Us.
We were becoming anus.
We’d even been papped last night in the restaurant, the picture up on social media and spotted by Seph before we were back at Callum’s apartment. The picture was a good one, the caption questioning how long it would be before there was another Callaghan wedding. We were looking intensely at each other and we were both smiling a lot.
“It needs introducing to the twenty-first century. Maybe an extension at the back to open it up.” Not that it needed any more space as it was huge, five bedrooms. “Will you have anyone else staying here?”
“Just us. There are four cottages that we can rent out to anyone working here. We can keep this private.”
Us. That word again. It was too easy to hear.
“You can have a cottage if you want some space. I know this is soon. However, you want to do it.”
The thought of not sleeping in the same bed as him, let alone not in the same building wasn’t pleasant, but I wasn’t going to talk to him about that in front of his father.
“There’s still a few months before we’d be in here. Plenty of time to sort logistics.”
Callum nodded. “I know the vet at one of the practices wants to be out sooner rather than later. Ava reckons it’ll take three months to gut this and get it right, but in the meantime my parents will put you, I or both of us up.”
He looked nervous, running his hand through his hair.
“I’m going to check out the outbuildings.” Grant made a not so subtle exit.
“If you don’t think this is right, then I’m sure your dad will understand.” I put my hand on his arm, feeling the muscle, remembering what he’d done with those muscles last night.
He laughed. “I know you bolted when someone offered you to buy into a practice. I’m worried that all this will be too much and that you’ve come here for me…”
“I came here for two reasons.” I wrapped my arms around his waist. “To support this because I think it’s an amazing idea and to support you. I’m going to be working here, but I’m not buying in. I don’t have anything to invest.”
He had both hands on my ass which was the only reason he wasn’t back pulling at his hair.
“Do you think you’ll be happy here? You can still go abroad and take short-term contracts or volunteer. That’s what I’m going to do. Hopefully with you.”
He looked far too worried.
“That all sounds fucking amazing.”
He swallowed. “Have you read the email yet?”
Mentally, I placed myself at the back of a horse and allowed it to kick me. There was something in that email he was nervous of.
“Not yet.”
“Okay. Do you think you will?”
I nodded. “Yes. I’ll read it later. I responded to Jonah.”
“Are you going to meet him?”
I shook my head. “No. I told him that I was doing well and a little about this. I said I was glad he was doing fine. I didn’t ask anything.” I didn’t want to give him a reason to respond and as of yet, he hadn’t. I’d loved Jonah. He’d been a huge part of my life, but I was a different person now, older, an adult.
“Good. And you have his details if you change your mind. About that email.” He looked nervous still. “If you don’t want to read it, that’s fine. You’ll probably laugh. Or run.”
“I’m definitely reading it then.” My hands went up to his shoulders and I pulled myself up for a kiss. The last hour had been difficult, not touching him in front of his dad. We’d met him at the farmhouse and were then heading back to their home after for the weekend, where I’d also meet some of Callum’s siblings other than Seph.
It was scary. I couldn’t stop the scorpions – because they definitely weren’t butterflies – from dancing in my stomach. It wasn’t meeting people – I was used to that. It was the commitment and Callum, because he’d never done this before.
What if he decided he needed to go back to who he was, closed off and controlled, the man who played a part? What if he broke my heart?
