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“No, I want to know what you like about it. I assume you like it, since it’s one of only a dozen books you seem to own.”
“I have crates of books at home. I just didn’t want to lug them all around with me.”
“So why do you lug around this one?” She flipped it open and a piece of paper that had been tucked between the pages fluttered to the floor. “Oops.” She stooped to pick it up. It was a letter from the University of Mississippi billing office about the tuition deposit deadline. “You haven’t paid your bill yet?”
He leaned over and snatched it out of her hand. “I will.”
“The letter says it’s already overdue.”
He sat up on the edge of the bed, covering himself with the sheets, and shoved the letter in his desk drawer. “There’s a grace period.”
“Which ends in a week.”
“You read all that in the half-second you were looking at it?”
“I’m a fast reader.” Penny frowned. “Is the money a problem?”
“No, I’ve got the money.” His face was turned away from her, so she couldn’t read his expression. Not that she’d have been able to read it anyway.
“Why haven’t you paid your bill?”
“Laziness. I’ll get to it.” He shot her an exasperated look. “Would you like to see my electric bill next, or can we talk about something more interesting?”
“You haven’t started packing yet.”
“So? I’ve got two and a half weeks.”
“I’d have started packing a month in advance.” Two months in advance, even.
He cracked a faint smile. “Yeah, but we both know you’re a freak about things like that. And I don’t have that much stuff. It’ll take me two hours, tops.”
“Still.”
He sat back on the bed and pulled her into his arms, tucking her head under his chin. “Tell me something about you now.”
“Like what?”
“Tell me about your family.” His fingertips stroked a path down her arm, and she let her eyes fall closed.
“My family are really boring.”
“Boring families are nice. Do you like them?”
“Yes. They drive me crazy sometimes, but they’re my family. I love them.”
“Liking them and loving them aren’t the same thing.”
“No, it’s not.” She gave his arm an affectionate squeeze. “But I like them too.”
“You’re close?”
“I’m really close to my parents. My brothers and sisters…” She thought about her brother who only seemed to care about football, and her sisters who only ever talked about their kids and their husbands. “We don’t have as much in common.”
“What’s your dad like?” Caleb’s voice had grown soft, and it rumbled pleasantly under her ear.
“Quiet. Kind. Nerdy. His favorite TV show is Jeopardy, and he looks forward to his Times Sunday crossword all week. When I’m home we do it together.”
Homesickness burned at the back of her throat as she pictured her dad bent over the kitchen table with his reading glasses on, chewing the cap of his ballpoint pen while her mother cooked breakfast.
