Page 30 of Finding His Fox

I knew he still felt guilty for leaving me that day in the woods. However, what happened to me wasn’t either of our faults.

It was that huge animal, whatever it was. A wolf? Bear? Who knew?

It was dead anyway, probably bled out. Our dads never found it.

“I’ll be ok. Cal’s with me, remember?” I reassured him, stifling a yawn. Rory grunted in response.

I didn’t manage to catch enough sleep last night. Something Cal said that morning while helping me move into my old house kept me awake.

We met a long time ago, as kids.

For the life of me, I couldn’t place him anywhere. I even dug out and went through all my old yearbooks. Nothing.

It was nagging at me, and I went so far as to pick up the phone, ready to call Rory. I thought maybe he knew Cal in school.

In the end I didn’t. It was in the middle of the night. Also, I didn’t want Rory asking why I was so curious about Cal.

Cal wanted to share something more that morning. I could sense it. Yet, for some reason, he held back.

I’ll make sure to coax it out of him today, I thought to myself. I patted the backpack on my lap, feeling the shape of the gift bag I made for Cal.

It wasn’t anything fancy, but I still didn’t want Rory knowing I had something prepared for Cal.

Rory slowed the car down as we approached a gravel path and parked in a small lot near Redtree Lake.

As I got out of the car, I could hear the water softly lapping against the shoreline. A cool breeze was coming in from the lake.

It was still dark where we stood. Yet in the distance, the rising sun casted its early rays over the mountains, painting the sky in hues of pink, orange, and gold.

Cal was waiting by some large rocks. As he smiled at me, my heart skipped a beat.

In that moment, an image flashed through my mind—us in our golden years, strolling along the shoreline every morning.

The image felt so natural, as if it was meant to be. Although, it didn’t help Cal was wearing a brightly colored windbreaker. The kind that only grumpy old men wore.

My Mr. Grump.

Whoa. Where did that come from? No, no. There was no ‘my’ anything.

But hey, a little daydreaming never harmed anyone, right?

A loud thud from behind me interrupted my thoughts. Rory had already started unloading my bags onto the ground.

I hurried to the backseat to retrieve Max, who was in a pet carrier.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or I was too giddy from seeing Cal, but the straps holding down Max’s carrier were taking me longer to unbuckle than usual.

Rory and Cal stood near the front of the truck, talking. Though I couldn’t make out their words, it was clear that it wasn’t a casual conversation.

Rory was doing most of the talking, Cal was nodding from time to time.

Finally, I managed to unbuckle the carrier. I took Max and another small bag from the backseat and walked towards them.

“I could hear what you guys were talking about, you know.” I lied, hoping one of them would cave and tell me what they were discussing.

Rory’s expression made him look like a deer caught in headlights.

“I gotta go. Josie’s expecting me,” Rory said hastily.