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He walked away before he answered the call, his voice low. Then, juggling the phone to his ear and starting his truck, he offered me an awkward wave before throwing the car into gear, the tires spraying gravel before he sped off down the driveway.
.
ChapterSeventeen
Callum
My patience was wearing thin. It was my own doing because I’d removed myself from the situation but still wanted complete control over it. I liked to be the calling-the-shots guy, making decisions and executing them. It was the way I had always been, thinking I knew what was best for everyone—it was my cross to bear being the eldest son and brother. It hadn’t carried over so well with Alina, but that was a whole other cross entirely.
“She asked me to send her the bill. I thought you said she’d paid.” Charlie had ignored my questions about how the tractor was going and countered with his own.
“No, I said it had been paid. If you misunderstood, then you can’t get snarky at me about it.”
“Cal, did you pay for it?” Never one to beat around the bush, Charlie came right out and asked me.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why’d you pay the bill? You know that no amount of charity will buy back the past. You know it, and I know it, so why can’t you just forgive yourself and leave it where it should be left? In the past. Move on, Cal,” he begged, his voice filled with the concern it always had when he tried to talk to me about the past and Alina.
“When you’ve made the same mistakes I have, then come and preach to me about moving on, yeah?”
I heard him curse under his breath, but before he could say anything else, the service dropped, and the call ended.
He knew the reason I had paid Alina’s bill. I’d had the chance to change the past back then, but being the fool I was, I did nothing, and Alina got hurt. The irony wasn’t lost on me. I was still a fool now, but this time I knew admitting the past mistakes would affect the future.
Of this, I was sure.
* * *
It was almost midnight when the rhythmic tapping on the door pulled me from my sleep. I lay still, waiting to see if anyone else in the house had heard it or whether I’d just imagined it. When it didn’t come again, I rolled over, stuffing the pillow under my head, trying to find a comfortable position to go back to sleep.
I was just drifting off when the tapping returned.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” I knew it couldn’t have been in my dream because I was wide awake and still hearing it.
Throwing back the covers, I trudged my way down the hall, rubbing my eyes. Why anyone would come knocking at this time of night was beyond me. My parents had gone to bed hours ago. They had already been asleep before I’d gotten back from walking Alina home.
Alina.
Pulling back the door with speed, I expected to see her beautiful face cloaked in the darkness of the night, but instead, it was Miss Simpson who stood on our front porch.
“Miss Simpson, is something wrong? Is Alina all right?” My words came out in a hurry as panic rose. I needed to ask the questions quickly, as I needed the answers.
“I’m sorry to call so late, Callum.” She flinched. “Alina is just fine.”
I sighed, relieved but still awash with misunderstanding. Miss Simpson had still failed to provide an explanation. “Did you want to come in?”
“No. No, I’m good here, but I need to ask a favor of you, Callum.” Miss Simpson’s eyes darted everywhere, surveying the grounds and inside the house behind me, seemingly satisfied it was just the two of us. She stepped closer, her voice in a desperate hush. “I need you to take care of Alina.”
I frowned, mystified by her words. “What do you mean, take care of her? How?” I reached for her arm, but she pulled it away. “Please, come inside, and we can talk about this.”
She declined my offer with a shake of her head. “I need you to take care of her. If there was anything to ever happen to me, I need you to protect her and make sure she is safe where no one can hurt her. Promise me, Callum. You will do what is right for my sweet, sweet girl.”
I promised her, of course, I would do anything in my power to protect Alina. Without question. “Miss Simpson, are you okay?”
