Page 69 of The Way Home

Are you going to let me take care of you tonight, too?

Those words, and then the way Jamie’s face fell when Caleb didn’t respond.

“Ah fuck, he’s been talking to you.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Why are you being weird about Jamie?”

“I’m not being weird. We’re just taking things slow.”

She snorted. “Why? He’s obsessed with you.”

“Was,” Caleb muttered. “Was obsessed with me.”

She frowned. “I’ve never known you to be insecure when it comes to Jamie.” The corner of her lip twitched. “Except about me. And Jean-Baptiste.”

His defenses flew up immediately. “I wasnotinsecure about you. Or JB.”

“Of course you were.” She rolled her eyes and flicked her braid over her shoulder, yanking a tile from the tower. “I’m adorable, and Jean-Baptiste is… well,Jean-Baptiste.That made sense.” She glanced at Jamie, who was laughing at something Will had said. His eyes were lit up with joy, and it made Caleb’s heart expand. “You putting a wall up between you and Jamie… doesn’t make sense.”

Caleb swallowed and looked for a spot to put his tile, hopinghis skin was dark enough to hide his blush. The tower was getting dangerously wobbly now. “It’s not the same as before, El.”

Ellie slipped a tile from the middle and confidently placed it on top. “How’s it not the same?”

“Because I’m in love with him, and he’s not in love with me.”

Her eyes flicked to his, and they stared at each other for a moment. His words hung in the air, and her brows pulled together as they sank in.

“If his memories don’t come back, he may not fall in love with me again.” Caleb shrugged, letting her make her own conclusions. “He’s my whole family, Ellie.”

“Is that why you’re paying for him to have more therapy than his insurance covers?”

Caleb’s eyes widened. “What? How did you—?”

“I work in a hospital, Caleb. I know how insurance works.”

“Did you tell him?”

“No.” Her eyes flicked to Jamie and back. “But I think you should. It can’t be cheap, all those extra sessions.”

His stomach turned. It wasn’t cheap, but it was more than worth it.

“Hey, Caleb?” A rare flash of softness flickered over Ellie’s face. “He will. Fall in love with you again, I mean.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because he did before.”

With a deep breath, Caleb tapped on a tile a few times to see if it was loose enough to slide out. It came halfway out before the tower leaned aggressively to one side. He paused. “Do you believe in fate, Ellie?”

“No,” she said quickly. Of course she didn’t. “Do you?”

“I’m not sure,” he said honestly, leaning back as the tower wobbled. “I think that moments and events in our lives lead us to who we end up with. Who we are, and everything. I think I met Jamie in that bar, years ago, by total coincidence, and every moment together led us to falling in love.” He poked at the tile a little more, knowing that this was probably the end of their game. “And then those moments were stolen from him.”

With one final tap, the tile came free, and the tower collapsed.

Jamie smiled atthe message on the screen.

Caleb