It All Started With a Lima Bean (18 page)

Abby thought that was a strange statement, so she had to ask, “You do? Why do you think it didn’t grow?”

“I’ll show you later Miss Abby.” The little girl started to run away toward the direction Caleb had gone a moment ago.

“Sounds good.” Abby called out to her. There was something so special about that little angel. Abby truly enjoyed all of her students, but this sweet girl genuinely tugged on her heartstrings. Her eyes and thoughts left Madison as she noticed the really hot guy by the oceanfront. Wait a minute, THAT’S the daddy Madison was running to. Caleb had his shirt off when he found her at the bathroom, but he was too close to her, and she didn’t want him to catch her ogling him. He was now walking, still shirtless and only wearing board shorts while carrying a surfboard out to the water. Her quick breath surprised her. He was a freaking gorgeous man, but she didn’t imagine he looked like that without a shirt on, cut muscles and all. It made sense if he surfed a lot. She just didn’t expect her reaction, and Holy Guacamole, he had an enormous tattoo of an angel covering his entire back. Yes, please and thank you. Abby would love to get a closer look and trace the design with her fingertip. It looked like the angel was bowing, and the wings that covered Caleb’s shoulder blades and ribs were hugging the angel. She’d never been interested in guys with tattoos before, but it just looked so yummy on him. She felt lightheaded as she tried to catch her breath.

“Get a grip on yourself Abby.” She murmured to herself, looking away. After realizing that she had been drooling over him, she looked around and saw Grace turn her head away with a slight smile on her lips.

“Busted.” She told herself while walking toward the rest of the group.

“Caleb has had Madison on his board with him ever since she was a toddler.” Grace shared this while sitting in her beach chair and gazing out at the water.

“Oh.” It was then that Abby noticed the little girl in front of Caleb as they came in on a small wave. Thank goodness Grace thought that’s what she was staring at. She made her way around to greet everyone. Her mom said, “I thought Leah was coming today.”

“No, she couldn’t get out of being at the wedding that she was working. The bride insisted she come.” Abby didn’t hide her disappointment. The only part she didn’t like about Leah’s career was that she had to work a lot of weekends because weddings were a crucial part of her business.

“That’s too bad. I haven’t seen her in a while. You girls need to come around more often.” Abby would love to do this, but her mom wasn’t in town a lot lately, and when she was home, she spent most of her time with her husband, Dave.

“You travel so much, mom. How can we see you? Is there a cruise you haven’t been on?” She sadly pointed out.

“When you retire from teaching, you’ll see how wonderful it is to travel without a thought about having to go back to work.” Her mom had worked many years as a teacher, as well. Her mom loved her job but enjoyed her retirement even more.

Abby put her things down on the grainy sand and started to remove her modest cover-up. She couldn’t believe that Leah talked her into buying this black Robin Piccone ‘Penelope’ crochet overlay, one-piece swimsuit. She fell in love with it when she saw it on the mannequin at the large department store, but feared that her wide hips, larger rear, and mountainous chest just didn’t look right in it. Oh well. She was here and wasn’t going to chicken out now. She grabbed all the courage she could muster, and threw the cover-up on top of her unfolded chair.

“Oh my,” Her mom said, a bit shocked knowing how modest Abby’s swimsuits have always been.

“That is such a darling suit Abby, and it looks stunning on you. I love the buttons on the hip area.” Abby could just kiss Grace for using her gift of turning awkward situations around.

They were all facing the ocean when Madison yelled, “Daddy, are you ok?”

Caleb was lying face down on the sand with his legs wrapped up in the leash of his surfboard. Sand flew from his mouth as he laughed out loud with his eyes closed. Madison joined in, covering her mouth as she giggled. He got up and headed toward their group while wiping the sand off his face and body. Once opened, Caleb didn’t take his eyes off Abby. Her heart pounded in her chest. She had to look away because, in this swimsuit, it was obvious that she was breathing heavily.

“You ok there son?” Grace snickered as she lowered her sunglasses to the bridge of her nose.

He turned to her and said, “Yeah, I’m okay. Just forgot to take off the leash, and then tripped on it.”

“Interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever heard about you forgetting to take the leash off before.” Caleb eyeballed his mother-in-law who liked to point things out in front of other people.

Caleb couldn’t believe he actually took a face plant in front of everyone. He had been caught off guard when he came out of the water and looked up to see her. As much as he tried to fight it, his feelings for Abby had grown as strongly as Madison’s had. The moment he saw her in that bathing suit, he knew he was a goner. He hadn’t looked at another woman since Rene died and still wrestled with the fact that he shouldn’t want a relationship. He didn’t feel right about having another woman replace his Rene.

He was aware of the fact that Grace was orchestrating the time that he and Abby spent together. Grace had excellent taste; Abby truly was beautiful inside and out. He needed to figure out how to get to know her better before he decided what to do. He wanted to do it on his terms without the prying eyes of their present company.

