Author: mlcsped
Summary: I want to explore what would have happened if Caleb had never answered the call (from Ashley) in 509, "Cover Me" while meeting up with Kelly James. He is clearly smitten by this wonderful beauty. Could there be a relationship in the making, will he train her to bull ride or saddle bronc. We shall see.
Rated: K+
A/N: I promised you Caleb & Kelly, and here they are, in all their splendor! I know it's a short ch. but, do they really need more bells 'n' whistles?
Ch. 13
This moment for Caleb and Kelly seemed to last for hours, and this kiss meant more to each of them than words could allow. They remained there in an entangled embrace for a while. Finally, Caleb broke the silence,
"I'm sure glad you're here with me right now, but Kelly, I have to tell you something. Do you wanna go sit by the fire pit while we talk?"
"Sure", she replied uncertain of his intentions, but she conceded.
He grabbed her hand as they walked to the fire pit and he helped her into a chair. Caleb arranged the pieces of fire wood, lit the fire, then took the seat next to her, pulling his chair closer. He reached for her hand again and pulled it to his lips while his eyes stayed trained on hers. For a moment she thought, "Great, is this his final goodbye? Is he,..."
His soft voice and slow cadence stopped her from thinking anymore.
"Kelly, I haven't said 'I love you' to anyone since Ashley. You have to know how much I love you," he said, looking down at the popping wood and burning coals. "My time here has to be focused on Luke. I'm worried about him."
Caleb now looked into her big dark eyes and he knew at that moment, he had her undivided attention.
"When I saw him lying on the ground in that arena I thought I would never see him again. I have to be here for him. Tonight when he offered to help Jack around here and take care of the stalls and do yard work, tears formed in his eyes. He can't do that. If he gets hurt out here Kelly, it will be bad. When I had my accident, I was giving up. My truck got repo'd, I was addicted to the pain meds... heck I even almost sold 'Shorty'. That's how bad I was."
He took a deep breath for a moment, because he wasn't sure how Kelly would take what he'd just said. Caleb wanted to give her some time to let it sink in. And when he looked in her direction for some reassurance he was relieved to see that she was not judging him or angry for putting Luke ahead of his own needs. She fully accepted what Caleb was saying; so he continued.
"But Luke is in a different kind of pain, mentally. He wants to get back out there and keep on going. He wants to get back into the ring. I've seen this before with other guy's and he's not just another guy, he's a great friend. Those guy's... some of them died; some of them ended up in wheel chairs. I can't let that happen to Luke. I promised Linda I would look after him and that's what I intend to do, and I want you to be ok with that."
Kelly felt his love for Luke and respected that more than anything. When you were a friend of Caleb's you were a freind for life. He deeply cared about everyone, and maybe he has a funny way of showing it, but that was why she was so deeply in love with this cowboy. Reaching from deep in her heart she explained her feelings on the matter: "Caleb, I would never come between you and Luke. I would never ask you to stop being here, or to go back on your word to Linda. He needs you and I get that."
"Good. Then you'll understand our time together - while Luke is here - will be limited. This is hard for me, Kelly, because I thought you'd get mad and leave."
Caleb look into the fire again, afraid to reveal his heart anymore. "I don't want that to happen. I'm not saying to stay away. I want you here," he said, looking into her eyes. "You could leave Clover here and Amy can help get him ready for when I train you for Broncs. She's good with horses and she can help you a lot. Then you'll have to come here -" a grin stretched the corners of his mouth "- and I can see you and we can,..."
She lead over the arm of her chair and his to kiss those cute cowboy lips. Pulling away she asked, "... And we can what?"
Caleb leaned back into his chair, all proud with that silly grin on his face.
Kelly noticed his body relaxing into his chair and said,
"Caleb, how could I ever ask you to stop caring for Luke? You were the one who was here for me when I needed you most. You never pushed your opinions on me and you never told me what to do. You just let me unload my tears and never said 'stop'. I can't, and I won't, get in the way of that. It's not like you're never going to be here; you will be busy and so will I - so there! And don't worry if I'm gonna be all 'drama queen' on you, that's not my style, okay?"
She leaned back into her chair and reached across for his hand. Together they enjoyed an evening by the fire pit. She let her thoughts trail off to the distant future with Caleb. She wouldn't dare come between Caleb and Luke's brotherly friendship. If he was this atentive with Luke, racked up like he was, how much more would that atentiveness be showen toward her.
To be continued
