Free Shifting Dreams by Elizabeth Hunter Page B

that’s for sure.”
    “Two boys will do that.”
    “You have any kids?”
    “No. My ex didn’t want any. I have a lot of cousins though, and most of them do.”
    “Hmm.” She started refilling ketchup bottles.
    “Jena?”
    “Yes?”
    He leaned forward, pushing his empty plate to the side. He’d drawn out his lunch as long as he could, but he had to get back to the station. “You’re pretty busy, huh?”
    She smirked. “That’s not what you really want to ask me.”
    “No?”
    “Nope.”
    He caught her eye and the woman actually stopped rushing around for a minute. “Go out to dinner with me,” he said.
    She took a deep breath, held it, then let it out slowly. “Where, exactly? Here? It’s the only restaurant in town.”
    “Get a drink with me at The Cave.”
    “Where I work at night?”
    “Every night?”
    She sighed. “Caleb…”
    “I like the way you say my name,” he said in a low voice. He could see her bite the corner of her lip. “I like the way you run your place and the way you talk to your boys. I like the way you kiss—”
    She slapped a hand over his mouth and glanced around the diner. He didn’t care who heard them. He grinned beneath her hand and tried to nip at her fingers, tasting a bit of ketchup.  
    “Ugh!” She turned and went to wash her hands at the sink behind the counter. “Boys.”
    “Go out with me.”
    “I’m not going out with you. There’s a reason I don’t date.”
    “Never?”
    “Never. I’m busy. I’ve got too many responsibilities and not enough time for the life I have. I may like the way you look, Chief Gilbert—”
    “You like my boots, too. Don’t lie.”
    She rolled her eyes. “I don’t date.”
    “So I’m going to have to settle for week after week of flirtatious lunches with my new landlady?” He stood and grabbed his wallet from his back pocket, peeling off a few bills before he set them on the counter and reached for his hat.
    Her eyebrows furrowed together. “You’re not coming in here every day, are you?”
    Caleb cocked his head. “I’m thinking about it.”
    “Don’t.”
    “Why not? That was some great coleslaw.”
    Her mouth gaped open for a moment before she snapped it shut. “You’re…”
    “Handsome? Witty? Ruggedly appealing?”
    The cook rang a bell. “Order up!”
    Jena grabbed two plates before she walked out from behind the cash register. “I was going to say irritating.”
    He stepped in front her so she had to pause. Jena looked up at him with a scowl, but Caleb only smiled. “I’m also persistent, Jena Crowe. And I like a challenge.”
    “Get out of my way, Chief Not-just-passing-through. Or I’ll dump this Coke down your pants, and I know for a fact you don’t have your own shower.”
    “I’m trying to rent yours.” He slipped his hat on, tipping it at her before he walked to the door. “See you later, Jena.” He slipped out the door before she could say anything. He did love getting in the last word, and he had a feeling it wouldn’t happen too often with the woman.  
    Caleb walked to his truck with a spring in his step, nodding and smiling at the curious residents he passed. It may have been small, dusty, and in the middle of nowhere, but Cambio Springs was looking better all the time.

Chapter Seven

    Jena peered into the glare of the late morning sun that hit her when she stepped out the church doors. Aaron darted around her, already racing toward the punch and donuts with one of Allie’s boys.  
    “Bear, you watch where you’re going!”
    Low sauntered behind her, clumsily flirting with the new girl in his class. Her family had just moved back to the Springs. Jena suspected the girl’s mother, who was part of the cat clans, knew her daughter faced her first change soon. Jena smiled toward the uneasy father, who was already shaking hands with Reverend Bullock and being invited for coffee by Ted’s father after church.
    Her grandmother bumped her shoulder. “Come over for coffee with