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“Yeah, I figured as much. Thanks for your help, but you can go now.”
Alina descended the stairs again, a delicate thud on each step until she brushed past me to the porch, now dressed.
“Hi, Charlie. Coffee?”
Charlie winked at me before dazzling Alina with a smile. “That would be lovely, thank you.”
ChapterThirty
Alina
In no way was I ready for our bubble of bliss to burst just yet. Nor was I prepared for it to be our tomorrow.
Having Callum in the house and warming my bed had helped ease the pain this place invoked in me.
Charlie’s arrival had caused my heart to plummet. The door to the outside world was now unlocked, and Callum was free to walk through it.
Both men followed me through the house to the kitchen. Charlie’s eyes wandered around the room, taking in all the improvements made so far.
Callum’s eyes were only on me.
Having the two brothers sitting at my table felt like the room had morphed into something fromAlice in Wonderland. Their presence was commanding to say the least.
Charlie piped up from his seat, offering me instructions on how to make his preference for coffee. My hand stilled on his cup, knowing his preference already felt like a betrayal to Callum in a ludicrous way. I knew how Rita and my boss both took their coffee. It wasn’t a betrayal in any form, but with Charlie, the circumstances were exceptional, and I knew Callum was ignorant to them—but the reason was a good one, I rationalized—a necessity.
“There’s no milk,” I explained when I handed him the sweetened black liquid.
Quietly, I sipped my drink as they chatted about the storm and how much work it had created, clearing trees and some flash flooding around town. I held my tongue as I listened while in the pit of my stomach, I wanted to blurt out a confession.
I wanted to tell Callum the truth. I steadied my breathing, concentrating on not saying the words that would inevitably hurt Callum and, most likely, the brother’s relationship.
“Hey, I was thinking…” Callum slid from his seat to rinse his cup under the tap. “I could put that stove to some good use and cook us all dinner this weekend. What’d you reckon, Charlie, get the girls together to finally meet?”
My eyes darted to Charlie’s, whose widened while his hand stilled in motion. “Yeah, sounds good.”
* * *
“Alina?”
It took me a moment to realize the direction in which the voice had come and had not been conjured up by my imagination.
Spinning on my heel, I saw him, only meters away and not in my imagination. A petite little woman was standing with him, linked by their hands, dressed in a flattering pastel sundress.
“It really is you, isn’t it?” he asked as if he couldn’t believe his own eyes, his smile growing.
“Hi, Charlie.” I forced the smile to my lips as my eyes scanned behind him, searching for any sign of Callum being with them on the busy street, with a racing heart.
Charlie released the hand of the girl he was with and pulled me into a long, tight hug. He squeezed me like I might disappear if he loosened his hold.
“So good to see you.” Stepping back, his hand linked with his companion again. “Alina, this is my wife, Simone. Babe, this is Callum’s… Alina used to live in Beddington.” He caught his explanation before the situation became even more awkward.
Hearing his name caused my heart to flinch. I did what I could to mask it.
“We grew up there together.” We exchanged our ‘Nice to meet yous’ while Charlie held a smile wider than the Grand Canyon on his face.
“I can’t believe it’s really you.”
“It’s really me, Charlie.”
