Caleb was standing by the barbecue, laughing at something Greg had said.
Our eyes met, and his smile softened. That look shouldn’t have mattered as much as it did. And yet.
I headed towards the pool and sat down on the chair. A little girl with soft, brown hair came up to me.
“Could you please help me remove my ducky floats?”
“Of course, I can.” I released the valves and squeezed them to begin releasing the air. “My name’s Nyah. What’s yours?”
A voice from behind said, “That’s my Kate.”
I looked up and saw Marie.
“I’m sorry about before.” Her brown eyes fell away before looking back at me. “I’m Marie, by the way.” She stuck her hand out.
“Nyah. Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking her hand. “Kate’s a beautiful little girl.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you came.”
I pulled the floats off the girl, who went running off to whatever was next most important on her five-year-old’s agenda.
“Because I add a little colour to the group?” I asked.
Marie smiled abashedly and sat down beside me. “Not the top reason, but yes.” A breeze flipped her brown hair across her face. Sheheld it back with one hand. “Don’t mind them. Those two have always been like that.” She checked over her shoulder, confirming they were out of earshot. “No one is ever good enough to enter the group, which is probably why Caleb never brings anybody. You’re a pleasant surprise. Are you the reason he has been so different lately?”
“I don’t think so,” I replied. “What makes you think that?”
“If you’d met him before, you wouldn’t need to ask. I don’t think you would’ve been able to stand him.”If she only knew.“Six months ago, he would’ve needed to be the centre of attention at a party. Now...” She left the sentence unfinished. “And he seems fine with that. I’ve never seen him this calm and composed. I hardly recognize him.”
I found Caleb across the crowd, and for a moment our eyes met. Marie was right; I hardly recognized him either. The man I’d learned to hate was... elsewhere.
At that moment, Greg shouted, “Enjoy the grub!”
Marie and I walked over to the meat-lovers’ paradise laid out on the table. Utterly famished, we all dug in.
The sun droppedtowards the horizon. I felt I’d finally defeated the hangover with calories after devouring the cheesecake and went to stretch out on a sun lounger. I was surprised it had turned out to be such a great day. I had met some lovely people, laughed a lot playing a card game calledBullshit, and had enjoyed way too much food.
After resting my eyes for a few minutes, a touch to my arm brought me back to the present.
Caleb was crouched beside me. “Ready to go?”
I nodded and accepted his hand to help me stand up.
While bidding everyone goodbye, Greg gave me a tight hug and said, “I hope to see you again very soon, and more often.”
I smiled, turned to Beth, and thanked her while Greg walked with Caleb out to the sidewalk. From the corner of my eye, I saw Caleb’s face harden. He walked back to me, handed me the keys, and said, “Will you wait for me in the car?”
I took the keys, paused a moment, then turned and walked to the car.What’s that about?
Minutes passed.
I pinched the skin of my throat. Just as I was about to go looking, I saw him come back out and start walking towards me. He did not seem happy.
My mind ran through the events of the day.Had I said something wrong? Did I offend somebody in any way?
As we drove in silence, I saw that his knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard.What the hell happened in there?
Unsure of myself, I glanced over and said, “You were right.”
