Some Loves (6 page)

I waited in silence though I thought I probably knew where she was going with this.

“Now I know why,” she said with a shrug.

I shook my head. “You don’t know anything. He is so over me.”

“I don’t think so. And really, who wants to date a guy that’s hung up on someone else?” Her forced smile turned into a frown as her gaze dropped to the ground. “Not me.”

I blew out a sigh. I had done it again. I’d inadvertently interfered in Noah’s life.
“Melanie, I think you’re making a mistake. He agreed to go out with you once. You should just see where things go. You do like him, don’t you?”

“You know I do,” she said quietly. “Now I feel so stupid. All those times I blabbed on and on about him at lunch.” She squeezed her eyes shut and threw her hands over her face. When she spoke next, the words were muffled by her fingers. “I made such a fool of myself.”

“No you didn’t,” I assured her. “He’s an easy guy to like. He’s smart, cute, funny, athletic, he’s really great to his grandma. I mean, really, there’s nothing to dislike about him.”

She nodded as her hands fell from her face. “I was going to ask you if you still have feelings for him. I don’t think I need to.”

“You know what? My feelings have nothing to do with this. Noah made it clear that we’re over. So regardless of how I feel—”

“So you do still love him.”

It wasn’t really a question but I still floundered for a response. I did, I just felt uncomfortable saying it, given the present circumstance.

She nodded again, this time slowly, as if I’d answered her. “You know, it would be one thing if you just had a crush on him. Like I do. But you don’t. You love him, Emory. You have a history with him. I can’t and I won’t try to compete with that. For your sake, because
you’re my friend and it just feels wrong. But for mine too. I won’t chase after a guy that I don’t think is interested.”

“You don’t know for a fact that he’
s not,” I pointed out. “You won’t know that unless you ask him out again.”

I mentally shook my head at myself. What was I doing? Was I really trying to get her to date Noah? It was a crazy notion, yet it felt like the right thing to do.

“Tell you what,” Melanie said, “I’ll wait to see if he calls me. If he does, I’ll think about seeing him again. But I really don’t think he’ll call. It’s not fair to ask me to call him. Not under the circumstances. Is that fair?”

“Yes,” I said. “That’s fair.”

“Are you making more deals?” Tyler asked as he appeared in the doorway. He was wearing his pajamas and his hair was standing on end. He had a stack of books tucked under his arm.

“Guess I am,” I said with a smile. He walked over to me and climbed onto the couch next to me. He smelled like mint toothpaste.

“I’ll let myself out,” Melanie said. She rose from the chair. “See you tomorrow at lunch?”

“Sure,” I replied.

Moments later the front door clicked shut.

“I couldn’t decide on two,” Tyler said as he handed me the first book. “Do you think we’ll have time to read them all?”

I made a face at the stack that now rested on the couch. Reaching over, I tickled his ribs and he shrieked.

“Oh, I suppose. For you, I can read them all.”

“Emory! I’m so glad you could make it,” my aunt Aubrey said as she opened the door.

“Thanks for inviting me,” I said as I stepped inside. The aroma of lasagna filled the house. My stomach growled. Living
on my own, I mostly lived off canned soup, sandwiches and salads. I also ate a ridiculous amount of cereal for dinner because it seemed like too much trouble to just cook for myself.

“
Ron is out in the garage puttering with something but he’ll be in shortly,” Aubrey said. I followed her into the kitchen. “Riley, of course, is running late.”

“And Ty?” I asked as I looked around. He was the real reason I was here. While I did appreciate the dinner invite, it was my little brother that I really wanted to see.

She glanced up at me from the salad she’d started to assemble. “Oh, he should be along shortly. Caleb stopped by. I guess he’s looking at puppies?”

I nodded, only vaguely aware of this. I hadn’t talked to Caleb much, or really at all, the last several months. Now that Ty
was living with our aunt and uncle, Caleb picked him up and dropped him off here. My stomach twisted around at the thought of Caleb. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to see him tonight or not.

“Puppies, huh?” I asked. I didn’t want my mind to get too tangled up in the mess that was Caleb Jackson.

“That’s what they told me,” she said as she chopped up a pepper. “A friend of Caleb’s mentioned she’d have a litter of pups ready to go in a month or so. She invited Caleb over to take a look now. Of course Tyler jumped at the chance to see the puppies.”

I smiled at that.

“Can I help with anything?” I asked as I glanced around. The table was already impeccably set. The salad looked nearly completed. A basket of breadsticks rested on the counter.

Aubrey took a quick look around. “No, but thank you. I think I have everything. Well, everything but the dinner guests.” She cocked her head to the side. “I think I just heard a car pull up. Would you mind getting the door?”

“Sure.” I left the kitchen, anxious to see my brother. When I pulled the front door open, I realized that Riley had arrived as well.

