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again. “I can’t talk about this with you right now.”
    “Why not?” I pressed. “If you know something , then tell me. I’ve been going crazy trying to figure out what I did wrong—what I missed.”
    Something broke inside him ; I saw it as he stared at me incredulously. He strode toward me, grabbing me by the shoulders. “Don’t talk like that. You didn’t do anything wrong. Nothing! Do you understand me? Nothing!”
    “Caleb, you’re hurting me .” I winced, feeling his fingertips emphasizing his words as they bit through my jacket into my skin.
    His grip loosened immediately, but his hands remained there. “I’m sorry. I’d never do anything on purpose to hurt you. You have to know that.”
    “I do,” I replied staring into his tortured eyes. “Please tell me what’s wrong. Maybe I can help.”
    He gave a sarcastic laugh. “There’s nothing anyone can do to help me. But believe me, if someone could, it would be you.” Releasing me he dug into his pocket and retrieved his keys, placing them in my hand. “Drive my Jeep home for me, okay? I need to go for a run.”
    Dumbfounded, I watched as he turned and hurried away, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the forest.

 
     
    Chapter Five
    Anna-
     
    Standing at my bedroom window, I cast a worried glance at the darkening sky before looking down at my phone once again. I wasn’t sure why I bothered. It was clear Caleb hadn’t texted me. His Jeep was still parked in my driveway where I’d left it. Of course it was. The keys were in here. Rolling my eyes at myself, I let a long sigh escape as I moved away from the window and flopped on my bed.
    Worry laced through me. He’d been gone for hours now. Visions of him lying in a ditch on the side of the road somewhere, after being hit by a car filled my mind. I wanted to go look for him, but I didn’t even know where to start. He could be anywhere on the island by now. Maybe he called a friend to get him? Or perhaps he caught the ferry and went home? But wouldn’t he have called me first?
    Groaning, I crawled off the bed and paced back toward the window. Peering past the lace curtains and staring across the rooftops to where the water of Puget Sound was growing darker with nightfall, the lights of the city were beginning to twinkle on.
    There was a tap on my bedroom door and I turned to see my mom poke her head in. “Sweetheart. You have company.” She pushed the door open wider to reveal Caleb standing there. “I’ll leave you two alone so you can talk.” She flashed me a sympathetic smile and left.
    Caleb stepped inside and shut the door behind him before facing me. “Hey,” he said softly.
    Hurrying across the room, I launched myself at him, throwing my arms around his neck.
    “Whoa!” he exclaimed with a short laugh, sounding surprised, but wrapped his arms around me. “What brought all this on?”
    Burying my face under his chin, I spoke against his skin. “I’ve been so worried about you! You’ve been gone for hours. There’s been no reply to my texts. All I could imagine was you lying dead somewhere and this horrible fear that I’d lost both Jessi and you was killing me.” Tears leaked down my cheeks, but I didn’t care. He could think I was stupid. It was his own fault for scaring me so badly.
    His hands ran up and down my back in a soothing fashion. “I’m so sorry, Anna. I didn’t realize. My phone died, so I never received your messages.”
    Even knowing he was here, I couldn’t stop panicking. It was like something had broken loose inside me. I realized Caleb had become my anchor. Yes, many were grieving right now; but he was the only one who really understood what I was going through.
    “Please tell me what’s going on. You’ve been acting so strange lately. If I’ve done something to upset you, then tell me so I can fix it. I can’t lose you too.” There was no way I could let this rift I felt between us grow any bigger.
    His grip on me tightened and he