by SJ McCoy
Once he’d started the brew, he went to check his phone. He frowned when he saw a text from Elle.
Elle: Sorry to bother you. But Mom’s not answering. Is she up?
Cal: No, but I’ll wake her. Is everything okay? Can I do anything?
Elle: I’m so sorry. Would you guys mind having Skye this morning?
Dad didn’t show. I’ll explain later. I tried calling Mom, but it was late.
You guys must have gone to bed. But I have my first appointment in half
an hour. Dad and
The message ended there, and Cal understood why when the phone rang.
“Are you okay?” he answered.
“I’m fine—other than being pissed at that … grr! I won’t say it. They were supposed to arrive around eight last night. I tried calling at eight-thirty and nothing. I kept trying and leaving him messages. I was getting really worried. Then he sent me a text at one-thirty this morning; they’d been out last night, and he hadn’t seen my messages. Apparently, they changed their minds about coming—he thought that was fine since he hadn’t actually confirmed. He said that like it was my fault somehow. Or like I was dumb not to have known; well I suppose he’s right there. I should have known! And get this …” She sounded madder than hell, and Cal held the phone a couple inches away from his ear. “They decided that it’d suit them better to come the weekend after next. Well! I told him—it might suit them, but it doesn’t damn well suit me!”
It seemed she’d run out of steam, but Cal waited just in case. He’d already learned with Terry that the end of an outburst often came with a few final sputters.
“Are you still there?”
“I am. You want us to come and get Skye?”
“Would you mind? I’m supposed to take her to the salon with me and they were supposed to watch her this morning. Jackie’s gone away this weekend and I … I’m sorry.”
Cal smiled. “Don’t be. I’m glad. I told her we’d take her to the beach this weekend and now I’ll be able to keep my word. It was bothering me that I wouldn’t be able to.”
“Pft!”
Cal froze. He knew that sound. It was the same sound Teresa made when she was too angry to even attempt to form words. He had no clue what he’d done wrong, though. “I’m sorry. What …?”
He relaxed when he heard her laugh. “That wasn’t at you! It was at the difference between you and Steve—that’s all I’m going to call him now. You’re worried about keeping your word to Skye about going to the beach and he doesn’t give a shit about letting her down for the whole weekend!”
“Ah.”
She laughed again. “See, and you’re too nice to agree with me even, but we both know.”
“Yeah.” He didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t try. “Well, I’d better get moving. I’ll see if your mom wants to come.”
Elle laughed. “She will. Don’t worry. Less than ten minutes from now, she’ll be fully put together and walking out the door. As long as you give her coffee.”
Cal laughed with her. “It’s brewing now. Should we come to the house or the salon?”
“Call when you get to town? I should be at the salon by then, but just in case.”
“Okay. We’ll see you in around half an hour.”
“Thanks Cal. You’re the best.”
He couldn’t stop his smile but didn’t know what to say.
“See you in a bit. Love you!”
She hung up, and he stood there staring at his phone. “Love you, too,” he murmured. Then went to fix Teresa a cup of coffee.
Chapter Nineteen
“When do you plan to move in?” asked Teresa.
“I don’t know yet.” Cal didn’t meet her gaze.
She gave him a puzzled look. “You keep saying that, and it’s not like you.”
He chuckled and came to sit down beside her. She’d taken a break from painting to run over to the café at the plaza. She’d set everything out on the island while he washed up. She handed him a plate with a sandwich and some chips and let her gaze run over him. Repainting the house was hard work but getting to watch him work in tank tops made it all worthwhile.
He chuckled and landed a kiss on her lips. “Do you even remember what you just asked me?”
She looked up into his eyes and laughed. “No clue! I got lost in admiring the view. Though, now I come to think of it, was I asking if it’s bedtime yet?”
That smile! She let out a happy sigh. It really was the best smile she’d ever seen.
“I’ve been thinking about that.”
“About bedtime?” She waggled her eyebrows.
“About you getting tired and needing sleep. You’ve been working your ass off in here with me for a couple weeks now. And you’re on your feet in the salon all day, too.”
Teresa pursed her lips. She had been feeling it, but she’d hoped that Cal hadn’t noticed. It wouldn’t be for long. They were nearly done. It wasn’t as though the house needed much—it was only a couple of years old. They were only doing cosmetic stuff, paint and changing some tile but …
He was frowning at her. “Don’t go all defensive on me.”
“I didn’t say a word!”
“You didn’t need to. I can see it on your face.”
She smiled. “Was that part of your training in your old job—you read people’s minds?”
He shrugged. “Not exactly. And I wouldn’t need any training to read you anyway. You’re transparent.”
“I am not!”
He chuckled. “You are to me—because I love you.”
“Aww.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “Sorry, go on. What have you been thinking?”
“I’ve been wondering if you want to do less.”
She sat back up. “No! I want to help you finish this place. I love the thought that I helped you make this place your home. I know you’ve never really had one. And … well, I’m hoping that if I help you make it nice, you’ll never move away.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her into his side. “I don’t ever plan to move away—not unless you go with me.”
