The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 241

Chapter 216: Coming Home To Caleb

Bella POV

I unlocked the front door and stepped into the quiet house. A slice of warm light was coming from the kitchen down the hall. As I closed the door behind me and turned around Caleb into view.

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He stopped when he saw my face, reading my expression the way he always did. He didn’t say anything right away. He just walked up to me, wrapped his arms around me, and pulled me into a deep, steady hug.

I buried my face against his shoulder for a second, letting the tension from the evening finally drain out of me. When he pulled back, he looked down at me and gave my arms a gentle squeeze.

“I just made tea,” he said softly, nodding back toward the kitchen. “Your cup is on the table.”

“Thank you,” I said.

I followed him into the kitchen and sat down, picking up the warm cup between both hands. Caleb sat down across from me, watching me patiently, waiting for me to speak whenever I was ready.

“He loved her,” I said, looking across at him. “He actually loved her.”

I looked down at the dark liquid in my cup for a moment, then back up at Caleb’s face. “Not the idea of her, he truly loved her. You can hear the difference when he speaks.”

Caleb stayed quiet, refusing to interrupt me.

“She was real to him,” I said, my voice dropping lower. “She has been real to him for years. That is” I stopped, because the word I needed was not one I used very often. “That matters.”

He reached across the table and covered my hand with his.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “It does.”

I turned my hand over and held his tightly. The house was very quiet around us.

“Are the kids asleep?” I asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Caleb said, looking toward the hallway. “Tom is fast asleep. Nadia told me Grade went down about an hour ago, and then she went out.”

I blinked, looking around the dark house. “She went out? Left when? How come? Where did she go?”

Caleb smiled softly and squeezed my hand. “Please, calm down. She went on a date.” His smile grew wider. “She has a boyfriend. I overheard her conversation on the phone earlier. She actually didn’t want to go tonight, but I gave her permission. She needs to live a little, Bella. She takes care of the kids so well.”

I let out a breath and smiled. “It’s fine. You’re right.”

“She will be home tomorrow morning,” Caleb added.

I sat back, looking around the kitchen. It was the kind of deep quiet that meant everything was temporarily, mercifully fine.

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Chapter 216 Coming Home To Caleb

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“He told me stories about her,” I said, my mind drifting back to the restaurant.

“Do you know she argued with him about a painting at a gallery opening the night they met,” I said, a small

smile breaking through my serious expression. “She made him carry a tiny coffee plant through three different hotels in Italy, and she insisted it died of a broken heart when it did not survive.”

Something was moving in my chest, a warm, heavy feeling that I did not know how to name yet, but it made me want to keep smiling.

“She even translated a novel into French for him because his English was terrible,” I continued, looking into Caleb’s eyes. “She kept inventing her own French words when she did not know the right ones. He said she said them with so much confidence that he just nodded along.”

Caleb smiled at that, his eyes wrinkling at the corners.

“She sounds exactly like you,” he said, very quietly. “The confidence, the arguing, all of it.”

I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth. I held it there just for a moment, just long enough for the tears rising in me to settle back down into something I could control.

“I think I might actually like him,” I said, when I could finally speak. “And I don’t know what to do.”

He did not answer right away. He stood up and came around the table. He did not say a single word, he just wrapped both arms around me from behind, pulling my back against his chest. He rested his chin on the top of my head, holding me tight.

I reached up, holding his forearms, and let myself be completely calm inside his grip.

“You don’t have to do anything yet,” he said softly against my hair. “You’re allowed to just feel it, Bella. You don’t have to make a plan.”

“I am not very practiced at that,” I whispered. “I always make a plan.”

“I know,” Caleb said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “But you’re doing it anyway. You are doing just

fine.”

The cry came through the monitor on the counter. It was small at first, but it quickly grew louder.

Caleb’s arms loosened around me. I was already moving toward the sound before he could even speak.

I walked quickly down the dark hallway and up the stairs to her room.

The nursery was dark, except for the small amber glow of the nightlight in the corner. Grace was standing up at the side of her cot. She was only Eighteen months old, and her tiny fists were gripping the rail tightly, her face turning red,

When she saw me step into the room, she stopped. Tears were shining on her cheeks, and she let out a loud sob.

“Mama,” she cried out. It was a clear, sweet sound.

She reached both arms up high, knowing with absolute confidence that I would pick her up.

I stepped closer and lifted her out of the cot. I settled her heavy, warm little body against my chest. I felt

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Chapter 716 Coming Home To Caleb

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