We're One: Two wrongs always make a right

Chapter Ten

Sia

I walk away from Sia’s place feeling a knot of confusion tightening my chest. What did I do wrong? I know I got called away, but I left a note. Maybe I should’ve woken her up and let her know I was leaving. I wonder if she’s thinking about how I left her in Seaville. I know how wrong that was, but in my defense, I was young and foolish. She can’t be holding that over my head nine years later.

I cringe as I think about the fact that I didn’t know who she was when meeting her again. Her name didn’t register. That one she might not forgive me for. I can make it better, though. We made love, and it was beautiful, unlike any other lovemaking I’ve ever done before. Scratch that. With any other woman than Sia, it’s been only sex, not lovemaking. Why is it all called lovemaking when most sex is simply about pleasure? Sure, it’s more than pleasurable with Sia, but it’s so much more as well.

With Sia, everything’s different. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve grown up, I’m older, more mature, or if she’s always been the girl who got away. Sure, it was my decision that let her get away, but still, we were young. We should all be forgiven for choices we make when our blossoming hormones are making us do stupid things.

I never gave much thought to falling in love. To be honest I’ve never believed real love is true. I believe people can mutually benefit each other. I even believe people can be happy together, but falling in love seems to be something only in fairy tales. I was too young to really focus on love when watching my parents or grandparents. Back then I thought kissing and hugging someone was gross. I’ve grown up since then. I want to see where this thing with Sia can lead. I’m certainly not ready to give up.

I get into my vehicle and drive back to the ranch. I’m sure Callan and Zach are still there. We were all making calls and planning dinner later. I was hoping to bring Sia with me. I want her to meet my brothers, want to show her who I really am. It will happen. I need to have patience, something I’ve never been good at. In my defense, I don’t have to wait for very much of anything in my life. Maybe this is good for my ego.

Still, being with Sia is reigniting something within me. I’ll play this out to the end. I’m not sure what that end will be, but I won’t give up. That isn’t genetically written in me. The Callahans never give up.

I arrive home, relieved to see both of my brothers’ vehicles parked in front of the house. I don’t want to be in my home all by myself right now, a strange new emotion for me. I’ve always enjoyed solitude. Then again, I’ve never minded being lost in my own thoughts. Right now, these thoughts are doing nothing but getting me into trouble. I’d rather have some much-needed advice. Both of my brothers look up as I enter the kitchen.

“The girls are taking an Uber here and bringing food,” Blaze says with a smile.

“You can’t be without them for even a few hours?” I mock.

They laugh. “Look who’s talking. You rushed out of here in the middle of an important meeting to go see your woman. By the forlorn look on your face, I’m taking it she didn’t want to come back with you. You are sort of ugly, you know. I get it,” Callan says.

“For one, I’m the best-looking brother of all of us. For two...” I pause. There really isn’t a two. I let out a sigh. “Sia wouldn’t answer the door. I don’t know why she’s upset. It wasn’t like I just disappeared. I left her a note telling her there was a family emergency, and that I’d be back. I wasn’t gone that long.”

Callan chuckles. “No, you weren’t gone that long. Sorry to have gotten you in trouble. Once these women get mad at us, we have no choice but to wait it out. They don’t work on our timetables; we’re on theirs.”

“I should walk away, but I can’t.”

“You were all into her in Seaville, but now it seems so much worse,” Blaze says.

“That damn town,” I mutter.

Callan laughs. “I hear you, bro.”

“How long will she be upset?” I ask as if they can actually give me a timeframe. Both of my brothers laugh at this question.

“That might be a much better question for Courtney or Sasha,” Blaze says.

“I’m not admitting to them what’s going on. I’ll get a lecture for an hour on how I need to treat women better,” I gasp. My brothers laugh again.

“That might be true,” Callan says. He’s still wearing stars in his eyes because he’s so absolutely head-over-heels in love with Sasha. It’s a bit scary to think about. I don’t want to be wrapped so thoroughly around a woman’s finger. I have a feeling I might not get much of a choice in the matter though.

“It’s the damn boxes. They have some magic spell woven around them. The second Sia’s name was in your box, you were screwed,” Blaze says with a twinkle in his eyes. He’s enjoying my misery way too much.

“Yep, welcome to the box-game club, brother,” Callan says. “We’ve each been there. The one thing I can say is that the game won’t last forever.”

“You aren’t helping me feel better at all,” I tell them. I’m actually eagerly awaiting the women’s arrival. Then the subject can change. I’ve gone from wanting my brothers’ help to wanting to punch them each in their pretty little noses.