“Aww! You say all the right things.”
“You know it’s not just words.”
“I do.”
“And I wasn’t talking about you doing less here anyway. We’re almost done now. I was thinking I could take Friday off. If I do, I can finish the smaller guest room and we’ll be done.”
“I thought we were going to do that together this weekend?”
“I thought it’d be nice if we did something fun over the weekend—or even if we did nothing. We could take a break. We have enough furniture now that we could just hang out and watch movies and …” He let his gaze travel over her, sending shivers racing all over as if he’d touched her with his hands not just his eyes. “Spend some time in bed.”
“Ooh. Now you’re talking.”
He chuckled. “I thought that might persuade you. But you keep distracting me.”
She rested her hand on his thigh and then started sliding it higher. “I’m trying.”
He laughed. “And I’m not saying I don’t want to. I’ll take you up to bed soon enough. But what I’m trying to say is that thinking about taking Friday off made me wonder about taking Monday off.”
“As well? What for?”
“I mean, regularly. Since that’s your day off. And I know you talked about cutting back at the salon. I wondered how far back you’re thinking.”
Her heart was hammering in her chest. “What do you … what?”
“I’m trying to say that I’m only supposed to be working part-time and I wondered if you might consider doing the same—so that we get more time together. Skye keeps telling me that her grandma’s a venture mouse, but we haven’t had the time—or the energy left—to go on any adventures yet.”
She grinned at him. “What kind of adventures are you interested in?”
“Anything,
everything. Have you ever been sky-diving?”
“No! But it’s on my list. Have you?”
He smiled. “Yeah.”
“Don’t tell me, you were an instructor or something?”
He laughed. “Okay. I won’t. But if you’re nervous we can do a tandem jump.”
She made a face. “I don’t like the idea of being strapped to some stranger.”
“You wouldn’t be.”
She didn’t get it.
“I mean you’d be strapped to me.”
“Oh! In that case!” She grinned. “I think I will be nervous the first time—but I’ll do it by myself the second time.”
Cal laughed. “That’s my girl.”
The way he said that made her want to melt into him. She looked up at him. “How did I get so lucky?”
He dropped a kiss on her lips. “I don’t think it’s luck. I think we’ve earned this. I think everything else we’ve been through in life led us to where we are now, to each other.”
“I don’t feel as though I did enough to earn something this good. I screwed up.”
Cal frowned. “You were young when you got married.”
She had to laugh. “You didn’t even hesitate for a second about what my screw up was, did you?”
He shook his head with a rueful smile. “Sorry. You know what I think about that.”
“I do, and you’re right. I chose poorly when I was younger, but you have to admit that my taste has improved as I’ve aged.”
“I admit it. You chose the perfect guy this time around. And I got my perfect lady.”
Her smile faded. “Talking about my screw up. Steve’s supposed to be coming this weekend.”
Cal made a face. “You thought I’d forget that? Why do you think I want to hang out here?”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “It’s not your fault.”
“He might not even come.”
“Has he not confirmed yet?”
“No.” She knew Cal was still angry about the way Steve had let Elle down the last time he was supposed to visit. He’d been great about it. He’d driven her over to get Skye while Elle worked the morning in the salon. They’d taken her to the beach just like he’d told her they would, too. She blew out a sigh. “I have a feeling that he’s going to change his mind at the last minute again.”
“What makes you say that?”
“It just always seems to work that way with him. He’ll have us all arranging our plans to accommodate him and then leave us blowing in the wind when he changes his.”
Cal frowned. “Well, this is the last time I’m going to change things around to accommodate him.”
“What do you mean?” Most of the time if he looked angry, she knew better. But when it came to talking about Steve, she wasn’t so sure.
“I mean if he decides that he’s not coming and that he wants to come the weekend after instead, he can’t. He’ll have to wait.”
“Yeah.”
Cal blew out a sigh. “And I apologize if I sound like a domineering asshole.”
She laughed. “You couldn’t be one of those. You’re not like that.”
He didn’t laugh with her. “I know I’m not, but I also know that I might sound like one. But we’re supposed to be moving Elle into the house next weekend.”
“Yep.”
“And I am not going to stay out of the way. We’ve made arrangements. I’m not …” He hugged her to him. “This isn’t about me, you know. This is about you and Elle. If you or she asked me to, I’d have no problem changing the arrangements—waiting another week or another month or whatever you guys said. But I don’t want him to make you change everything.”
“I know.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “Let’s see what happens. It might not be an issue. He might come this weekend.”
“He might.” The look on his face told her that he didn’t expect that any more than she did.
~ ~ ~
Cal had the second guestroom finished by lunchtime on Friday. He took his time cleaning the whole house. It’d been fun to work with Terry on getting it how they wanted it. They were still waiting on more furniture. He smiled as he remembered following her around the big furniture stores pretending that it mattered to him what she picked out. She’d pulled him up about agreeing with her even when she’d suggested a hideous ornate hutch for the dining room—apparently, that had been a test to see if he was even paying attention, and he’d failed.
