“Yup. That Jenny. I told her and Luke I ran into you at the grocery store the other day. They would love to see you, if you wanted to meet up with them.” This conversation was a welcome relief from the conversation about my parents.
She nodded and smiled. “I would love to see them. Did they ever get together?”
I immediately began to laugh. “No, they still won’t admit to themselves or each other that they are in love. We all know it, but they still don’t see it. Jenny’s parents decided they wanted to move into a smaller house, so they gave her the house and moved. A brush fire started while she was at work one day, and it moved too fast. Caught the house on fire. It was pretty badly damaged but not a total loss. Once she was able to, she hired Luke to do the repairs. He refused to let her pay him, so she is only paying for materials. She is actually working a few hours here and there to help me out on the farm since my brother moved. She needed the extra cash, but having her around to help out with that, even for a few short hours on her days off, I think it helps me out more.”
“Oh, wow. That's a lot of information to unpack.” She let out a breathy giggle.
We both laughed, and I was happy to see her starting to relax. She didn't have a death grip on her coffee cup anymore which made me smile even more.
Our conversation blossomedinto one of memories from high school. I watched her across the table from me as she giggled more and more during our conversation. She picked at her breakfast sandwich until she finished it. There were times her hands shook or her mind seemed to wander when she looked around, but I was glad that, for the most part, she seemed to be a bit more comfortable. Something had happened that brought her home suddenly. I was sure of it. However, I was happy to see her smile, and I would not take any moment with her for granted again.
Rae's phone buzzed and, after barely glancing at it, her posture stiffened immediately. She reached for her phone and turned it over.
“Everything okay?”
“Oh yeah, it's nothing.” She gave me a half grin that didn't meet her eyes. She crossed her arms and rubbed her hands on them as if she was cold while not making eye contact with me.
“Alright,” I said softly. “Just—if it does ever turn into something, or if you ever want to talk, you can. You can come to me for anything. I mean it.”
Her eyes lifted to meet mine. I saw something flicker in her eyes. Sadness? Fear? Whatever it was, she was holding it all in. She gave a restrained smile. “Thank you.”
I let the silence settle between us for a moment. “You ready to head out?” I would never tire of being around her, but I could tell she was done for now.
“Yeah, sure. Sorry. Thanks for the coffee, by the way. I really had a good time hanging out with you.”
“Anytime, Sunshine.”
Chapter 7
Rae
As I shut the doorbehind me, I started to crumble. I had such a nice time with Caleb, talking like we used to, until Ethan texted me. I had just briefly looked at the text and immediately shut down. Caleb was the exact opposite of everything Ethan was, and he was nice company to have, but the chance of him being willing to hang out again was slim. I knew that. I ruined it. Like I ruin everything else.
I ran a hand over my face. “Good going, Rae. You really knocked that one out of the park.”
I changed into a pair of leggings and a giant sweatshirt and sat on the couch, across the room from where my phone was. I needed comfort and to calm down a bit before I did anything else. I hadn’t even fully read his text yet. That could wait, right? It wasn’t going anywhere.
