The sun was dipping to the western mountains. Tate clicked open his truck, set everything inside, and asked, “Do you want to sit on the beach and talk, sit in the truck, or we could drive to North Ogden to my house?”
Cally didn’t even know he had a house in North Ogden. Well, of course he would need a house closer to his practice, but for some reason, she’d just thought of him being here at his parents’ house, where she’d always known him. It was a warm night, and the beach was deserted, so she said, “The beach is good.”
He pulled a blanket out of his backseat, and they walked through the sand down by the water. Tate spread the blanket out and they sat side by side. Her outfit wasn’t dripping wet anymore, but it would be a while until it dried. Tate had left his shirt off, and she wondered if he knew that was to his advantage. He looked so good to her.
He leaned back on his hands, and the muscles in his arms tightened. Cally wanted to run her hand along his arm, but she forced herself to clench her hands together so she didn’t reach for him. He loved her? Oh, how she wanted to forget all the drama and just love him back.
She tilted her head to look at him. “You ready for a story?”
“I always liked your stories.”
Cally felt warm from the remembrance. When the four of them used to camp out, before Momma put a stop to it because she figured out that Cally and Colt were on kissing terms, Cally told them stories as they fell asleep. She’d never slept as well as she did at those campouts, sandwiched between her three closest friends. The joy of good memories fled as she stared into his blue eyes and whispered, “Not sure you’re going to like this one.”
Tate’s eyes swept over her. “As long as it doesn’t take you away from me, I’ll be okay.”
Cally’s heart thumped quicker, and she had to look out across the lake as she could no longer hold his gaze. The shadows of the mountains appeared in the glistening water. She started in a low voice, “At Colt and Brikelle’s engagement party, Emma Jensen made Kaimbrey and me a bet, or maybe challenge is a better word.” She paused for a breath, and then spit it out, “She offered us each a million dollars to start our charities.”
He sucked in a breath, and Cally said, “I know, crazy right?”
“Really crazy. What was the challenge?”
Cally turned to him. She hated the way he might perceive this. He would be a dream guy for any girl, and she wanted him for him, not for the money for her charity, but she doubted he would feel that way.
“We had to get proposals out of you and Brody by the night of Colt and Brikelle’s wedding.”
Tate’s eyes widened and time seemed to freeze. Cally felt a moment of hope that he was going to take it in stride as he sat there staring at her, but then he popped to his feet and started pacing the beach in front of them. She slowly stood as well, waiting for his reaction.
Tate finally stopped and whirled to face her, jamming his hand through his thick hair. He looked dejected. “So, a charity, that’s a … noble cause.”
“Tate.” Cally went to him, putting her hand on his arm. “I want to be with you because of how great you are, not because of some bet. I was mad at you that night so I accepted, but then I decided when we were under that overhang last night that I couldn’t go through with it, that I would tell Emma I couldn’t do it.”
“You did?” His voice was so vulnerable, and the look in his eyes told her that he would do anything for her. She thought Colt had loved her, that she’d loved him, but just the way Tate was looking at her told her she’d never known a love this deep. Probably never would again. How was she supposed to leave him?
Because of the love she felt for him, she had to keep going, tell him the entire story and see what they could work out, but first, she had to admit, “I love you, too, Tate.”
“Ah, Cally.” His voice dropped deep and husky, and he swept her off the ground and kissed her. He worked his magic on her mouth as he held her in his strong arms, and she lost herself in the perfect pressure of his lips and his nearness.
He pulled back and grinned at her. “I’ve loved you for years,” he said. “Back when I was fourteen, I wanted to pledge my devotion to you, but then I saw you and Colt kissing.”
She knew he was telling the truth. How had she not seen it? “You loved your brother too much to ever tell me?” she guessed.
He nodded, and she could see how deep his love for Colt was. “When you left for Chicago I was mad about you leaving Colt but just as mad about you leaving me. I’ve always loved you.”
