Page 12 of Wildly Yours
“Nothing to report.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Why?”
“Just thought you had an incident with a mountain troll yesterday.”
“Is that any way to talk about your brother?”
“I see you know what I mean. And by the way, he’d do the same in my shoes, trust me.”
“Thank you for your concern, but the mountain troll didn’t do any damage. Don’t you have some cars to fix?”
“Trying to get rid of me so you two can talk?”
“Am I that obvious?”
“Fine, fine. But listen, he means well. Even if he doesn’t know how to show it.”
“Bye, Caleb.”
He kisses Zoe again, this time like he’s about to go off to war, and my jealous pang turns into a full blown eruption in my chest.
After Caleb struts out the back door I level my eyes on Zoe. “How did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Don’t be silly, Zoe. Every woman in Owl Creek wants to know your secret. How did you win Casanova’s heart?”
“Easy. I trusted that the person he was with me, was the person he was at his core.”
She hands me a steaming mug and I count the seconds before she empties the coffee basket to make herself a cup.
“But how did you know it wasn’t all for show to get you in bed like every other woman he’s been with?”
“Because I believed him when he said he wanted to be different.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that. So whatdidhappen yesterday with Cody?”
“Not much. He wanted to talk about some park business.”
“What’s the deal with you two? Caleb won’t tell me anything. Brother code and all.”
“We have history.”
Zoe walks me over to one of two tables that sits in the small cafe area of her store.
“That’s obvious. What happened back then?”
“I don’t really know. One day we were…close. And then he went away. I don’t know where he went, or who he went with, or why. And when he returned he called me and told me he couldn’t be around me anymore. No explanation. Just radio silence.”
“What a dick!”
“You’re telling me.”
“So he ended your friendship without telling you why. But is that all there was between you?”
My heart skitters in my chest. No one knows about us. Not about that night. Not about our whispered promises. Nothing. Everyone just knows we were friends and then we weren’t. After all this time, I have started to think I made it up. That we weren’t something important to each other. That we didn’t have a shared dream. That he wasn’t the sun in my sky.
I shrug and trace my finger along the indent in the wooden table.
