Tell Me Why (18 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Anna-

“File drawer three,” I mumbled to myself as I sorted through the stacks of sheet music I’d been organizing in the office
, while letting my mind wander.

A month had gone by and I’d never heard from Caleb again. I’d made no attempt to contact him either. The pieces of his life I knew about
, came through the grapevine from my mom. Danica was staying with my parents now and was readjusting back into life. Caleb was a regular visitor there, coming to check on her. Danica and Hank were divorcing, and Hank was still in jail awaiting trial. The police had decided not to press charges against Caleb for his part in the fight, due to the extenuating circumstances.

Mom told me that Caleb was fronting the band now, since they’d been unable to find a suitable replacement for me that he
would accept. Apparently they were doing very well though, even having a music scout come by to check them out. I was thrilled for him. He deserved some good in his life. I was a little sad I hadn’t been there to share that with the band though. I knew how excited they all would be.

Life for me was getting slightly easier. I was part way through my first summer semester and had managed
to get a job through the school work-study program, helping the choir instructor, Mrs. Ashley Burns, a few hours each day. She insisted I call her by her first name and we hit it off pretty well. I enjoyed working for her.

“Anna, there’s someone here to see you,” Ashley said, breaking into my meandering train of thought
when she stuck her head into the room.

Puzzled, I went out to find Tyler Reese standing there with a large bouquet of roses.

“Hey,” he said, shifting somewhat awkwardly as he thrust the flowers at me.

I laughed and took them from him. “What are these for?” I asked, lifting them to my nose
and breathing in their beautiful scent.

“I’ve been trying
, unsuccessfully, for weeks now, to get you to go out with me and you keep shooting me down. I figured I’d give the traditional way a shot. You know, see if flowers would work any better for me? Please say yes.”

Sighing, I stared at him over the top of the roses, taking in his hopeful expression. I noticed Ashley quietly slipping into the office and closing the door to give us some privacy.

“Tyler, I keep saying no because I don’t want to do anything to lead you on. I’m not very good relationship material right now. I came to LA because my heart had been broken by someone I loved and trusted very much. I just don’t think I’m ready to get back up on that horse again.”

Tyler stepped closer to me, brushing a strand of hair back behind my ear. “I’m not asking you to marry me, or to even be exclusive. I simply want to take you on a date. Is that so hard?”

It was the soft touch that did it. I missed having that closeness with someone, that comfortable companionship. Tyler had been around a lot with Shawn, when he was over to visit Holly. I knew everyone secretly hoped we would hook up. We all got along really well together as a group, our personalities meshing perfectly.

“Fine, I’ll go on a date with you. But just because I’m committing to this one
, doesn’t guarantee there will be more.”

“There will be more,” Tyler said with a
self-assured wink. Holy heck he was hot, but he was so different than Caleb. Other than the fact they were both tall and amazingly fit, the similarities ended there. Tyler was all blonde, tan, with surfer boy good looks. Caleb was tattooed, brooding, and more dark and mysterious. I loved seeing his tattooed arms wrapped around me.

Pushing these thoughts from my mind, I responded. “Don’t get your hopes up. I don’t want to lead you on. I’m going against my better
judgment even agreeing to do this.” I wasn’t going to sugar coat it for him. He deserved better than that from me. “When are you wanting to go?”

“Tonight,” he said with a bright
, beautiful smile; and I briefly wondered how many girls had fallen prey to it.

“Tonight?” I swallowed hard. That wasn’t much time to mentally prepare.

“Is that okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’m free. It’s sooner than I expected is all. What should I wear?”

“A bikini,” he replied without missing a beat. “We’re going to the beach. I’ll be by to pick you up at seven.”

“Okay.” I was so nervous as I watched him leave the music
building, continuing to stare at the door even after it closed behind him. What if I wasn’t doing the right thing?

“Everything all right, Anna?” Ashley asked, poking her head out.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I carried my flowers into the office. “Any chance you have a vase around here?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. My husband is often known to surprise me with flowers at work. I keep one in the far cupboard over there.”

“Your husband sounds wonderful.” Going to the cupboard, I located the vase and retrieved it.

“Here
, let me get some water in it for you and you can start unwrapping those,” Ashley said, taking it from me.

Laying the flowers on the desk, I slowly began pulling the cellophane wrapping away. The flowers were beautiful, but I sure hoped I wasn’t about to make an even bigger mess of things.

***

“What do you think?” Tyler asked,
as I glanced nervously around at the intimate little cove he’d brought me to.

“It’s beautiful,” I responded, setting
the bag with my things down in the sand next to a blanket and picnic basket Tyler had brought. Glancing to where the last rays of the sun were barely edging the horizon, I loved how the light rippled softly in muted colors of orange and pink against the steely gray tones of the water.

“Are you up for some night surfing?” he asked.

“Night surfing?” Did people actually do that?

He grinned. “Yeah, I thought I could teach you in the cover of darkness. That way if you fall no one will see you
and you don’t have to feel self-conscious.”

“Well, that’s very considerate of you, but you’ve forgotten one important thing.”

“Really? What’s that?”

“
You
will still be there to see my humiliation.” Folding my arms, I stared pointedly, arching my brow.

“I would never laugh at you.” He chuckled.

“You say as you laugh,” I replied, not believing him for a second.

“Come on. It’ll be fun. I promise.” Pausing he glanced around. “But first
, we need to build a fire before it gets any darker. If you want to gather any dry driftwood you can find around here, I’ll run back to my truck and get the firewood I brought.”

