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I had definitely time traveled back to middle school, but this time there was no Sadie Hawkins Day dance I could use to force a reaction out of him. Cade used to be shy. He didn’t strike me as shy anymore, but who knew? I hadn’t been around for the last decade or so to see all the changes in him for myself.
I’d lost my mind. I needed a nap or an intervention—a Cadenvention. “I need a drink.” I got up to head to the kitchen for a beer. Maybe I should go to my old room and mope. Perhaps throwing myself on my bed to cry it out like the old days would be therapeutic.
“How’re you doing?”
I peeped around the door of the fridge. It was Tucker—number three, recently divorced and still nursing a broken heart. He’d moved back to the house a few months ago. “I should be asking how you are.”
“I’m fine.”
“Sure you are. Want a beer? Want to go hang out in my room with me? Maybe play an old Evanesence CD and cry a little bit.”
He lifted his chin and held his hand out for a beer. “Cry? Over Cade? Yeah, he’s a cop, but say the word and one of us will be happy to fuck him up a little bit.”
“I meant cry over Sierra and the kids so I can comfort you, dork, and please don’t fuck him up. I will admit the Cade situation is surprisingly stressful. But mainly I’m stressing because my deadline is too close for comfort and I’m beginning to think I have writer’s block. Adaline and I aren’t getting along.” I didn’t mention my stalker, good old Douggie W. McPsychopants. I still wasn’t ready to talk about that, with anyone.
“How was your lunch date?”
I laughed. “Nice deflecting, Tucker. And please don’t call it a date. Does anyonenotknow about it?”
He sipped his beer and pretended to think about it before shaking his head with a grin. “Nope.”
“I figured. Even if this town is filled with busy bodies, I’ve missed it.”
“That’s a sign to stay, you know.”
“Hmm, I don’t know. Moving is hard and I—” My phone rang causing me to almost jump out of my skin. I glanced at the screen, “Holy crap, it’s Cade. What do I do?”
Tucker’s side-eye was legendary. “Try answering it for a start. Go to your room, talk it out.” He took the bottle of beer from my hand, twisted the cap off for me and pointed me down the hall. “I’ll keep everyone away and save you a plate.”
“Thanks. I don’t know what my problem is.”
His eyes were sad when they met mine. “Good luck, Charli. Follow your heart.”
“Love you, Tuck.”
“Love you too. Go.”Answer the phone,he mouthed.
After running down the hall and shutting myself into my old room I swiped to answer. “Hello?”
Chapter7
Cade
Even though I knew I’d regret it, I called her. With no plan in mind, no goal, just winging it like a man who lived his life with no fear of rejection.
I paced my living room as it rang, almost giving up before I heard a frantic, “Hello?”
“Charlotte, you’re breathless. Is everything okay?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m at my dad’s place, in my old room.” A nervous giggle escaped. “That’s weird, right?”
Nostalgia washed over me. “Not at all. It’s just like old times.” I could picture her lounging on her canopied bed, on her side facing me as we ‘studied’ together after school. Her soft voice had always made my spine tingle. I had to see her again and not just randomly around town. I needed concrete plans and a guarantee.
Her voice startled me out of my longing thoughts. “We used to talk all night on the phone and be so tired at school the next day. Remember when I fell asleep in Mr. Nolan’s class?”
“Charlotte. Have dinner with me. Please?”
“What? You’re full of surprises, aren’t you? And why? Do you want to question me about the accident some more?” Suspicion laced with a hint of teasing colored her tone.
