza by myself for a week.” He gave her what his sisters would call his puppy-dog eyes.
She laughed and shook her head. “You knew Krew would be starving and that he loves pepperoni pizza.” The words might’ve sounded accusatory, but she said them so sweetly, almost like she appreciated that he knew that pepperoni pizza was Krew’s favorite food. The little man had told him that at one of their practices in the fall.