Callan gives me a somewhat serious expression. “When I first met Sasha, I didn’t know what to do with myself or what I was feeling. I’ve never wanted to be with a woman as much as her, but she kept turning me down. I was flabbergasted by it. I wasn’t used to it at all. The more she pulled away, the more the rope tightened around my entire body. I couldn’t run from her if I wanted to. I had to accept it was so much more than simply another woman in a long line of women, it was about more than fate. I couldn’t stop thinking about her night and day, and I loved how I felt when I was with her. It scared the living hell out of me, but in the end, it’s been the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Blaze gives a shrug and a sheepish smile. “Yep, same with me, Bro. I know it’s a shocker, but this wanderer got hooked real good. Man, falling in love is like jumping off a cliff. It’s terrifying and a lot of times it hurts like hell. But there’s a lot of joy and discovery about yourself as well. In the end it’s the biggest joy you’ll ever feel. You just have to get through all of the crap first, and what is ever worth having that you don’t have to fight for?”

I listen to both of my brothers. I’m not falling in love. That’s absurd. But I am feeling a lot for this woman. Maybe this can lead to more. I’m at the age now that I need to settle down. I want kids and a life. This is a huge change from nine years ago when I first met Sia. I do know for sure that she’s worth fighting for. I enjoy a challenge as well. It’s been a very long time since anyone’s thrown down the gauntlet for me, or waved a red flag. It could be fun.

My soon-to-be sisters-in-law arrive, and we table all talk of Sia. I don’t need them to know about my current situation or they’ll find her. I’m not sure any advice they give her will benefit me. Sure, they love me, but they also know all of my flaws. Sia doesn’t need to know about those quite yet. I have to have her on the hook nice and secure first.

They all go home and then the games truly begin. I message Sia, but unless it’s about work, she doesn’t respond. She’s either ticked at me, done with me, or working so much she doesn’t have time to play. I don’t let it discourage me.

For the next five days I send her a bigger and better bouquet each day, even when she tells me to stop. I ignore her. What woman doesn’t want her place filled with beautiful flowers? None that I know of. I also keep messaging her, not at all discouraged by her replies. I can be a patient man when it’s called for. I have to admit I’m getting pretty anxious by the fifth day when I still haven’t been able to see her. It’s like she’s drawing me to her and then hiding behind a curtain I can’t get through.

Just when I’m about to go to her place and break down her door, I send her a message asking how the plans are coming along. The sun rises when she responds with a message saying she has a plan ready to go if I can meet with her to go over them. I grin so wide my face hurts. I don’t hesitate before replying.

Come to my place and we’ll go over them.

I sit back and wait as the dots appear on my screen. Her message doesn’t come in for a full minute which feels like an eternity. I want to do this today, not wait any longer. Five days of not seeing her feels like five months. I’m becoming a teenage girl at the moment, and I don’t like it. I’m also not doing anything to stop it.

Meet me at Café Mocha in one hour.

She doesn’t add more to this, assuming it’s going to be a foregone conclusion that I’ll meet her where she’s demanding. I’m sure she’s a lot more accommodating to her other clients. It’s better if I don’t go down that train of thought though. At least I’ll finally see her. That’s a bonus.

I grin as I walk to my room to change. I don’t want to be formal, or too casual, so I opt for a polo and nice pair of jeans. I don’t fret over my shoes, choosing comfort in case she wants to take a walk after lunch. If we’re going forward with the redesign, I can also be patient because she’ll have zero choice but to come to my place. She can’t exactly do her job without being here. I’ll get her alone again. It’s only a matter of time. Patience is quickly becoming my new mantra.

I arrive fifteen minutes early to the coffee house, which thankfully serves lunch as I’m starving. She’s not here yet, just what I was hoping for. I pick out a table in the back corner of the room, a table meant for someone wanting to work in privacy. I couldn’t care less about the privacy of our discussion, but I want her all to myself.

I know the moment she opens the door without having to look up. There’s something about Sia that simply pulls me in. She looks around the room for a moment before spotting me in the back. I grin at her as I stand, watching her walk forward. She looks to the floor as she moves across the somewhat busy room. Damn, she looks amazing in her suit that could be a little more fitted since she sports a delicious body, and her hair is all snug on the back of her head. Her glasses are once again firmly in place. She’s trying to build barriers between us, but I’ve seen her naked, and no amount of protection she puts in place will erase my memories of her. She’s fantastic.

