Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
C aleb let the hotel room door click shut behind him, the muffled noise doing little to cut through the hum in his head. He tossed his room key onto the desk and ran a hand down his face, exhaling sharply.
Taylor Montgomery.
The way she’d looked tonight—it wasn’t fair. That confident tilt of her chin, the quick wit she wielded like a blade, even the way her smile danced on the edge of reluctance. She had laughed with him. For the first time in years, there was something in her eyes other than the ice he’d earned for his own stupidity.
And that dress clung to her curves, reminding him of how she’d looked that night with the moonlight spilling over her. That one night he thought of often. Remembering the passion between them. There was love and laughter until the phone rang.
The phone call that had changed everything still echoed in Caleb’s mind, a moment frozen in time. His mother’s panicked voice had been shaky, barely coherent, as she tried to explain what was happening. Then came Cody’s voice, strained and taut with fear, relaying details Caleb could hardly process.
It had all been too much to bear—the tension, the urgency, the helplessness pressing down on him like a vise. He hadn’t even thought twice. In the span of an hour, he’d packed up what little he could and left college behind, going full throttle back to the ranch.
Back to the chaos. Back to a life he’d thought he’d escaped.
Only this time, the chaos was short-lived.
He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it over the back of a chair, his movements stiff with tension. He shouldn’t have followed her to the elevator. It had been stupid, impulsive. A younger Caleb move. But then she’d shaken her head and the sound of her laugh had sparked something warm in the hollow corners of his chest.
He didn’t deserve that warmth. He knew it.
Staring out the window at the sprawling cityscape, Caleb’s shoulders slumped. The skyline glittered with promise, but he felt worlds away from it all. Taylor was better off staying polite and distant. Better off with the life she’d built without him.
Marriage. Family. Love. The three things he swore he’d never let touch his life.
His father had taught him well what love could do—how it could twist and sour until it was a weapon wielded against the people you were supposed to cherish. How it could destroy you if you weren’t careful.
How marriage was more like a battlefield with no prisoners.
With a grim shake of his head, Caleb turned away from the window and unbuttoned his shirt. He’d shower, call it a night, and bury this whole mess under a pile of ranch work when he returned to Texas.
But then he felt it.
That faint prickle on the back of his neck, like the air had thickened and shifted just slightly. The smell of lavender, her signature scent.
He froze, fingers still on his cuffs.
“You’re brooding again, Caleb Burnett” came the familiar voice, soft and teasing as the rustle of wind through trees.
“Damn it, Eugenia.” He spun around, half expecting to find her perched on the edge of the desk. Instead, the ghostly matriarch of the Burnett family hovered just in front of the window, her figure framed by the glow of city lights.
Eugenia’s silvery-blue dress shimmered faintly, the same high collar and flowing skirts she always wore. Her smile was as sly as ever, her hands resting on her hips as though she’d caught him sneaking out after curfew.
“Could you at least knock first?” Caleb muttered, throwing his shirt onto the chair.
She chuckled. “Oh, sweetness, where’s the fun in that?” She floated a little closer, her form flickering like candlelight. “Besides, I had a feeling you’d need me tonight.”
“I don’t need anything,” he said flatly, crossing his arms. What did she think he was going to do? Meltdown in a puddle of tears after seeing the woman he’d once loved?
Seeing Taylor again had done nothing but reinforce the reasons Caleb had sworn off marriage.
It wasn’t her fault—far from it. Taylor was beautiful, intelligent, and everything a man could want. But being around her stirred up memories he’d rather forget.
Taylor was a reminder of what could go wrong, no matter how good things seemed in the beginning. And Caleb had no intention of repeating the mistakes of the past. Marriage wasn’t for him—it never had been, and it never would be.
Eugenia tilted her head, her blue eyes twinkling with mischief. “You don’t need anything, yet here you are, pacing your hotel room like a man torn in two. Let me guess—you saw her tonight.”
Caleb groaned, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “What do you want, Eugenia?”
“I want to help you, Caleb.” She floated toward the chair and mimicked sitting, though her form hovered just above the fabric. “But first, we need to have a little chat about your father.”
His throat closed instinctively, a reflex honed from years of dodging the topic. “Not interested.”
Frankly, he didn’t want to hear anything about his parents. They were gone, and he’d been left to clean up the mess they left.
“Oh, but you will be,” she said, her tone turning uncharacteristically serious. “Because the truth about your father might change everything for you.”
“Nothing about him could surprise me,” Caleb said bitterly, leaning against the edge of the desk.
Eugenia studied him for a long moment, her playful expression fading into something softer, almost sad. “He didn’t want to marry your mother.”
The room seemed to tilt momentarily, her words crashing into him like an unexpected gust of wind. He straightened, his jaw tightening. “What are you talking about?”
“Your father,” Eugenia said gently, “was in love with someone else. But back then, he thought it was his duty to marry your mother. After all, she was expecting you. He thought he could force himself into a life that fit the family’s expectations. And, well... we all know how that turned out.”
Caleb’s fists clenched at his sides, the words sinking into his bones like ice water. He’d known that his mother was pregnant when she married his father, but he’d not known there was someone else. Had his mother gotten pregnant deliberately to snag a Burnett?
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I see the same storm brewing in you,” Eugenia said, her gaze piercing. “You’ve built your whole life around avoiding his mistakes, but in doing so, you’ve made a prison for yourself. You’re so afraid of becoming him that you won’t let yourself live.”
Her words struck a chord, and Caleb turned away, his hands gripping the edge of the desk. “I’m not him,” he said quietly.
Years ago, he’d promised never to be like his father.
“No, you’re not,” Eugenia agreed, her voice softening. “But you’re also not the man you could be. Not yet.”
The weight of her words pressed down on him, stirring something raw and unfamiliar in him. He thought of Taylor—her guarded smile, how she’d thanked him tonight, even though she didn’t want to. The way she’d looked at him, just for a moment, like maybe she still saw the man he used to be.
“You think I should chase after her,” he said, his voice low.
“I think you should stop running from yourself,” Eugenia said. “I think you should become the man inside of you that I know is worthy of love.”
Caleb let out a sharp breath, his grip tightening on the desk. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“Don’t I?” she said, rising gracefully from her phantom perch. “I’m asking you to be brave, Caleb. Stop hiding behind your father’s mistakes and make your own choices. Taylor deserves that. You deserve that.”
Her form began to shimmer and fade, her presence retreating like the last rays of sunlight.
“Think about it,” she said, her voice lingering like a whisper. “The only thing standing between you and happiness is your own fear.”
And then she was gone, leaving Caleb alone with the steady hum of the city outside and the storm raging inside him. His fear?
Was he letting fear guide his life?
He let out a long breath, his shoulders slumping. The ghost had a point—she always did, damn her. But knowing that didn’t make it easier.
Caleb’s gaze drifted back to the window, the city lights blurring as his thoughts churned. Taylor deserved better than a man haunted by his shadows. She deserved someone who could give her everything, not just pieces.
Inside him, a little boy raged at how he’d been raised. At the nights of hiding beneath the blanket, hearing his parents screaming at one another. Of his mother accusing his father of cheating.
At the time, he hadn’t understood, but now he knew.