She’d forgiven him when he explained that the furniture was important to him, but the only importance it held was how happy it made her. She’d made her aww noises and joked that he knew how to say all the right things. He wasn’t sure whether she really believed that—believed that he thought he was saying the right things. He hoped she understood that all he was doing was telling the truth. Either way, she was happy and that was all that really mattered.
The rest of the furniture should be arriving next week. Of course, it was scheduled to come on three separate days. That irked him. It was inefficient, but a necessary evil, since it was the result of letting Terry visit what felt like every single furniture store in the county.
Even then, he was still going to have to go and collect the patio furniture that she’d ordered. It’d be worth it. He’d bought it from an old guy up near Stanton Falls who made one-of-a-kind pieces by hand. When Teresa had first said the word craftsman, he hadn’t been keen on the idea—it brought to mind rustic, artsy stuff. Not that he disliked that style, but it wouldn’t go with the house. Of course, he should have trusted her taste. There was nothing rustic about the modern teak and metal dining table and chairs she’d commissioned, or the lounge chairs that were all sleek, straight lines and right angles, just like the house.
He’d rented a small box van to move Elle next weekend. He hoped they’d have her and Skye settled into their new place on Saturday so that on Sunday morning he could take Terry for a drive up to Stanton to collect the furniture. He smiled, and by the time they got back here, Manny and Nina, and Ryan and Leanne, and whoever else Elle wanted to round up would be here—ostensibly to help unload the patio furniture. But he wanted them all to be here for something much more important than that.
He checked the clock. It was only three o’clock and he’d done everything he could find to do. Terry wasn’t finishing work until five-thirty. He blew out a sigh, irritated not that she was working late but because she was only doing so because she was taking another Saturday off—to accommodate Steve again. As of this morning she didn’t even know if he was definitely coming. If he didn’t, he’d have to wait. He looked at his watch again. If he sat around here doing nothing, he’d get himself wound up. He reached for his phone and called Manny.
“Hey, Cal.”
“Hey. What are you doing when you finish work?”
“Going to the Boathouse with Ryan. Nina’s working at the gift shop. What are you up to? I thought you’d be hard at work getting the house finished.”
“It’s all done.”
Manny chuckled. “And now you don’t know what to do with yourself? Why don’t you come over and meet us? Nina’s supposed to come and meet me for dinner, and you know she’d love to see Teresa.”
“I’m on my way.”
He decided he’d call Terry on his way over. If Nina was coming to the Boathouse, she might want the four of them to have dinner together. He liked that idea. His smile faded when he realized that if Steve was coming, she might prefer to go back over to Four Mile.
He waited until he was out on East Shore Road before he called. She usually booked appointments to start on the hour or the half hour, so he was hoping he might catch her in between. He’d leave her a message to call him back if not.
“Hey, you.”
“Hi.”
“What can I do for you?”
He chuckled. “I was thinking more along the lines of what I can do for you. I’m all done at the house
and I’m coming over to meet Manny and Ryan at the Boathouse. Manny said Nina’s going straight there after she gets done at work, so I wondered if you want to have dinner with them.”
“I’d love to. That’ll be fun. And then we can go back to your place and just crash. I’m tired tonight.”
“Great. I’ll see you there whenever you get done. We can leave your car there until tomorrow if you like.”
He had the feeling that her willingness to have dinner at the Boathouse meant that Steve wasn’t coming. But if he were, she wouldn’t want to have to go back for her car tomorrow.
“Okay. Sounds good.”
That didn’t help. Did that mean they were free to move around town? He pressed his lips together, wondering if she’d just forgotten.
“I’m going to have to go in a minute. My next one’s just pulling up outside. Are you okay? You sound off.”
“I’m sorry. I was trying to figure out without asking if Steve’s coming.”
“Oh!” She blew out a sigh. “No. He’s not. It’s like I expected. He called Elle this afternoon and said he can’t come but he’ll come next weekend instead.”
Cal gripped the steering wheel tighter and felt the muscle start to twitch in his jaw. No way was he going to let the asshole mess next weekend up for him. He’d put off officially moving into the house until Elle moved out of Teresa’s place. Teresa had stayed with him most nights anyway, but he’d dropped her home in the mornings so that she could help Elle get Skye ready and have some time together. Next weekend marked a new beginning in all of their lives as far as he was concerned, and he wasn’t going to stand for her ex landing in the middle of it and spoiling things.
“Are you still there.”
“Yeah. What did Elle tell him?”
“That she’s moving and he’ll have to wait. Don’t be mad?”
“I’m not mad at you, Terry. Sorry.” Damn. He didn’t want to take it out on her. He needed to get his act together. “The only person I’m mad at is him. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. But I really have to go. She’s here now. I’ll see you just after five-thirty.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then. And I promise I’ll be all smiles and no more Mr. Grouch.”