“Thanks for meeting with me, Zach,” she says in her professional tone of voice.

“It’s my pleasure,” I tell her as I hold out her chair. I notice her fingers are slightly shaky as she sits, immediately placing her bag in her lap to pull things out. “Are you hungry?”

She seems to think on this a moment before she nods. I’m well aware she’s hoping to get in and out as quickly as possible. That’s not going to happen, though, and she’s probably well aware of it. She might as well eat while trying to dodge me.

We figure out what we’re going to eat and drink, and I leave her at the table while I go up to the counter and order. I quickly return to see she has several things laid out on the table.

“I have a few different ideas, but I really like the theme and how it’s coming out. It’s a more modern design, while still keeping in mind it’s a ranch. I know you like comfortable furniture so this collection should be perfect for you,” she says as she lays a catalog in front of me. “I use them a lot, so I do get a slight discount when doing large orders. It isn’t the cheapest furniture, but far from the most expensive.”

“I love this couch,” I say as I point one out that looks a bit like hers at home. I see the blush in her cheeks as she hides her gaze from me at this comment. Damn, it feels good to be sitting across from her. She quickly turns the page and points out another option, not even attempting to let me steer the conversation to what happened between us at her place. She’s doing her best to pretend it never happened. I’ll have to remind her all about it, but I’m well aware I can’t do it here.

We’re interrupted when the waitress drops off our food and drinks and Sia immediately grabs a French fry and pops it into her mouth. I lift my coffee and take a sip. My coffee at home is better, but this isn’t bad.

Over the next hour we talk about the different rooms in my house while we drink and eat. She grows more animated for certain rooms, and we have fun together as she relaxes and even smiles a few times, forgetting she’s supposed to keep distant from me. The more she talks about my house, the more I can picture her in there with me. I notice which things she likes more. You never know what will happen down the road.

She’s wrapping up her presentation but I’m not ready for our time to end. I decide to share some stories with her, wanting her to know me more. I want to know her a hell of a lot more too, but I’m aware it’s going to take time to get her to trust me enough to share. She let the walls down nearly a week ago. It will happen again.

“Callan, Blaze, and I once turned the living room into a wrestling ring,” I tell her as I lean back. I’m on my second cup of coffee so I’m certainly feeling the buzz. I can’t help but grin at this memory. Gramps was quite impressed.

“How in the world did you do that?” she asks with her own smile as she dips a scone in her coffee then takes a bite.

“We were about twelve at the time and thought it would be fun to practice our world-class WWE moves on each other. We used the couch cushions from three rooms, got rope out of the barn, then set up chairs in a circle to tie it off. Gramps came into the room, and we had entrance music blaring as we each walked in. I picked Eye of the Tiger. Gramps was the ref for the matches.”

“Were there any injuries?” she asks with a chuckle.

I shake my head. “Nothing but a few scratches and bruises. I went down hard when I tried to stand on the ropes and the chairs flipped over, sending me sprawling. Blaze took that opportunity to launch himself on top of me, further taking my breath away.”

“So Blaze won?”

I vehemently shake my head. “The winner depends on who you ask. I think I won, but to this day Callan and Blaze both claim victory. Since no one recorded us, we’ll never know, and none of us will admit defeat.”

“Did Gramps say who won since he was the ref?”

“Nope, Gramps said he was staying out of that one. We got off of our WWE phase about six months later and got into football and baseball. There might’ve been a few black eyes and bruised ribs while we practiced. There might’ve even been some broken furniture in the house, but it was all done in fun.”

“It sounds like it was a chore raising you three,” Sia says with another smile. The more I speak of family, the more receptive she seems to become. This is good to know.

“We were angels... eighty percent of the time. That other twenty percent would try the patience of a saint as my mom used to say. But we did it all out of love, whether it was love for each other, or love for what we were passionate about, it was always done with affection.”

“I’m not so sure a wrestling match is done out of love.”

“It’s all out of love, love of the game. Sports are supposed to be rough.”

She nods. “I might agree with that. I was hopeless at all sports other than softball, which I was pretty passionate about. Nikki was the athlete of our duo. I had a few black eyes and split lips growing up, but I shook it off and got right back into the game. One of my favorite movie lines of all time is from A League of Their Own.”

I join her as she says the line. “Are you crying? Are you crying? There’s no crying in baseball!”

