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Maybe that’s it. I had the thought earlier that Calvin is gorgeous to look at, it’s the inside that’s a bit off-putting. Maybe somewhere over the years, his father cracked, and all that poison leaked out and ruined him.
The Cutler curse. Maybe it won’t happen to Calvin now that he has me to share that unpalatable side of himself with.
“Let me see this,” she says with a conspiratorial look, grabbing my left hand so she can look at the ring. “Oh, isn’t that beautiful.” She looks over her shoulder. “Peter, come see Hallie’s ring.”
I look over at Calvin. “You’re right, your mother is amazing.”
He smiles, and the woman’s eyes sparkle with happiness to hear her son has apparently spoken so highly of her.
His dad, on the other hand, moves over our happy little gathering with all the cheer of a storm cloud. He joins us, but reluctantly.
Nodding stiffly at Calvin, he says, “I see you’re doing well.”
“Very well.”
Because he’s expected to and his lovely wife encourages him to do so, he looks at my ring. “Looks expensive.”
Calvin’s mother looks horrified, but she holds her tongue and offers an apologetic smile. “It looks beautiful, dear. And beautiful on you. You’ll make the loveliest bride.”
Since this is our first chance to get to know one another, Calvin’s mom walks with me while the men fall back. I steal glimpses of the sprawling acreage as we walk. It looks like the sort of place English aristocrats pass down for generations, not somewhere an ordinary person lives.
“Do you see my rose garden?” she asks, pointing when she notices me looking at the yard. “I love gardening and Calvin thought I should have my own rose garden because that’s my name. Rose. Did I forget to introduce myself? Oh, I’m sorry, I was just so happy to meet you.”
I love this woman. She’s so sweet, I want to cuddle her and protect her from the cruel, cruel world.
“Your garden looks beautiful. I’d love to see it up close later if there’s time.”
“Oh, yes, I would love that, too.”
___
Since we came for dinner, we head inside after Rose gives us a tour of the grounds. The place is a little overwhelming—Cutler tradition, I suppose—but it’s beautiful, and I love it.
I can’t imagine growing up in a place like this. It’s magnificent, but knowing Calvin was an only child with this whole place to himself, I wonder if it might have been a little lonely, too.
“I can’t believe this is where you grew up,” I tell Calvin as we enter the dining room. He pulls out my seat for me, and I thank him absently before going on with a mischievous smile. “Do I get to see your old room like you got to see mine?”
Before Calvin can answer, his father does. “Oh, Calvin never lived here. The house we brought him up in was half the size of this one. A stately home, enough to satisfy most people.”
I glance to Rose because I’ve learned quickly that she’s an excellent barometer to check to see if things are about to get unpleasant. Her gaze lowers, which means yes, yes it is.
Calvin laughs, regarding his father with an actual grin, but not a pleasant one. “You’re one to talk about not being satisfied with what you’ve got, aren’t you, Dad?”
“Boys, please,” Rose says, looking pleadingly at Calvin, since my guess is she has more luck seeking his mercy than his father’s. “We have a guest.”
His father points at him. “That’s your problem, right there. You’ve never been able to mind your own goddamned business.”
Calvin is dismissive. “That’s not true. You just underestimate what I consider my business. If it’s not my business, I don’t care about it. If it affects someone I love, then it isabsolutelymy business.”
“I don’t know what’s happening,” I whisper to Rose.
She leans over the table to murmur back, “When Peter lost his job years back—”
Peter interjects, pointing accusingly at Calvin. “Whenheput me out of business. My own flesh and blood.”
Rose continues, ignoring her husband’s outburst to put a nice face on the truth. “We had a bit of financial trouble and had to sell our old house. Calvin bought us this one.”
Ah.
