Page 14 of Coming Home for Fall 5
“Okay, fine. We’ll drop it.” Mallory was clearly not convinced, but much to Callie’s relief she didn’t keep arguing with her mother, and they drove the rest of the way to town in calm silence.
*
James was standing on the curb in front of the coffee shop, well-dressed and smiling as they pulled up. Mallory tried to get out of the car hurriedly, throwing a half-hearted goodbye over her shoulder at her mother, but Callie wasn’t going to let her off that easily. She rolled down the passenger side window after her daughter shut the door and waved to James.
“Hey, Mrs. Ward,” he said, coming up to the car.
“Callie,” she corrected him. “Please, call me Callie.”
He nodded. “Right. Callie. How are you?”
“I’m better now,” she said. “We had a little snafu with some Thanksgiving preparations this morning, but it’s all taken care of, and I should be back on schedule for dinner in no time.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear it.”
“Mallory invited you to dinner tomorrow night, right?”
He nodded. “She told me you extended the invitation. Thank you. That’s really sweet. But I’m actually going to spend the day with my aunt and some of her friends. We’ve got a whole feast planned and everything.”
“How fun,” Callie said. “I hope you have a wonderful time and if things wrap up early, don’t hesitate to drop by. We usually stay up pretty late on holidays and we’d all be thrilled to see you.”Especially Mallory. She kept that comment to herself, however. She knew Mallory wouldn’t appreciate it, and both of them had had enough teasing for one day.
“Thanks.” James smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. And you let me know if there’s anything else you need for food prep. My aunt decided to do an online grocery order for the first time, and she accidentally got multiples of things, so our kitchen is literally being taken over by non-perishables.”
“Good to know.” Callie laughed. “And thanks. You’ll be the first one I call if we have any more cooking emergencies, but fingers crossed it doesn’t come to that.”
James held up his crossed fingers and smiled.
“Alright, mom, don’t you have to go?” Mallory chimed in. “You’ve got a lot of cooking to do, right?”
“Yes, I do. I’m leaving. Have a nice time you two!” Callie waved to them and then drove off. She had a grin on her face as she drove home, and a warm feeling overcame her as she thought about how great it’d be for her youngest child to finally find someone—someone who could give her the kind of relationship she wanted more than anything.
A relationship like the one I have with her father…
Suddenly, the warmth was doused by an icy shock of guilt, and she pulled into the driveway with a sickening feeling in her gut.
Chapter 6
“David—we need to talk.”
It was later that evening, and Callie had spent the last five hours cooking and overthinking in a very warm kitchen. She had sweat on her brow, and her nerves were a little on end, but she knew this conversation couldn’t wait. After finishing her cooking, she took off her apron and marched down the hallway to David’s office. She leaned against the doorway and waited for him to respond.
Seated at his desk, David stared up in surprise. “Umm… okay. What’s going on? You know saying that kind of thing stresses people out if you don’t elaborate.”
“Right. Sorry. I just don’t even know where to begin.” Callie sighed and stepped into the room, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. “You were right.” She glanced at her daughter’s stuff that was scattered all over the floor. “It’s been a lot harder to keep up this facade with all the kids under the same roof. I’m struggling a lot actually.”
His eyes widened. “Did something happen?”
“Nothing really,” Callie said. “But I’ve had to lie a few times now and I don’t like it. It feels… wrong.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s what I was trying to tell you.”
“And I’m sorry I was so dismissive. I think I was a little bit in denial. Maybe I’ve been this whole time, all these years.” She looked up and he was frowning at her, so she clarified. “I’m notsaying I regret our decision. Not at all. I just mean that it’s been easy to pretend like nothing was different when the kids were around. Now that they’re older though, it’s starting to feel like I’m keeping this secret more for myself than to protect them.”
He nodded. “I’ve had similar thoughts myself.”
“So, with that said, I think we should finally come clean and tell the kids the truth.”
David smiled. “Well, you already know how I feel about this. I think that’s the right thing to do. Before everyone leaves this weekend for sure.”
