I looked at Red’s hands. I missed holding her hand while I drove, but I couldn’t because she was holding the coffee cup with both hands.
“Red?” I glanced at her.
She was still staring out the window, but her body was turned toward me, and I had enough common sense to know that she was paying attention to me. Body Language 101.
“Are you going to drink that tea?” I asked.
She shook her head, still not looking at me. Okay, then. I grabbed the tea from her hands and placed it in the cup holder. She turned her eyes on me, puzzled. I gave her a smile and reached for her hand, interlacing our fingers.
There.
Everything was all right in Caleb’s world again. I let out a satisfied sigh.
Once we got to school, I walked her to class. I knew people were staring at us. I had a reputation on campus. I was fine with it, but I was concerned about Red. I hoped it didn’t bother her.
“So, I’ll meet you at the cafeteria after your exam,” I said. “We’ll have a bite to eat before I drive you to work.” I realized what I was doing. I was telling her what to do again, so I rephrased. “If you like. We could eat anywhere. You call the shots.”
“Caleb.”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for…” She lifted her hands, palms up, in a helpless gesture.
My heart ached. She didn’t know how to express her emotions. I wanted so badly to know what had happened, why she was this way. I guessed I needed to earn her trust first.
“You don’t need to say a word,” I said, meaning it.
She looked at me with bewildered eyes, as if she was trying to decide whether to believe me or not.
She said her exam would take two hours, so I decided to go to the multipurpose room to play pool or just hang with my teammates. I was waiting for my turn when I felt someone poke my back. I turned around and stared into the smiling eyes of Beatrice-Rose.
“Hey, Caleb!” she exclaimed. She tried to wrap her arms around my neck, but she was petite and ended up hugging my torso instead.
“Hey, Beatrice-Rose! How are you?” She had cut her blond hair short, and her bangs swayed softly above her pale-blue eyes. “You look great,” I said, smiling back.
She pulled back, moving her hands to my biceps. Was she squeezing them? I bet she was. She liked big arms on guys.
“Oh, Caleb, be still my heart. You look gorgeous, as always.”
It was good to see her again. She was a childhood friend…and then more than a friend on and off for years. She had taken two semesters off from school to go to Paris to… I racked my brain, trying to remember what she’d told me before she left. Ah. To find herself. Soul searching or something like that.
She pouted, shaking her head at me. “Why are you calling me Beatrice-Rose? Call me B, like you used to.”
I gave her an indulgent smile. “Sure, B. So, did you find your soul in Paris?”
She paused, as if she didn’t expect the question and her brain was trying to adjust to the conversation. Then she threw her head back, laughing.
“Oh, Caleb, how I’ve missed you! Why don’t we catch up tonight? Dinner, same time and place?”
I knew I looked uncomfortable. Damn, I felt uncomfortable. How did I explain this to her? We had a past, but never a commitment. People thought she was the closest thing I had to a girlfriend, but I’d never called her that. I’d never wanted one until Red.
Beatrice-Rose had approached me a few times over the years to hang out, and I almost always said yes—unless I was dating a different girl. But that stopped a few years ago because I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. And it sure wasn’t going to happen today, tomorrow, or ever, because…
“I have a girlfriend.”
She removed her hands from my arms. “Okay, Caleb. You mean you’re dating someone else right now? That’s fine. She’ll be gone next week, yes?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m really serious with this one.”