Chapter 22 | Rae
Rae
Caleb was being so sweet, even though I've done nothing to deserve his kindness. Maybe I...
“Whatcha thinking about?” I was so deep in thought as I was zipping up my duffel bag, I didn't even hear him come up behind me. I jumped. He placed his hand on my lower back, grounding me, but also stirring up a fire inside of me.
“Oh. Nothing. Just packing.” I gave him a small smile.
Caleb chuckled. “Rae, you realize we've known each other since high school, right? We may not have seen each other for a while, but that doesn't mean I don't know you still.”
He was right. He knew me best back in high school, and he knows me so well still. Why was I hiding anything from him now?
“I was just thinking about everything,” I admitted sheepishly.
“Well, that makes sense.” Caleb paused and gave me a kind smile, then looked around the room. “Anything else you need that I can pack for you?” He took the duffel bag I'd finished packing a few moments ago to the hall.
“Ummm...No. No nothing else. I think I'm actually done.” My eyes darted to the corner of my room, realizing he had returned faster than I thought he would.
“Is it personal? Do you want me to leave the room while you get it?” Smooth, Rae. He knows you, so even if he’d not seen you looking around, he would still know.
“It's silly. Stupid even,” I said, frustrated. I knew my face was red, so I didn’t look at him.
“I doubt it’s stupid or silly, Sunshine. Try me.”
I glanced up at him, over my glasses. Embarrassed, I walked over and pulled the night-light from the wall, then tossed it into my bag.
“Why is that silly?” He gave me a puzzled look.
“I'm a grown woman using a night-light. That's why.” Why was he not laughing at me?
Caleb sat on the edge of the bed, looking at me, his face without a hint of humor on it. “Can I ask why you use it?”
“You promise—”
“That I won't make fun of you? Of course I promise that.”
I stared at him for a moment and realized he was being sincere. I started to feel bad for not trusting him immediately.
“I'm not scared of the dark. I'm scared of what's in the dark. When I wake up from a nightmare, it helps me realize that I'm awake and nothing...and no one...who can hurt me is around. Ethan used the dark to hurt me at times.” I let out a long sigh and his brows knitted together as soon as I said that last sentence. Talking to Caleb about everything was easier than I’d expected it would be—difficult still, but easier than I expected.
“I’m so sorry. That sounds like a good reason to me, though.” He gave me a small smile. “Can I tell you a secret?”
I nodded and sat next to him, genuinely curious about what his secret could be.
“I have a small night-light in my bathroom, one in the guest bath, and one in the hallway.
Reason is, I just flat out don't like the darkness. The farm is dark at night, so when my parents died, I put more lights up around the farm and a few night-lights around the house. I do still need to get cameras, but I have plenty of lights.” He smiled at me in a way that took my breath away.
That smile, paired with his confession, made my heart speed up.
“Really?” I tried to hide the fact that his confession ignited something inside me. I knew my cheeks were probably pink right now.
“Cross my heart, Sunshine.”
His smile confirmed what he’d been telling me all along: that I wasn’t alone in this. That thought both scared me and made me want more.