“Okay,” I responded with a nod, watching for a few moments as he ran off in the direction of where we’d parked. Silently, I squinted my eyes, wondering if I could make him look like Caleb, but it was no use. His blond hair was too light to pull it off.

Slowly, I made my way around the higher edges of the cove, gathering up several smaller pieces of wood and placing them in a pile near our belongings. I heard Tyler’s heavy breathing before I could actually make out his outline, his arms loaded with wood.

“Sorry I took so long. I kept dropping pieces,” he apologized, careless
ly tossing the wood down and brushing his arms off. “Give me just a second and I’ll have this thing roaring.”

“Not much of a
Boy Scout, are you?” I asked when I smelled the fumes of the lighter fluid he was spraying on the stacked wood.

“I’m the best kind of
Boy Scout,” he disagreed. “Always prepared for quick action.”

Before I could possibly ponder the double meaning of his words, he lit a match and tossed it,
and a loud whoosh filled the air as the fuel ignited. Shielding my eyes against the sudden flare, I stepped backward, lifting my arm as protection.

Tyler laughed beside me. “Sorry. I should’ve warned you. It’ll die down here in a second.”

True to his word, the flames were already getting lower as they quickly ate up the lighter fluid. He squirted more on a couple of different times until the wood was evenly caught on fire.

“There we go,” he said with a dazzling grin, closing the container and tossing it off away from us. Grabbing the blanket, he spread it a
safe distance from the flames. “Food first? Or surfing?”

“I thought we were supposed to wait an hour after eating to go swimming. You know, cramps and all that?”

He shrugged. “We could find something to occupy our time with for an hour, I’m sure.” He winked, his eyes traveling over me suggestively and it wasn’t difficult to decipher what he meant.

“I already told you—I’m damaged goods.” Nerves plagued me as I shifted, kicking my sandals off and burying my toes in the sand.

“You aren’t damaged. You’re hurt. There’s a difference.” Looking away, he lifted the picnic basket and set it in the middle of the blanket. “What you may not have considered is that you and I are in the same boat.”

My eyes widened a bit in surprise as he started laying deli food out, sandwiches, chip
s, and beer. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I get the whole broken heart thing. My girlfriend . . . ,” He laughed wryly. “I guess I should say my ex-girlfriend, is currently in Maui on her honeymoon with my ex-roommate.”

“Oh, that does sound painful,” I replied sympathetically, sinking down on the blanket next to him. “What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.”

He shrugged. “No, I don’t mind. I’ve got to get used to talking about it at some point, I guess.” Stilling, with some bottled water in his hands, his eyes
took on a faraway look and I knew he wasn’t seeing me anymore. “I was majoring in Business and I was chosen to go spend the last three months of the semester back East, interning with a large financial firm. Only five students from the West Coast were chosen to go, and I was one of them. My girlfriend, Shelby, was totally supportive of me going. We planned to call each other every day, FaceTime each other, and whatnot. It started out okay, but then the time difference made things a bit more difficult for us and we seemed to have a harder time getting together. Long story short, I arrived home and found her in bed with my roommate. We fought, I moved out, she moved in, and now here we all are a month later. They’re married and on a beach somewhere for their honeymoon. I’m single and here on a beach with a first date.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, knowing it wasn’t really enough. He might be glossing over all the juicy details, but the hurt still showed in his eyes as the firelight reflected in them.

“Don’t be. I’d rather be here with you anyway. It’s obvious she wasn’t the one or she’d still be here.”

His comment made me immediately think of Caleb. Did that mean he wasn’t the one for me since he wasn’t here with me either? A tightening sensation in my chest made me realize I was holding my breath.

“How about you? What’s your story?” he asked, focusing back on me.

I shook my head. “Mine . . . is a story better left untold, I’m afraid.” I felt bad for ditching out, but I couldn’t betray Jessi’s secret—or Caleb’s for that matter.

“Gonna keep playing the mysteriously wounded card, huh?” Tyler asked in a light tone, not sounding upset at all.

“I guess so,” I replied, absently rubbing my arms. “I’m not trying to dodge you, but I’m definitely not ready to talk about it.”

“Well, hopefully I’ll still be around when you are,” he said in a good-natured manner, adding another wink.

“You know what?” I said suddenly changing my mind and wanting to get away from the subject of my p
ast. “I think we should do the surf lessons first, after all.”

Squinting at me, he cocked his head to the side before studying me. “All right, but I left my board in the back of my truck. I’ll need to run
and get it.”

“I’ll wait right here,” I said with a laugh.

“Promise?” he teased back.

“Promise.” Smiling, I watched him as he ran off one more time before turning to stare out at the dark water.

Slipping my shorts off, I left them on the blanket and moved toward the rhythmic surf, the sound soothing my senses. Stopping when the waves started washing over my feet, I was reminded of the lapping of Puget Sound as it moved against the beaches of Bainbridge Island. I missed the view of Seattle all lit up across the harbor and, for the first time since I’d left, a longing homesickness flooded through me.

Images of home danced through my mind and
, in all of them, Caleb was present—sometimes laughing, sometimes kissing me, sometimes drunk, or even crying. I missed all the complexities of his personality. He existed on such a deeper level than I did, feeling and experiencing everything from the very depths of his soul. Every emotion he had was lived to the extreme.

A strange bluish glow caught my eye, and I found myself stepping farther into the water to try and see it better. The closer I got, the more it spread until I was standing hip deep in the water trying to figure it out.

“Phosphorescence,” Tyler’s voice broke into my solitude as he waded up next to me. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”