Cally had no clue what to say. He cared so deeply for her and now … she was leaving him again. It was every woman’s dream to have a man this unreal pledging his devotion. It was Cally’s very nightmare to think of hurting him.
Tate obviously didn’t sense how his sweet words were ripping her apart inside. He wrapped his hands around her waist, lifted her high above his head, and shouted, “I love you, Cally Young!”
She laughed, feeling light, happy, and in love until he set her back on her feet, and she knew she had to tell him the rest. She couldn’t hide it any longer. He still held her close, not making it easy to share her news, but she leaned back her head to meet his gaze and said, “Tate, there’s more.”
“More?” He cocked his head to the side. “What could be ‘more’? I feel like we’ve just won the championship game and all there is to do now is celebrate.” His voice lowered, “And kiss for a few hours, at least.”
“Oh, Tate.” Cally couldn’t take it anymore. He loved her so much that it was overwhelming. It wasn’t smothering like Colt’s love had been when he’d followed her to Chicago, but it was still too much for her to deal with right now. She broke from the circle of his arms and spilled it out, “Emma called me right before our date tonight.”
He watched her carefully.
“She had another offer for me. A friend of hers is willing to partner with me on my charity if I become her interior designer.”
Tate sucked in a breath. “Where?” was all he asked.
“Chicago,” she managed to whisper.
Tate’s blue eyes went cold and the muscles in his neck and shoulders went taut. He backed up a step, staring at her as if she’d keyed his truck.
Cally wanted to reach out to him, but she didn’t think she should. “I’m meeting with her tomorrow at her Chicago office. I’m not sure which city she’ll want me stationed in as her business is a premier builder in several major metropolitan areas.”
He simply stared at her as she talked. The water lapped softly against the beach, a bird cawed in the night air, but between them was silence and pain. So much pain was in his eyes, on his face.
Finally, he asked, “You’re going?”
Cally wanted to shrug or say maybe or somehow prolong inflicting more pain on him, but she knew she was going. She’d known it all along. Maybe she was still trying to prove herself, but she thought it was more that this opportunity was too incredible. She could help so many people in need. With Titanium Homes as her partner, she wouldn’t be limited to even a million dollars or have to go look for funding. The chance to partner with and work for a company like that was not something she could turn down.
“Yes,” she admitted.
Silence stretched out again. Suddenly, Tate’s phone rang from down on the beach and the police car that she’d forgotten about rushed up to them. The phone stopped, and then started ringing again, and the men popped out of the car. One of them was one of Brody’s buddies from high school, Marcus, she thought was his name.
“Hey, Tate, Cally, hate to interrupt.” The smirk on his face said he’d watched far too much. “But they caught that Jack guy.”
Cally was happy to hear that. “Oh, that’s great.”
Tate nodded, but he didn’t appear to think anything was too great.
“So Chief called and said you two don’t need us watching you anymore as all the suspects have been apprehended.” He winked. “Have fun.”
“Thanks,” Cally said
, though there was nothing fun about this conversation.
Tate shook each of their hands and thanked them. They climbed in, shut their doors, and drove off. Tate’s phone was still ringing. Cally wrapped her arms around herself and asked, “Do you think you should get that?”
Tate shrugged but walked back down to where his shoes and phone were, scooping the phone up. “Yeah,” he greeted someone tersely. He mostly listened, giving a few one-word answers and staring at her. He finally said, “Okay, I’ll get there,” and hung up.
He gathered up the blanket, and Cally walked back to him to get her shoes. They both silently walked to the picnic table and gathered up their garbage and leftover food. Their night was over. Many parts of it had been amazing, but the final scene was a bitter piece to swallow. Could she really leave him like this? Why couldn’t they talk about a long-distance relationship or … something? Yet she knew why. Tate had laid everything on the line, and she was going to do the one thing that had hurt him and his brother for years. Leave.
“Everything okay?” she asked, referring to the phone call, not the obvious angst between them.
