Page 70 of Single Mom's Christmas Wish

“What did you think I was going to do?” she asks, her brows drawn together.

I offer a shrug. “Precisely what you did. You hovered around Archer, knowing full well that we were engaged to be married. Supposedly.”

“Hey, I didn’t make a pass at your man,” Callie says, brusquely defending herself. “I may want my rightful inheritance, but I wouldn’t do that.”

“The point being, Callie, that, given the situation, the fact that I am getting married before Christmas might come across as a ploy to get the inheritance. I didn’t want you stirring up

trouble, and neither did Archer.”

She flashes a cold smile. “What did Reed think of the whole thing?”

“He agreed. Callie, you have to understand that we didn’t exactly get off on the right foot here.”

“No, I agree. And I do understand. It still feels kind of weird, but I’ll get over it,” she replies and musters a broader, more generous smile. “That being said, I want to congratulate you on your upcoming wedding. Regardless of why you’re tying the knot in the first place, I’ve done some research, and I gotta say, the Faulkners are pretty interesting fellas. You’ve done well for yourself, and you deserve every good thing that’s coming your way.”

“Thank you,” I say. “That means a lot coming from you.”

Callie laughs lightly. “Listen, I am not going to play the part of the evil sister here. My allowance and the house itself will be more than enough for me going forward. I’ve got the foundation work to keep me busy, and I can use our charity events as networking opportunities. I might as well move on and build something of my own instead of living out the rest of my days relying on my grandmother’s money.”

“That makes all the sense in the world,” I say. “I could talk to Reed and his brothers about potential business opportunities at one of their companies. They told me just the other day that they were looking to expand. It might be a good opportunity for you to jump in.”

“You would do that for me?”

“It doesn’t cost me anything to help my sister out.”

She stills and gives me a long, meaningful look. Emotions stir deep within her—I can see them reflected in the brown pools of her eyes. “You’re too kind for this world, Dakota. Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

“When’s the wedding?” she quickly changes the subject.

“December 17th.”

“Holy crap, that’s three days from now!” she gasps. “Y’all are quick!”

I can’t help but laugh. “Yeah, well, Reed didn’t want to wait any longer.” I pause and give her a tentative smile. “Would you like to come?”

“Seriously?”

“It’ll be a small ceremony. Just Reed and his brothers, their mother, our kids, Chelsea, and a few folks from the community center. We want to keep it private,” I say.

She tears up, and I feel slightly softer in her presence. “I’d love to come to your wedding,” Callie replies. “I’m surprised you’d want me there.”

“Callie, you’re the closest thing I’ve got left to a family in this world. And I don’t want our father’s transgressions to ruin the future for us. Neither of us is responsible for what he and Katherine did or didn’t do, said or didn’t say.”

“You’re absolutely right,” she agrees.

“Besides, after the wedding, after everything settles down and we’re able to think clearly again, maybe the two of us could get together and dig a little deeper into what happened between our dad and your mom, between our dad and Katherine. I’ve got a feeling that there was always more to the story, but with no one around to tell that side…”

Callie thinks about it for a moment, her gaze wandering off. “You know, you might be on to something. For as long as I can remember, my mom was super vague whenever I mentioned Dad. She wouldn’t even talk about him. She simply insisted that he walked out on us, that he left us behind, and that I deserved better.”

“What about Katherine? Did she ever give you any details?”

“More or less the same crap. He walked out. He chose his so-called freedom and new life in California instead of toughing it out with his family,” she says. “But in hindsight, I have to admit there were times when I didn’t really believe them. I couldn’t understand how he could just walk out and completely disappear, never sending a Christmas card or anything. It’s weird.”

“I guess I knew Dad for just a bit longer than you, Callie, and if there is one thing I can say without the slightest doubt, it’s that he was a good father. He loved me, and he would’ve never done something like that. But as you said, in hindsight, I remember this muted sadness about him whenever he looked at me. I think he missed you. I think something happened to keep him away from you for so long. I can’t wrap my head around it in any other way.”

“Hearing you talk about him like that makes me feel kind of jealous,” she says with a bitter smile. “Man, I need a few moredrinks for this conversation.” She pulls away from my car and eagerly looks around. “So, The Roxbury is closed, but there are a few more bars farther down the road that might still be open at this hour. Come on, let me buy you a martini or something. We can talk about this some more.”

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