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CHAPTER 6
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2021-12-01 23:56:36By the following morning, Sparkle had decided the man needed to be pushed into getting outside himself. Sitting in the kitchen with him the night before had been interesting and more revealing than Kaleb Brantley would have liked, Sparkle was very sure about it.
Though he had a gruff, cold exterior, Sparkle had seen enough in his eyes to convince her that the real man was hidden somewhere beneath that hard shell he carried around with him.
She had known Kaleb had been trying to avoid seeing her again by staying late in his workshop. Which was why she’d been waiting for him in the kitchen. Sparkle had always believed that it was better to face a problem head-on rather than dance around it and hope it would get better. Which, by the way, never happened.
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His mouth twitched and Kaleb shook his head.“People think I’m weird.”“I don’t.” Sparkle said it quickly and wasn’t sure why she had until she saw a quick gleam of pleasure in his eyes.“Be sure to tell Martha,” he added, and left, still shaking his head.“Bye, Kaleb!” Hayzel’s voice followed him and Sparkle was pretty sure he quickened his steps as if trying to outrun it.“Mommy, you think Kaleb is mad at us?” the little girl asked.“No, baby,” Sparkle replied caressing her face. “Why would you think that?”“He looked at me a little funny and he didn’t want to eat your pancakes.”“I’m sure he’ll ask for them
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Hayzel laughed and shook her head so hard her pigtails flew back and forth across her eyes.“I go to pre-K because I’m too little for Big-K because my birthday comes too late because it’s the day after Christmas and I can probably get a puppy if I ask Santa and Mommy’s gonna get me a fairy doll for my birthday because Christmas is for the puppy and he’ll be all white like a snowball and he’ll play with me and lick me like Lizzie’s puppy does when I get to play there and…” So... instead of halting the rush of words and noise, he’d simply given her more to talk about… And she could do it without breathing in between words…Wow! Kaleb took another long gulp of his coffee and hoped the caffeine would give him enough clarity to follow the kid’s twisty thought patterns.
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Late at night, the big house was quiet, but not scary at all. That thought made Sparkle smile to herself. She had assumed that a place this huge, with so many windows opening out onto darkness, would feel sort of like a horror movie. Intrepid heroine wandering the halls of a spooky house, alone, with nothing but a flashlight… until the battery dies. She shook her head and laughed at her own imagination. Instead of scary, the house felt like a safe haven against the night outside. Maybe it was the warmth of the honey-toned logs or maybe it was something else entirely. But one thing Sparkle was sure of was that she already loved it. Big, but not imposing, it was a happy house. Or would be if its owner wasn’t frowning constantly. But he’d smiled with Hayzel, she reminded herself as she heade
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Kaleb swiveled a look at her.“If you don’t mind, I don’t really feel like talking.”“Oh, you don’t have to. I like talking.”“No kidding… For a moment I thought differently…” Sparkle smiled and thought she saw a flicker of a response in his eyes, but if she had, it wasn’t much of one because it faded away fast.“You can’t get to know people unless you talk to them.” He scraped one hand across his face.“Yeah, maybe I don’t want to get to know people. How about that?”“I think you do, Kaleb… You just don’t want to… want it.”“What?”“I saw you today with Haze.”&nb
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About forty, Ken Taylor had pulled his black hair into a ponytail at the base of his neck. He wore a heavy brown coat over a flannel shirt, blue jeans, and black work boots. He opened the gate at the back of his truck, then grinned at Kaleb.“One of these times, though, you should come into town yourself so you can see the reactions of the people who buy your stuff.” Shaking his head, he mused.“I mean, they all but applaud when we bring in new stock.”“Well… Good to know,” Kaleb replied.“Still, you should show yourself…” It was odd, he thought, that he’d taken woodworking, which had once been a hobby, and turned it into an outlet for the creativity that had been choked off years ago. Kaleb liked knowing that his work was appreciate
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Kaleb used to hate the night… the quiet of the night was so heavy on his soul. The feeling of being alone in the world. The seemingly endless hours of darkness. It had given him too much time to think. To remember. To torture himself with what-might-have-beens. He couldn’t sleep because memories became dreams that jolted him awake… or worse, lulled him into believing the last several years had never really happened. Then waking up became misery, and so the cycle went. Until nearly a week ago. Until Sparkle… Kaleb had a fire blazing in the hearth as he waited for her. The night was now something he looked forward to. Being with her, hearing her voice, her laughter had become the best part of his days. Having her there wa
