Page 64 of Finally Home

Now that the room is silent and I don’t have the distraction of working, the urge to check my phone for any new messages from Ollie takes over. I have to keep my hands busy, so I decide organizing the SIM cards full of the photos I’ve taken thus far to make sure they’re all in their numbered protective case is the best option.

“Fuck,” I hiss when I drop one on the ground, but Callum swoops in and reaches for it and holds it out for me.

“Thanks,” I say, and he nods.

“So I’m sure my wife has said this over and over, but hey, what’s one more? You really are a lifesaver for her. And from what she said, you’re really talented with an eye for capturing the perfect moment. Kinda like the one you just took.”

Ollie’s words ring loud in my ear:“The world isn’t ready for your talent and grace.”My smile falters slightly, and I try to fix my expression before Callum catches on.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you with such a compliment.” He holds his hands up innocently. “I promise I didn’t mean any offense by it.”

I wave him off. God, I’m a fucking mess. If I allowed myself to think too much about it, the tears might start again. The last few nights when I’m alone, I’ve ended up crying myself to sleep. I miss Ollie and our crazy whirlwind romance. I miss being woken up by him when he crawls into bed and his lack of reusing bath towels.

“No, I should have just smiled and said thank you.” Again, that reminds me of Ollie with how he told me I should respond to when he calls me beautiful, even if I didn’t believe it. Will everything for the rest of my life always bring him to the forefront of my mind? Did we fuck everything up by not sticking to the original arrangement?

My Grams always said it was better to have love and lost than to never have loved at all. But had the person who made that saying ever have truly loved someone?Love.I could deny it till my dying breath, but I know I love Oliver Mosby, so why couldn’t I just tell him? Even if he didn’t return those feelings enough to ask me to stay. Maybe then they wouldn’t have weighed so heavily on my heart now.

“Are you okay?” Cal asks, pulling me from the depths of my thoughts.

My shoulders slump, and I sag against the wall. “Yes, no, I don’t know.”

He smirks. “Well, I assume one of those covers the correct answer.”

“I promise I’m not this much of a hot mess usually. I’m definitely more professional, but I’m just going through some things recently. A breakup, I guess you could say, and I’m just a little off my game.”

“Hit me with it,” he says, surprising me. Telling the husband of the woman who hired me about my problems sounds like a recipe for disaster and for sure the opposite of the picture of professionalism I just claimed to have.

But there is something in his gaze that has me even considering this.

“I promise I’m a great listener, and my wife says that I even solve problems from time to time. I won’t ever judge you, but sometimes it helps to have a sounding board. Trust me, I know.”

I sigh, because damnit if this man isn’t right. It’s not like I have anyone else I could talk to. This definitely isn’t something I could chat with Payton about, with it being her brother, even though I’m sure she could separate the two if I really needed her.

“It’s just super complicated.”

He chuckles. “What do you know? I know all about complicated. How about the CliffsNotes? Brynn and I have been best friends since birth. Secretly, or I guess, well, secretly to us, since everyone around us seemed to know, we both loved each other, but neither of us was willing to risk the inevitable for fear of losing each other. Until one night changed everything.” Cal pauses with a faraway look in his eyes, as if he’s reliving the memories in his mind. “Anyway, we learned the risk of loving someone was worth it. When you meet the right person, everything just aligns. You love them even when they drive you crazy. And let me tell you, I’ve seen some people do crazy shit for love.” He laughs.

I feel the tears threatening to spill over.

“But what if they let you go?” I ask, replaying the words I know I heard Ollie say our last night together.I can’t be selfish and ask you to stay, even if that means I have to let you go, but you’ll take my heart with you.

Cal hums. “Well, I can also tell you that when you love someone, you will do absolutely anything and everything to keep them happy, to keep their dream alive. Even if it means letting them go or, in my case, becoming a stay-at-home dad and standing by my wife as I watch her become the badass she is. I’d sacrifice everything for her.

“Brynn taught me that my home was never a place but a person, and it didn’t matter where we lived. Whether our small apartment in the city or in our house in the suburbs, all that matters is that we are together.”

Silence falls over us, and at some point, I give up fighting against the tears that are trailing down my cheeks. I sniff and clear my throat before wiping them away with the bottom of my hand.

“Thank you,” I breathe, feeling strangely lighter after that brief conversation, with a stranger no less. His words flow through my veins, tracking directly to my brain and my heart so that they can get on the same page. Here I’ve been searching all this time for a place that I would feel at home, not realizing that it was Ollie himself who made me feel at home.

“Actually, I think I should probably thank you.”

I raise a brow in question.

“That was like practice when that little one comes to me for fatherly advice. I mean, she’s not allowed to date until she’s at least thirty. But I worry that one day she’ll come to me, and I won’t know what to say or just give her shit advice.” We both laugh at the easing of tension. “So how’d I do?” He crosses his arms, ready for me to give him feedback.

“You’re a good man, Cal Murphy, and a wonderful dad.” I think every little girl deserves a dad who cares like that.

“I’m back,” Eva announces as she skips back over to us, Brynn hot on her heels. This girl seriously is adorable as hell. I have to press my lips together to keep from laughing because I’m not sure any amount of practice will help this man when she gets older.

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