They Voted Me Out So I Left

With nine minutes left to cancel the tickets for a refund, Caleb Payne pulled my phone out of my hand.

"Don't do anything rash. Those tickets were hard to get."

He checked the booking to make sure all eight seats were still there, then visibly relaxed.

I looked at him. "You think I'm going to cancel them?"

"You're upset right now. You'll regret it once you calm down."

"Regret what?"

"Ruining everyone's trip."

Then he closed the cancellation page right in front of me.

My sister, Irene Hudson, sat at the dining table peeling an orange. "Once you're married, Caleb will be with you every day. It's only three days. You don't have to keep such a tight leash on him."

"I never said he couldn't go."

"Then what's with the attitude?"

The orange peel snapped between her fingers. She frowned at me with the same look she'd given me my whole life whenever she thought I was being unreasonable.

"Anna, you always make a big deal out of little things and make things awkward for everyone."

Caleb handed my phone back and sent me 4,000 dollars.

The tickets had cost 3,764 dollars. He sent an extra 236 dollars with a note that read, "Don't be mad. Buy yourself something you like."

I sent it back.

He let out a quiet laugh. "Here we go again."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You always say no at first, then wait for me to talk you into it. Anna, I know how this goes," he said gently.

He reached up to smooth a strand of hair back from my temple. The gesture was so familiar that I pulled away before I even realized what I was doing.

Caleb went still for a second.

"Fine. Take some time to cool off. We still have to try on our wedding outfits tonight, so don't forget."

Irene checked the time and grabbed her bag. "I should get going too. Oh, and let Connie borrow that UPF jacket you gave me. It gets chilly by the coast, and her skin is sensitive."

I looked up at her. "You're not going?"

"Something came up, so I can't make it. I was the one who chose not to vote."

She added matter-of-factly, "I didn't vote against you. Isn't that enough to show I'm on your side?"

So Caleb hadn't been the one who sat out the vote either.

I looked at him.

Caleb was quiet for a second, irritation flickering across his face. "Does it really matter who voted what? The outcome's the same."

"Then why did you say it was you?"

"Because I knew you'd keep asking. I just said yes without thinking."

He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, then leaned back out. "What do you want for dinner? I'll make a reservation."

He acted as if the whole vote had never happened.

I didn't answer. I went to the bedroom.

At the back of my closet was a small tin box filled with train tickets from Caleb's visits seven years ago.

We were long-distance back then. Every time he came to see me, he mailed me his return ticket afterward, but the last time was different.

He pressed the ticket into my hand and said, "No more waiting for my ticket to show up in the mail. I'm moving here to be with you."

He had written two words on the back.

"Coming home."

I ran my fingers over the faded handwriting, then slipped the ticket into an empty envelope.

My phone buzzed with a message from Robert Weaver, the company's editor-in-chief.

"We still need someone to run the Jorlen branch. You passed on it last time because you were getting married, but I've kept the position open for you. Let me know by tonight."

Three months ago, I'd turned it down for Caleb.

In the living room, he was sending everyone their ticket information for the trip. No one asked why I wasn't going.

I typed my reply. "I'll take it."

The message had barely gone through when Caleb opened the door and walked in.

His eyes fell on the envelope in my hand, and he smiled. "Looking through those old tickets to make yourself feel better again? I'll take you somewhere nice for dinner tonight. You can stop sulking."

I tucked the envelope into the drawer. He had no idea that this time, the ticket with "Coming home" written on the back wasn't staying with me.

I was sending it back to him.