We both laugh. “Yes, that’s a classic for sure. We also did really sweet things. Before we lived with Gramps we spent a lot of weekends with him. One Mother’s Day weekend we decided to bake a cake for Mom.”

“Well, that was sweet.” I’m winning her over with my sweetness.

“Well... it was sweet, but we ended up with flour everywhere and a rock-hard cake that could be used to injure people. Our mom was amazing about it, though, telling us it was the best cake she’d ever had. She might’ve cracked a tooth or two, but she ate her entire piece all while wearing a smile.”

“Your mom sounds amazing.”

“She was incredible. Losing her hurt like hell,” I admit. My smile falters a bit. She looks at me with concern, but I shake my head. “That was a long time ago, and we were lucky because we got to stay with Gramps, and we were always close to him. We were a pain in the ass for him, dealing with our emotions, but he never gave up on us.”

“That’s wonderful, Zach. I’m sorry you lost your parents. I can’t imagine how hard that was for you.”

I love her empathy, but I won’t use the loss of my parents to gain sympathy. It feels too rough. I smile again, needing to lighten the mood. “My brothers and I also built an amazing tree house.”

I see her hesitate as if wanting to come back to my parents, but she seems to understand I need to change the subject. “How did it come out?”

“It didn’t go too well. One of the rails broke while I was leaning against it. I got a nasty sprain from that one. I think we each fell out at least twice before Gramps put his foot down and condemned the tree house. We were sad, but sort of happy he forced us to keep out of it because none of us were smart enough to say it was dangerous.” I chuckle remembering my relief that I didn’t have to go into that deathtrap again.

“How sad to be condemned though,” she says.

I grin. “Gramps had it rebuilt, and it was solid with good walls we couldn’t fall through. We spent many nights in that treehouse. I might’ve even got a kiss or two playing some spin the bottle,” I add with a wink.

She laughs. “I bet you were always a ladies’ man,” she says with jest, not jealousy. We’re already making progress.

“I might’ve been a charmer at twelve,” I admit. “A real ladies’ man.”

“So, not much has changed in twenty plus years.”

I hold my hands up in surrender. “I’m a one-lady man now.” I make sure to look her in the eyes, letting her know that all of my attention is on her and her alone at the moment.

She shifts in her seat, not at all wanting to take this path in our conversation. She starts gathering paperwork together. She makes two piles and puts one in her bag, then puts the other in a folder and hands it to me.

“I’m excited to get started on this,” she says and stands, leaving me with no choice other than to join her. I don’t want this lunch to end, but I also don’t want to push it when she’s finished. I have to take my wins when I can. It’s been a good day. I’m not going to ruin it now.

“What comes next?” I ask as she begins walking toward the door. I’m walking her to her vehicle. My mama would come back from the dead and kick my butt if I didn’t.

“You decide on which designs you like, then I get started on ordering,” she says.

“Don’t you need to come back to the house and measure and stuff?” I say, desperate to get her to the house again.

“Yes, I do. But still, I need you to look over the designs so I have an idea of what I’m going to do before I come in. That will save a lot of time.”

I don’t want to save time, but I don’t tell her this. “Okay, I’ll look over all of this tonight and let you know tomorrow,” I assure her.

“You don’t have to go that fast,” she says.

“I’m anxious to get started on this. Out with the old and in with the new.” I don’t add that my anxiousness is all about wanting to spend intimate one-on-one time with her.

“Me too. It will be beautiful,” she assures me. We step out the doors and she holds her hand out for a shake. I look at her with confusion.

“Where are you parked?” I ask, pretending not to see her hand. I’d rather give her a hug, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

“I’m walking. I chose this place because it’s not far from my apartment.” I realize she’s right. It’s only two blocks down the road.

“I’ll walk you home,” I insist.

She shakes her head. “That’s not necessary. I can make it home just fine on my own.” I give her a hard stare. I’m not budging on this. She lets out a huff. “I’ve walked to this place countless times before and always get home safely.”

“You weren’t here with me.” She gives me a long look, realizes I’m not budging on this, and then turns and begins walking toward home at a fast pace. I easily keep up with her. I try to keep our conversation going, but she’s not interested.

We reach her place far too quickly, dang it. I walk her all the way to her door, and she gives me a very short goodbye, then shuts the door in my face. I chuckle as I walk away. She clearly doesn’t want me inside again... for now. But we made progress today. I feel good about it, good enough to whistle as I walk back to my car. I’m excited to see what happens next. Nothing is a surety when it comes to Sia, and I love it.