Close to Home by Emma Miller

Chapter 18

"Please, Caleb, I need time," Mary said softly, putting down the coffeepot and walking to the kitchen door.

He studied her face, looking for a sign that there was hope. "I understand. Just promise me that you really will consider it," he said, his hand on the doorknob. 

"This is all happening so fast. I don't know how I feel about you, Caleb."

He stepped out onto the porch and she followed him. "Is it because I kissed you?" he asked, afraid he had pushed her too far.

She shook her head, trying to figure out how to put her emotions into words. "It's about trust. I have to be able to trust you, Caleb. I just don't know if I can."

"I meant what I said. You're the only one for me."

"The trouble is, I'm not sure you're the one for me." She closed the heavy door, leaving him alone on the porch.

Confused and hurt, Caleb returned to his buggy, untied his horse and drove out of the yard.

He felt stunned, almost numb. He wasn't sure what had gone wrong in there, but something had. Mary had welcomed his kiss. That much he knew. She'd kissed him with as much passion as he felt.

He supposed he should have been up front about his grandfather's offer, but explaining why he had to have a wife immediately would have been awkward. Caleb wasn't clear himself why his grandfather had stipulated he must marry at once. Perhaps he loved his farm and thought that a married man would have more reason to work hard.

Caleb had never been close to his mother's father. But his grandfather had written that he regretted what had happened between them all. He said that he realized that the fault was his, and he asked for forgiveness. Caleb's mother had loved her father, despite the breach between them, and Caleb didn't have it in his heart to hold a grudge against his grandfather.

Most young women would have been glad that the man they were marrying owned land. Surely Mary wouldn't believe he would marry her just to get the land? Would she?

The sound of a motor vehicle coming fast behind him jerked Caleb from his thoughts. He looked in the mirror and saw a pair of headlights bearing down on him and the flash of blue police lights behind it. The speeding car started to move into the left lane to pass the buggy, but there was another vehicle coming, head-on.

Caleb would have pulled the horse off the road, but on his right was a deep drainage ditch. There was nowhere to go.

Brakes squealed and his horse reared in the traces. The horse whinnied in fear and fell back, tilting the carriage dangerously. Mary's image rose in his mind just before he felt the crash and the sound of shattering wood deafened him.