She and Caleb
were at the end of the sidewalk. They were attentively listening to Tyler’s animated discussion about something. His face was full of expression as his hands flitted around in the air.

Most likely, he was excitedly discussing the puppy visit.

I stood on the top st
ep, watching with a smile on my face. I loved to see my little brother so excited.

He finally caught sight of me and an even bigger smile appeared. “Emory!” he
cried as he hurried toward me. He still had a slight limp from the accident. It would be awhile before he was completely back to normal.

“
Ty
!” I said back, equally happy to see him. I bounced down the steps to meet him. I reached out and picked him off his feet in a big hug. I quickly put him down. He was finally reaching the age where too much public affection bothered him.

“Guess where we were!” His big green eyes sparkled in excitement as he grinned up at me.

I put my hands on my hips and plastered on a curious face. “Where?”

“We were looking at puppies! There are seven of them! They belong to Caleb’s friend but Caleb might get one. We went to look because he can have his pick of the litter. I helped him pick one out, just in case. He’s not sure yet. But he’ll probably get one. They’re
Black Labs!” he continued to spout. “One of them is a lot bigger than the rest. I think Caleb should get that one. I used to think he should name a dog Buster but if he gets the one I picked out, I think he should name him Brutus instead. He looks like a Brutus! Doesn’t he Caleb?”

I lifted my gaze from Ty. I hadn’t realized that Riley and Caleb were now right next to us.

“He does. He definitely does look like a Brutus,” Caleb somberly agreed.

“You should see him,” Tyler said. “He’s really cute. I got to hold him. I got to hold all of them. But he’s my favorite and I got to hold him the most. Are you going to get him?” he asked as he turned back to Caleb.

Caleb laughed good-naturedly as he put a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “What did I tell you?”

Tyler’s expression evened out. “You said you had to think about it. Are you still thinking?”

“Tyler,” I chided, “stop pestering Caleb. I’m sure you’ll be the first to know when he decides.”

“Definitely,” Caleb agreed.

“I invited Caleb to stay for dinner,” Riley announced.

I felt surprise flash across my face before I could control it. I forced a smile and looked at Caleb. “I’m sure Ty would love that.”

“Yes!” Tyler said as he threw a little punch into the air.

Caleb laughed. “Well, I hadn’t really agreed…”

“You have no reason not to stay. Mom makes the best lasagna,” Riley said. “I mean, she uses like double the amount of cheese. So of course I think it’s fabulous. But really, you should stay. Right, Emory? He should stay?”

She held my gaze for just a moment. If she was trying to silently convey something to me, I had absolutely no idea what it was. First, she roped Noah into dessert with me. Now Caleb, for dinner?

Or maybe I was being ridiculous. Maybe Caleb had nothing to do with me. It was possible she was just trying to be polite. Or maybe she was doing it for Tyler.

What were the chances, two awkward dinners in
a week? I hadn’t told Riley about dinner with Noah at Adelaide’s. I didn’t want her to read too much into it.

Riley gave Ty a nudge. “Let’s go inside. You need to scrub the puppy germs off your hands and I need to add another setting to the table.”

“Wait,” Tyler said as he looked up at Caleb. “I told Emory she should come with us this weekend. You think she should come, right?” He leveled his big, questioning eyes on Caleb.

Caleb lifted his gaze to me. I made an apologetic face. If I tagged along, it would probably be uncomfortable for everyone.

“It sounds like that’s a guy thing. Maybe some other time?” I suggested.

Tyler’s smile turned into a pout.

“Okay,” I relented. “I’ll think about it.”

“I don’t think she has it in her. Your sister’s not quite as tough as you,” Caleb said.

I knew Caleb was nowhere near the male chauvinist that he was pretending to be. His comments were made purely for my benefit.

Noah and I were barely talking, but we
were
talking. I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. The last thing I needed was for him to hear I’d been out with Caleb. Ashton was small enough that it would likely get back to him, one way or another. Really, I knew that it probably wouldn’t even matter.

In fact, I should probably just go.

I just couldn’t bring myself to take that chance.

“She said she’ll think about it,” Tyler told Caleb.

“I think you should go,” Riley said. I swung a questioning look her way. She shrugged. “What? It sounds like fun.”

“It is fun,” Tyler said.

“Let’s let the two of them talk,” Riley said as she gave Tyler a nudge. Then she pointed a finger at Caleb. “As for you, I better see you at the dinner table.”

Tyler didn’t argue as the two of them
bounced up the steps and disappeared into the house. I turned to Caleb. This was the first time I’d been alone with him since…well, since the night he told me he couldn’t see me anymore.

“Riley really doesn’t like to take
‘no’ for an answer, does she?” Caleb asked with a small chuckle.

