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“What’s going on?”
He whirled around with a smile on his face. “Breakfast.” He placed his spatula on the counter and headed to the coffeemaker. He poured her a cup of coffee and set it on the table. The table that was already set for three.
“Is this a dream?” Mark wandered into the kitchen, scratching his neck. She heard the scrape of his overnight scruff from four feet away. “This can’t be my house.”
She looked over at Cal, expecting a snarky response. But he merely smiled and poured him a cup of coffee.
“I’ve entered the Twilight Zone,” she muttered. “Who are you, and what have you done with Calum?”
“This is the new and improved Calum.”
Mark’s eyes widened. This was going to be an interesting morning.
When Cal had finished cooking, he brought the food to the kitchen table and they all dug in. For the first few minutes they ate in silence. At least with words. But the unspoken words that hung in the air around them was deafening.
“This is my apology breakfast,” Cal said at length.
Both she and Mark looked up from their plates in shock.
“I’m not good at saying the sorry words, so I thought I would cook them.” He grimaced. “You know what I mean. I’m sorry I’ve been a jackass. I just want you to be proud of me, V.”
Tears immediately stung her eyes with his apology. If she had known this was going to be a heartfelt discussion she would have come equipped with a box of tissues.
“Honey, I am proud of you. Always. I just wish…” She cleared her throat. “I wish I hadn’t screwed up with you. I’ve been a bad sister. A worse mother. I’m sorry.”
“Fuck, no, you haven’t!” Cal’s fork dropped to his plate.
Mark jumped. “Language, buddy.”
Veronica shook her head. She wasn’t blame-free where their relationship was concerned. “I was being selfish, and didn’t listen to you.”
“No. You’ve been perfect. Sometimes…too perfect. You never fuc…make bad choices. Or think about yourself. That morning when I saw you with Finn, I used it against you.” He peeked over at Mark, expecting him to freak out. And so did she. But he surprised them both and didn’t comment. His face didn’t even waver.
Cal looked at her earnestly. “You need to be selfish. To have your own life. I may not act like it, but I’m old enough to take care of myself. You don’t have to do it anymore.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but Cal cut her off.
“No!” He held up his hand. “Let me finish.” He took a deep breath and regrouped. “I talked to Finn, and… I realize now that I was afraid. I am afraid. That you’ll leave me. That if I leave for school and you get your own life, I won’t have a home to come back to.”
God, Finn had been right all along. She owed him a huge apology.
Cal took another deep breath and turned his attention to Mark. “I hated you for leaving us. I thought you were just like Mom. I felt abandoned. I didn’t understand you were doing it for us, not to us.” He looked back and forth between Mark and Veronica. “I get how childish it was. How stupid it all is, now.”
“Feelings aren’t stupid, bud.” She leaned over and wrapped her arms tight around her little brother. “And I’m not going anywhere. Ever. No matter where I live, or you live. I will always be there for you. And so will Mark. Don’t you ever think otherwise.”
They should have had this conversation years ago. But who knew? Other than Finn… The man’s insight into the inner workings of her little brother’s brain was surprising.
Still, she had done her best. Cal was a good kid. And now, maybe he would have the courage to fly out on his own.
And just maybe…she would, too.
She kissed his forehead, wiped her eyes, and returned to her breakfast. “Cal, this is so good. I should have sent you to work for Finn years ago. All this time we’ve had a gourmet chef living with us and we didn’t even know it.”
“He loves you.”
She straightened in her chair. Damn. She shouldn’t ever have mentioned the man’s name. She did not want to talk about Finn O’Reilly. “And how do you know that, hotshot?” she said lightly.
“Because he took me under his wing.”
