Page 25 of Coveted By the Bear

“I still can’t believe you got Sadey on a horse,” Caleb said in his deep southern drawl, a smile in his voice. I wanted to look to see if the smile I heard was really on his face, but I looked at the ground instead.

“Ah, it wasn’t me. She’s a natural,” I said.

Sadey positively glowed under the compliment. “See you boys back at the house,” she said as she pulled Blue around and away from her brothers.

I waved at Caleb and turned before he could respond.

One of the foster families I had stayed with had ignored me. No matter what I did or said, there was absolutely no response from the people I’d been struggling to connect with. There were other children in the house. Children more in my foster parents’ favor who would elicit compliments and, in turn, reprimands from them. I would have given my left arm to be reprimanded. At least if they’d made the effort to correct my behavior, it would have meant they cared and I wasn’t just a means to a small monthly check for them.

Being ignored was the loneliest feeling on the planet. By the time I had come to stay with Uncle Brady, I had been trained to ignore the hurt. Or to accept it. All of my training had flown out the window when Caleb McCreedy entered my life, and the need for his approval left me feeling unbalanced.

I lay awake for a long time that night. Caleb would finish paying whatever debt he thought he had accrued, and I would never see him again except for accidental meetings on my rare trips into town. How would I ever be able to go back to the loneliness of my previous life? I was weak for letting a man affect me so, and I became determined to be colder.

I could turn my heart off.

I had done it a hundred times before.

Chapter Nine

Mira

I stared at the tiny cartons of milk that lined the refrigerator. I’d seen the small cartons in the miniature fridge at Jake’s and thought how neat it would be to drink out of one, but it seemed inefficient and wasteful. The empty carton was a small weight in my hand, and I counted fourteen left. I had no guess why Caleb had bought these instead of a gallon of milk. Maybe he didn’t have a concept of saving money or of being frugal. The purchase seemed at odds with the man I had an occasional clipped conversation with. Honestly, his disregard for money bothered me.

I jumped as a loud car horn blasted from right outside the front door. The sound echoed through the house and settled into my bones.

I threw open the front door. “What are you doing?” I asked Caleb, who was sitting in his truck on the front lawn.

“I widened the gate. Go get ready. We’re heading into town.”

“Why?” I asked as my heart skittered.

“Because we need to find you a way to earn a living, and it’s not going to get done from here.”

He sounded irritated, but maybe it was just because he wasn’t a morning person. I’d take that over annoyance directed at me any day of the week.

“Do you want breakfast?” I asked.

“You’re stalling,” he accused. “We’ll grab something in town.”

Breakfast in town sounded absolutely terrifying. Not even a little part of me wanted anything to do with such an excursion.

I turned to retreat back into the house. Maybe he would leave if I took long enough.

“Wear the green shirt,” he called out from the open window of his truck.

Or maybe he wouldn’t leave.

“What did I do?” I mumbled under my breath as I headed for the bathroom.

One green shirt, a pair of stretch jeans that didn’t look half bad, and a pair of Sadey’s black flats later and I was shutting the door behind me. The shoes were a little big but if I shuffled, they stayed put.

“You look…” Caleb started. He cleared his throat. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” I murmured.

“Good. Good attitude to have,” he said as he edged his truck down a path he had apparently just bulldozed with the front end of his truck.

“As I’ll ever be means no,” I said testily. “Why are you doing this to me?” I didn’t mean to sound whiney, but I really didn’t want to leave the comfort of my own home today. People didn’t insult me and throw things at me here.