Ashleigh’s face drops; her glossed lips fall open. “Callie? As inourCallie? Caplan?”
I nod.
“Oh God,” she says in a shocked whisper, but she’s smiling. I’m completely confused.
“What are you thinking?” I can’t help but ask.
She shrugs her shoulders a little bit. “Well, to be honest, I feel betrayed. By her, not you.”
“Look, Ashleigh…”
“Let me finish, please, Devin,” she insists and moves her hands off the wheel into her lap. “Callie was my friend too at one time. Or so I thought. So yes, it hurts. I feel betrayed. But…at the same time I’m almost relieved it’s Callie.”
“What?! Why?” I don’t even try to hide my shock.
“Because at least it’s not serious,” Ashleigh explains with that little smile curving her mouth upward again. “I mean, we all know Callie is a good-time girl, not the settling-down type. If you were involved with someone else—someone who was actually in a relationship with you or wanted a future with you…well, then I would panic.”
Ashleigh turns her body toward me and reaches out and places her hands on top of mine on my lap. I look down at her fingers as they curl around my palm and notice her wedding ring is still on—or back on, I’m not sure which. I wonder if she notices mine is gone.
“Devin, I have a different perspective now,” Ashleigh insists, squeezing my hands. “I feel like I can learn to be happy. I can make this work.”
“Can we talk about this when you get back to New York?” I ask, because I’m so overwhelmed with what I want to say, and what I need to say, and I know the curb in front of the departures gate is not the place for any of it. “Just enjoy the rest of your stay with your parents and let’s talk when you get home.”
“Let’s have dinner at our place the night I get back, okay?” Ashleigh asks with a hopeful smile. “Conner would love that!”
“I’ve got to go,” I say simply and see Luc walking toward the car with Conner. “Thanks for the ride.”
She smiles brightly and nods. “Safe travels.”
I nod back and get out of the car, helping Luc fit Conner back into his car seat. I kiss my son and promise to call him from New York.
As the car drives away and I wave good-bye, Luc stares at me.
“What the hell are you doing?” he wants to know.
“I have no fucking clue,” I admit.
Chapter 53
Callie
Luc wanders out of his and Rose’s bedroom looking disheveled and disoriented. He sniffs loudly and makes his way toward me at the dining room table just off the tiny kitchen. He looks down at my homemade blueberry French toast as he yawns and stretches. I point to the oven.
“There’s more warming in the oven. Help yourself,” I say quietly.
“Thanks, Callie,” he says as he grabs a plate and opens the oven.
As he drops his giant frame into the chair across from me and reaches for the maple syrup, he gives me a soft smile. I take a small bite of my food. I cooked the breakfast mainly for Luc. I appreciate them letting me crash in their guest room, in the two-bedroom condo they’re renting until Luc figures out more permanent housing, and I want to show my appreciation. Also, I miss cooking for people. I loved making meals for Devin and Conner.
“Why don’t you hate me the way everyone else does?” I finally ask him. I’ve wanted to ask him for a while now. He doesn’t glare at me or call me names like Jordan did. I think it might be just so he can keep from making waves in his own relationship with Rose, but I want to know for sure.
“Because I kinda get it.” Luc shrugs and shovels a heaping forkful of syrupy toast into his mouth. When he finishes chewing and swallows it down, he continues. “I mean, growing up I watched my chosen brothers do and say the stupidest shit because of love. Seriously, Jordy lost his mind so many times over Jessie. And Devin wins a freaking Stanley Cup and he jumps right into a big serious thing with Ashleigh. And then Cole…”
Luc starts to laugh. “Cole was a total asshole when he and Leah broke up. He would mouth off to everyone. Tried to start fights in bars. Yelled at everyone about everything. Total nightmare.”
I nod and try to envision that. During the six-month period when Leah and Cole broke up, Jordan and Jessie had already stopped talking, so I wasn’t really around the Garrison family much at that point. I have a very hard time picturing Cole screaming at anyone, let alone his family or random guys in bars.
“I tried to avoid love myself,” he tells me as I get up and go to the fridge to pour us both some orange juice. “I mean, I was in denial over how deep my feelings for Rose were. And when I realized how I felt about her, I panicked. Freaked out.”
