“We should go,” I say quietly, pushing away from the table and heading for the door without waiting for him to respond. He does follow me, though, and when we reach the car, he turns to look at me in confusion.
“Did I do something?”
“Of course not,” I tell him tiredly. “Nothing at all. I should just be getting back. I’m sure my brother is wondering where I am.”
I haven’t left him alone this long in forever.
I drive this time, because I’ve got to be normal. I’ve got to put what happened this morning out of my head. You fall off a horse, you get back on. Your mom dies in a crash, you have to drive again.
When we’re sitting in front of the funeral home, I kill the ignition, and Dare hops out, grabb
ing eight bags of groceries while I carry four.
“You don’t have to cart these in,” I tell him as we tumble in through the back door. He doesn’t reply, he just heads straight to the kitchen, as though it’s his house, as though he’s been there before.
Curiously, I follow him, watching him begin to unload the items, putting the milk in the fridge and going straight to where the sugar belongs, sliding it into place.
“How do you know where everything goes?” I ask stupidly, watching him put the bread away. “You don’t seem the type to know your way around any kitchen, much less mine.” He pauses, lifting his eyebrow.
“It says Bread Box,” he points.
I flush.
“And the rest is common sense,” he adds, opening the cabinet above the stove and putting away the salt.
Still. He moves around with such familiarity.
I’m… imagining things, I decide. Of course I am.
When everything is done, Dare leans back against the counter. “Today was fun,” he tells me, his eyes gleaming, his body stretched out.
I nod. “Thank you for taking me to town.”
He smiles.
“Anytime.”
He starts for the door, then pauses and turns. “I mean that,” he adds. “I’d like to do that again. Go have a soda with you, I mean.”
He’s so beautiful as he stands bathed in the sunlight in my doorway. I gulp hard, trying to swallow the guilty lump in my throat. With everything that I am, or ever will be, I want to say yes.
But I can’t.
“I…uh….” I don’t deserve to. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to. My brother needs me.”
I turn around, because my eyes are watery and hot, and I’m ridiculous and I don’t want Dare to see me cry again.
Dare’s voice comes from right behind me, six inches away.
“Calla, look at me.”
I stare pointedly at the walnut cabinets, trying not to let the hot tears spill, because as much as I’m trying to hold them in, the tears keep welling up.
One escapes, slipping down my cheek.
Dare pulls me around, then drops his hand, staring me in the eye. He’s so intent, so serious. He wipes my tear away with a thumb.
“You deserve to have a life, too,” he tells me, his voice even. “You can take care of Finn and still take care of you.”