“You’ll never have to find out.” She squeezed me just as hard. “Now, text dreamy man and tell him you’ll be packed and ready to go in the morning, so he knows I delivered, like I’d promised.” She leaned back to look at my face. “Do you have any idea how hard it was not to open that card? Especially because he wouldn’t tell me what he had planned, for fear that I’d spill the goods.”

“You might not be able to keep a secret from me, but you’d never ruin a good surprise.”

There was movement in her jaw, like she was grinding her teeth together, and then it was gone when she laughed. “Oh, girl, you’ve got that right.” She walked to my doorway, clinging to the frame. “I have a really good feeling about this one.”

My chest tightened. “You’ve never said that before.”

She was quiet for a second, as though she were thinking about her answer—something Emily rarely did. “You guys met under some pretty unique circumstances, and then our whole city was immediately thrown the most tragic curveball. If that’s not fate showing her finest colors, I don’t know what is.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“I never am.” She winked and checked her watch. “An episode of Housewives and a slice of cake are shouting my name. Get changed and showered and meet me out there?”

I smiled and whispered, “See you in a few.”

When she was gone, I took out my phone and stared at the screen. A text was too impersonal. Caleb needed to hear my voice and how grateful I was for his gifts. I found his name in my Contacts, and two rings followed before he answered.

“Hi, beautiful.”

His words shimmied down my neck and into my stomach, rising up to my chest. “I feel like every time we talk, I’m thanking you for something amazing that you did for me.”

“You deserve it.”

I took a seat on my bed, pulling the flowers into my arms, rubbing the silky petals. “Caleb, the roses are positively exquisite, and your card …” I took a breath, waiting for my heart to settle. “I’m blown away. I don’t even know what to say.”

“Say you’ll be outside your building at eight.”

As I thought of his request to dress for the heat, my eyes closed for just a moment. I could already feel the sun on my skin, drying away this cold, emotionally heavy spring.

“Of course I’ll be there.”

“You’ve just made me a very happy man.”

My face flushed as I thought of his mouth, the hunger in those deep ocean-blue eyes. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

He chuckled, the sound slightly gritty and so masculine. I closed my lids again and drank in the noise.

“Bring plenty of bathing suits. I’ll see you tomorrow, Whitney.”