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When he suggests where I should pull over, I do and park. We exit the car, and I notice he’s still agitated, twitching his mouth and glancing at me.
Then he stops on the sidewalk, forcing the wave of so many pedestrians to part and flow around the obstacle of us standing in the middle.
“Aubrey’s a mess, dude.”
I exhale long and hard. That’s why he’s been so fidgety on the ride. I told him to shut up about her, and he’s got something he needs me to hear. Where I’m the quiet one, he’s overly vocal sometimes.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
He grabs my shoulders and grips hard to shake me once. “But you still have a chance.”
I twist away and resume walking forward, hoping he’ll take the lead in wherever we’re going instead of beating this topic down even more. If I had a chance, I would’ve flown out there immediately. If Aubrey and I still might have an opportunity to be together, I’d be eager to hear her out and listen to what she has to say. But she hasn’t reached out at all. She hasn’t contacted me once to give me any impression that she’s eager to be with me again. Until she gives me a signal, all I can do is assume she’s done with me.
“Dalton.” He rushes, weaving around people to reach me. “Wait.”
To talk about this anymore? No. The heartache is too raw. “No. She doesn’t want me—”
“She does.”
A glimmer of hope threads through my stubborn thoughts. What if she does? Caleb wouldn’t lie to me, not about this. What if Aubrey’s not over me? He wouldn’t pull a prank like this and mess with me.
“I know she does.” He takes the lead, guiding me where he wants to stop.
“Has she told you?”
“I haven’t asked directly.”
So much for that hope. “Has Lauren?”
“Yeah. And she’s told me. Not in many words. She wouldn’t betray her trust like that. It’s not her thing to share. But I have it on her good word that she’s a mess. Crying. Upset. Moody. I saw it for myself, too, in the weeks before she got the job and was offered the apartment. Until she moved out of the Goldfinch, I saw how down she was, and I hated that I didn’t know what to say or do. You’re both so stubborn.”
We’ve arrived. He stops outside a storefront I recognize. I know where we are because it’s similar to the place I went to over a year ago when I was stubborn in a different way, when I was stuck in my stupidity in thinking the wrong woman could be my future.
Just like I’d done back then, Caleb is here at a jewelry store.
“Here?”
Caleb smiles, looking through the window. “Yeah. I want your help picking out a ring for Lauren.”
Damn, he’s really serious about this. He’s not a guy to say he’ll do something and never follow through. I really figured they’d wait until the house was further along and closer to completion.
“Sure, man. I can do that.” I open the door for us to enter.
“I figured since you went through it already. Even though it didn’t pan out with Johan—”
“You know what? Maybe we should just make it like in Harry Potter. No one ever says her name again.”
He tosses me a glance. “Because it hurts to hear her name?”
“No. Because I’m sick of hearing about my mistakes.”
“You don’t want to talk about Johanna—and that’s smart, really. But then you don’t want to talk about Aubrey either…”
Hearing about Lauren’s take on her friend is changing my mind. Caleb is telling the truth as well. I know it. I don’t want Aubrey to suffer and feel bad, but if she is, it has to be a sign that she’s feeling the same deep and consuming loss that I am.
“She’s really taking it badly?”
He nods, browsing the ring cases. It’s dim in here, but the lights on the jewelry are precisely aimed to show off every angle and curve of the metal and gems. This might take a while. I know Caleb will debate and insist on perfection for Lauren.
