Page 55 of Just Add Friendship

With Bruce gone, he turned to Steph and eyed her. “What do you think?”

What did she think about Cal sleeping in a room not much bigger than a closet? She wanted to grieve for what he’d gone through as a kid, but the man standing in front of her was a product of all of that—and she could see the resiliency in his eyes.

“I think you’re amazing.”

One of his brows arched. “I was lucky.”

“Like I said, amazing.” She moved forward and hugged him. How could she not? When his arms came around her to hug her back, she told herself that friends could hug anytime and that didn’t mean her heart had to race, or her pulse thrum.

She drew back. The room was really very small and getting warmer. “Is it weird to be here?”

“Kind of.” He gave a small shrug. “It always took me a while to fall asleep. Sometimes thinking about hanging out with you or wondering what you were doing were my safer thoughts.”

Steph’s throat tightened. “Really?”

“As a friend, of course—all of my thoughts were platonic.”

Steph laughed at that. “Sure they were.”

He was smiling, and she was probably blushing, but she was mostly happy he could tease when referring to his teenaged trauma.

Voices reached them, coming from the front of the restaurant. “There’s the high school crowd,” Cal said, moving to the door. “We’d better get out of their way.”

They thanked Bruce and headed outside again. As they walked along the sidewalk, Cal continued pointing places out and telling her stories of his experiences. As he talked, she realized he hadn’t had any sort of normal high school experience. First, his mother had died, then his father had neglected and abused him, then he ended up in Everly Falls without any parents and mostly on his own, then he’d been completely homeless. At the mercy of a stranger’s kindness.

As they headed back to the car, she said, “I don’t know how many times I can tell you that you’re amazing, Cal.”

“Can there be too many times?” he teased, throwing her a grin.

“You’ve pushed through life no matter what’s thrown at you,” Steph said in a more sober tone. “You jump in and help people—no questions asked. And no whining.”

“I definitely whine—at least in my head.”

Steph laughed. “Oh really? What kind of things do you whine about?”

“Mostly about food—you know if I overcook or undercook, or the order is delayed when I call for delivery.”

“Ah, that’s a true flaw, then,” Steph said. They’d reached the car, and Cal opened the passenger-side door for her. She had the urge to hug him again, but instead, she climbed into the car.

She’d left her cell on the seat, and there were a couple of missed-call alerts. Both from Pops. She called him as Cal started the engine, but no one answered.

“Everything okay?” Cal asked.

“Pops called, but he’s not answering,” she said, worry climbing her throat. “He didn’t leave a message either.” She called his number again, letting it ring until it went into his creaky voice mail.

“Is there someone who can check on him?”

“Yeah.” Steph’s mind was already going there, and she called Lori since Brandy lived above Everly Falls, a good twenty minutes from the house. “Hey, sorry to bother you, but I’m in Grandin. Pops called me a couple of times when I didn’t have my phone. And now he’s not answering.”

“I can head over right now,” Lori said, concern in her voice. “Why are you in Grandin? Oh wait … Are you with Cal?” Her voice had turned sugary, although Steph could also hear the sounds of Lori getting into a car and starting it up.

“Yes, but we can talk about that later,” Steph said. “Let me know what’s going on as soon as you see Pops.”

“Will do.” Lori hung up, and Steph closed her eyes, silently praying.

Please be okay. Please.

Cal grasped her hand. “I can take you back right now.”

---