AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Caleb felt white-hot rage in his chest. “She said yes?”
“She said no,” Anthony corrected. “I have a couple of friends who are ENTs and they were able to provide enough documentation to show that Lila wasn’t a good candidate.”
Caleb relaxed a fraction. “That’s good.”
Anthony gave him a wry grin telling him that wasn’t enough, but it was all Caleb was willing to give. Anthony elbowed him though, and Caleb laughed and rolled his eyes.
“Fine. It’s great. Does she have a Deaf mentor?”
“We’re working on that,” Anthony answered quickly. “My little brother’s filling in right now, but he’s off to DC in a couple of weeks. I was kind of hoping you all might know someone.”
“Not me,” Caleb said quickly. “I don’t really know how to deal with kids.”
Anthony threw his head back and laughed, elbowing Caleb again. “I wasn’t askingyou. Or Wren.” When he signed Wren’s name, Caleb caught the slight hurt on his face, and his shoulders deflated.
“Wren’s a good guy. Not to you,” he added when he saw Anthony’s eyes harden. “Not to his dates. But I know he didn’t lie to you about what he wanted.”
At that, Anthony deflated. “No, he didn’t lie. It was my own fault for getting hurt. I just wish he wasn’t so nice.”
Caleb bit his lip for a second before turning so no one would be able to see him. “You’re not still interested in him, are you?”
Anthony’s lips twitched into a tiny grin, and he shook his head. “I’m engaged. To Seth, the ASL professor at the University, actually.”
Caleb’s eyes widened. He knew Seth casually, and he was a very nice guy. Nerdy in the sweater-vest and briefcase kind of way, and yeah. That was a good match. “I’m happy for you. And I’ll ask around, but most of my employees are in college.”
“As long as they don’t teach the six-year-old keg stands,” Anthony said with a grin, “I bet it’ll be fine.”
Caleb rolled his eyes but laughed. “Yeah. I’ll let you know if—” He stopped when turned his head and realized Bodhi was standing in the kitchen doorway, staring at him. His face was blank and unreadable, but there was something in his gaze that told him all wasn’t well.
Caleb glanced behind him quickly, thinking maybe Bodhi’s grandparents had tracked him down, and when he turned to look at the kitchen door again, he was gone.
Odd.
“I need to go take care of a few things,” Caleb told Anthony.
They exchanged a quick handshake and Caleb hurried off without saying goodbye to Penny or her daughter. Pushing past the swinging door, he came to a stop when he faced a kitchen empty of everyone but Jori, who was laying out bread dough for proving.
Caleb walked up and tapped him on the shoulder, then tucked his hand under Jori’s. “Was Bodhi here?”
“Didn’t notice,” Jori answered back with an apologetic shrug.
Fucking hell. Caleb tapped his arm just above the elbow twice to let him know he was walking off, and headed for his office, pulling his phone out.
Caleb: Did you just leave?
Bodhi: Sorry. Late for class. Talk later.
Caleb: Where are you? Let me drive you.
Bodhi: Pick me up after last class?
Caleb: Yes.
Something was definitely off, but considering Bodhi wasn’t shutting him out completely, he was going to call it progress.
Chapter18
The doorto the disability services office was closed, and even though he could see someone sitting behind the desk, he felt a familiar spike of fear that he was doing something wrong by just walking in. He took a deep breath and ignored an old, rusted memory of his grandfather’s booming voice screaming at him for not knocking and waiting for an answer—no matter how much the man damn-well knew Bodhi couldn’t hear one through a closed door.