Tate shook his head and walked to his truck. He put the blanket, food, and garbage in the back and walked with her around the truck to get her door. Cally climbed in, brushing the sand off her feet quickly before swinging them onto his floor mat. He shut the door, and she slid her sandals on while she waited. Her feet were tender and bruised but nothing was as tender or bruised as her heart.
Tate climbed in the driver’s side, dropped his phone and keys in the console, and pushed the button to start the truck.
Cally waited for some explanation of his phone call, the whole time feeling miserable and detached from him. They were sitting side by side, but she felt like she was miles away. She was the one who was choosing to leave, so she didn’t feel it was her right to ask anything of him right now, even something so simple as who had called and where he needed to go.
He spun the truck around and drove toward the main road. The silence grew between them, and Cally worried he’d drop her off without any explanation as he turned onto the main road and quietly drove her to her parents’ mansion. They stopped in the driveway, and Cally asked again, “Everything okay?”
“No.” Tate shook his head. “Jack found Kaimbrey and Brody. Apparently, the police had given them some privacy in a canoe up at Causey Reservoir. The good news is Brody was able to fight him off, and the police arrested him.”
“That is good news.” It was, but nothing felt good right now.
“But my dad fell and Momma needs help. Brody won’t leave Kaimbrey and they have to go to the police station, and Colt is … pretty busy.”
Cally nodded her understanding. Tate climbed out of his side and hurried around to open her door. They walked quietly up the steps. He tilted his chin up to her, gave her one last beseeching look with those beautiful blue eyes, and then turned to go.
“Tate,” she stopped him from leaving. He glanced at her, waiting. There were so many things she needed to say, promises she wanted to make. They’d keep in touch, she’d come back, they’d make a relationship work. Yet she didn’t want to inflict even more pain on him if those promises ended up empty. “Can I come help with your dad?” She wanted to extend their time together even though it wasn’t fair to him. Somehow she wanted to show him that she did love him even though she had to leave. She’d come back, soon, and who was to say they couldn’t start a long-distance relationship. People did those all the time. But she knew there was too much baggage with the Jepson brothers and her leaving.
“You’d better get some rest,” he said, resolute and detached. “Big day for you tomorrow.”
Cally hugged herself, suddenly chilled. “Yeah,” she whispered.
He bent and gave her a quick kiss, sweet and tender, but straightened away from her before she could extend it. “Goodbye, Cally,” he said.
He turned, strode down the steps, and was in his truck driving away before she even moved. She touched her fingers to her lips and felt the sting of tears behind her lids. Goodbye, Cally. So final. She didn’t know if there was any coming back from that goodbye. She rolled her eyes at her dramatics and hurried into the house. She had to pack and get some rest so she could face breakfast with her parents in the morning, and then face her future. A future without Tate Jepson. There she went being dramatic again, but it truly felt like she’d just messed up her last chance with love.
Chapter Seventeen
Tate easily helped get his dad settled into bed and comforted his mom. He should’ve tried to lay down himself. He’d had no sleep last night in the mountains with Cally, and today had been the biggest emotional roller coaster of his life. Cally loved him, and she was going back to Chicago. He sat on his momma’s leather couch and forced his eyes closed, but the pain lingered. It was like a persistent migraine that hurt with excruciating force and made it so he didn’t think he could face the light. Even opening his eyes was painful.
He stood and went outside. The crisp night air, sounds of insects, and lake lapping against the dock by his parents’ house were somewhat comforting. He paced, and Ike came panting up to him. Tate rubbed the dog’s head, despondent. What should he do? What could he do? Cally hadn’t given him a chance to fight for her. She simply said she was going. If everything he’d shared, the way they kissed and connected, and the friendship and love of a lifetime meant nothing to her, what could he do?
Brody’s truck roared into the driveway. His brother. Maybe he could help. Heaven knew Tate needed something.
Brody popped out, grinning. “Hey, bro. I hope your night was as good as mine.”
“Doubt it,” he muttered.
“Yeah, me too. Kaimbrey is …” He whistled. “She’s the one, bro. Now I just have to slow down, so I don’t scare her away. I want to tell her I love her, beg her to marry me.” He grinned and bounced from his toes to his heels. “I know, I know, I need to take it slow, but I’ve never felt like this before.”
