Falling into Summer

Chapter 24

Haley

It's awful, but I go the whole day without hearing from Carter, although he never leaves my thoughts. Actually, I fulfill my need to have him close by spending the day with my mother and his. It's as if because Carter is part of Sarah, and I can see him in her, that being around her somehow fills the hole in my heart that exists when he's not with me. Needless to say, being around Sarah not only makes me feel less lonely, but her ability to make me laugh also makes me temporarily forget about missing Carter.

While shopping, I decide to pick up Carter's birthday present, a pillow top mattress pad that's like the one on my bed which he seemed to like. Then after eating, we go back to Sarah's so I can leave his present, a rose, and a card in his room for when he returns. While there, my mother gets to see his room, and can't believe how clean he is.

"Wow, no wonder you guys like to spend so much time here," she comments looking around.

"What do you mean?" I ask with confusion.

"Because it's more private than your room, and he's as much of a neat freak as you are," she explains, and it makes me laugh because even though I never thought about it, she's absolutely right.

After spending the afternoon with Sarah, my mother and I head home. I'm in the middle of changing the sheets on my bed when my phone rings, and I'm thrilled to see it's Carter.

"Hey you," I answer gleefully.

"Hey," he responds and if I had to guess he's smiling as brightly as I am. "What have you been up to?" he asks, so I fill him in on my day spent with our mothers, conveniently leaving out the details that I left him a surprise in his room for when he gets back. He fills me in on where he's at in his drive, and even though he acknowledges that he wishes he could have left sooner, he also admits that the delay was well worth it. "I miss you like crazy," he confesses when he finishes.

"I miss you too," I confess, feeling that hole in my heart starting to mend.

"No, I mean I really miss you... I don't know that I'll be able to make it a week without you," he elaborates, and his words make me so happy, especially because I know when he gets there, he probably won't be able to call me again, and if he does, he likely won't be this honest and unfiltered with others around.

"Well I'll be here when you get home... whenever that will be," I insist, smiling to myself.

Because he's driving, we keep our conversation short, and after we hang up, I feel like I've already won. Having him call me like it's totally normal, and then outright confess that he misses me and is already considering coming home early, just makes me think that he obviously wants me. I can only hope that he'll use this week to make a clean break from Leah, and come back to me fully.

If I thought Saturday was hard, today's been even harder with absolutely nothing to distract me from missing Carter. After not hearing from him for twenty-four hours, and constantly wondering what he's doing, I can't stand it anymore and decided to call him after dinner on Sunday. When he doesn't answer, my heart breaks just a little but I leave a message on his voice mail anyway. At nine thirty he calls me.

"I only have a couple of minutes but I wanted to hear your voice... I miss you," he says instantly.

"I miss you too... bad," I confess, and I realize I'm quickly getting used to Carter vocalizing his feelings towards me this way. "Thank you for calling me back."

"What do you mean? Did you call me?" he asks with confusion.

"Yeah a while ago, did you not get my voice mail?" I question.