Page 86 of My Song for You
Logan’s giggles grew louder as Mom drew closer to his hiding spot. I really needed to teach him the finer points of the game.
“I dunno. I thought it would be a good way to show her how I feel about her. I didn’t expect us to rush out and get married this afternoon.”
“Couldn’t you have simply told her you love her and one day you could see being married to her?”
I chuckled. “It sounds so simple when you put it that way….Look, I realize now I didn’t exactly go about this the right way. I get it, but how am I supposed to fix it?”
“Why don’t you talk to her?”
“Because that went so well last time.”
This time it was Nolan who chuckled. “Yes, I guess having the girl you just proposed to run away isn’t considered normal.”
“You know about that?” Even my parents didn’t know about it. I had asked Mom to get Callie outside, alone, when she arrived. I hadn’t explained why.
“Hailey might have mentioned it. If I were you, I’d get your ass down to where the girls are. From the sounds of it, Callie’s headed for a massive hangover tomorrow.”
“Where are they?”
He told me where to find them.
“I can’t. I have Logan. I can’t take him there.” He would never be allowed into the lounge.
“Can he stay with your parents tonight?”
“I’m not sure if he’s ready for that. I don’t think he’s ever slept anywhere besides his bedroom since Callie became his mom.” Other than when he was hospitalized for meningitis, but he had been too young to remember that.
“Your call, but if I were you, I’d start dreaming up something big to let her know how you feel about her. And you should do it before we leave on the promo blitz.” Which began in less than two weeks. After that, life would get crazy and who knew when she and I would have a chance to work it all out.
Nolan was right—I had to fix this mess sooner rather than later.
“Gotcha!” Mom called out from below, and hugged her grandson.
I was stuck. We had to leave now so that I could get Logan home for bedtime, but I couldn’t leave Callie where she was. I needed to make sure she got home safely, preferably before she drank too much more. She didn’t have to work at the diner tomorrow, but that didn’t mean Logan would let her sleep in.
“We have to go home, Logan. Get your stuff.” I signed the first sentence.
“Why are you learning to sign to him when he can hear?” Mom asked.
“He can’t always hear. It helps if you can sign to him when he can’t hear you. Like at bedtime. And Callie wants him to be familiar with ASL because he is deaf. He’s part of the deaf community and she doesn’t want to take that from him, but he’s also part of the hearing community.” It was one of those difficult decisions she’d had to make on her own about my son. Everyone had their own opinion on the topic. I didn’t know how she’d done it, but she had. She’d wanted to do what was right for Logan, and that was part of the reason I loved her. But Logan wasn’t the only reason I loved her. Why couldn’t she see that?
While Mom helped Logan gather everything he’d brought with him, I texted Sharon, asking her if she could watch him for a short time. Fortunately she didn’t ask why I required her help, although there would be no avoiding the truth once I brought Callie home.
After putting Logan to bed, I drove to the lounge where Callie and Hailey had gone. Raindrops started spitting on my car.
I entered the lounge and scanned the area for the two women. Callie had changed outfits since I’d last seen her. Now she was wearing my favorite dress. The green sundress emphasized her copper hair and hugged her curves. The thin straps revealed her soft, creamy shoulders and the spattering of freckles that I thought were adorable on her—another thing I appreciated about her over Tiffany. Tiffany would’ve freaked if she found a freckle on her body.
Clearly I wasn’t the only man taken with Callie’s skin. The douchebag she was with decided to become intimately familiar with it and rested his hand on her shoulder.
She leaned away from him. I couldn’t tell from where I stood if that was because she wanted to remove his hand from her body or if she was swaying due to the amount of alcohol she’d consumed.
Her head turned in my direction and her eyes widened. “Jared, what are you doing here?” The words held a slight slur.
“I came to get you.” I nodded at Hailey. She smiled softly back, the relief that I was here unmistakable.
The guy stared at me. I recognized his expression: I looked familiar to him but he couldn’t place me. “Who are you? Her taxi service?” His fingers returned to her shoulder. If he didn’t remove them from her soon, I would rip them off for him.
Callie shifted in her seat. “Chris, this is Jared.” She gestured at me. “He’s the guy who proposed to me because he needs a nanny for his son and figured this was an easier way to get one. Jared, Chris is the guy who dumped me because my sister died and left me your son to care for, and Chris didn’t want…” She cocked her head to the side. “How did you put it? To be responsible for another man’s castoffs.”
