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I smoothed my smile away with my fingers.Veryinteresting.

Chapter ten

Cal

Cal

Two hours passed by much faster than I expected. For the most part, we listened to “Stuff You Should Know,” and chatted about the random facts they discussed. I found out that Ruth had lived with her parents in Colorado for the first eight years of her life, and then after their violent divorce, had been placed with her grandmother for safety. I related to that hardcore. I’d been on my own for years before my parents had found me. But to have lost her only reliable parent in her twenties? Unthinkable.

We finally made it to Newport after passing through rolling green hills swathed in pines and bushy trees. My favorite part about the coast was the way it started off in the misty mountains and then out of nowhere, the terrain grew rocky and sparse before falling dramatically away to the endlessocean. Coming through the mossy cliffs and into the seaside town felt like a warm sheet from the dryer settling over my cold skin. It felt right and comforting.

A lot of Newport had been designed with tourists in mind, from the cute gift shops that lined the narrow streets to the bed and breakfast locations and a plethora of seafood restaurants. A new one had just opened on the docks two months ago, and my parents had been on the waiting list for weeks.

I followed my GPS to the location, rolling slowly through packed streets and narrow, one-way avenues. We finally arrived, and predictably, parking was a pain. We found a paid lot a short walk away, and while I pulled up the app to pay, Ruth looked out her window in interest. “Are those… sea lions?”

I followed her gaze to the docks below us where dozens of blubbery, barking sea lions lounged, swam, and inched along the docks and boulders. I puffed out a laugh. “They are. And they probably just got back from mating. July is usually the only month we get some peace and quiet around the town.”

“You guys just casually live with sea lions? Like they’re pigeons?” She cocked her head, studying the docks and sandbars that were so packed with sea lions, they could be collections of boulders along their surfaces.

“Yes, giant, illegal to feed, definitely do not try to touch pigeons.” I tapped the payment button on my screen. “Okay, we’re good to go. The restaurant is just down there.” I pointed out of my windshield, down a sloping hill to a glass and wood restaurant that had been built on piles overlooking the bay. Sealions barked and rolled under the outside dining area, and guests milled around, pointing to them and talking while they sipped their drinks.

“This is amazing. I’ve never been to this part of the coast.” Ruth got out of the car, and her eyes stayed glued to the orange and pink splashes of color over the seaside horizon.

I followed her, coming around the car to stand at her side. “Yeah, it’s pretty great. I was lucky to live here while I did.”

Ruth turned to me, and the setting sun washed over her skin with an irresistible golden glow that momentarily stole my breath. She raised her eyebrows. “Why don’t you live here now?”

“Um.” My brain puttered and chugged, lagging for a couple of seconds before firing back to life. Goddamn, she was gorgeous. “I did my residency in Eugene, and then I fell into the urgent care practice with my friend, Dr. Reynolds. Once I got going, especially with my at-home PCP service, I just couldn’t find it in myself to derail that.”

Ruth dipped her chin in acknowledgment. “I get it.” Her eyes coasted over the vista below us, darting back and forth as she took in the sunset. “I wouldn’t have changed if I’d had a choice.”

My brows drew together. “You never should have had to.”

As if pulling herself from a memory, Ruth lifted her shoulders and smiled over at me. “It’s alright. I’m now the world’s worst matchmaker, and really, what more could a girl ask for?”

I laughed. “I don’t know. A job you like?”

“That doesn’t sound right,” she mused, starting forward anddown the hill. “Adulthood is supposed to be miserable, right?”

For Ruth? Something small and warm in my chest whispered that Ruth deserved nothing but happiness. And it also kind of wanted to be the one who provided it. My parents had found me a damaged, angry, rebellious fifteen-year-old, and they had handed me the world when I had done nothing to earn it. It wasn’t nearly the same, but something in me wanted Ruth to know what that felt like, to know that someone gave a shit about how she felt and what she was going through.

And once that thought had me in its grip, I suddenly found myself unable to escape it. It consumed my mind as we walked down the hill, across a lower parking lot, and across the street to the restaurant. I had a feeling my parents were going to really like Ruth. I hadn’t been kidding when I’d told her she was my type, but I’d left out one little detail—she was their type too. Smart, genuinely nice, and a little on the weird side. My parents ate that shit up. Speaking of which…

“Oh, um,” we paused just outside the restaurant where cars crawled slowly along the narrow road behind us. I curved my fingers around her elbow, drawing her to a gentle halt. “I should probably mention—I’m adopted.”

Her eyebrows jumped up. “Oh. Okay. I mean, that’s great.”

“And the only reason it matters is because my parents get weird about food, and they’re going to make both of us eat more than we can handle.” I rubbed the back of my neck ruefully. “They adopted me when I was fifteen after CFS pulled me out of my rundown, abandoned house. I was basically starving todeath. They fostered me, and it took them years to catch me up with a better diet.”

Her mouth dropped open, and then she quickly closed it. “Cal… oh my word. That’s—I mean they must have been…” she paused, her brow furrowing. “Wait a second. So, the expectations your parents have for you areliterallythat they want you to find someone and be happy because theylove you?”

I searched her expression, confused. “Yeah?”

She palmed her face. “Cal, I thought this whole time that you had like… asshole parents who expected too much of you. I was all prepared to march in there and defend your honor or something.”

My mouth curved up to the left in disbelief. “Shortstop, you were going todefend my honor?”

She let her hand slide down her face, heedless of the blush and mascara she’d applied. “Well, Iwas. I didn’t realize they were perfectly loving and normal. I can’t do normal. I haven’t known a normal person in my life… ever. My grandma was super weird and then she died. Gemma is basically a feral barn cat.” Her eyes went wide with panic. “What do normal people do? What if I completely embarrass you?”