Page 48 of A Gift of Time
Nothing can surprise me at this point.
Once the parade ended, Caden and I moved at a leisurely pace down the sidewalk, hand in hand. We wore gloves, but I could still feel the warmth of him.
He was like my personal ray of sunshine, as corny as that sounded. Just one smile from him could brighten my day, and one touch could wash away my worries. If only he could do that now, but his touch had the opposite effect that day.
With each touch, I feared it’d be the last.
I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t the end of the world if midnight arrived and he hadn’t said he loved me. We were soulmates and I hoped we’d find a way to be together… but I didn’t want to lose my memories of him. And what if without my memories of our life together, I’d revert back to my old self, the one Logan had called an asshole, and Caden wouldn’t want me.
When he let go of my hand, I snapped out of my thoughts.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing. My phone buzzed.” He stopped walking and took his phone out of his coat pocket, frowning as he looked at it.
It reminded me of one of the first days when he’d stayed with me, when he’d received a text that had visibly upset him. And I couldn’t keep my mouth shut like before.
“Is it your shitty ex?” I asked with a snarl.
Caden’s gaze darted to mine. “That obvious, huh?” He pocketed the phone and started walking again. I kept pace beside him, letting him answer when he was ready. “He’s been texting me for the past two or three weeks.”
“Does he want you back?’ I asked, dreading the answer.
“I guess so,” he said.
We walked for another minute. Maybe two. And my patience was wearing thin. “Do you wanthimback?”
“Hell no,” he answered, looking at me. “I changed my number after he kicked me out, but he got my new one from a recent client who’s a friend of his. He’s been texting me the basic ‘Hey, what are you doing?’and all that crap.” A laugh escaped him as he faced ahead. “One time when he texted that, I responded with ‘my new roommate.’He sent back a massive text that was all bitchy, and I ignored it.”
I grinned, feeling both relieved he wasn’t interested in rekindling that old flame with his ex, but also a little disappointed that I was justthe roommate.
“You hungry?” I asked, needing a change of subject.
“Starving,” he answered. “A hot cocoa sounds amazing right about now.”
We headed toward Hannah’s across the street, and once we were inside and out of the bitter cold, we shrugged off our coats and sat down at a table near the window.
A fireplace crackled in the corner of the room, making the restaurant cozy and inviting, and Christmas music played softly through the speakers.
Caden ordered his usual burger and hot chocolate, while I ordered a soda and the huge bacon cheeseburger.
Thankfully, the subject of Blake never came back up, and we talked all through lunch.
Caden discussed how the floats in the parade all looked spectacular, and I told him that he should try to be included in the lineup next year to advertise his business. Other businesses had done it, so I thought it’d be a great idea. He agreed.
As we talked, it was almost easy to forget about the deadline hanging over my head. But one look at the clock on the wall put it all back into perspective.
Two in the afternoon; less than ten hours left.
“Can we go to the park after this?” Caden asked with a hopeful smile.
“Of course,” I answered, batting away the nerves in the pit of my stomach. “Anything you want.”