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For the next few days, Kaleb settled back into what his life was like pre-Sparkle and Hayzel. He worked on his secret project, which didn’t really need to be a secret anymore because he always finished what he started. He tried to put them out of his mind, but how could he when he sensed Sparkle in every damn corner of his house? In Martha’s suite, Sparkle’s scent still lingered in the air. But the rooms were empty now. No toys, no stuffed dog. Sparkle’s silky red robe wasn’t hanging on the back of the door, and that pitiful excuse for a Christmas tree was gone as if it had never been there at all. Every night, Kaleb sat in the great room in front of the fire and looked at the tree in the window. That it was there amazed him. Thinking about the night he, Sparkle, and Hayzel had
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Sparkle spent the next few days taking care of her business. She buried the pain beneath layers of carefully constructed indifference and focused on what she had to do. In between taking care of her clients, she made meals for Kaleb and froze them. Whatever else happened after she left this house, he wouldn’t starve. If she had her way, she wouldn’t leave. She’d stay right here and keep hammering at his hard head until she got through. And maybe, one day, she’d succeed. But then again, maybe not. So, she couldn’t take the chance. It was one thing to risk her own heart, but she wouldn’t risk Hayzel’s. Her daughter was already crazy about Kaleb. The longer they stayed here in this house, the deeper those feelings would go.&n
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The house phone rang and Sparkle answered without looking at the caller ID.“Brantley residence.”“Sparkle? Oh, it’s so nice to finally talk to you!” A female voice… A very happy voice that she didn’t know.“Thank you very much… I guess…” she replied, carrying the phone back to the window so she could look outside. “I’m sorry, but who is this?”“Oh, God, you’re right! I didn’t introduce myself… How stupid of me,” the woman said with a delighted laugh. “I’m Catherine Brantley, Kaleb’s mother.” Whoa! A wave of embarrassment swept over her. Sparkle was standing in Kaleb’s bedroom, beside the bed where they&rsq
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Kaleb watched her as, for a second or two, she just stared at him as if she were trying to make sense of a foreign language. And since he was staring into those clear blue eyes of hers, he saw the shift of emotions when what he’d said finally sunk in. And even then, the uppermost thought in his mind was her scent and how it clung to her skin and seeped into his bones. Every breath he drew pulled her inside him until summer flowers filled every corner of his heart, his soul. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d led them both into a risky situation, and he had to keep his mind on what could, potentially, be facing them. It had been a long time since he’d been with anyone, sure. But it was Sparkle herself who had blown all thought, all reason, right out of his head with that one surprise ki
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Her fingers scraped through his hair, held his head to hers. Every breath came strangled, harsh but Sparkle didn’t care. All she wanted, all she needed, was the taste of him filling her. The feel of his hands holding her. Then, when she became light-headed, Sparkle broke the kiss, letting her head drop back as she gasped for breath. Staring up at the dimly lit ceiling, she concentrated solely on the feel of Kaleb’s mouth at her throat, latching on to the pulse point at the base of her neck. He tasted, he nibbled, he licked, and she sighed heavily.“Oh, Kaleb… That feels really...” She gasped again.“Good.” With his mouth against her throat, he smiled.“I’ve wanted my hand
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Everybody in town had to be in the steakhouse, and Sparkle thought it was a good thing. She knew a lot of people in town and she made sure to introduce Kaleb to most of them. Sure, it didn’t make for a relaxing dinner… She could actually see him tightening up. Still, it felt good to watch people greet him. To tell him how much they loved the woodworking he did. And the more uncomfortable Kaleb got with the praise, the more Sparkle relished it. He’d been too long in his comfort zone of solitude. He’d made himself an island, and swimming to the mainland would be exhausting. But it would so be worth the trip.“I’ve never owned anything as beautiful as that bowl you made,” Charlotte Hobbs gushed, laying one hand on Kaleb’s shoulder.&nbs
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Once it started snowing, it just kept coming. As if an invisible hand had pulled a zipper on the gray, threatening clouds, they spilled down heavy white flakes for days. The woods looked magical, and every day, Hayzel insisted on checking the fairy houses. There were now two… Every time she was near them, she squinted inside the tiny houses, trying to see if she could catch a glimpse of the tiny people living in them. Every day there was disappointment, but her faith never wavered. Kaleb had to admire that even as his once-cold heart warmed with affection for the girl. Hayzel was getting to him every bit as much as her mother was. In different ways, of course, but the result was the same. He was opening up and damned if it wasn’t pai
