Page 110 of Always: A Legacy Novel

“Color options for your dress tomorrow. Anything but red; I know his wife prefers red, so give her the option of being the only woman there wearing it.”

“You’re not worried about tomorrow, are you?” Emma asked.

His step-father laughed lowly. “No. Not at all. Families like ours don’t intermingle much when it comes to private occasions like this, but we were invited because of Cross’s involvement with the girl. It would have been rude to say no. We’ll go, and say hello, stay a while, but keep a distance as we should for the sake of business. I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

Cross heard something shift against wood. Likely something moving on Calisto’s large desk.

“I was looking at this,” Calisto said.

“I took that picture.”

“Mmm, I know. We were getting ready for a wedding. I worried less about him back then. He let me talk a lot more when he was this young. He still played, still fell asleep in the backseat of the car when we had a long day, and he listened better. Far better.”

“He listens,” Emma said softly.

“To what he wants to hear,” Calisto replied, “and more often than not, he does not want to hear anything at all.”

“Cal.”

“It’s true, Emmy.”

A heavy sigh echoed out into the hallway where Cross was standing. He had gone looking for his parents after he got home, to let them know he was there, and he wasn’t quite sure what he was hearing now.

“It’s true,” his step-father repeated, “and now I worry about him all the time.”

“It could be worse.”

“How?”

“He could be partying all the time, drinking himself stupid, or doing drugs. So he’s a little mouthy and wild, and he lets his behavior be ruled by his wants and not his needs. He’s a teenager, Cal. That’s what you’ve been telling me since he was thirteen. He’s a teenage boy.”

“I wonder if it will ever level out for him, that’s all. Will his attitude ever level out with his temperament? I want him to find that balance, Emmy. Do you know how amazing he would be, if he only found his balance between where he is now and where he could be?”

“What is it that you tell me whenever I get impatient?” Emma asked.

“Give it time?”

“So, give it some time, Cal. He does listen, even when you think he doesn’t. He hears you.”

Cross figured he had heard enough, and he didn’t want his parents to know he eavesdropped on their conversation, even if it had been by mistake. He headed for the front door, walking as quietly as he could, seeing as how his parents must not have heard him enter the first time. He made sure to slam the front door loud enough for it to echo the second time.

Sure enough, as he came down the back hallway, his mother met him there.

She patted his cheek as she came to stand in front of him. “How was school?”

“Good, Ma.”

“You’re late. It’s after supper.”

“I headed over to Catherine’s since she wasn’t at school,” he explained.

Emma smiled. “To what, wish her a happy birthday?”

“Better than over the phone, right? I stayed for a bit after, too.”

“I see.” His mother nodded at the opened office doors. “Calisto is in there, if you’re looking for him. Camilla wanted lasagna, so that’s what’s in the fridge if you want me to heat it up.”