Page 14 of My Song for You
“Mathew was Logan’s age when it happened. He and his mom, my daughter, were in a boating accident and drowned.”
A dull ache took up residence in my chest. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
“It happened seven years ago. Several years after my husband died of a heart attack.”
I opened my mouth, but the words weren’t there. Really, though, what could I say that hadn’t already been said?
She gave my hand a light squeeze. “You and Logan saved me. When you two moved in, I’d been struggling with depression. I saw you and him as my second chance at the family I’d lost. Especially when I realized you were just as alone as I was.”
I nodded because that much was true. Until Sharon had reached out to me, I had been alone. Alone and scared. My friends from high school had moved on. My friends back in San Francisco had no idea what I was going through. They couldn’t help me. There was no one for me to turn to…until Sharon had stepped into my life.
I owed her everything for that.
“Logan and I consider you our family too.” I hugged her.
“Can I ask you something?”
I swallow hard against the growing lump in my throat, fearing where this was headed. “Sure.”
“Why don’t you date? You’re a beautiful and smart girl, Callie, but you never go out. You don’t even go out with friends.”
I swallowed again. “I can’t.”
“Because of Logan? You know I’ll be more than happy to babysit him so you can go out at least once in a while.”
“I know,” I whispered before finding my voice again. “But I don’t really have anyone to go out with. And I love spending my free time with Logan. Plus I don’t want to be a waitress forever.” I wanted to have a career Logan could be proud of. I wanted him to see that if you desired something hard enough, you could achieve it—even when the odds stacked against you were taller than the Empire State Building.
I stubbornly turned my back on the voice whispering how that wasn’t completely true. Being a graphic designer wasn’t my passion. That wasn’t the future I had dreamed of from the moment I’d watched my first Pixar movie.
“You won’t be a waitress forever, but don’t you think Logan wants to see you happy?”
“I am happy.” I gave her the biggest smile I could muster.
Sharon made a noncommittal grunt. “Right. In the three years I’ve known you, you haven’t gone out on a single date. Why is that?”
“I don’t like dating.”
“You don’t like dating…or is it because of something else?”
I felt my forehead scrunched into a frown. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Does it have to do with Jared?”
Ice filled my veins at her words and rapidly spread throughout my body. “Jared? He’s just a friend. We knew each other growing up and he used to date my sister, but I haven’t seen him in years.”
“How come?” Sharon sipped her water.
“I moved to San Francisco to pursue my art degree in animation.” The words slipped out before I realized what I was saying.
“Animation? So not graphic arts?”
Shit.“I started out in animation, but then realized I needed a career with a more solid future.” For Logan’s sake.
Sharon locked her gaze on mine, as if preparing to read my soul with the next question. “Did you and Jared remain friends while you were away?”
I squirmed. “No. We had our own lives. He was working hard at his music and I was busy with my studies.” While this might have all been true, my silence when it came to Jared had also been partly out of fear…fear that I would have inadvertently blurted out the truth about Logan. I hadn’t always agreed with Alexis’s choice to keep Jared from knowing about his son, but I had loved my sister and would’ve done anything she’d asked.
“And today was the first time you’ve seen him since then?” Sharon asked.