“I didn’t know you surfed. It looks like fun. Is that what Madison meant when she said you like to play in the ocean?” Abby broke him out of his thoughts. She was now sitting in one of the folding beach chairs.

“Yes. I fell in love with it when we moved to Santa Barbara. I’m from Chicago, and we don’t have a lot of surfing opportunities there.” He finally got the leash off and started rubbing a beach towel through his dripping hair. “You should try it. I can teach you.” He was really going to have to get her away from these nosy old people that were staring at them as if they were watching a tennis match.

“I’d love that but...” She looked down at her outfit. “Maybe another day.”

That was good because her bathing suit may not have survived a strong wave, and he really didn’t want her experiencing an embarrassing mishap. “Sounds great.” She smiled at him while using her hand to shield the sun from her eyes. He couldn’t hold back his smile.

“Hey son, why don’t you take her in a couple of days? It’s a school furlough day on Monday, right Abby?” Grace inquired. His mother-in-law had no shame.

Abby nodded awkwardly.

Cautiously, while biting his bottom lip and squinting, he asked Abby, “Would you like to try it on Monday?”

Madison interrupted before Abby could give her answer. “Daddy, is it lunch time yet? I’m hungry.” She rubbed her wetsuit and sand-covered belly making a scratchy sound.

“Come over here Baby Girl; Grammy will get you some food.” Grace waved her hand to get Madison’s attention. Once she ran away, Caleb stepped closer to Abby, and then crouched in front of her, trying hard to keep his eyes on her face and not roam down her body. She didn’t look like she was going to answer on her own so he asked again.

“Are you busy on Monday? I’d love to teach you to surf.”

“Sound like fun. I’d love to.”
Thank goodness
. He didn’t know how he would react if she said no.

“Are you hungry? There are some things in the cooler just for you.” He made sure there was food for her. Anytime she was with him, he would ensure she had something. It bothered him that she’d said she normally ate before going anywhere because there were never things for her to eat at gatherings.

“I could eat. Thanks for thinking of me, Caleb.” Wow, just hearing her say his name like that did funny things to his blood pressure. She seemed embarrassed by what she’d said because she followed up with, “I mean thanks for making sure there was food for me.” His thoughts about her covered more than just the food she would eat. That was for sure. He just needed to make sure he was ready to travel down that road before acting.

Smiling, because he knew he had a good one, he teased, “Well, we wouldn’t want you to pass out from starvation would we.” She stood up, grazing his chest with her hip, and then froze when he stood up beside her. Good, she was just as affected by him as he was by her.

They’d had an incredible day at the beach and had just wrapped up dinner at Caleb’s house when Madison came running up to him. “Come on guys. I’m ready to plant my seeds. Come over here.” She pulled her daddy and Abby away from the rest of the group and over to the area in the back yard that she wanted to plant her Lima Bean.

“I think my bean was lonely, so I want to plant two of them together right here in the ground. Grammy says that it’s portant that roots have lots of room to grow so that they are strong and healthy. She also said that you have to watch for weeds and yank them out right away so that they don’t hurt the plants.” She made a quick jerking motion as if she were pulling at something.

Madison knelt down and dug a small hole as the adults looked on, and then at each other. “Now is the most portant part. Grammy said that nothing grows without love so here Miss Abby, kiss these lima beans.” Abby looked at Madison then Caleb. She figured she might as well kiss the beans and get it over with. She watched Caleb’s eyes fixed on her pouty-lipped kiss. Once her lips left the seeds, Madison placed them into Caleb’s large palm. “Your turn Daddy.” He paused a moment then gave them a quick peck. “My turn.” Madison picked the seeds up from Caleb’s hand with her delicate fingers, kissed them, and swayed back and forth as though she was hugging the beans. She said a little prayer then placed them in the hole she’d dug. “Now I’m going to cover them so that they are nice and warm.” She smoothed her hand across the soil, pushing dirt over the gap. “I just know they will grow because they are happy, loved, and not lonely anymore.” While still kneeling, she poured some water on top of the small dirt mound.

Something in the air shifted as Abby and Caleb’s eyes met, knowing this statement was truer than the sweet little girl who’d said it would understand. “I think you are right sweetie. Everyone needs love and companionship to thrive.” Caleb continued his deep gaze into Abby’s eyes as she held her stare into his.

“What does thrive mean Daddy?” Madison stood and brushed the dirt off her knees.

“Huh?” He looked down. “Oh it’s another way of saying grow.”

“Okay.” Then she skipped off, leaving the dumbfounded adults staring at each other in their “Ah Ha” moment.

Caleb pulled up to Abby’s small Spanish style bungalow. He was nervous about the day ahead. He needed this alone time with her to explore their possibilities. There was definitely something extraordinary about her, but that achy feeling in his heart wouldn’t go away. Could he really move on without Rene? Would that tarnish his memories and the love that he had committed to forever? Grace would quickly point out that the vows were until death do them part, but he still had to sort this whole thing out.