“Why are you not still talking to him?”
“I had to call you.”
“Uh-huh, you could have sent me a text. I’m glad you made it home, now call the poor guy back. I’m sure he was worried about you. Obviously he was. He deserves at least a phone conversation.”
“I know, I was just—”
“Stalling,” she laughs. “Take it one day at a time. Maybe it’s something and maybe it’s nothing, but take each day as it comes and see where it goes.”
“We live so far away.”
“Semantics. Nothing that can’t be changed. Call him, don’t let the worry of distance and what if interfere. One day at a time,” she says softly.
“Okay. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Night.”
Looking down at the screen, my list of recent calls is showing. Before I can give myself time to chicken out, I tap his name and place the phone next to my ear.
“That was fast,” he says in greeting.
“Yeah, just wanted to let her know I made it home. How was your day?”
“Good. I took care of some things at the bar, hung out here a little and then had Sunday dinner with my family.”
“You do that every week? Have dinner with your family?”
“We try to do it at least twice a month.”
“That’s great. I guess you all get along really well.”
“We do. My parents are great, and of course you know Liv and Whit. What about you? Are you close with your family?”
“Yeah, I’m an only child, but we’re close. We don’t do weekly dinners or anything, but I see them often.”
“You have a busy week?” he asks.
“Not really. Business has been slow lately. I was actually telling Whit and Aaron the same thing. I might try to plan another long weekend trip before the wedding.” I have no idea why I just told him that. I don’t expect him to want to see me.
“Oh really?” he says. I can hear the smile in his voice.
“Yeah, I just don’t know when for sure. I need to talk to my boss, but he’s great, so I’m sure it won’t be an issue.”
“You driving down?” he asks.
“More than likely. Aaron and Whitney offered to fly me there, but it’s just a six-hour drive. It’s not too bad.”
“I hate that you do it all on your own.”
“I only had to stop once for a stretch and bathroom break. It’s all easy driving.”
“Yeah, but still.”
I laugh. “It’s fine, promise. So what about you? Busy week?”
“The weeks are usually slow, especially in the wintertime. Summer nights are a little steadier.”
“What did you have for dinner?” I ask with a yawn.