this stuff?”
“Broke schoolteachers,” Amy chimed in.
Everyone laughed. Caleb’s arm tightened around her waist.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The party ended not long after the gift exchange. The food was eaten, the gifts were unwrapped, and all the little ones needed their beds. The house began to clear out, and Amy grabbed paper plates and began to clean up. It was the least she could do to say thank you.
To her surprise, though, Caleb headed into the kitchen and handed her her coat. “Come on. We’re heading out.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, noticing that he had Donner’s leash, too. “To my place?”
He shook his head, and his face flushed a little red again. “I thought I’d show you mine.”
Oh. She hadn’t once asked to see his place, but of course he lived here. A wild curiosity suddenly filled her. “I’d love to see it.”
Caleb got Donner in his harness and then led the blind dog out and down the back stairs. Amy followed behind closely, noticing that there was a gravel path that forked in two different directions. In one direction was the barn, a large outdoor light illuminating rounded bales of hay stacked against the building and neat lines of fencing. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear the cattle. In the other direction, she saw two porch lights in front of tiny cabins.
“This way,” Caleb said, gesturing toward the cabins.
He waited for her, offering his hand when she wobbled on the gravel path—stupid heels—and didn’t rush her. When they got to his doorstep, he paused, as if drawing a steeling breath, then nodded and took her inside.
“It’s not much,” he confessed as she entered.
It wasn’t. The cabin was about as big as a single hotel room, with a queen-size bed tucked into one corner. There was a chair and a small table near a bureau, a tiny kitchenette next to a door that most likely led to the bathroom, and a generic painting of a cowboy on horseback hung on the wall. The bed was made and the floor clean, a braided rug near the doorstep. A few pairs of boots were lined up along one wall, and a laptop was closed atop the table. The most noticeable thing was a tall, narrow bookshelf that bulged with books. She moved toward it, eyeing the spines. Some of the books were older, some newer. Almost all were nonfiction of some kind or another, from wars to farming to ancient civilizations. “You have quite a collection here.”
“It was always hard to get books back home, so I tended to keep the ones I had and reread them over and over again. Once we got here, I went on a bit of a spending spree and hit every bookstore and library sale for three states over. I haven’t read them all, but I’m working on it.”
Amy smiled over at him. “You know what would look great here?”
“What?”
“An ugly bear statue.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “If you don’t want it, I’m perfectly willing to keep it. I can use it to scare off mice or something.” He gestured at the one chair in the room, the one next to the laptop and table. “Have a seat.”
She eyed him and then went and sat on the edge of the bed. Was it deliberate? Just a little. Did she like how he watched her move with those hungry, avid eyes? Oh yes, she absolutely did. She even crossed her legs slowly because she wanted his attention. She was being a little ridiculous, and she knew it . . . and didn’t much care. “I like your place.”
Caleb shrugged, pulling his hat off and tossing it perfectly so it landed on a hook on the wall, a move she suspected he’d done many, many times in the past. “When we were in Alaska, me and Hank and Jack all lived in a one-bedroom cabin with a dirt floor. So I know this doesn’t look like much, but I figure a guy like me doesn’t need much.” He paused for a moment. “For now.”
“For now?” she prompted.
He fixed those long-lashed eyes on her. “At some point a man wants to get married and start a family.”
She felt herself getting warm, because he was looking at her so intently she knew he was referring to her. He was direct, Caleb Watson.
“What made you decide to move down here?”
He sat down in the chair and kicked his boots off, getting comfortable. His socks were thick wool, and she was oddly