Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
GEORGIA
Two weeks had passed in one of the most blissful summers I’ve ever had.
We’d spent every waking minute with each other when we weren’t working.
Some nights we’d find a private place to skinny dip at the lake and afterwards make love on a blanket beneath the stars.
We’d drive over to Barrington and go to the movies, making out in the back row.
Or let our competitive streaks show while bowling.
Other times, we just drove around and talked, holding hands while we got to know everything about each other.
The more I learned, the deeper I fell for him.
Tonight, Caleb was picking me up from work. He said he had a surprise for me, and I couldn’t wait. My gaze was fixated on the clock. I’d been on a countdown for the last thirty minutes. When it finally struck eight o’clock, I bolted for the door.
“Bye, Mitzy. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I threw my apron under the counter, grabbed my purse, and ran out the door.
At the side of the diner, he was waiting for me in his truck with the engine idling.
“Hey baby.” The grin he gave me made my heart flutter. I still wasn’t quite used to seeing him smile. I was so used to the brooding. I was happy to be the reason he smiled.
Caleb cradled the back of my head as he pulled me in for a slow, deep kiss.
“Hey,” I said in this lovesick, breathy tone I barely recognized once he released me.
Was that me sounding all lovey dovey, like cupid had shot an arrow straight through my heart?
Yes, ma’am, it was. The thought had me grinning like a fool.
But when I looked at Caleb he was grinning just as big as I was.
Even though we hadn’t talked about it, neither of us had told the people in our lives about the change in our relationship status.
We weren’t trying to hide anything. We were just happy to stay in our own little cocoon a bit longer.
Once other people knew, then I’d have to share him with everyone else again.
Fletcher and Ram would want to hang out, if only to tease us.
Sadie and Big Momma would want to have him over for dinner to interrogate him even though they’d known Caleb longer than I had.
I wanted him all to myself. I wanted this summer to just be us, but I knew it would get harder with people in town seeing the two of us together.
At some point some big mouth would tell Big Momma or Mr. McQuade they’d seen us, and we’d have to spill.
“So, what’s my surprise?” I scooted closer and he draped his arm over my shoulder while maneuvering his truck out of the parking lot.
“I’m not tellin’, you have to wait and see.”
The big grin he wore made me ecstatic. The thought that he just wanted to see me happy made me feel all squishy inside.
He drove through town and headed toward the forest. I was pretty sure I knew where we were going. I sat up in my seat and peered out the windshield as the truck veered off onto a dirt road. My eyes lit up.
“Are you taking me to the lake house?”
His family owned a modern cabin in the woods we used in the summers. Fletcher and Ram had been up with some of their friends, but neither Caleb nor I had visited yet this summer.
About a mile in, we pulled up the driveway. I thought he was going to stop, but he drove the truck around back. In the yard, a large white sheet had been strung between two trees.
Caleb drove the truck in a circle and then backed up, so the bed of the truck was facing the sheet. When he finally put the truck in park and turned to me, he draped his arm across the back of the seat.
“Surprise. I thought we’d have a movie night. Just you and I.” He reached into the backseat and pulled a grocery bag into his lap.
He got out of the truck with the bag and came around to the passenger side and opened the door.
I let him take my hand and help me down. When we came around to the back, he let the tailgate down to reveal a mattress piled with blankets and pillows.
He climbed into the bed of the truck and reached down a hand to pull me up.
“It’s very romantic,” I said as I sat between his legs and reached for the grocery bag.
“What goodies did you bring me for our movie night?”
“Do I get a kiss first for my good surprise?”
I turned and gave him a quick smooch and was about to reach for the snacks again, when Caleb pulled me back against the pillows.
I laughed. I knew I wouldn’t get away with that.
“No, I want a real kiss.”
I faced him so I now lay between his legs. I used my tongue to trace his lips, nipping at them before I opened my mouth to his. When he wrapped his arms around me, I melted into him, letting him take control. Once he squeezed my ass and rubbed himself against me, I giggled and pulled away.
“We’re here to watch a movie. Not to mess around.”
“Can’t we do both?” Caleb smirked and reached for me again.
I smacked his hands away. “No. Movie time. What are we watching?” I sat up and grabbed the grocery bag and began to rummage.
Caleb sat up. “I remembered growing up you really liked The Princess Bride.”
A broad grin spread across my face and I forgot about the snacks for the moment. “How can you not love that movie. It’s got everything: romance, comedy, sword fights, quotable lines. It’s a classic.”
He grabbed the bag from me and took out some popcorn.
“Okay Buttercup, let’s start the movie.” He chuckled.
