“What do you mean, all the stuff with my sisters?” I prickle slightly.
“It’s emotional. Lots to process. I think it would have worked up an appetite even if you hadn’t worked your ass off helping everybody downtown.”
I shrug, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
“Plus all the stuff you had to dig through with your parents. You did like — I don’t know — ten years’ worth of therapy unpacking in about one afternoon. That’s a lot for anybody.”
“Maybe I do need therapy,” I admit, then house another handful of fries.
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Caleb says quickly then takes another bite of his burger before placing it back on the center console.
“Well, I’m not upset,” I say truthfully. “I am tired, though.”
“All right. Well hang in there, Susie Q. We’ve got two more stops before I can take you back to the lighthouse and get you tucked in.”
“No. Don’t you dare tuck me in your bed when I’m this disgusting,” I tell him seriously. “I’m covered in sweat. I smell worse than Gunner after he rolled on a dead skunk.”
“Hey,” Gunner protests.
“I do,” I tell Gunner. “And you did do that.”
“That doesn’t mean we have to talk about it. We decided not to talk about it.”
“You would do it again,” I interrupt him, turning around to stare my dog down in the back.
“No, I wouldn’t,” he says.
“You absolutely would,” I tell him.
Caleb’s trying not to laugh, but I can tell by the way his cheeks indent that he’s biting them to keep from laughing at the two of us.
“Where are the stops? Where we going?” God, I literally cannot eat fast enough. I had no idea I was this hungry.
“I’m sure there are several stop signs and traffic lights on the way,” he says.
“Fine. Keep your secrets.” Rolling my eyes, I grab my root beer float and drink it, savoring the way the flavors of the root beer and ice cream mingle together deliciously on my tongue. “Hard to be annoyed with all this food though.”
“Yeah, you’re gonna food coma hard, huh?”
“Meat sweats for sure.” I open up the burger, and sure enough, it’s two patties. “It’s gonna be so worth it.”
Caleb pulls into a cute town center, one that I haven’t been in for several years because I haven’t had reason to go anywhere but Silverlight Shore, the grocery store, and the places I needed to go to deliver special orders locally.
“I can’t go shopping like this,” I tell him, looking down at my gross clothes. “I’m pretty sure there’s lettuce in my teeth.” I flip the mirror down and sure enough, lettuce is stuck between my two front teeth. “I look like a hamster that went on a mud run.”
“You don’t have to.” He gives me a long look. “I’ll go shopping for you.”
“What?” I blink.
“I got you an apple hand pie too,” he tells me, shaking the bag of fast food. “Finish your burger. You can have it. Eat it right now while I go shop for you.”
“You can’t tell me what to do. I’m a grown woman.”
“Fine. Don’t eat it. I’ll go in and I’ll take care of it. Okay?”
“You know what size I wear?” Incredulous, it’s all I can do but stare.
Stare and eat my giant burger.
