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She couldn’t have asked for a better response.
“Oh, and if you want, bring your dog; there is plenty of room for him to run around outside and an empty kennel next to the stable. Then you can stay as long as you want without having to worry about boarding him.”
He’s really trying. Callie had been impressed with Warren’s treatment of her since their first meeting. His offer to bring Lucky really sent her opinion of him over the top.
“Uh, okay. If you’re sure.” While she appreciated the offer, she already felt as if she was taking advantage of the situation by accepting his invitation to hide out there.
Hide out. Never in a million years had she thought she would need to hide out. Then again, she never imagined someone like Warren Sherbrooke was her father.
An unexpected burst of anger exploded in her heart. If her mother had never bothered to write that letter, none of this would be happening. She wouldn’t have reporters staking out her apartment and hounding her. She wouldn’t be nursing a broken heart either. Instead, she would be happily living her life as she always had. Perfectly content to think her father was dead, killed in a car accident as her mom had always claimed.
It’s not her fault. Deep down, Callie knew that. Yes, her mother wrote the letter and Helen told her the truth, but she’d made the decision to meet her father. She gave Warren the green light to tell the media. No one had forced her to do that. Just like no one had held a gun to her head when it came to getting involved with Dylan. She’d made that disastrous decision all on her own. She could have told him not to call after that first kiss they’d shared. She hadn’t been strong enough to. Now she had to pay the price for her lapse in judgment.
Chapter 14
The electric blue Lamborghini she parked next to told her someone besides Warren and Elizabeth was there. Callie just couldn’t see either of them driving the over-the-top car. The black Bentley farther down in the garage was more their style.
She dismissed Dylan as its possible owner. It wasn’t his style either. He leaned more toward the classy and subtle. There was nothing subtle about an electric blue Lamborghini. That meant it could be Sara’s or Jake’s—or worse, another guest.
“Please don’t let it be Sara’s,” she said, turning off the engine. She couldn’t deal with Sara right now.
On second thought, maybe another guest wouldn’t be the worst thing. If the car belonged to Jake and he turned out to be anything like his sister, the next several days would be torturous.
Get moving. She wasn’t going to learn anything by sitting there. “Lucky, I’m starting to wish I could stay with you in the kennel.” With a sigh, she opened her car door.
Before pulling into the garage, she’d stopped at the kennel and dropped Lucky off. The kennel was attached to what Warren called a stable, although calling it that seemed wrong. It was nicer than her apartment. The kennel too was like none she’d seen before. It consisted of both outdoor and indoor areas. Inside there was a sofa, as well as central air and music, of all things. The outside area was fenced in and included a small child-sized in ground pool for the dog to use. Warren had told her the kennel had been designed for Sara’s dogs. For some reason, Callie couldn’t picture her half-sister as a dog lover.
Popping open her trunk, Callie reached for her suitcase.
“Don’t worry about those. Paul can bring them up to the house for you,” a male voice called out behind her.
Startled, Callie spun around and came face to face with a much younger version of Warren. Even if she hadn’t seen pictures of him, there would be no mistaking who this was.
Jake. So much for no other relatives being around this weekend.
“Dad is having lunch served in the Tea House for a change. I’m heading down there,” Jake explained, his voice friendly. Welcoming, actually.
Lunch in the Tea House? He made it sound like it was something everyone did. In his world, they do, Callie reminded herself. “Okay.” Really, what else could she say?
They walked in silence at first. Unsure of her half-brother’s feelings toward her, Callie decided the less she said, the better. While he hadn’t displayed any hatred like his sister, that didn’t mean he was happy about her existence. It just meant he was more mature about the situation.
“Sorry I missed you last time you were here,” Jake said, breaking the silence. “I meant to get here, but things got really busy.” He sounded so sincere that Callie couldn’t help but believe him.
Too bad Dylan hadn’t been too busy. She suspected she’d started to fall for him that very weekend. No thoughts of Dylan allowed today.
“No problem. It was...” Callie paused, searching for the right words. That weekend had been so many things. “… overwhelming with everyone else here,” she finally finished.
Jake laughed. “I can imagine.”
Callie could now see the Tea House. She didn’t know how she could have missed it before. It was perched overlooking the ocean, and the building looked as if it had been taken directly from China and placed here.
“Wow. When you said Tea House, you really meant it.”
Abruptly, Jake stopped. “My...I guess I should say, our great-grandmother loved Chinese architecture. She had carpenters from China brought here to build it.”
His mini-history lesson didn’t surprise her. Those with the means were known for going to great lengths to get exactly what they wanted. “It’s beautiful,” she said, taking a step forward. “We probably shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
Jake shrugged nonchalantly, reminding her so much of Dylan. “Dad’s used to me being late. If I was ever on time, he’d probably have a heart attack.” He paused for a minute. “Callie, I know you and Sara didn’t hit it off,” he said, his voice taking on a more serious tone.
