Chapter Twenty Eight
Bpo The Good Listener
“So her name’s Juliette…”
I said, then I sighed, “yes, I know, it’s a really big coincidence her name’s Juliette too.” I pulled my lips into a thin line, “I’m not looking for Juliette Simons anymore, I’ve been trying to move on, man, and last time I saw her I wasn’t even a teenager.” I nodded. “I mean yeah, I think she could’ve been my first love, but we were just kids, Bpo,” I mumbled as I brushed his neck, he kicked and neighed in response.
“Thanks for the good talk my friend, I missed you a lot.”
I pressed my head against his and fed him an apple.
And, of course, because I loved them all equally I fed Sugar and Jet some apple too.
I fed the pigs, cows, and goats, then I paid my hens a visit and borrowed a couple eggs. I’d been up since five today, and it was very hard to believe Juliette moved in with me temporarily but when I saw her sleeping soundly in the guest room I was relieved and selfishly happy.
It took a very long time for couples to move into the moving in together stage—not that we were a couple or anything but the moving in together stage was hard to even talk about.
I closed the little house where my hens were staying and walked back to my house. It was just after six so I was still trying to keep quiet, trying to make some breakfast before waking Juliette up.
Twenty minutes later the smoke detector was beeping loudly. I could barely breathe in the middle of the smoke I created. I used my mittens to try to fan away the smoke. The eggs were done but I burned the bacon to crisps. I already moved the pan into the sink but once I turned the water on, it only created clouds of steam.
“Fuck,”
I groaned as I fanned the kitchen harder.
“Cal?”
her soft voice called out, then followed by a cough.
I dropped down the mitten. “Julie.”
I ran to her side. “Go wait outside for a couple minutes, there’s too much smoke.”
She coughed again and brought a hand over her mouth, “what did you do?”
“I tried to cook.”
She laughed as I guided her out of the house, occasionally glancing back at the scene I made in the kitchen.
“Stay here,”
I said as we reached outside, “I’ll come get you when the smoke is gone.”
She nodded.
I jogged back to the kitchen and the smoke had already started clearing a little when I turned the microwave air fan on. I placed the nicely done eggs on the island and grabbed a tray to place new, uncooked bacon on and threw it into the oven. I was not going to attempt frying it again. I cleaned the dirty dishes around me and toasted a couple frozen waffles in the toaster. I already had sliced strawberries in the fridge, so I gathered them in a bowl and cut up some bananas too into fairly thin slices. I turned on the sink and washed my hands after, and when I glanced out the window, I saw Juliette gently scratching Bpo while she talked—I could see her mouth was moving but obviously at a distance like this no way in hell I’d be able to hear what they were saying.
I smiled.
I called Juliette over and from my house I could watch her wobble walk on her way back and it was the cutest thing I’d ever witnessed. I tried to suppress my smile because she’d never understand but once she reached me, I could tell I was doing a bad job at trying not to smile because she was glaring at me then walked past me and entered the house.
“The bacon is oven-baked, but it tastes just as good,”
I said as I handed her an empty plate when she sat on one of the stools near the island.
“You made waffles?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I popped them in the toaster but yeah, I made waffles.” I smiled.
She used the tongs to grab a couple waffles and some eggs and bacon—she even decorated her waffles with strawberries and blueberries.
“Do you have whipped cream?”
I immediately opened my fridge and grabbed a whipped cream and handed it to her.
“Thank you,”
she mumbled as she ate a strawberry.
Her hair was in a messy bun, and she looked so beautiful with a few curly strands falling out of place. I couldn’t stop looking at her face. It was like her beauty demanded attention.
I forced a nod.
“What time is it?”
she asked as she poured whipped cream over her waffles.
I checked the watch on my wrist, “just seven-twenty a.m.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m opening today! Oh my god, I’m late.”
She groaned, “and I don’t even have my truck.”
“I’ll drop you off,”
I casually said.
At this point I think all hope is gone for casual—I’ve forgotten what it was like to be casual. I was a pretender—for Juliette I’d be anything, so here I was pretending like I didn’t lose hours of sleep last night because she was sleeping in my house, down the hall, just a room away. I was pretending like I wasn’t totally freaking out over the fact that she was pregnant and barefoot in my kitchen. I made her breakfast, I was offering to bring her to work for fuck’s sake, granted she left her car behind at the Barn because I drove her home but still, I was clearly losing my mind.
I released a breath watching her hop off the stool and disappear down the hall.
I’m starting to believe self-control is a state of mind.
And as I stated earlier, I am losing my mind.
A couple minutes later Juliette was fully ready to go—she was in jean overalls and a white shirt, she had her purse slung over her shoulder—which was how I knew she was ready to go—bonus points for recognizing the look in her eyes that was clearly telling me she’d be late if we didn’t start moving.
After we got in the car and I started driving, Juliette got a mysterious phone call and agreed to do something, somewhere on Thursday.
I parked the car in front of the Barn and turned to Juliette.
She looked at me at the same time. “Thank you, uh—send me your house address so I can get there tonight—”
“I can pick you up.”
She frowned. “But what about my truck?”
“Right,”
I deadpanned, “I’ll send you my address.”
She smiled. “Thanks. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Are we ever gonna talk about it?”
I finally asked when she reached for the door.
“Talk about what?”
she replied.
“Our kisses. Plural.”
“We can talk about it tonight, Cal.”
I nodded.
“Between me and your shop, which one do you like more?” I smiled.
Juliette opened the door and carefully got out of the car. “See you tonight, Callum,”
she said before closing the door in my face.
I bit my lips as I smiled even harder.
She definitely likes me more.
