“Red?”
I swallowed, but my mouth had dried up. My legs felt leaden, every step heavy, but I continued to walk toward the house.
“Stop,” Caleb said, alarmed. “What is it?”
I closed my eyes again. Maybe I was dreaming. Maybe I wasn’t actually standing in front of my childhood nightmare. For a moment, I let myself drown in the ugly memories.
“Come back to me, baby.”
When I opened my eyes again, it was Caleb’s face I saw in front of me. His green eyes showed kindness and honesty and, most of all, love.
“Where’d you go?” he asked, cupping my face in his hands so he could look into my eyes. All I wanted was to hide.
“Just…memories.”
“Do you want to tell me?”
“They’re not good ones.”
“I’m okay with that.”
I pulled away from him and faced the house again, as if I could will it to disappear.