Page 64 of And I Love Her

Her breath escaped in a rush, and her shoulders slumped. Of course he was right. And wasn’t she doing the exact same thing by not telling her mother and sisters about him?

“I’m sorry.” She pressed her hands to her cheeks. “It’s just…I’ve never seen her with a man who wasn’t my father. I didn’t even know she was interested in dating.” She shook her head. “You must think I’m a basket case.”

“I think you’re a woman who loves her mother and wants what’s best for her.” He slipped an arm around her, tugging her against his side. “Come on, I’ll take you home and cook you dinner. It won’t be chicken tajine, but I can scramble a mean set of eggs.”

Callie let him guide her back to the car, her ruffled feathers settling as his warmth flowed into her. Aside from the shock, the discovery that Eleanor had a secret made Callie wonder just what else her mother was keeping from her.

Smothering her uncertainty, she pulled on her seatbelt as he started the drive back to Bliss Cove. Yes, it was unfair of her to expect that her mother would tell her everything, especially when Callie was keeping the same secret.

But Jake was temporary. Fleeting, like a comet. There was no point in telling her mother or sisters that she was “hanging out” with him. Why get their hopes up when nothing serious would ever come of it?

At leastshewas practical enough to keep the reality of the situation in mind. Aria, on the other hand, would squeal and proclaim there was always a way for star-crossed lovers to find a happy ending. Rory would tell her to stop whining and force it to work. Her mother would hope fervently that Callie wasn’t letting love “pass her by.”

No, she’d keep Jake to herself. If you didn’t see a comet flash across the sky, you’d never know it was there at all.

* * *

When she and Jake returned to her house, Callie excused herself to change clothes and collect her thoughts. Back in her own space, especially with Jake, she put her mother’s dating life and all its implications out of her mind. She’d been given the gift of limited time with an incredible man—and she wasn’t going to waste it by worrying and overthinking.

In fact,not thinkingwould be a welcome and long overdue relief.

After pulling on black yoga pants and a pale blue T-shirt, she went into the living room. Jake was studying a small colorful watercolor of a fairy dancing in a garden overflowing with blossoms. He turned when she entered, his gaze skimming over her in appreciation before he indicated the painting.

“This is new,” he remarked.

“Yes.” Pausing beside him, she looked at the happy little painting. “I stopped by Destiny’s shop Moonbeams yesterday and picked it up. I decided my walls could use a bit of color.”

“I like it.” He brushed his hand over her arm. “You okay now?”

“Yes.” Callie sank onto the sofa and dragged her hands through her hair. “You still must think I’m a loon.”

“Yeah, but not because of tonight.” With a grin, he sat beside her, close enough that she felt the warm press of his thigh against hers. “Actually, it’s nice that you care about your mother so much.”

“She and my sisters think I’m a control freak.” Callie plucked at a loose thread on the hem of her shirt. “I’ve kind of always been like this, though. I think my mom blames herself because I had a rough start in life.”

“Why?”

“I was born premature.” She rubbed her hands on her thighs, faint anxiety twisting through her. “From what I understand, I had a pretty close call, and then I was in and out of the hospital a lot. Everyone was concerned that I’d have developmental delays. My mom still says that she and my father spent too much time worrying and not enough time just enjoying their firstborn child. Then I surprised them by doing everything early—walking, talking, eventually reading and math.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Jake rested his hand on her thigh, the warmth of his palm a welcome comfort.

Callie put her hand over his. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d told anyone about her early years. Maybe she never had.

“My dad decided to homeschool me after I tested out of kindergarten in the first month,” she continued. “That was where I got my foundation in Greek and Latin, and of course history and science. We were really close. When he was hired at UC Santa Cruz, they put me back in school at the next grade level. So then I was well over a year younger than my classmates, and my parents were still really overprotective. They eased up after my sisters were born—my mom says she finally learned balance in parenting—but I always felt like I had to be the best in order to make them proud.

“I guess I also had the idea that I needed to compensate for the worry my parents went through, though of course they never did anything to make me feel that way. I’ve just always been ambitious and put work and responsibility before anything else. My mom and sisters think I’ve taken it to a new level since Dad died and after Mom’s surgery. Maybe they’re right.”

She fell silent. Jake turned his palm upward and twined their fingers together.

“I think we all blame ourselves for things that weren’t our fault,” he said. “I did that when my dad left. I still do sometimes, but I can’t change what happened. All I can change is where I go from here.”

Which would soon beaway.

Callie squeezed his hand. “I think you should write your own screenplay.”

He huffed out a laugh. “I don’t have a story.”

“Yes, you do.”

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