Chapter 19
“This is not the time for a fucking test.” ~ Caleb
Caleb
I frown when my call to Maya goes to voicemail. She always answers her phone. Even when she’s in line to check out at the grocery store or in a meeting with clients. She always answers me.
Maybe she’s driving and forgot to plug in her Bluetooth? I check the clock. I’ll give her fifteen minutes and then I’ll try again.
Fourteen minutes later I’m pacing the cabin and wondering what’s wrong. I’ve called Maya’s phone three more times and all my calls have gone to voicemail.
I dial Hudson.
“Hey man,” he answers.
“Can I speak to Nova?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t reach Maya. She was going to stop by the grocery store before coming to my place but it’s been more than an hour since she messaged me. ”
“Hold on. Nova is trying Maya now.”
I scowl. “Why would Maya answer Nova’s call but not mine?”
“Who knows why women do what they do? But it’s worth checking. Hold on. Nova wants to speak to you.”
“What did you do?” Nova asks.
I rear back at the angry tone of her voice. “What did I do?”
“Yes. What did you do? Maya’s not answering my call either.”
“Shit.” I rub a hand down my face. “I have a bad feeling.”
“What did you do? Don’t make me come over there. Or send Hudson over there to kick your ass.”
“I didn’t do anything. She was stopping at the grocery store on her way here. I asked her to pick up bread and milk.”
She blows out a breath. “Okay. Here’s Hudson.”
“I’ll message you Flynn and Lucas’s numbers.”
“What? I need to find Maya. Not make friends.”
“Flynn is engaged to Sophia, and Lucas is married to Chloe.”
“Oh.” Sophia and Chloe are two of Maya’s posse. Maya has told me all about their love lives in her letters but in my need to get to Maya, I forgot.
He hangs up and my phone beeps with a message seconds later.
I dial Flynn first. From what I remember in high school, Sophia was more levelheaded than Chloe.
“Here’s Sophia,” Flynn says instead of greeting me.
“What did you do?” Sophia asks .
I’m about done with being accused of hurting Maya. I would never hurt her. I love her.
I love her.
I’ve been fighting my feelings for her for far too long but I’m done fighting. Maya is everything I need. She fills up the cold corners of my soul. She calms me when I feel as if I’m going out of my skin. She drives me crazy with desire.
She’s it. She’s my person.
“I didn’t do anything,” I grit out. “I need to find Maya. She could be hurt and all you care about is gossip.”
She sighs. “About time you stopped hesitating.”
“Were you fucking testing me?”
“Hell yeah, I was. Maya is fragile. I don’t want her hurt.”
“You don’t know Maya at all. She isn’t fragile. She’s a warrior.”
A fragile woman doesn’t handle a man having a panic attack the way she did. Maya’s shy but she’s not soft.
Sophia squeals. “I love this! Maya is finally getting her happy ever after.”
I grunt. “Can we discuss our relationship later?” As in never. “I need to find Maya now.”
“Remember you promised to discuss your relationship later,” Sophia says.
“Maya. Where is Maya?”
“I don’t know. She apparently had a confrontation with her parents at the grocery store.”
I growl. “What? What the hell happened? Did they hurt her? ”
“I wasn’t there, but rumor has it her parents humiliated her in the cereal aisle.”
“I’m going to kill them.”
“You probably shouldn’t make threats to kill people on an unsecure line.”
She doesn’t need to worry. If I want to eliminate Maya’s parents, no one will know what happened to them. It’s hard to prosecute a person for murder when there are no bodies.
“Where’s Maya now?” I need to get to her. She’s probably upset. Her parents are assholes to her. I need to comfort her. I don’t want her going through this alone.
“She’s not at home. Chloe checked there already.”
I grab my keys and rush out of the cabin. “Where else could she be? Where should I search?”
“The brewery is the only place I can think of.”
I switch on my truck. “I’m on my way there.”
“I’ll let Chloe know.”
Before I have the chance to ask why, she hangs up.
I pay no attention to the rough driveway. I bounce up and down as I speed toward the main road. I grit my teeth as pain shoots from my foot through my leg to my groin, but I don’t slow down.
