Page 53 of Shattered Melodies

I hesitated, not sure how to answer that. Was I okay? It was a loaded question, one I wasn’t entirely sure I knew the answer to.

Before I could formulate a response, a familiar voice drifted in from the clinic entrance, making my heart stop dead in my chest.

"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered under my breath, my grip tightening on the phone.

"What? What's going on?" Jimmy asked, his voice laced with concern.

But I barely heard him. Because there, standing in the doorway was Caleb. Again. Just like last night when he'd shown up at my door with this very kitten.

"Jimmy, I've got to go," I said, my voice tight and strained. "I'll call you back later."

"Wait, Liam, what's…"

But I was already hanging up, shoving my phone back into my pocket with shaking hands.

Caleb was still standing there, looking as surprised to see me as I was to see him. Our eyes met, and I could see the recognition flicker across his face, followed quickly by a mix of emotions I couldn't quite decipher. Slowly, hesitantly, he started walking towards me.

I felt my heart rate kick into overdrive, my palms growing damp with sweat. Despite our encounter last night, I still wasn't prepared to face him again so soon, especially not in such a public setting. The memories and emotions stirred up by his unexpected visit were still too raw, too fresh.

But I couldn't exactly run away, not with Peanut in my arms and the receptionist watching us curiously from behind her desk. So I just sat there, my jaw clenched and my eyes fixed straight ahead, waiting for him to make the first move, to break the heavy silence that hung between us.

He sat down next to me, the chair creaking under his weight. I could feel the heat of his body, the subtle scent of his cologne. It was all so familiar, so achingly reminiscent of the countless hours we had spent together, side by side and hand in hand.

"Liam," he said softly, his voice rough and uncertain. "I didn't expect to see you here. Especially not so soon after... well, you know."

I let out a harsh, humorless laugh. "That makes two of us. I thought you were just dropping off the kitten. Didn't realize you'd be following us to the vet."

He flinched at my tone, at the bitterness and the anger that laced every word. "I'm just here to arrange vaccinations for the livestock. It's that time of year again. I had no idea you'd be here with... Peanut, was it?"

I nodded, my jaw still tight. "Right. Of course."

He hesitated, and I could see the struggle on his face, the war between his desire to talk to me and his fear of saying the wrong thing.

"How have you been?" he asked finally, his voice soft and hesitant. "I mean, since last night. I know it was probably a shock, me showing up like that."

I wanted to laugh again, wanted to scream at the absurdity of the question. How had I been? How did he think I had been, after he had shattered my heart twenty years ago and then suddenly reappeared on my doorstep?

But I didn't say any of that. Instead, I just shrugged, my eyes still fixed on the wall ahead of me.

"Fine. Just peachy. Nothing like having your past show up uninvited to really make you appreciate the present."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair in a gesture that was so familiar, it made my chest ache with a mix of longing and frustration.

"Liam, I... I know things ended badly between us. And I know my showing up last night probably stirred up a lot of old feelings. But I just want you to know that I'm sorry. For everything."

I felt my anger flare, hot and bright and all-consuming. Sorry? He was sorry? As if that could erase the years of pain and loneliness, the endless nights spent wondering what I had done wrong, what I could have done differently to make him stay. And now he had the audacity to show up twice in less than a day, throwing my carefully constructed life into chaos.

"It's a little late for sorry, don't you think?" I snapped, my voice sharp and cutting. I shifted Peanut in my arms, using her as a buffer between us. "You can't just waltz back into my life after twenty years, drop off a kitten like some kind of peace offering, and expect me to forgive and forget like nothing ever happened."

An elderly woman sitting across from us looked up from her magazine, eyebrows raised. I lowered my voice, but the edge remained. "And now here you are again. Are you following me, Caleb? Because I gotta say, it's not a good look."

He flinched again, his eyes filling with a deep, aching sorrow. "No, Liam, I swear. This is just a coincidence. I truly am here for the livestock vaccinations. I had no idea you'd bring the kitten in so soon."

"Well, unlike some people, I actually follow through on my responsibilities," I muttered, immediately regretting the low blow but unable to stop myself.

Caleb's face fell, and for a moment, I saw a flash of the boy I had loved all those years ago – vulnerable, hurt, and achingly familiar. But I steeled myself against the wave of emotion threatening to overwhelm me.

"I know, and I'm not asking for forgiveness," he said quietly. "I know I don't deserve that, not after the way I hurt you. But I need you to know that I never meant to cause you pain. Not then, and certainly not now."

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