Page 98 of Fate Will Bring You Home

“What are you smiling like a five-year-old with a giant stick of cotton candy at?” Callie inquired.

I looked up at Callie, and I got defensive. “I am not smiling like a five-year-old.”

She just stared at me like, “Come on, girl. We both know you were.” I looked at Nick, and he just shrugged. I rolled my eyes at her and huffed.

“It was Link, okay? He sent me a pic of himself leaving for tour.”

“Oh, we are calling him ‘Link’ again, are we?” Callie asked.

Only in my head, not to his face, I thought. I ignored her.

A look passed between Nick and Callie, and they were both smiling at each other.

“Did I miss the joke? What are you two looking at each other like that for?”

“Nothing, she’s just admiring my beauty,” Nick joked.

“Ew! Yeah, right!” Callie exclaimed.

Nick laughed so hard he had tears forming in his eyes.

I let it go, but only because we were busy putting the final touches on some of the costumes for Nick’s play next week.

We kept working for about an hour, but Callie was getting increasingly upset and looking at her phone every ten minutes. When I asked what was wrong, she told me Jake should have been here an hour ago. Apparently, his location was off. She said it was because he never set it up when he got a new phone last week, but I thought that was a bit weird. Jake was always the one who insisted they share their locations. It was cute at first because we were in college, so it was nice knowing that her man knew where we were if we ever needed a ride or anything, and he seemed like he was just worried about her.

Lately, though, she said he’s been really on top of wanting to know where she was, like when she would go to a store or somewhere else before coming home; he was asking her why and with whom, and things like that. She brushed it off as pre-wedding jitters, but they had been fighting more than usual. It’s hard not to hear when they are right down the hall.

“I’m sure he is fine, Cal. Maybe he just got caught up at a job? He will be here soon.”

As soon as I said that, her phone rang with a text.

“Guess he’s not coming. He said he went home to change, got tired, and fell asleep. He’s sorry he can’t make it.”

“It’s four in the afternoon, Callie. Why would he be sleeping?”

I looked at her, and she knew I was really asking her if she believed him. We have this unspoken way of talking to each other sometimes; it’s weird.

She just looked back at me and reassured me it was fine. I looked at Nick, and he just shrugged. Nick and I have had the occasional conversation with Callie about how Jake is a bit dismissive lately. She doesn’t seem to mind, and who are we to judge her relationship while neither of us has one?

I changed the subject to something more fun. “Are you guys still coming with me to the concert in a few weeks?”

“God, yes. Free VIP tickets? I wouldn’t miss it.” Nick said.

“I’ll ask Jake,” Callie replied.

“Well, let me know if he’s coming; I’ll need to get more tickets. I only have four. You, Nick, Brie, and me.”

She just nodded her head.

I headed for home once we finished. Callie, on the other hand, went to get us some dinner. I saw a woman I didn’t recognize getting into a car in front of our house when I pulled up. I walked in and Jake was sitting at the counter eating cereal. His spoon paused on its way up to his mouth, and he looked a little thrown off that I was home.

“Hey,” I said curtly.

“Hey, where’s Cal?” His voice was a bit shaky.

“The store.” I was still standing in the doorway, deciding if I was going to ask or not… I was. “Who was that woman?”

“What woman?” His face lost most of its color.

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