“Yeah but everyone knows,” Lydia told me. “I thought we were close and you would tell me these things.”
“It’s all new. I’m still processing it,” I replied. That was at least truthful.
My phone buzzed.
Then buzzed again.
I glanced down and felt my stomach drop. Messages from numbers I didn’t recognize were flooding in. Notifications of direct message requests. A voice message.
“What is going on?” I murmured.
“I think you’re about to become famous. You’re going to have to block most of those numbers or get an unlisted phone number,” Lydia mentioned as she looked over my screen.
I thumbed through notifications on my social media that suddenly numbered in the hundreds. Some people asking personal questions about Caleb, others saying I wasn’t good enough for him, others asking if I could get them in touch with Caleb because they wanted to be his band.
I shut my phone off.
“I think we should talk about this later,” Lydia said quietly.
“Yes,” I said. “Later.”
She hovered for a moment, then squeezed my shoulder and slipped out of the kitchen.
Footsteps sounded in the hall, brisk and purposeful.
“Kitty,” Great Aunt Cathy said, sweeping into the kitchen. “I just saw that interview.”
Of course she had. I straightened instinctively. “There was a misunderstanding.”
“There was an embarrassment,” she corrected. “And one that could have been avoided.”
“It was live,” I said evenly. “That isn’t something I control.”
Her lips thinned. “Anne would never have allowed herself to be put in that position.”
Something in me stilled.
“Anne wasn’t in the position. I was,” I told her.
“It’s preposterous, Caleb Green choosing a nobody like you when my daughter is a far better catch,” Great Aunt Cathy complained.
I tried not to take her insult personally. “I would appreciate it if you would speak about Caleb with more respect. Just because you want something to be different doesn’t change the facts.”
Cathy studied me, narrowing her eyes. “You should be more careful of what you say to me, young missie. I’m the only one with any sort of financial influence in this family and I can choose who I leave my wealth to.”
“I don’t need your money. I’m fine,” I tightly replied.
“I heard the music shop was in financial straits. Maybe I can make yourboyfriendsee sense and choose Anne,” Great Aunt Cathy mused.
I stood up. I might be short, but I was angry, and I stretched as tall as I could to get my message across. “Caleb Green is a decent man who isn’t going to be bribed to date Anne. Not only is he above that, but it’s disrespectful to your granddaughter.”
I grabbed my paperwork and swept out of the kitchen, ignoring her sputtering reply.
The worst part was deep down I wasn’t so sure my words were true.
Chapter Seventeen: Choices
Caleb
