Beyond Broken(17)

       
        

Twenty seven pages into her reading and Maddie's mind turned back to Caleb, to that one moment in high school that had helped her cope with her father's death. The week after her father passed away, Caleb had stumbled upon her crying in a secluded courtyard during their lunch period.





A startled expression came over his face, taking her by surprise since it was usually so blank. No one could ever hope to read Caleb Montgomery, but Maddie saw his shock as plain as day. Embarrassed, she quickly dashed her cheeks with the back of her hand, trying to hide the worst of it. But he'd already seen.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, standing in front of her. He was so tall that he blocked the sunlight pouring in the small courtyard from above. His face was shadowed, but Maddie knew every dip and curve of his profile.

Maddie's mind still hadn't caught up with the fact that Caleb was in front of her. Talking to her. It seemed so unreal. Plus, it didn't help that her throat was still clogged with tears and she felt like a miserable mess.

Her brilliant response? A shrug.

Caleb hesitated. She saw him glance back towards the hall he'd come down, probably wondering if he should just leave. She couldn't blame him.

But the thought of him turning away from her, even with the state she was in, brought a new rush of tears. As she tried to hide them, he gruffly asked, "What's wrong?"

A small hiccuping sob escaped her. "My dad died last week."

"Shit," she heard him murmur.

Maddie kept her face tilted down as he took a seat next to her on the bench. He was quiet. He simply sat with her as she softly cried. He didn't say anything, but that moment was more comforting than anything she'd experienced all week.





Maddie had never told Caleb, but that afternoon in the courtyard had given her strength for the weeks, months, years to come. Whenever she missed her father, she thought about that moment. About how a complete stranger sat with her and was there for her when she was at her lowest point. And it gave her hope.

Caleb had stayed with her until the bell rang for fifth period. She'd mumbled a quiet 'thanks,' not quite able to meet his eyes, and then she'd scurried off to class. That was the last time she'd ever spoken to him when they'd been in high school, but her feelings for him had only deepened.

Maddie sighed, wondering if there was still a speck of the boy she'd once longed for in the man she'd been with today. If there was, she had yet to discover it.

She frowned. No, that wasn't necessarily true. He gave her a ride home the previous night when he didn't have to. And he'd given her the bookkeeping job when she couldn't afford her car repair. 

Only to throw it back in your face later, she grumbled, staring down at her textbook.

Still … maybe there was a hint of the boy in the man.

Maddie was itching to find it.





* * *





"You're not serious," Kyra said, her plastic fork paused mid-air over her pasta salad. "Caleb? As in Caleb Montgomery? The boy you were completely gaga for back in high school?"

Maddie nodded. "Yep. And he's a bazillion times hotter."

Kyra was still looking at her, wide-eyed. "I can't believe you found him. I thought he moved away … you know, after everything that happened."

Maddie looked down at her half-eaten sandwich. "Well, he's definitely changed."

"Did you tell Thomas?" Kyra asked. "Weren't they close back then?"

"I haven't."

"And why the hell not? Don't you think he'd want to know about one of his old high school buddies?"

Maddie bit her lip. "Caleb doesn't remember me. At least, I don't think he does. If he sees me with Thomas, he might guess that we went to high school together and well … who didn't know about him and his aunt? It would just make things unnecessarily complicated." Kyra didn't look convinced. "Besides, it's not like I'm planning to marry the guy. I'm just working to pay off my car repair and after that, I'll probably never see him again."

"Uh huh," was Kyra's response, a dark eyebrow raised in skepticism.

Kyra knew her better than her own family did sometimes. They'd been friends ever since they were awkward middle schoolers, bonding over the color of the bands in their braces. Kyra had had a rainbow of color, whereas Maddie had always chosen a subdued pink, not wanting to draw uneccessary attention to herself.

Kyra wisely changed the subject.

"Have you heard from Anne lately?" she asked, taking another bite of her lunch. Anne was their other friend, although she'd moved up to Seattle after they graduated from college. They still kept in touch, but their communication had been less and less frequent of late ever since Anne got a new boyfriend.