Page 82 of Unexpected Love
“Well, she was standing right there listening to me.”
That shuts him up.
“But part of what I told you before was the truth. I was tired. I did need a break from being mom twenty-four seven.”
Cal’s jaw flexes, but he keeps his mouth shut this time.
“Anyway. For whatever reason, Tabby and Ritchie were bailed out before me. I had to make a deal with the prosecutor in order to get released. And when I got home that day, I rolled up and found Ritchie fucking Tabby.”
“Your mom and your boyfriend?” I cannot fathom what she’s telling me. “That’s…”
“Fucked up.” She picks at a loose thread on her distressed jeans. “Yeah. That was the final straw. I packed what I could fit in my backpack and got the hell out.”
“So how’d you get here?”
“I drove.”
Cal groans. “Dani, that was stupid as fuck. Did you steal the man’s car? No wonder he’s calling you.”
“No, you jerk.” Her eye roll is epic as she continues, “I saved from the money you sent me and bought my own. I found the cheapest place I could stay and managed to save enough that I could get a used car.”
Cal’s head snaps back. He didn’t expect that. Good for her for clapping back. “Bet Tabby loved that.”
“She hated it. Kept wanting me to share what you’d send to me. It only took once for her to spend it all on booze and drugs, and I stopped. I told her that you cut back and sent less and less. Sorry I had to make you the bad guy.”
“It’s fine. Not like there’s any love lost between me and her.”
“So Ritchie keeps calling you now. What does he want?” I try to steer us back to the original conversation.
“I don’t know. Probably just wants to make some excuse about cheating.”
“But you can’t be sure,” Cal states. “Do you want me to talk to him?”
She lifts a shoulder. “Maybe eventually. I think he’ll get bored and give up eventually. In the meantime”—tears pool in her eyes—“I just want to find a way to start over.”
“Okay, Sis. Okay.” Finally, the warm, caring man I’ve come to know shows. He stands and pulls his sister in for a hug, then opens his arms to me, and the three of us are hugging it out. It’s only awkward for a second, before I relax and enfold this misguided young girl in a safe embrace.
It reminds me of how Cal was desperate for touch and affection when we first met. These two have been through so much I’ll probably never understand. But I know family. And being there when one of my family members needs a hand.
Dani needs us now. Charlie needs us now. So we are going to band together and help them with their new start.
The front door opens, and Charlie comes barreling in, racing to her mother’s arms, Maggie and Jackson in tow.
Part of me wants to bring them into the fold, but since it’s not my story to tell, I let it go. The two of them headoff to do their day of zip-lining, and the rest of us head upstairs for lunch and naptime. In the afternoon, we take Charlie back to the park before going home and having a pizza and movie night.
Dani’s phone rings incessantly for an hour, which brings out Cal’s scowl again, but once it’s clear that she’s not going to give in and answer, he relaxes. “Be on your toes tomorrow,” he warns both Dani and me. “I wish I could take off and be here with you.”
I scoff. “We’ll be fine.”
“At this point, I think he’s just being a turd who won’t give up. He can’t stand that I ditched him.”
It’s not until I’m crawling into Cal’s bed that I realize I didn’t worry once about the coffee shop.
Chapter 33
Jules
“Bye-bye,” Charlie calls as Cal gets into his truck. He’s retraced his steps no less than five times to get extra hugs and kisses before he heads to his shift.