“Does that make you, Westley?” I said, amused. It wasn’t often Caleb displayed his humorous side.
He shook his head with a chuckle and pulled me into his side before he started the movie.
We were nearing the end of the movie. For the last twenty minutes, Caleb had been massaging my scalp, and it was making me drowsy. I blinked rapidly and wriggled in his arms to wake myself up.
“Tell me something,” I said, rubbing my finger along his forearm.
In the movie, Westley was laying on the bed, still immobilized from Prince Humperdinck’s torture, delivering his ‘to the pain’ speech.
“Hmm,” he said, engrossed in the film.
“All those years ago, when you saw me on the playground bawling my eyes out. You scared away those other kids who were making fun of me, calling me a baby. Most kids would have just joined in with the bullying. Why didn’t you?”
“Cause it’s wrong.”
He said it so matter of fact; I expected him to add a ‘duh’ to the end. I giggled and looked up at him.
“C’mon. I know there was more to it than that.” I turned on my stomach and draped my arm across his chest, where I rested my chin. “Tell me… please.” I bent my legs and crossed my ankles, swinging my feet back and forth while I waited.
Caleb smoothed his hand down my back and huffed.
“Pop told me why you came to live with your grandmother. About your parents’ car accident.”
The loss of them didn’t cut as deep as it used to. Sometimes I hated that I didn’t feel it as acutely as I used to because it felt like I was forgetting them.
“It had only been six months since mama died, so I knew how much you were hurting. Maybe those kids didn’t know…” his voice trailed off for a minute.
He peered at me and rubbed my cheek. “Either way, bullying is wrong, but that particular day it felt especially cruel given what you were crying about.”
I regarded him for a moment. “You never said anything that day.”
“I know.” He paused. I could see him thinking. It seemed like he was trying to decide whether to say more.
“Dealing with her death, I didn’t like how the adults felt the need to fill the silence and tell me things about my mama or continually ask if I was okay. I wanted to give you space to just feel how you were feeling, so I just sat with you.”
“The strong, silent time even back then,” I teased him, but my heart overflowed even more with love for him.
We lapsed into silence, catching the last bit of the movie.
“What would you like to do now?” Caleb asked when the movie ended.
“I’m not ready to go home. Let’s make it a double feature and watch another one.”
“As you wish.” He said with a warm smile.
It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep during the second movie. I don’t think Caleb knew how cozy his warm body could be.
I’m not sure how much time had passed. Something or someone softly scratched my scalp.
“Wake up Sleeping Beauty. The movie’s over.” Caleb whispered.
“Hmm?” I opened my eyes and sat up. “The movie’s over?” I used my fist to rub the sleep from my eyes.
“You’re adorable when you wake up.”
I pulled him in for a kiss, and we ended up fooling around for a while before he drove me home.
It was nearly two o’clock in the morning when Caleb dropped me off.
It had been another perfect night spent in his company.
Neither of us had wanted it to end. Every night he dropped me off we couldn’t help making out in the front seat like we would never see each other again.
This was still so new, and it felt like we were making up for all the time we both spent wanting each other, but never did anything about it.
I eased my key in the lock and tiptoed inside. Before I could turn off the porch light, a lamp in the living room was cut on. Big Momma sat in her favorite recliner in her dressing gown. The expression on her face was unreadable.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Big Momma’s voice was full of disapproval.
I bristled at her words. “It’s my life. I’m eighteen and I can do what I want.” I snapped at her and regretted it almost instantly. Not just because Big Momma took me in when I had no place else to go when my parents died, but because she was Big Momma and she didn’t tolerate any sass or back talk.
She gave me the look over the top of her glasses, like she knew I’d lost my mind, and I better find it again. “I think you better remember I’m not one of your little friends and fix your tone. This is still my house.”
I was upset because I wanted her to be happy for me. I knew she was warning me to be careful not only with my heart, but with my future.
“It’s late you should get to bed.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I didn’t look at her as I hurried up the stairs.
I was trying my best not to think about what the end of summer held.
I was excited about Emory, but now that meant being separated from Caleb, all the way in another state.
I didn’t know how I would endure saying goodbye to him when we had to part ways.
Would he want to continue in a long-distance relationship, or would he tell me it was just a summer fling.
I sagged onto my bed, hating that Big Momma put doubts in my head and ruined a perfect day. I didn’t want it to end this way.
I grabbed my cell phone from my purse and dialed Caleb’s number. He picked up on the first ring. “Hey beautiful. Miss me already.”
A sense of calm washed over me the moment I heard his voice, Big Momma’s cautionary message fading away.
“Yeah… I missed you.” I curled up on my bed.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”
“I love you too.”