“I’m still mad, hurt, and a bit confused. I’m trying to not let those feelings stand in the way, but it’s hard.”
“I know,” he said, studying me for several long, quiet moments, his eyes harbouring both secrets and answers. There was stuff he wasn’t saying, but his feelings—those I could see and practically taste. “I don’t blame you. You’ve got every right to hate me for what I did to you…to us. I know I did. I hated myself for letting you go. I hated myself for not coming back. I let that hate keep me away. I shouldn’t have let my issues keep me from the ones who needed me most, and I did. But it’s not going to happen again, Harper. I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere. You’re not in this alone—not anymore. I’m through with hating myself; I want to move forward.”
I blinked slowly and drew in an unsteady breath while absorbing his words and the intent behind them. The cancelled show, the house hunting—it was quick, but I don’t know why I was so surprised. This was Calum, after all. When he wanted something, he jumped in with everything he had and made it his. It was so when we first met, and again when he left to become the lead singer and guitarist to a chart-topping Canadian band.
Music critics said if The Forgotten Flounderscontinued making music at the same caliber as their previous albums, they’d be on their way to achieving the same iconic status as The Tragically Hip.
“So…where are you looking?” I asked, my finger tracing the logo on the cup in front of me. “To buy, I mean…” I added when his brows creased with confusion.
“Oh, yeah. Brockhouse today. There’s a house on a point the realtor wants me to see. 270 feet of waterfront.”
“That sounds nice,” I paused, not knowing what else to add, my mind whirling.
“I know that look,” he laughed, shaking his head ruefully. His eyes glinted with mischief as his lips slid into a smirk that sparked low in my belly. “Go on, tell me what you’re really thinking.”
“I’m just…thrown off? And overwhelmed…”
“I’m just doing what I would have done if I’d known in the first place,” Calum said solemnly, his eyes never wavering from mine. He raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m a lot of things, Harper, but I never wanted to bethis. An absent father. I mean it when I tell you I’m not going anywhere. We’ve got a lot to figure out, but I’m not going to miss out on his life anymore.”
I nodded, feeling both a tremendous relief and a stabbing ache coinciding. How was I supposed to keep guarding my heart when he said things like that?
“Plus…I’m going to need somewhere to stay that’s closer than Toronto and isn’t my parent’s house.” He chuckled darkly, shaking his head a little.
“How’s that going? Being home, I mean.”
“It’s weird,” he said, and after a moment of thoughtful pause, continued. “I hadn’t talked to my Dad since the night I left.”
I bit my lip, nodding. I hadn’t seen Michael Jacobs since the day after he boarded the plane when I finally went to his house to see what was up with the radio silence.
Mr. Jacobs had opened the door with a scowl that had made the hairs on the nape of my neck stand up, and then he proceeded to crack my heart apart with the way he callously told me Calum was gone.
I shook my head, rousing myself from that bad memory, and gave him a small smile. “Well…good luck. I hope you find something.”
“Speaking of which, I should get going.” He picked up his coffee, flashing me a tentative smile. “I’ll see you on Saturday?”
“Yeah, of course.” I stood to walk him out. He swung around, and I almost collided into him. I caught myself by pressing a hand to his hard chest. His pectoral tightened in response to my touch.
I pulled my hand back quickly as if his tough had burned. It had, a familiar, white-hot ache spreading between my thighs. Calum sucked the very oxygen from the room, leaving him seeping into every pore.
He smiled, his sensual lips tugging up in a playful smirk that relayed he knew he was affecting me.
“I’ll, uh…go out the back this time.” He offered, the corner of his lips tugging up in a boyish half-grin, eyes sweeping the length of my body slowly. My senses felt heightened with his heady appraisal. The blood heated in my veins when he licked his lips and cleared his throat, moving past me and out into the alleyway between our store and the pharmacy.
I frowned after him for a moment before closing the door and locking it. Punching in the code to reactivate the alarm, I stepped back. Each encounter with Calum left me feeling disoriented. I was pulled into both our past and our present simultaneously.
I had no interest in getting duped again, but that pull—it could eradicate the hurt, or intensify it tenfold.
Ten minutes later, I’d collected my composure and returned to the storefront. It was quiet, a few clusters of customers sitting at tables in the café. I breathed in the comfort of this sight: even during our quiet moments, we had customers enjoying our little store’s atmosphere.
Moving toward the counter with a renewed hope, I slowed when I realized Shelly’s attention was zeroed in on me, noting that Calum wasn’t with me.
“He left through the back. It was closer to his car, I guess.” I answered her unspoken question.
“We’ll call it the celebrity exit,” she giggled, and I smiled. “Do you think he’d mind if I shared the photo now?” she added a moment later.
“I’m not sure,” I admitted, lifting a shoulder in a shrug. “He’s home for his grandfather’s funeral, so maybe wait until Monday?”
“Oh, right. Yeah, that makes sense.” Shelly nodded with understanding, her eyes darting to me with mild curiosity. “That’s sad about his grandpa.”