I shook my head. “No. She’s pretty used to getting her way.”

“I don’t have to stay. I mean, if it makes you feel uncomfortable.”

Was I that obvious? I didn’t like to think that I was.

“I’m not uncomfortable,” I said with a small scoff. “If you want to stay, stay. In fact, you should. Riley’s right. The lasagna is great.”

I smiled, hoping it looked sincere. Hoping it didn’t look uncomfortable.

Which I wasn’t.

At least, not really. I didn’t think.

“Yeah, I think I will,” he said with a small nod. “A home cooked meal sounds great and I’m starving.”

I turned away, anxious to get back inside. I tried telling myself that was because I was hungry. Not because I didn’t really want to be out here alone with Caleb.

He had a different idea about that. His fingers encircled my wrist, pulling me to a stop.

“Do you think we could talk for a second, before we go in?”

I wanted to say ‘no’. I didn’t feel like talking. It felt like the time for talking had passed. It had passed during all of these months that had been filled with silence. The silence had been perpetuated by Caleb walking out on me the night of what should’ve been our first date.

Of course, it hadn’t been as simple as that. That was the night that Noah had shown up.

“So how have you been?” Caleb asked.

“Good. You?” I crossed my arms over my chest, then wondered if that made me look uncomfortable. I hoped it simply made me look cold because I thought it would look silly if I immediately dropped them.

I stuffed down a sigh because I realized then that Caleb did make me uncomfortable. I hated that he made me feel that way. I missed talking to him about Evan. I missed sharing stories and sharing laughs and maybe even a little bit of heartbreak.

But I’d given all of that up in one night.

To be honest, it made me a little bit angry as well.

Though he might’ve meant well, it had still hurt when Caleb had walked away from me.

“Can’t complain,” Caleb said.

“Ty
’s sure excited about the puppy.” It was a good, neutral topic.

He laughed and scraped at the back of his neck. “Yeah. I’m not real sure what I’m going to do about that. I have a feeling a puppy is one of those things that sound good at the time, but then you find out what a mess they can make and you end up regretting it later.”

I nodded, realizing that pretty much summed up our relationship.

“Riley said you and Noah are finally making some headway.”

“Did she?” I asked with what I hoped was a polite smile. I wasn’t sure what she meant by that. I also wasn’t sure why she felt compelled to share that with Caleb, of all people.

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “I figured it would take you two a little bit of time to work things out. It’s good to hear that you’re finally getting there.”

I pushed my lips into what I hoped would pass as a smile. I wasn’t sure where this conversation was headed. Either Riley had given Caleb greatly exaggerated information—which wouldn’t be beyond her—or Caleb had inferred her comment to be something that it wasn’t. I didn’t feel like correcting him.

The front door swung open and Tyler appeared. “Are you two coming in or what?”

“We’ll be right there,” I said.

He closed the door again and I returned my attention to Caleb.

“I’m sorry that things didn’t end on a high note with us. I really did think I was doing the right thing by backing out. I do want us to be friends though,” Caleb said. “I miss you. Ty talks about you all the time. I don’t spend quite as much time with him as I used to. I’ve been busy with work…and other things. But when I do take him places, he usually complains that you’re not with. I know he’d love it if you did the rock climbing wall with us. Will you really think about coming with us on Saturday?”

I shrugged, already knowing I wouldn’t go, but not wanting to make a big deal out of it.
I had to wonder what he’d meant when he’d said he was busy with other ‘things’. Was he seeing someone? I thought it was possible, even likely, because why wouldn’t he be?

I wasn’t sure how I felt about him saying that he missed me. I wasn’t ready to admit that I missed him too. That seemed like a can of possibilities that didn’t seem wise to open.

Instead, I compromised with a neutral comment.

“
Saturday sounds like fun. So, sure, I’ll think about it. But you do know, you weren’t wrong,” I said, trying to lighten things up. “I am not athletic. The rock wall might not be the best time for me to join the two of you.”

Caleb laughed at that. “Don’t worry about it. If you decide to come along, I’ll make sure to catch you if you fall.”

***

“So…?” Riley stated as we walked out to our cars.

“What?” I asked.

“That went well, didn’t it?”

I nodded. “It was fun.”

“You and Caleb both seemed to have a good time,” Riley said as we stopped at the end of the sidewalk. It was twilight and the air had taken on a bit of a chill. I was anxious to get home.

Caleb had left at least an hour ago. Riley and I had stayed longer to get some family time in. I’d read to Tyler and tucked him in but it was getting late and I had a paper to write.

Tyler had made dinner easy and enjoyable. His nonstop chatter had chased away any awkwardness. I found myself talking with Caleb, discussing multiple topics. It had been a bit like old times.
Laughter had been easy and talk had been light.