Chapter 15
She’d been hiding out there for almost a week. Hiding out. It sounded ridiculous to say, but it was exactly what she was doing. In fact, she hadn’t left the estate once since her arrival.
So far, the media hadn’t lost interest in her, even though it’d been over two weeks since Warren’s announcement. Where is a celebrity scandal when you need it? Callie wondered as she sipped coffee Tuesday morning Both Warren and Elizabeth assured her the media would back off once she wasn’t the latest news. The sooner that happened, the better. She needed her life to return to normal. It’d never be as it was before learning the truth, but something more normal than this would be nice.
“Maybe I should just suck it up and go home?” She gazed off in the distance. The morning sky was cloudless, and from the balcony off her room, she had a spectacular view of the ocean. She’d told Warren she’d stay till at least Thursday, and she would. After that though, she’d probably head home. After all, she couldn’t hide forever, and she was getting lonely. Jake left Saturday night. Warren and Elizabeth followed him early Monday morning. While the house was full of staff, they weren’t much for talking. At least, not talking to her. They were friendly in a polite sort of way, yet that was it. They all kept their distance. For the most part, they only interacted with her when she approached them first.
Warren told her to treat the place like home and invite friends to visit if she wanted. She’d considered inviting Lauren, but almost immediately dismissed the idea. This wasn’t her home. It was her father’s private sanctuary. It didn’t seem right to have outsiders invade it.
Finishing her coffee, Callie checked her watch. Eight thirty. “Lucky will think I forgot about him.”
Every day since arriving, she went down to the kennel to take him for a morning and afternoon walk. Though there was someone on hand who could do it, Callie preferred to do it herself. Taking Lucky for a walk was routine and normal. She needed both of those things. Nothing else felt normal anymore. It felt more like she was living someone else’s life, and it wasn’t a life she was enjoying. What she wouldn’t give to turn the clock back to before Helen’s visit. If she’d known then what a mess talking with Helen was going to make of her life, she would’ve pretended not to be home the day she visited, and she certainly never would’ve opened the door for Dylan the afternoon he showed up on her doorstep.
Hindsight is a glorious thing. Too bad it never helps anyone. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It could be worse,” Callie said as she walked toward the kennel. How it could be worse though, she didn’t have a clue.
The Teacher's Billionaire Page 39