“Didn’t you fight with that Jack guy tonight?” Tate redirected to give himself a minute before he burst his brother’s bubble.
“Yeah.” His grin left. “He almost drowned Kaimbrey.” He shivered. “At least we don’t have to worry about him anymore. Seeing her … not breathing.” He shook his head. “It made me love her even more.”
Tate hated to do it, but his brother needed to know. Maybe Kaimbrey loved him too, but maybe she was simply playing along until she got his proposal and the money for her charity. He wondered briefly what Cally and Kaimbrey’s charities were. He hadn’t even thought to ask.
“What’s going on? Why you looking so down?”
Tate’s thoughts spun back to him and Cally. He opted for the short version. “Cally told me she loves me, and she’s going back to Chicago in the morning.”
Brody’s eyebrows shot up, and his grin was finally wiped from his face. “How could she? Seriously? I used to adore Cally, but lately, I just want to tell her off. Isn’t it bad enough she broke Colt’s heart? Now she has to break yours too?”
“Not helping,” Tate muttered.
Brody nodded. “Sorry. What are you going to do?”
“What can I do?” He felt his anger at Cally rise. Mostly he was angry at himself for falling so hard for her, but he’d loved her his entire life, so you didn’t really shove that into the trash. “Wait around for five years and hope she comes back when the opportunity is right for her?”
Brody shrugged, and his eyebrows lifted. “Or … you go after her.”
“Yeah, cause that worked so well for Colt.” He pushed a hand through his hair, hating the parallels to Colt and Cally’s story. It wasn’t giving him a lot of hope, and he didn’t like feeling competitive and weird about his big brother.
Brody pulled a face. “Good point. But maybe … Cally’s older and wiser and all that crap. Maybe she wouldn’t turn you away like she did Colt.”
“Maybe.” Tate didn’t want to talk or think about it a
nymore. It was time to hurt his brother, and he hated it. “She told me something else.”
“Yeah?” Brody appeared to be sliding back into his head over heels in love la-la land, his blue eyes glazing over.
“She and Kaimbrey were both offered a million dollars to get a proposal out of each of us.”
That slammed Brody back to earth. His eyes widened and his mouth tightened. “What’d you just say?”
Tate nodded. “Sorry, bro, it’s true. The night of Colt and Bri’s engagement party, Emma Jensen offered them each a million dollars to start their charities if they could get us to propose by the night of Colt and Bri’s wedding.”
Brody looked … horrified. “No.” He shook his head. “No. Kaimbrey’s into me. She likes me. I rescued her, twice. She shared her trust issues with me. You can’t understand the way she looks at me, the way she kisses me. It can’t all be an act for some … bet.” The words rushed out quick and frantic.
“Maybe it started that way, but then she fell for you.” Tate didn’t know if he believed his own words. Kaimbrey had only met Brody a few days ago. He and Cally at least had years of history and friendship that they’d built on. Even then, the bet had stung him and made him doubt all of her intentions. But the bet was small potatoes compared to her leaving for Chicago in the morning.
Brody’s jaw clamped, and he muttered, “I’m going to find out.” He didn’t even say goodbye, just jumped in his truck and roared away.
Tate slowly made his way into the house, thankful his mom slept like the dead. He was in no mood to hash out anything more about Cally tonight. He wondered when her flight was in the morning, he wondered how she’d react if he did go after her, but he mostly wondered how he was going to live without her. He’d had his dream for less than a day. It was vicious to lose it so quickly.
Chapter Eighteen
Cally’s nerves were taut as she thanked the receptionist who had escorted her into the empty conference room and sat in a comfortable leather chair. She was to meet with Kamilla Yates at Titanium Homes’s downtown Chicago office. Her hands were trembling and there was a tic in her eyelid she had no way to control. She wasn’t nervous about what Kamilla was going to offer, she was nervous about how she was going to answer her.
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