Chapter Thirty-Two

Lucas had the next day off from work, so he allowed himself to sleep in that morning and recuperate from his long night. By the time he awoke, both of his parents had already left for work for the day. With the house to himself, he decided to try out a new recipe for lunch (with the help of some of the many fish he’d been catching recently), and then went outside to transplant the tiny sprout from his pomegranate seeds into the fresh soil, and tend to the rest of his garden.

The entire time, he kept thinking about the new phone number that was now programmed in his contact list, just waiting to be called. Was Melanie expecting to hear from him? She had been the one to suggest exchanging numbers… But what would he even say to her?

As Lucas’ mind raced with uncertainty and indecision, he felt a brief vibration in his pocket. Probably Noah or Sam wanting a ride to go get their car…

When he pulled out his phone and saw the new text message, however, Lucas’ face stretched into a smile.

Guess my mind got made up for me… He thought, smiling to himself as he waited anxiously for her reply.

Serves her right for ditching you. Lucas wanted to say. But he didn’t want to bad-mouth one of the girl’s friends, so he kept the thought to himself.

Lucas chuckled softly, picking up his fertilizer and watering can and storing them away before heading back inside.

He and Melanie texted back-and-forth for the rest of the afternoon.