Page 46 of Bridge to Home

But she did…wait. For almost two years. Her heartache morphed into resentment and finally resolve. If Caleb could follow his dreams, so could she. Not long after, the fire happened. There was no reason for her to stay, so she left.

“Morning, David.” Caleb sauntered over, his lopsided smile a ray of sunshine. He faltered slightly when he noticed Harlow scrunched down in the seat behind her father. “Harlow.”

“Hello, Caleb.” She forced a smile.

“I-I heard you were back. Are you…how are you?”

“Banged up and learning to walk again. Other than that, I’m dandy.”

“It’s good to see you. Been a long time.” Caleb cleared his throat, a sign Harlow knew meant he was nervous.

“Yes, it has.”

An awkward, momentary silence ensued.

Mort trotted over. Caleb absentmindedly patted his head. “Hey, Mort.”

“I got a notice about the city coming by to flush the fire hydrants next week,” David said.

“And you want to make sure the guys don’t mess with your lilac bushes,” Caleb said. “I’ve already reminded them.”

“Thank you.” David started backing up. “How are your folks?”

“They’re fine. Dad’s thinking about retiring. My brother is gonna take over the plumbing business.”

“Tell them I said ‘hi’.”

“Will do.” David spun the bike around and told Caleb goodbye.

Harlow waved and quickly turned away. She could feel Caleb’s sharp hazel eyes watching her.

Finally, they rounded the bend and were out of sight.

“You weren’t very talkative,” her father commented. “I’m surprised. You and Caleb were good friends back in the day.”

“We dated. He broke up with me and joined the Air Force.”

“That’s right. I forgot all about you two dating. I’m sure Eryn told you his wife Tiffany died.”

“I don’t believe she ever mentioned Caleb. Tiffany who?” Harlow asked.

“Tiffany Rowland. You went to school with her.”

“I remember her. She was one grade below me.”

“She and Caleb weren’t married for very long before Tiffany was diagnosed with cancer. She went fast.”

“How awful.”

“It was a shame. They didn’t have any kids.”

Harlow grew quiet. Poor Caleb. You never knew what hand life was going to deal you. She couldn’t begin to fathom losing her spouse at such a young age. Even as awful as Robert was acting, Harlow would be thrown for a loop if he died.

She pulled her phone from her pocket. Robert hadn’t tried calling or texting in over two hours. Maybe he’d given up. She doubted it. If anything, her husband would double down.

Thirty million dollars was a lot, even though she was required to put in long, grueling twelve to sixteen hour days and then there were the press events on weekends. It was good money—an incredible amount of money. In some ways, she couldn’t blame him. He’d worked hard to land the deal and the thought of it slipping away would be frustrating.

“I haven’t heard from Robert since we left the house,” Harlow said.

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