Parting Chances (Fighting Chance #1) (5 page)

She collected herself quickly and reached out a hand to me. “I’m Emma. It’s so nice to meet you, Haley. Caleb has told me so much about you.”

“Oh really? Well, that’s nice.” I released my hand from hers. “I wish he told us more about you,” I mumbled as I walked past her to give my mom a hug.

“You look good, sweetie.” Mom hugged me hard.

“So do you.” I was relieved to find her just the same as when I left her two weeks ago.

“Still kicking.” Mom laughed at her joke, but the rest of the room remained silent. “Oh, come on, we have to at least be able to joke about it.”

My glare didn’t seem to faze her as she smacked a towel against my butt with a grin.

“I think my whole family has lost their ever-loving minds!” This was apparently a funny thing to say, as Emma broke into a laugh, my mom following quickly after.

Well, I guess if I could ease the tension in the house, I didn’t mind that they were laughing at me. Caleb came inside and paused just outside the kitchen, taking in the scene of the three of us laughing together. His lips twitched up into a smile, and he came up behind Emma, wrapping his arms around her.

“I knew Haley would make things better.” He buried his face into Emma’s hair.

“Oh, don’t think this is over you two. You have a lot of explaining to do still.” Dad came in from the hallway and glared at the two of them. Emma shrunk back into Caleb’s arms, and Caleb huffed out a sigh.

“Dad, come on—”

“No, I will not. You two are adults, yes. But we need to understand this whole thing better. So, I hope you’re up for talking.” Dad pulled out a chair at the table and plopped down, pointing for the rest of us to join him. We all saw the no-nonsense look on his face and scurried to the table. Mom brought out some lemonade and a fruit platter before taking the seat next to Dad.

“So, you two are engaged. Care to tell us when you’re planning on getting married?” Dad’s gruff voice spoke first, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Well, we were thinking around Christmas. That’s the next free time we both have, and we’d like for Emma’s family to be here too.” Caleb smiled happily at Emma.

Maybe these two really were in love. Was that possible? To fall in love in less than two months?

“Why so fast? You two just met. Why not wait a little longer?” Mom. Always the logical one.

Caleb looked down at his hands. Emma placed one of hers on his and smiled at my parents. “Caleb told me about what you’re going through, Mrs. Cavanaugh.”

Mom waved a hand at her. “Julia. Call me Julia.”

“Okay. Well, first you should know, Caleb and I have known each other for a while. We had a few classes together during the summer program last year. When we got to MIT this year, it was nice seeing a familiar face, but he was also really depressed about what was going on at home and was tempted to quit school to come back here.”

Mom opened her mouth to say something, but Caleb interrupted. “You should know Emma was the one who kept me focused and helped me through everything. We hung out all the time, started going on dates and talked. You know I’m not the guy who would settle down right away. But with her, it’s there. We connect. This is who I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

My mouth dropped open at Caleb’s confession. I guess maybe someone
could
find love in a short amount of time. And what would it be like to have someone to lean on completely during this whole ordeal with Mom?

Caleb glanced at Mom. “We want you to be here for the wedding.”

Tears rolled down Mom’s cheeks, and she reached across the table to grasp Caleb and Emma’s hands. “I appreciate that you want to do that for me. But I want you two to be one hundred percent sure you are ready before you do anything.”

Emma sniffed and squeezed Mom’s hand. “We are. We wouldn’t have said anything if we weren’t. Believe me, we’ve discussed this to exhaustion. It’s what we want.”

“So, a winter wedding?” Mom sighed, blowing her chestnut hair from her forehead. She was going to cave. Hell, she was probably already thinking of the best way to decorate the house. My mind was still getting used to the idea that my big brother was engaged, but after that speech, I was ready to give them my own blessing. Mom leaned into Dad, and he gave her a look like
this is batshit crazy
, but he too was folding.

“Yes, sometime during winter break. It’ll just be a small one. You guys and my family. We don’t need anything big. Plus, we’re in grad school. We don’t need the added stress of planning a wedding on us.”

“That sounds wonderful.” Mom smiled at Emma putting her at ease for probably the first time since she got here. “Okay, so who wants dinner?” Mom stood and made her way around the island to open the fridge. “I was thinking stir-fry tonight.” She peeked her head back out to us and got a chorus of nods in response.

Dad pushed from the table and gestured for Caleb to follow him outside. Probably to lecture him some more before congratulating him. I smiled over at Emma, and we both stood to help Mom with dinner.

Mom was the talkative one as she asked Emma all sorts of things about her life. They fell into a nice exchange making dinner together. All I could think about was how much longer our family was going to be this way. And at what point it was all going to come crashing down around us when Mom was too sick to do anything anymore?

The first day of classes was on the Tuesday after Labor Day. I dreaded every moment while getting ready that morning. The only good thing about the classes was after comparing my schedule with Eli’s, we found out we had two together: Motion Graphic Animation and Chemistry. And since the classes alternated days, it looked like we’d be seeing each other daily.

Pretty sure I’m never going to make it through the semester without fumbling all over myself.

Even though I knew I’d know someone in the Animation class, I was still nervous when I walked to the building. First day of classes are always the worst.

“Let me get that for you.” A muscular arm appeared at my side and opened the door before me.

