Page 41 of Sunflower

“Christ, that was lucky for him,” Dad said, relief clear in the way his shoulders finally relaxed. “First time, you say?”

I picked up the conversational thread. “His wife said it was their ten-year anniversary. They’d wanted to splurge and try lobster. Gave them quite a scare.”

“I can only imagine,” Erin said, her hand resting lightly on her throat in sympathy. “Of course, we’ll get you another one before you head back. I’ve got some deals I want to pick up tomorrow. I’ll pick it up before I come home.”

“Actually, I need to pick up a few things myself. Can I go with you?” With Callum still leaning forward, I stretched my arm out to rest on the back of his seat. He watched my movement, a small smile lifting his lips when I relaxed again.

“Of course, hon!” A bright, wide smile lit up Erin’s face as she watched our interaction before she pointed between us. “It’ll give me more opportunity to grill you about this developing situation.”

Resigned, I let out a puff of air, letting my head drop back. They’d both done so well, getting through lunch with barely ademand for any information other than the basics. I should have known it wouldn’t last.

Thankfully, Callum took charge, pointing his finger right back at her with narrowed eyes. “No, Mam.No.I won’t have you dividing and conquering. If you want information, you ask us both together or not at all.”

Dad coughed in amusement before he glanced at his wife. “They might have a point, dear. Let’s just get all the questions out of the way now, okay?”

Erin huffed, but eventually conceded. “My biggest worry is how you two are going to make this work when you’re on opposite sides of the country. Joey, are you planning on transferring?”

Strangely, the thought of transferring had never even crossed my mind, because I knew Callum had moved back home already. But now that the idea had been floated, I couldn’t help but wonder if I would’ve transferred had Callum still been living in New York.

I realized with not a small amount of surprise that the answer would have beenyes.

Truthfully, there wasn’t much holding me where I was studying. I’d admitted to Callum that I wasn’t sold on the major I was studying, so it would have been relatively easy to transfer my credits to a different major at another college. Of course, I’d miss my frat brothers, but I could make new friends wherever I went, especially if there was a chapter of my fraternity at whichever college I ended up at.

If I had decided to move interstate, the tuition costs would’ve ended up being higher, but if I lived with Callum, at least I wouldn’t have to worry about the cost of housing. Maybe Dad and Erin would even have been thrilled with us living together if they could put what they’d been paying for my current room towards the higher interstate tuition fees. At least that way,there might not have been a huge difference in costs, especially considering they were both adamant about not letting me work my way through college. They’d held the same stance with Callum when he was studying, but still… College was expensive.

That begged the question of whether I’d bewillingto move in with him, especially so soon after we’d reconnected. Or connected in the first place. I had to keep reminding myself that we’d essentially only spent the equivalent of a single day together. I must be mad to even entertain the thought of moving in with him so quickly, but here I was.

And again, the answer would have been a resoundingyes. I would move in with him. In a heartbeat.

My mouth was open to tell Callum exactly that when he answered for me.

“Actually, Mam, I’m not in New York anymore,” Callum reluctantly admitted, toying with his glass of water, his eyes downcast to avoid looking at his mom directly. “Haven’t been for a few weeks now.”

“What?” Erin’s eyes widened in shock. “Where the hell have you been living? Why didn’t you tell us you’d moved?”

“Because I needed time to settle in.” His index finger circled the rim of the glass, a quiet hum ringing out. “My work transferred me, and it’s taken me this long to not only settle into a new place, but a new team.”

“You got transferred?” Dad asked, curiously. He obviously wasn’t phased by the news, which I was glad for since he could keep Erin from blowing up at her son.

“Yeah.” Callum raised his head to look at Dad and nod. “They had an opening for my skill set, so I put my name forward. It was as much of a shock to me as it is for you when they came back and said I got it.”

“I can’t help but notice that you’re not sayingwhereyou moved to,” Erin said, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Callum coughed, his focus back on the glass, and the hum changed pitch as he shifted his touch. “Um, yeah.” He swallowed nervously. “I’m living in Granmere.”

A frosty tension fell over the table.

“You mean to tell me…” Erin began, her voice dangerously quiet. “That you’ve been living forty-five minutes away from us for weeks, and you’re only just deigning to tell us about itnow?”

“Erin…” Dad warned, his hand reaching for hers on top of the table.

She glared mutinously at him. “No. My ownsondecided to move back here and not tell us.” She turned her irate gaze on Callum, hurt flickering amongst her anger. “I could understand not saying anything for a few days, but you saidweeks. Callum,why?”

He pressed his lips together so hard they turned white. “I needed time.”

“Seriously?” Erin asked, her voice at arctic levels of frostiness. Her chair scraped the floor when she stood up and began pacing, her fingers clenching and unclenching as she tried to settle herself. “We would’ve helped you move. For weeks you’ve been letting us believe that you’ve been in New York, when you’ve literally been just down the road?” She shook her head, frustrated disappointment lingering in her still icy tone. “Four and a half years, Callum. Four and a half years, I haven’t been able to hug my son whenever I wanted to.” Tears began streaming down her cheeks as the frustration finally gave way to hurt and pain. “I understood why you stayed away. God help me, I understood. Butweeks?How could you keep that from us? Fromme?”She tapped her chest with her palm before she let out a defeated sob and stormed away. Seconds later, a door slammed shut, making us all jolt in our seats and wince.

We sat there silently, letting the tension slowly ease.

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