I make it to the main road and hit the gas. I’m speeding and should probably be on the lookout for Sammy the seal but I can’t be bothered. I need to find Maya. She’s hurting and all alone.
My phone rings and I hit answer on my dashboard.
“Why didn’t you contact me?” Paisley asks .
“What?”
“I’m Maya’s friend, too.”
Good point. Paisley is the smartest of the group. I should have phoned her first.
“I didn’t have your number.”
“You do now. I’m sending you Maya’s location.”
“You know where Maya is?”
“Of course, I do. This is why you should have phoned me first.”
She hangs up but my phone beeps with a notification seconds later. I glance at the address before gunning it toward Smuggler’s Rest.
I make it to town in five minutes instead of ten. I slow down when I reach downtown. Hitting a pedestrian will prevent me from getting to Maya.
I park on the street near the address Paisley sent me. When I exit my truck and notice the building, I swear.
The library. I should have known Maya would come here. She’s always loved this place. She spent most of her free time in high school here.
As I approach the building, the door flies open and I get a glimpse of how crowded it is inside. My stomach begins to churn. I feel as if I might vomit.
I push through the nausea. I need to get to Maya.
My hand shakes as I reach for the door. I try inhaling a deep breath to calm myself but I can’t get enough air. Something is squeezing my chest .
I force myself to step inside. Luckily, I don’t need to search the building. I know exactly where Maya is.
My legs tremble as I make my way past the crowd in the front room and past the rows of books to the very back of the library where there are a few private rooms. This is where Maya used to tutor me back in high school.
I have a lot of good memories from our times here. She’d make me laugh so loud we’d get in trouble with the librarian despite the closed door.
I notice my hand isn’t shaking as much as I open the door to the private room where Maya is. She’s huddled in her coat on a chair with a book. But she isn’t reading. She’s gazing out the window.
“Maya.”
She startles and nearly falls off her chair. I rush to steady her. She bats my hand away.
“It’s me, Caleb.”
“Caleb?” The surprise in her eyes has me frowning.
“Why are you surprised I’m here?”
She shrugs and glances away.
I settle in the chair next to her. “What happened, Maya? I’ve been worried sick.”
“Worried sick?”
“You haven’t been answering your phone. No one could get in touch with you.”
“No one?”
“Nova, Sophia, Chloe, and Paisley have all tried.”
“I switched it off. ”
“Why?”
She fiddles with the edge of the desk. “I didn’t want to speak to anyone.”
“Why not?”
“Do we have to do this here and now?”
I nod. “I had to walk through a large crowd of people to get to you. We’re sure as hell doing this here and now.”
She gasps. “Oh my gosh, Caleb. I’m such a selfish cow. I didn’t think.” She stands. “Let’s get you out of here.”
I grasp her hand. “I’d prefer to wait until the library is less crowded before leaving.”
“We can sneak out the back way. I haven’t set off a fire alarm in ages.”
I shake my head. “You can try to change the subject as often as you want, but we’re not going anywhere until you tell me why you’re hiding in the library.”
“How do you know I’m hiding?” She waves the book she’s holding at me. “This book came out today. I rushed here to be the first one to read it.”
I shrug out of my coat.
Her eyes narrow. “What are you doing?”
“Settling in.”
“Settling in?”
“It’s obviously going to be a while before we get to the topic of why you’re hiding. I might as well be comfortable. They always did keep it too warm in the library.”
Her gaze darts to the door and I slide my chair back to block her exit. She can’t run from me. I won’t let her .
“But it’s embarrassing,” she whines.
“As embarrassing as having a panic attack in a crowded restaurant where everyone in town saw me?”
She scowls. “A panic attack is nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“And you shouldn’t be embarrassed of your parents.”
She gasps. “You know?”
“All I know is you saw them.” I palm her neck and squeeze. “What happened, Bunny? You can tell me anything. I won’t think less of you.”
I would never think less of her because of how her parents act. I love her. She’s mine to protect. To cherish. To worship.