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A slight smile appeared on her face, though she still didn’t act as though she recognized him. Did he have the wrong person?
“Naomi, right? I’m Caleb. Caleb Archer.” Caleb pulled his cap off for her to get a better look at him.
For the life of him Caleb couldn’t figure out why she kept looking at him so oddly. Finally, she turned towards her car and pointed at the battery. Then she made a grinding noise with her mouth, an implication of sorts that meant her car wouldn’t start.
“Do you need me to jump you off?” he asked, confused that she still hadn’t said anything. “Because I’ve got some jumper cables in my trunk.”
Naomi just looked at him. Rather, she pointed at the car’s battery again, then lifted her hands into the air.
Suddenly, she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her phone. Someone had obviously messaged her and replying was more important than the conversation he’d been trying to have with her concerning her car troubles. The whole situation was a little unusual, and had it been anyone else, he would’ve found an excuse to politely step away. Why was Naomi acting this way?
Slightly aggravated that she was more focused on her phone than him, he shoved his hands into his pants pockets just as he was getting ready to turn and walk away. He had better things to do—like get back to the cabin and unload his things—than to stand out in the freezing weather having a one-sided conversation.
But when she extended her phone out for him to see, things suddenly started to make sense.
Dad: See if he can give your car a jump.
Me: I don’t know. Not sure he understands me.
Dad: Then show him this. Ask him to take you home. I’m sure he won’t mind. The Archers are trustworthy people.
Naomi was deaf.
Chapter Five
Naomi stared out the window the entire way home. Caleb had never felt so awkward around a woman in all his life. With Naomi being hearing impaired, it explained why she’d been so abrupt and in such a hurry to leave when she’d stopped by his cabin earlier. Like she hadn’t wanted him to know about her disability.
He wondered why he never knew this about her, considering they’d played with the Gardner kids numerous times when they’d vacationed here, but now that he thought back about it, she had been a little standoffish at times back then too. Not that it was that big of a deal, but he’d never been around someone who couldn’t hear.
It was getting dark quickly and he noticed her checking her phone several times. Everyone had a phone these days, so he could only imagine what it must’ve been like prior to their popularity. How had she been able to communicate otherwise? By using a pen and notebook, maybe?
She didn’t waste any time climbing out of his car as soon as he pulled up outside her family’s home. She had quite a few grocery bags in the back seat, but she quickly waved him off when he tried to help. He watched as she slid her arm through the handles of several of the bags, then tried to grab the last two with her other hand.
“Here, let me help,” he said again, forgetting that she couldn’t hear him. The weight of all the bags was obviously more than she needed to make in one trip and when one of the bags slid down her arm, she nearly dropped them all.
Caleb looped his fingers through a few of them, persistent that she let him assist her. When she looked up at him, he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was.
“Thank you,” she said and walked towards the front door.
He followed her onto the porch and sat her bags down just inside the doorway. Then, he lifted his hand to wave goodbye.
Naomi nodded appreciatively and set to work putting away the groceries.
When he was back at the car, he couldn’t help but wonder why she still lived at home. Was there a reason she hadn’t moved out? She drove a car so surely she could live on her own. Just because she couldn’t hear didn’t mean that she couldn’t do the same things as everyone else. Right?
Frustrated because of the water situation, he sat down on the sofa to wait for Gene. It aggravated him that he couldn’t do much of anything; heck, he couldn’t even wash his hands. His getaway was getting off to a rocky start—not at all the way he’d hoped—and he tried not to let it discourage him further.
A loud clap of thunder jolted him awake. Caleb hadn’t even realized he’d dozed off. He jumped up to look out the front window at the lightning show, and just as he did, a knock sounded at the front door. He didn’t scare easily, but the knock had certainly caught him off guard.
Figuring it was Gene coming to look at the pipes, he snatched the door open. Except it wasn’t Gene at all.
Naomi stood on the front porch, a plastic food container clenched tightly between her gloved hands. Though she wore the same coat as earlier, he couldn’t believe she wasn’t bundled up any more than that, especially since it was about to rain.
“Naomi, what are you—” he blurted and stepped to the side for her come in.
Rain suddenly began to fall, and he quickly closed the door behind them. He could hear the drops hitting the tin roof, a sure sign that it was more than just a little rainstorm. What in the world was Naomi thinking getting out in weather like this? Especially given the fact that she’d walked since they’d left her car in town. Was she even aware of the severity of the storm since she couldn’t hear the thunder? Had she not observed the wind whipping through the trees?
She clenched the bowl to her chest with one hand while she pushed her hood off with the other. Caleb noticed she had her hair pulled up in a ponytail unlike earlier when she’d worn it down, and he could now see the small hearing device inside her left ear. Sensing his stare, she brought her hand up to the side of her face.
