The House With the Blue Door
Chapter 15 - The House With the Blue Door
Mara planned to leave.
Caleb discovered her packing three weeks later.
“You're running again.”
“I'm protecting Eli.”
“From what?”
“From becoming a Mercer.”
Caleb almost argued.
Then he understood.
For Mara, the Mercer name meant fear.
Secrets.
Death.
Money.
Caleb sat on the edge of the bed.
“What do you want?”
Mara looked surprised.
“No one has asked me that in years.”
“So I'm asking.”
She thought for a long time.
“A small house.”
Caleb smiled.
“That's it?”
“With a blue door.”
He laughed softly.
Mara continued.
“I want Eli to go to one school for longer than a year.”
“Okay.”
“I want a job where nobody knows my story.”
“Okay.”
“And I don't want you buying everything.”
Caleb's smile faded.
“That last one seems unreasonable.”
For the first time in nine years, Mara laughed.
It sounded exactly the same.
Caleb realized how much he had missed it.
Two months later, Mara rented a small house.
It had a blue door.
Caleb did not buy it.
But every Saturday morning, his truck appeared in the driveway.
Sometimes he fixed things.
Sometimes he took Eli fishing.
Sometimes he simply drank coffee with Mara on the porch.
Neither called it love.
Not yet.
May you like
They had lost nine years.
They refused to rush what remained.