I turned to say thank you, only to stare up into the crystal blue eyes I knew all too well. “Eli.” That came out way more breathy than I expected. “Thanks.” I stepped in the building, with him following close behind.

Yeah, there was
no way
I was going to be able to focus through these classes. No freaking way.

“First day of class jitters?” he asked.

“Am I that obvious?”

He let out a low chuckle that instantly had my stomach in knots. “Well yeah, and the fact that you’ve been stressing for a week now.”

A laugh escaped my mouth before I could stop it, and I lightly punched his shoulder as he held the door to the classroom open for me. I immediately headed for the back. I hated people sitting behind me, a small strange quirk. I only hoped Eli had no issues sitting in the back either. That’s assuming he was actually going to sit with me.

I slid into a seat and pulled my laptop out before I tossed my backpack under the chair. Eli settled into the desk next to me, much to my relief.

“Ever have this professor before?” he asked, pulling out his own laptop.

“Yeah, last year for Web Design. He’s pretty entertaining. Keeps us focused on the studies but manages to do it in an interesting way. And he’s really fair with assignments and tests.” I watched Eli’s face relax a little. “Don’t like tough teachers?” I teased.

“It’s not that. It’s just that I have a really hard time concentrating on things. So if the professor was boring, this class would be hell for me to pass.” His neck turned a slight pink at his admission.

I nudged his shoulder. “Well, good thing you have me then.”

The blush on his neck deepened.
Oh shit. Why did I say it that way?

“And you’re lucky most of this class is computer based work. You’ll be fine.” I was blabbing and was glad when Professor Grady walked in.

“Students, welcome to Motion Graphic Animation. I see many familiar faces.” His eyes scanned the crowd. A smirk formed when they landed on me. “Ah, I see you’ve secured your spot in the back row once again, Ms. Cavanaugh.”

“Better acoustics,” I breezed at him. I knew his game, and he knew I was an A student. But that didn’t stop a blush from heating my cheeks.

Professor Grady chuckled, pulled out a piece of paper, and started calling off names. Once finished, he had a student in the front hand out the syllabus—another reason why I liked sitting in the back.

We went through the syllabus and dug into a lesson. I glanced over at Eli to see if Professor Grady still had his attention. Eli was hunched over his computer working away with the lesson that was projected on the overhead screen. I grinned, then turned back to my screen and followed along.

Forty-five minutes later, Eli and I walked out together.

“When’s your next class?” he asked, pulling his phone from his pocket and checking his schedule. “Mine’s not until one.”

I pulled my cell out too and brought up my schedule. “One-thirty.” Which means we had two hours to blow.

“Want to hang out in the student union?” He stood in front of me, hands in his pockets, giving me slight puppy dog eyes. Whether he realized he was doing that or not, I’m not sure. But I was having a really hard time saying anything but yes.

I’d planned on going home, eating lunch, maybe getting a nap in…but my damn mouth seemed to have different ideas.

“Sure. I haven’t been there since they remodeled.”

“Let’s check it out.” He smiled and turned to hold the door open for me once again.

We walked across the campus to the union. They had remodeled the inside, adding more seating areas, more food choices and a legit coffee shop. I had only breezed through it the other day to get to the bookstore, so I never really noticed what had all been done.

Eli once again held open the door for me when we got to the building.

“You’re an awfully chivalrous guy,” I mentioned to him, noting this was the fourth time he held the door open for me today.

“Isn’t it kind of sad that you’re surprised? Isn’t opening a door what people should do?” He nodded his head to his hand that was still propping the door open, until the kid behind him grabbed it with a mumbled thanks. “I think over-all politeness has kind of died in the world.”

I let his words settle inside me. Realizing he was completely right. I remembered back to yesterday when I was going to work, and the couple in front of me let the door slam in my face at the coffee shop. They could clearly see me. I was right behind them, but the effort to even hold the door open for an extra second was lost on them.

Eli led the way to two wing-back chairs by the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the sports practice fields. He set his backpack on one chair and nodded in the direction of the coffee shop, Union Bean. “You want anything?”

“Oh, I can get it.” I was almost settled in the chair but jumped back up.

“I can get you a coffee.” He raised his eyebrows, daring me to argue with him.

Well if he wanted to get me a coffee, I wouldn’t complain. I sank back down in the chair. “Thanks. I’ll have a caramel latte.” He flicked his fingers into the “okay” sign and headed in the direction of the Bean.

I stared out the window, watching students run around the track. Before, the whole wall of windows was nothing but solid brick. It not only let a ton of natural light into the union now, but it also gave you something more to look at. And since Chapman University was situated in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, the beauty outside was undeniable. I couldn’t wait until autumn when all the leaves would be changing color. The view from here would be amazing.

“Here you go.”

I jumped at the sound of Eli’s voice.

“Thanks,” I said, taking the cup he extended to me.

“So…” Eli began as he settled into the chair opposite me. “How are classes so far?”

“Well, considering that was my first class, I would say good so far.” I watched as a blush crept up his neck. He tried to rub at it, but it only seemed to make it worse.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

I moved my coffee in front of my mouth so he couldn’t see the smile. Poor guy looked all sorts of flustered. It didn’t work, though. Eli saw the grin on my face and nudged my leg with his foot.