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Away from too many happy memories of their time together. Her heart was breaking, and she didn’t want to fall apart in front of Cal’s grandfather. The hurt was so much worse than when her last boyfriend had ripped her off.
“Everett, I told you, Cal’s made up his mind, and he wants me to leave,” Josie informed the older man a second time, not wanting to argue in the driveway.
The sun was too intense this time of day. She worried about Everett’s health. Bad enough he pushed the walker on the uneven terrain every day. But the heat couldn’t be good for him either, especially with all the clothes he piled on his thinning frame.
The older man had caught up to her while she’d been on the phone with the sheriff’s department, and he seemed determined not to move.
“And I toldyou, my grandson’s being a damned fool.” Everett punctuated the words by pounding the heel of his fist on the rubber grip to his walker. “But I promise you this, he doesn’t mean it.”
“I should have been honest with him.” She understood that now. Cal wasn’t the kind of person who made do with half measures, the way she had her whole life.
He needed the whole picture to make informed decisions, and she’d robbed him of the ability to decide whether she was a good person or not. She couldn’t escape the fact that she had broken the law. She knew his image was important to him and she’d knowingly put that at risk by keeping the truth from him. By withholding the truth and hoping for the best, she’d given him the worst possible view of her.
Cal did things the right way. With integrity and honesty.
Everett shook his head so hard that a wisp of gray hair dislodged from the comb-over to stick straight up. “You’ve showed us nothing but kindness, my dear. If I knew nothing else about you, that would be enough.”
The words were so sweetly unexpected, so thoughtful, they brought a tear to her eye. But then, her emotions were tumbling all over the place like a payload that wasn’t tethered to the truck bed.
“Thank you, Everett,” she whispered, her eyes going to his.
But he looked past her, at a spot over her shoulder.
Even as she turned, she heard dogs barking. Guessed that Cal must be heading their way. Her heart sank because she didn’t think she could face him again. Not now when she was holding herself together with duct tape and string.
A typical Josie Vance patch job.
Cal’s voice sounded behind her. “Gramp, it looks like one of the nurses is flagging you down to return to the house.”
Josie turned to see a slim blonde in navy-blue scrubs hurrying their way. It was easier to focus on the aide than to look at Cal. Especially since she had wanted to leave without another confrontation.
“I wouldn’t be out here now if you handled your business right the first time,” Everett grumbled, shooting a glare at his grandson as he pushed his walker back toward his house. The older man paused as he passed Josie, his eyes kind. “Just know that if it was up to me, you wouldn’t be leaving.”
He covered her hand with his weathered one, squeezing with surprising strength before he continued toward the house. The aide was already reaching him, supervising the rest of his walk. From several yards away, Josie could hear him tell her he didn’t need a babysitter.
A smile pulled at her lips even as another tear leaked free. She dashed it away and braced herself before turning to face Cal again.
His expression was less rigid than she remembered. Less angry. He sounded almost concerned when he spoke to her.
“I planned to drive you wherever you wanted to go,” he chided her as he gestured to her suitcase, his T-shirt pulling tight around his biceps. “I was out back waiting for you.”
His proximity shouldn’t affect her, but she found herself remembering the ways they’d touched each other the night before. How happy she’d been this morning when she’d stepped into the kitchen. But that was in the past and she refused to let his tone fool her now. She couldn’t let her guard down around him again.
Ever.
“You told me to leave. I took you at your word.” She bent to pick up Kungfu, comforted by seeing her canine friends again.
“I’d never expect you to walk in this heat.” He grabbed the suitcase handle and dragged it closer. “Let’s talk inside.”
She dug her heels in despite the heat, because her pride was all she had left now. “You were very clear that there was nothing more to say.”
“I was wrong.” He kept hold of her suitcase and reached for the strap on her backpack. “And you can’t leave until we discuss it.”
He was wrong? She wondered what that was all about. But the possibility of his hand grazing her arm was enough to get her moving. She couldn’t risk a touch that might undermine all her mental defenses. It rattled her to realize how much she still wanted to lean in to him. To take shelter in his arms.
“I’ll carry it.” She shifted away from his outstretched fingers, but since he seemed determined to keep her suitcase captive, she followed him back to the farmhouse, her heart filling with a wary hope.
The heat decreased once they were under the shade of the big hickory trees that framed the yard, but Cal didn’t stop walking until they were inside the front parlor of the farmhouse, a formal living area with windows overlooking the lawn. She was surprised he didn’t keep moving to the backyard where his car waited, but she was too grateful for the blast of air conditioning to argue at the moment.
