“I knew you liked her!” Jenny hit the table. “You denied it all those years ago, but I knew it!”
“I did, back then, but according to her parents, she's now got a boyfriend. Plus, so far, she's only visiting.” A wave of disappointment overcame me as I thought about the reality of reconnecting with her. “We lost touch for a long time, and I bet you when she goes home, it will be the same. She won't contact anyone.”
“Okay, I have a question. If her nickname is Sunshine, shouldn’t yours be Rain Cloud? Because you're being super negative about possibly reconnecting with her.” Luke finally joined in the conversation, giving me a half grin.
I let out a half-hearted chuckle as I ran my hand down my face. He may have been joking, but he was also right. I missed her all those years she was gone.
“Sorry, guys. I really hope this time is different. We all used to be really close, but she was really special to me, and when she moved—”
“You missed her because you love her,” Jenny teased me, but she wasn’t wrong. “Oh, and Luke, ‘Rae,’ like ‘ray of sunshine.’ Caleb also thought she lit up his life, like sunshine brightens a day.” Her teasing tone made me laugh and I started to open my mouth to say something, but she continued, her voice with an extra edge of teasing to it. “And Ranger is her nickname for him because his dad gave him that cowboy hat on his eighteenth birthday and he never takes it off, unless he has to.” She shot me a grin, knowing that Luke remembered my nickname, but now was her chance to tease me.
“Oh that’s right! Sorry, it’s been years.” Luke gave Jenny a sly look, picking up on her teasing. “Also, Caleb, this might be your chance, man. I mean, she was the one that got away, after all.” Luke glanced at me and then looked at Jenny as he gave a goofy grin.
I laughed. “Shut up.” But they were not wrong. I fell for her all those years ago, and running into her today reignited those feelings. Feelings I hoped would be easy to push away this time when she left.
Chapter 5
Rae
Caleb had called meto plan a time to have coffee together, and we chose to meet up after his next rotation at work. It had been five days since we’d seen each other at the grocery store. Today was the day.
I paced the living room while waiting for the time he said he'd arrive. I stopped and looked at the clock—five minutes left—then resumed pacing and trying to talk myself down from the ledge my anxiety put me on.
“I've known about this for four days now, so why am I freaking out about it? Caleb has always been good to me,” I began to ramble to myself while spiraling. “What if I make a fool out of myself though and need to leave immediately, but he's the one driving? Should I drive? Should I call and cancel? No, that would be even worse. It will be fine. If anything happens, I can just tell him I'm sick or something and he can bring me home.”
A knock at the door made me jump. Caleb. I opened the door, and he stood in front of me dressed in a pair of blue jeans that were not tight but somehow hugged him in all the right places and a black shirt that made the muscles in his arms look downright sinful. His boots and favorite cowboy hat tied his look together. This trip to get coffee together would be interesting. I'd have to make sure I didn't stare at him the entire time.
“Hey, Sunshine,” he said as he flashed me the biggest smile—the one that made my knees weak in high school and apparently still had that effect on me.
I smiled back at him and then realized what he had in his hands. “Oh my gosh, you didn't have to bring me flowers!”
“Well, I know how much you love flowers, but while these are from me, this one is not.” He passed me the bouquet he brought, then a mysterious single white rose with a ribbon around the stem.
“Oh. That's weird. I wonder who left that. I didn't hear anyone on the porch.” I had a weird feeling about it but pushed the thought away. There was no way he could have found me that fast, right? Plus, if he had found me, why would he not have made his presence known? No, he hadn’t found me, I was—
“Maybe we should get you security cameras.” Caleb’s voice interrupted my thoughts, and I was so thankful for it, yet he sounded like he was trying to laugh off the worry in his voice.
