Chapter 3
Rae
My phone buzzed anda text notification popped up. Clicking on the notification, I saw a message from Caleb.
Caleb: You didn't have time to finish shopping so I bought what you had in your cart, added a few things, and dropped it off. It's in a cooler bag, so it should be good for a few minutes. Seemed like something was wrong. Hope everything is okay. If you need anything, call me. Anytime.
This man is still watching out for me after all these years. I smiled as I stood up from the couch where I’d found myselfafter coming home from the store. I had needed a bit to wind down after my nerves were wound so tight.
I opened the front door and looked around but didn't see anyone around. I brought the groceries inside and began putting them away. Caleb had added a lot more to the cart than I’d had in my basket when I left. Things I’d had on my list as well.Did I leave it behind?I walked over to my purse and found my shopping list crumpled inside.
In awe of how he knew a part of what I’d needed, I resumed putting the groceries away. In the last bag were my favorite mint cookies and my favorite tea that you can only buy from the corner store. I smiled at how sweet this gesture was. He went out of his way to buy my favorite things for me, but what was even sweeter than that, he remembered—after almost five years.
I perched on the couch with my phone in hand and texted Caleb.
Me: I got the groceries. That was so kind of you, I'll pay you back, if you let me know how much it was. I couldn't find the receipt. Also, how did you know the extra things I needed when you didn't have the list - and my favorite cookies and tea? You remembered.
I tapped the “send button” and almost immediately the little bubbles popped up, meaning he was replying. A small smile crossed my face as his reply appeared on the screen.
Caleb: No need for paying me back, unless you let me take you to coffee. I'll accept that as payment, if you want. Oh, and the cookies and tea, you're not one to forget, Sunshine.
That text sent a tingling feeling throughout my entire body. I read the last line again.
“You're not one to forget.”
I smiled again as I replied.
Me: Okay, Ranger. Deal. Coffee sounds nice.
I set my phone down, still smiling at the thought of going to coffee with him. The feeling caught me off guard. Happiness. It felt foreign, like something that couldn’t possibly last, yet it was here, plain as day.
Chapter 4
Caleb
“She remembered, youguys. She remembered what I called her in high school, and she put it as part of her contact in my phone. Sunshine.” I sat across from Jenny and Luke at dinner a few short hours later and told them who I’d run into at the store.