Ardley looked awful. He was supposed to be recovering but he was losing sleep night after night. He was barely eating or showering. The only person he’s been seeing is Daniel, our family lawyer.
I’ve never felt more like scum than now.
I was supposed to be his brother, someone he trusted, the only person that was supposed to be on his side and I was. But I lied to him. For months, his wife was slowly dying, and I was lying to him about it. And now here I was trying to get him to understand my actions.
I ran a hand through my hair trying to find the courage to approach him at the cafeteria. I felt ashamed and stupid—even if I did find the courage to talk to him what would I even say? Should I keep apologizing when I knew deep in my heart I’d do the same thing again if it meant keeping him healthy?
“Callum?”
I heard a familiar voice, then someone grabbed my shoulder and pulled me. “Callum?”
I turned around and instantly recognized Jacks’ mother, Sarah Jo.
“Hey, Sarah Jo.”
I smiled as I peeled my eyes off my brother from the distance, he was still grabbing food with his tray in his hand.
“What are you doing here?”
I pointed at my brother in the corner, finally finding a table. “My brother’s here.”
She glanced at my brother then looked back at me. “Is everything alright?”
I nodded. “Yeah, he’s all good, we’re visiting his wife.”
Before she could ask how she was doing I shook my head and then she nodded. She sighed then she offered me an empathetic smile—I haven’t had anyone empathize with me in a while—it was always their sympathy they ever offered, so it was nice recognizing a look that meant I didn’t have to explain myself to be heard because she could hear me from just looking at me.
“Um,”
she cleared her throat, “I didn’t want to take too much of your time, I just wanted to thank you for all you’ve done for Jacks, he’s been smiling a lot more you know.” She smiled. “I know he’s always been a happy kid but it’s just different now seeing him come home with crafts and stuff. He gets excited to hang out with Juliette, you, or your brother.”
I smiled.
“It’s amazing to see.”
She slowly shook her head in awe.
“I’m really happy to hear that, Jacks is one of the most brilliant people I know, he’s funny and so kind.”
She smiled as her eyes softened. “Yeah, thank you. But honestly, I think he did that all on his own.”
I pursed my lips into a thin line and tilted my head to the side. “C’mon, Sarah Jo, he’s been clearly learning from you.”
She laughed as her cheeks turned the lightest shade of red.
“That’s really kind, Cal, and thank you so much for all the help, it’s more than I could ever ask for.”
“Tell Jacks I said hi.”
She nodded then went on her way.
I looked at Ardley again and the heavy feeling settled in my chest. He was on his phone probably sorting through his emails and whatnot. He looked entirely focused while glancing at his phone and picking at his food. This time I approached him. I took a seat across from him at the table. Now that I was closer in front of him, I could clearly see how tired he looked, the dark circles under his eyes, and how disheveled his hair looked.
“When was the last time you showered?” I asked.
He ignored me completely.
“Have you gone home yet?”
“Ardley, this isn’t healthy—”
His head snapped up and his eyes met mine. “What do you want Cal?”
“I don’t want anything, I’m just—”
“Then what can I do to make you leave me alone?”
he cut me off again.
I shook my head. “Nothing—I just want to know if you’re okay.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Cal, my wife is slowly drying, but besides that everything is peachy.”
I sighed.
“I didn’t know if I should tell you now, but I know gossip spreads in this town fast so it’s best you hear it from me,”
I sucked in a breath, “Juliette moved in with me.”
He raised his brows.
“She spent everything on opening her shop. When I found out she’s been sleeping on a couch in her shop I had to do something.”
Ardley nodded.
“It’s temporary—”
“Great.”
He laughed.
I froze watching him laugh loudly. I wasn’t aware that anything I said was funny, so it was weird because I knew his laugh wasn’t genuine—I didn’t think he’d care about Juliette moving in. Honestly it looked like he finally had enough, and I didn’t blame him because it has been blow after blow after blow.
I would’ve lost my mind a long time ago after finding out the love of my life was slowly dying every day. The only person I knew more than I knew myself.
“The irony is almost hilarious if it wasn’t so brutal,”
he said through a series of chuckles.
“What are you talking about?”
He shook his head as he took a breath. “Nothing, um,”
he looked down at his phone again, “do you believe in fate?”
The question was so random, my brain was drawing blanks as I blinked.
“Things that are meant to be? Stories that already set in stones—”
My brows furrowed. “Life is about choices, if everyone’s story is already set in stone, there wouldn’t be any free will or choices.”
Ardley chuckled. “Okay, so you don’t believe in fate.”
I slowly shook my head, “do you?”
He shrugged as he closed his phone, then he looked at me, it was a serious, grim look. “When something weird happens once, anyone could call it a coincidence but when it happens again it’s fate,”
he bit his lips as his nose flared, “and one of the mysterious ways the universe keeps itself balanced.”
“Do you think…”
I paused to think of my words carefully, “what’s happening between you and Celeste is fate?”
Ardley nodded, “Celeste and I are ill-fated.”
He sniffed as his eyes dropped on the table, it was like there was no hope left in him, “we were never meant to be.”.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
I leaned in, “you and Celeste have been together since high school, I watched you two reinvent love. The kind of love story you guys have rarely happens to anyone. I mean if a love like that ever crosses my path, I’ll take it in a heartbeat, and you’re sitting here talking to me about…fate? Fuck that. Fuck fate. You make your own life.”
“Fate is real, Cal,”
he stood up from his seat, still keeping eye contact with me, “you’ll see,” he said as he walked away.
I’d never in my life heard Ardley talk about fate—watching him lose all hopes sent a chill down my spine.