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Standing, Jake gathered up his plate and empty beer bottles. “I’m going to watch a movie. Something with a lot of violence. All this Dr. Phil shit is getting to me,” he said. “But seriously, think about what I said. Not all women are like Francesca. Definitely not Callie. You’ll regret it if you don’t at least try to fix this.” Jake got rid of his trash and disappeared down the hall, leaving Dylan alone at the table.
In the other room, he could hear the opening music to a movie, but he had no desire to join his brother. Looking down at the open magazine, the pictures brought memories flooding back. He rubbed at the dull ache in his chest. Most of the photos had been taken without their knowledge, which wasn’t unusual to him. Thanks to who his family was, the paparazzi often took photos without his permission. It wasn’t something Callie was used
to. He wondered how she was coping with it. Maybe staying at Cliff House was her way of avoiding the spotlight and chaos Warren’s announcement had caused.
Dylan’s eyes focused again on the picture taken at the Red Sox game. The night they’d first made love. From beginning to end, it had been a perfect evening. The best date he’d ever been on, and they’d only gone to a baseball game. He’d felt content and liked for who he was as a man, rather than liked for what he was. Callie always made him feel that way.
And he’d gone and blown things with her. Jake was spot on. He did care about Callie.
Admit it, Talbot. You more than just care. You love her.
Though he’d suspected it, he’d been denying it to himself for a while. After what happened with Francesca, could anyone blame him? If he opened his heart again, he ran the risk of having it stomped on. Ran the risk of being betrayed again. You never really knew who you could trust.
Jake was right though. He needed to fix things, or at least try. Callie may never forgive him, but if he didn’t do something, he would never forgive himself and he’d always wonder what if.
There was only one problem—he had no idea how. Expensive gifts like jewelry would work on most of the women he knew, but they wouldn’t help his cause with Callie. She wasn’t like most women. It would need to be something with heart.
“Hey, Jake, do you know how long Callie is going to be at Cliff House?” Dylan stopped at the door to the media room, a partial idea forming in his mind.
The younger man threw him an ‘I told you so’ smile and shook his head. “Mom said they were staying just the weekend. I don’t know about Callie though. I can find out for you.”
“Do that,” Dylan replied before heading to his own bedroom.
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.
***
Drumming his fingers on his leg in impatience, Dylan wished the guy across from him would just sign the final documents and leave. Instead, Steven Macy, the CEO of the hotel chain that Sherbrooke Enterprises was swallowing up, kept talking to him and the attorneys present as if they were long-lost buddies.
I don’t have time for this. I’ve got more important things to do. His fingers stilled. Work was always his first priority and had been since he graduated college. Yet right now, he couldn’t care less about it. The only thing that mattered was getting to Callie and convincing her to give him another chance. He had everything planned. Dylan just hoped it worked.
“Bill, is everything in order?” he asked one of Sherbrooke Enterprises’ attorneys, not caring that he’d interrupted Steven Macy in mid-sentence.
Bill gave him a look as if to say thank you for shutting him up. “It’s a done deal. We are all set.”
Coming to his feet, Dylan announced, “Then we’re done here, gentlemen.” Normally, he had more finesse. He’d casually bring the conservation to an end so Steven Macy didn’t feel as if he was being tossed out of the office. Today, he just didn’t care. Right now, the only thing he cared about was getting out of the city and to Cliff House.
Dylan used the short plane ride to Rhode Island to clear up any other business that might interfere with his weekend. He didn’t want any distractions from the outside world. As arranged, a car was waiting for him at the airport in Newport.
“Where to tonight, sir?” the driver asked, getting behind the wheel of the Town Car.
“Straight to Cliff House.” Dylan pulled out his cell phone and pulled up Jake’s number. He’d arrived in Newport the previous evening at Dylan’s request. Though he hated to admit it, Dylan needed his brother’s help to carry off his plan tonight.
Jake had several responsibilities. First he had to keep Callie busy so she wouldn’t see things being set up in the Tea House or see Dylan arrive, and, most importantly, it was up to Jake to make sure she showed up at the Tea House that evening.
