Cold feet(80)
Author: Brenda Novak

There was a long silence, then she said, "I’m in love with you, Caleb."

The words were almost a whisper, but they carried a tidal wave of emotion. Caleb let it wash over him, filling him with relief. He’d been trying to come to grips with the fact that he might never see her again, but he hadn’t been able to do it. He’d thought of nothing but Madison and what she and Brianna had come to mean to him. Even if he’d been capable of forgetting her, his family wouldn’t have let him. They talked of her constantly, encouraging him to stay in contact with her, encouraging him to wait until she was ready and then try again.

He grinned at Tamara, who was watching him with a self-satisfied smile. "I suppose I could work on Whidbey Island just as easily as in San Francisco," he said. "But you’d have to make a few concessions."

"Oh, yeah?" Her voice was slightly skeptical, as though she knew he was going to milk her confession for all it was worth. "What concessions would those be?"

Tamara squeezed his arm in support, then rushed to the door of the kitchen to call his mother.

"The cottage is a little drafty," he complained, sitting at the small telephone desk in his mother’s kitchen.

"It is?" Madison replied.

He put his feet up. "Terribly."

"Which means…"

Justine Trovato hurried into the room, smiling. She was trailed by his father, who looked slightly amused, which was saying a lot for his father. Together with Tamara, they stood waiting expectantly, silently cheering for him. "I think I’d be much more comfortable living at your place," he said.

"With me?"

"Not without marrying her first, you’re not," his mother said, obviously appalled, but he shook his head.

"Of course with you," he replied to Madison.

There was another slight hesitation on Madison’s part. "What about Brianna?"

"What about her?" he said into the phone. "I love Brianna."

"And she loves you. But–"

"But what?" Folding his arms, Caleb pictured Madison’s pretty face, her brow creased in consternation, and felt his grin broaden. She was backing right into his trap.

"We can’t live together," Madison said. "Not unless…unless we get married."

"So you’re proposing to me?" he said.

"No!"

He laughed at the embarrassment in her voice. "What if I was proposing to you? Would you say yes?"

His mother released a big sigh and nodded her approval. But he could hear Madison’s quick intake of breath and thought maybe he was pushing too hard, too fast.

"You want to get married?" she said. "Already?"

"Does that frighten you?"

"It terrifies me. We haven’t known each other very long."

"I’d be good to you, Maddy. I promise you that. I’d do my best to make you happy, and I’d love you for the rest of my life," he said, marveling at the fact that he wasn’t embarrassed about making such promises despite having his entire family as an audience.

"He’s not too hard to live with," Tamara chimed in.

Caleb knew Madison had heard her when she laughed. "But this is…this is so sudden," she said. "A moment ago, I thought I was never going to see you again."

"I don’t think I could have left it at that," Caleb admitted. "I was hoping you’d call me, but I probably would’ve broken down and called you as soon as I reached San Francisco."

"I don’t know what to say."

"Just say yes," he told her.

"We’ll make it a lovely wedding," his mother said.

Madison paused for a second, a heartbeat, but it was the longest moment of Caleb’s life. "Yes," she said at last. "And tell your family yes, too.

"We’re getting married," he announced, and they all started hugging each other. His mother began to cry and his father clapped him on the back.

"Now will you come home?" Madison asked.

He gave Tamara a high five. "My bags are already packed."

EPILOGUE

Eight months later…

THE SUN FELT SO WARM on Madison’s face that she could scarcely keep her eyes open. The fact that she’d just finished another of Justine’s big meals didn’t help. They were all moving a little more slowly, even Mac, who had his arm around his wife and was chewing on a blade of grass not far from her and Caleb. He got up every few minutes to answer his cell phone, but overall he seemed to be giving Tamara more attention, which made Madison even happier.

"What did you say?" she murmured to Caleb, feeling his fingers comb gently through her hair while she lay in his lap, completely content just to be near him.

"I said Brianna needs a dog, don’t you think?"

"A dog?" She turned to look across the yard, where Brianna was kicking a ball with Jacob and Joey. "She’s only seven."

"So?" he said.

"A dog’s a big responsibility. That’s why we gave Susan’s dogs to Tye, remember?"

"We gave Susan’s dogs to Tye because he relates better to animals than he does people. And I didn’t want to face those dogs every day of my life and think of Susan," he said.

Madison continued to watch the kids play. "But Brianna doesn’t need a dog right now. She has a half sister at her father’s house, and I’m due in three months, so she’ll have another sibling. Do we have to do everything all at once?"

Caleb put a protective hand on her extended abdomen, which he did often. "The siblings are good, but I think she needs a pet, too."

"She has pets at Danny’s."

Caleb grimaced. "She has fish at Danny’s because Danny and Leslie are so afraid anything else will shed hair on their expensive furniture or stain their Persian rugs. And she only gets to see her fish every other weekend."

"But she’s never mentioned wanting a dog to me," Madison pointed out.

Caleb called Brianna over. "Honey, you want a dog, right? You’re lonely without a dog."

"I’m what?" Brianna said.

"Lonely."

"Oh, we’re doing this now?" She wiped the smile off her face and managed a pleading expression, and it was all Madison could do not to roll her eyes.

"Mommy, I really, really, really want a dog. Please…"

"See?" Caleb said smugly.

Madison decided to play along. "Will you help take care of a dog?"

"I will," she said. "I’ll give him food and water and brush his fur and–" she glanced at Caleb and lowered her voice to a whisper "–what else was I supposed to say, Daddy?"