He looked at her.
“I really wish you would talk about yourself more.”
He sighed. “Evie, I don’t think it’s appropriate to do this right now.”
“Do what? I thought dates were supposed to be about getting to know about each other.” She smiled to reassure him and opened her hands. “You can tell me anything at all you’d like.”
“What’s so important for you to know? You know I’m divorced. Ihave two kids. I’m in the Navy. And I run my own contracting business.”
She shook her head out and narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, but I’m sure there’s more to you than that. Like, what’s your favorite food? How did you meet Ashley? What are some of your favorite memories? Ever get hurt on a horse?”
He groaned in agitation then leaned his elbows on the table. “Just be honest, Evie. You want to know why we got divorced.”
She stared at him in shock. “But that’s not the case at all. It’s really none of my business.”
“But how she and I met is?”
She was pissed. She could no longer hide it. She had been nothing but nice to him since she had met him, and if all he was going to do was be condescending, then she would get up and forget it. Angrily, she grabbed her purse, and Caleb looked as she stood up.
“You’re leaving, I take it?”
Oh, his tone wasvile! What was she supposed to do?
She answered, “Yes, I am leaving, because?—”
She hesitated. The room felt like it froze, and she glanced at the floor, looking at her soft beige suede boots. Then she turned and looked at him. All she saw was him sitting casually at the table, with his elbows on the table, hands folded, and him rubbing his mouth against his hands looking at her.
I will tear down those walls brick by brick with my bare hands if I have to.
She let herself sink in the idiocy of what she was about to do. Was shereallygoing to leave over the fact he didn’t open up to her after only truly knowing her for only a few days? The seasons had come and gone, yes, but not only were they just getting to know each other, he wasn’t obligated to her. And she decided to remember that.
Her purse strap slowly slid off her shoulder as if she was going to hold it but never did. As their eyes met, the nasty and undeniable truth came into her heart. Caleb Wright had to be hiding something absolutely dreadful to be pushing her out of his private life like that. But how was she going to be involved with someone who wouldn’t let her in? Was she being too pushy? Was she trying to move too fast, too soon?How the hell was she supposed to know what to do? The cluelessness of handling a situation like that left her with nothing but a frustrated heart and a confused purpose.
“I’m sorry I got up so quickly. I think I, um, it’s a woman thing. So, I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Will you…be back?” he asked slowly.
She turned and paused with a weak smile. “Yes, I will always come back.”
But in the bathroom once more, Evie found her solace and cried. This was going to be significantly harder than she thought. Love was not the thing she had imagined growing up. She dreamed about her valiant knight as a child, and it was supposed to be perfect. Her hero was supposed to be perfect, not hard to decipher. Military men were different than fairytales. Real life was different.
Everything was wrong. It wasn’t like how it was in movies or books, where a service member swept the lady off her feet and was all heroic and shit. No. Their trust had to beearnedand earned patiently. It wouldn’t take any effort at all for her to tell him anything he wanted to know. Why did it have to be so hard for him? Her chest felt clenched from the sadness and despair, and as another woman came in, she silenced her cries. Love was supposed to be effortless, at least in her eyes. Evie never understood why people made things so complicated.
For her, you either loved somebody or didn’t. And if you loved somebody, it shouldn’t be hard to open up to them. Little did she know she was too childish to realize the very thought indicated she wanted him to love her already.
That was stupid.
She had to get her racing thoughts under control before they crashed into one another and she did something stupid.
He had texted her so many times saying she had no idea what she did to him, how he couldn’t wait to see her, and all these other sweet things. Wasn’t that love? Or was it?
Caleb paid the bill, and when she came out, she picked up the flowers, and together they walked to her car. He carried her little box of chocolate cake. But she was slow and resistant in her motions. Thesunset was coming in the busy shopping district, and once more she pulled her hair from her face as the wind blew. She shivered.
Their eyes met.
Their hearts yearned for something neither one of them could confess.
Evie softly asked in worry, “Will I hear from you again?”
