“I’m good.” I shift into drive as soon as we’re on the road and start the slow trek to my house. “It’s not the first time I’ve busted my ass. At least my brothers weren’t around to see it.”
“They would definitely give you hell. Or, tried to get pictures while you were down. Especially Parker.”
“You’re not wrong there.” My baby brother is really annoying and would probably blast it on social media. “Thanks for the concern, though.”
“It’s been forever since I’ve been down this road.” Callie is staring out the window at the snow-covered pastures. “Nothing here ever really changes.”
Except they have. The town’s slightly bigger than it was all those years ago. She’s not the same as when she left. The need to figure out what went wrong burns through me. Hopefully she’ll be comfortable enough to open to me again. I’m not sure what I did to cause the chasm between us, but I want to fix it.
“You’d be surprised at just how much changes.” She turns toward me, clearly not believing my words. “Okay, so some things don’t change. This road specifically. But so much has. There are more people moving to our little town and I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to say we are a small town. But everyone still looks out for each other.”
She nods in agreement. Though I don’t know which part she seems to be okay with. I’ll probably never really know because she freezes me out every time I try to make headway with her.
“How far away is your house?” She’s not subtle in her subject change.
“We’re almost there. It normally wouldn’t take this long, but…there’s ice everywhere.”
I wave my arm toward the windshield as if she can’t see the roads and fields blanketed.
“I do hope we aren’t putting you in a tough spot. We could have waited it out at home.”
“You’re fine. Besides, I’m sure one of my siblings would have shown up at some point just to annoy me. Piper has a really bad habit of that.”
“Hmm.” She doesn’t say anything else. What in the hell is she thinking. I need to know because this woman is becoming a master at doing things to get under my skin. And I’m supposed to be in a confined space with her for a couple of days.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” She shakes her head. “I’m just surprised all of you are still as close as you’ve always been. I mean, y’all live on the same property. That has to be annoying.”
“More than you can imagine.” I pull into the drive for Starlit Fields and keep going past the house to my piece of land. “But Paula moved to a house in town years ago. And she doesn’t really have anything to do with the winery. She helps from time to time, but she’s busy working at the flower shop.”
“Wow.” Callie shakes her head as I pull up to my driveway. Almost there. Normally this drive would take a few minutes, five max, but I can feel the tires slip on the ice. “I never thought any of you would leave the family business.”
“Dad told her to do what’s best for her, and she is.” I don’t mention the part where she had to fight to get what she wanted. Or, my big sister going toe to toe with Pierce. So far only my sisters have stood up to him. Maybe I’ll be the next sibling. It’s easier to avoid him for now, though. I don’t want any unnecessary drama in my life.
Callie doesn’t say anything else, but I can see her staring at my house. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.
“We’re here.”
“Finally.” Alexandra calls from the backseat. I wonder if she heard the entire conversation because the headphones are still over her ears.
“Let me show y’all inside and I’ll come back to get your luggage.” Spending this much time with Callie on my own is awkward. How the hell am I going to spend the next couple of days with her?
Ten
Callie
I shouldn’t have agreed to stay with him. This is asking too much. Even though he helped us unpack, I haven’t spent time alone with him in years. Hell, he’s part of the reason I left.
“We can get our things.” The fight to do things on my own continues. He doesn’t know that I’ve had to do it all for a long time, even before my marriage was over. It’s a reflex. For whatever reason, I can’t let anyone help me.
“Callie, it’s freezing out here.” He points at the sweatshirt I’m wearing. “And you aren’t exactly dressed for this weather.”
He has a point.
“Fine. We’ll go inside.” I point at the bed Alice is currently lying on in the backseat. “But I’m at least taking the bed so she doesn’t try to claim your furniture.”
“Okay.” Wow, no argument from him. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.
