Page 65 of Love By The Falls

“So far, it’s just some fat white-haired men in light gray suits. Is this him?” She turns the phone toward me.

“Eww, Sage. What do you think of me?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. The place is romantic. He could have swept you away.”

“He would’ve had to knock me unconscious first.”

Sage laughs and I can’t help but chuckle, too. “Okay, okay. Let’s focus.”

“It’s not gonna work. It’s useless.” I try to stand and go back to my room to take a nap, but Sage grabs my arm.

“Put this into the universe. Give it positive energy. So, say it with me. ‘We are going to find him’.”

I stare at her, and she narrows her eyes and crosses her arms. “Don’t mess with me, or the universe, Charlotte Tanner. Now say it.”

I refrain from rolling my eyes. “We’re going to find him.”

“Say it like you mean it.”

“We’re going to find him,” I say, a little louder this time.

“One more time, and I want you to scream it in my face with all the anger and disappointment you feel right now because you deserve something good to happen to you.”

Her words pump me up because damn it, I do deserve something good. “WE. ARE. GOING. TO. FIND. HIM!”

“Fuck, yeah.” Sage high-fives me, then continues scrolling on her phone.

After ten minutes, my energy wanes. “Okay, I’m going to bed. See you later.”

Sage doesn’t argue with me this time, and I stop by Charlie’s room first. He’s wearing a headset and playing video games.

“Who are you playing with?”

“Anthony and Trina from school.”

“Okay. Five more minutes.”

When I reach my bed, I don’t bother changing my clothes and simply stumble on top of the covers. I close my eyes, and darkness falls before my mind wanders onto sunny beaches.

*

My head is foggy, and my body aches. It feels as though I’ve only slept for a few seconds when Sage shakes me. “Char, Char, wake up.”

“Go away,” I mumble and weakly try to roll over.

“Char, I think I found him.”

“No. You didn’t,” I groan into my pillow.

“Just look at this picture on my phone. Is this the guy you met at St. Kitts? Is this Caleb?”

I open just one eye, and while my vision is blurry, the image seems familiar. Rubbing my face, I try to clear the cobwebs in my head.

“Is it him?”

I look again, with both eyes this time. His hair is shorter, and he’s a little thinner here, not as muscular as I remember, but that’s him.

I sit up.

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