Page 33 of Second Chance Fate

“No, I’m actually meeting someone.”

“Oh, well.” Sue Ann appeared slightly surprised: he didn’t blame her. He couldn’t remember another time he’d ever eaten at the café during the day on a weekday. Dining in was reserved for weeknights and weekends. “Go on and grab yourself a table. I’ll bring you some coffee.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Caleb weaved his way through the tables, saying hi to people on his way to a small bistro-style two-top tucked away in the corner. It wasn’t secluded by any stretch of the imagination, but it afforded the most privacy they would get in a busy diner.

He sat down, selecting the seat that faced the door so he’d be able to get Rebec—no, Taylor’s attention when she walked in. He checked his watch; it was nine fifty. He had ten minutes. Six hundred seconds until his life was going to change.

10

You can do this,Taylor thought to herself as she stared at the ‘50s-era diner sign that read Sue Ann’s Café above the black and white striped awning attached to the cheery yellow building.

She’d imagined having this conversation a million times; now that it was here, her mind was blank. Last night, after she and Owen got home, she had to put Caleb out of her mind. She couldn’t risk Owen picking up on her behaving strangely. But after he went to bed, she stayed awake all night rehearsing what to say. But now, it was all gone.

Her knees were weak, her palms were sweaty, and as she reached to grab the handle on the door, she realized her arms were heavy. All she needed was Mom’s spaghetti, and she would be a walking example of the lyrics to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” rap battle anthem. Actually, it wasn’t a bad song to be thinking of heading into this conversation. It was a song about people facing difficult situations, overcoming obstacles and struggles, and fighting self-doubt.

She pulled the door toward her and managed to walk inside, despite her legs being the consistency of wet noodles. The diner was much more crowded than she’d anticipated. Not that shehad any frame of reference. She’d never been inside of it, only driven by.

Her eyes looked out over the room. She could see people’s mouths moving, and she knew they were talking and laughing, but all she could hear was the pounding of her heart and the whooshing of her breath. The sides of her vision were starting to go black. Thankfully, she saw Caleb standing in the back of the room, and the black that had started to crowd in on her went back out.

As she walked toward him, she was surprised to see that he had a smile on his face. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but he didn’t look mad, and she was relieved. So clearly, even if only subconsciously, she thought he was going to be mad. Nothing she’d learned about him would have made her think that would be his reaction.

Taylor listened when people talked about him, and a lot of people spoke about him. No one had a bad word to say about Caleb. Not in a ‘Stepford Wives’ way. It wasn’t that they thought he was perfect or that people wouldn’t speak ill of him because he was the pastor. Plenty of people had pointed out flaws his father had, and it was clear they all loved and respected the elder Harrison. It was just that the consensus was Caleb was a good man with a good heart who wanted to help people and animals.

Her entire body was trembling as she crossed the diner. In reality, the walk probably lasted only a few seconds. It felt like it took much longer than that.

When she finally made it to the table, there were two Calebs because she was hyperventilating a little bit. Both leaned forward, so she started to hug him but then realized he was just pulling her chair out, so she dropped her arm and started to sit down. At that exact moment, he noticed she was going in for a hug, so he started to give her a hug, and she reciprocated, whichresulted in them doing a strange, one-armed awkward hug-chair-pull-out-sit-down greeting.

Neither of them said anything as she settled on the chair, and he returned to his seat. But as soon as their eyes met, they both smiled, and their smiles turned into a little laugh, which immediately eased a bit of her anxiety. The awkward exchange may not have completely broken the ice, but it had definitely put a crack in it.

“What can I get you, sweetie?”

Taylor jumped, startled as she looked to her right and saw Sue Ann standing there. For one brief second, she’d completely forgotten that she was in a diner and that other people were in the room with them. She felt like she and Caleb were in their own private bubble. The same thing had happened in Daytona Beach.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to sneak up on ya,” Sue Ann apologized.

“No, um, that was…” Taylor shook her head. “I’ll have an iced tea, thank you.”

“Comin’ up and how is that sweet boy of yours?” Sue Ann asked.

“Oh, good.” Taylor’s eyes cut to Caleb, wondering if he’d said something about Owen. From what Taylor had witnessed, this town had adopted Olive Garden’s slogan,

“When you’re here, you’re family.” She’d overheardverypersonal conversations being discussed.

“Did you know her son, Owen, calls Bingo at Golden Years?” Sue Ann asked Caleb.

“I did know that.” Caleb smiled.

“Everybody loves him over there. And I do mean everybody. He even got a smile out of Grumpy Gus.”

“That’s more than I’ve ever been able to do.” Caleb smiled.

Taylor hoped Caleb didn’t think she’d put Sue Ann up to this. She hadn’t. She barely knew the woman. And she had never even spoken to Gus.

“I’ll be right back with that tea.”

“Thanks.”

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