Chapter 22
“When all else fails, call a cop.” ~ words Maya never thought she’d say
Maya
I study the message from Caleb.
I’m safe.
Those words do not reassure me at all. Quite the opposite in fact. My hackles are raised and I’m terrified he’s off doing dangerous deeds – such as confronting my parents.
He was beyond angry yesterday when I confessed what I endured at home while growing up. Should I not have told him? Should I have kept my past a secret?
I send another message.
Don’t do anything stupid.
I wait but there’s no blue tick to reassure me my message has been sent. He must have switched his phone off.
What do I do now? I could drive to my parents’ house and check if he’s there. I snatch my keys from the side table but halt in front of the door .
I need to calm down. Driving off half-cocked will not help the situation. I don’t even know if Caleb is at my parents’ house. For all I know he’s at physical therapy and doesn’t want me to know. He’s super secretive about his sessions. I’m still unaware of the extent of his injuries.
I do the next best thing, I dial Weston’s number. Sophia’s brother is the cop I called when Dad broke Mom’s arm. He knows what it was like for me growing up.
“What’s up, Maya?”
“Um…I need your help.”
“What is it? Are you hurt? Do you need an ambulance?”
My eyes widen in surprise. Usually, when I ring Weston, he’s worried what trouble I’m in and how much bail money I need. Things have changed since he found Scarlett and fell in love.
Their love story was more exciting than a romance book. They got snowed in with no electricity at Christmas. I bet I know how they kept each other warm.
I shake those thoughts out of my mind. I need to worry about my own love story now.
“No. No. No. I’m fine. I need you to check on Caleb.”
“What’s wrong? What happened? Did you get in a fight? Is he having another anxiety attack?”
“You know about those?”
“Darling, it’s a small island. Everyone knows about Caleb’s anxiety attack at Smuggler’s Cove .”
“He’s embarrassed. Please don’t tell him you know. ”
“You can count on me, Maya. Now, why do I need to check on him? Where is he?”
“I think he’s at my parents.”
“You told him?” He whistles. “Good for you, Maya. Proud of you, little sis.”
His words warm my heart but I don’t have time for this. “Can you check if he’s there? And whether I need bail money?”
“You won’t need bail money,” he growls. “Don’t you worry. I’ve got this.”
He hangs up before I can thank him. It’s fine. Everything’s fine. There’s no need to worry. Weston will find Caleb before any blood is spilled. I hope.
I pace the living room of the cabin as I wait for Caleb to return. My phone beeps with a message from Weston.
Caleb is on his way home to you.
Thank the mermaids swimming in the sea! He’s coming home.
Not ten minutes later, headlights from his truck shine through the front window. I rush to the door and fling it open before running down the steps to his truck.
As soon as Caleb is out of his truck, I throw myself at him.
“I was worried.”
He wraps his arms around me and holds me close. “I’m okay, Bunny. I’m okay.”
I lean back to meet his gaze. “Where did you go? What happened? Are you injured?”
“I think you know where I went since you sent Weston after me. ”
I raise my eyebrows. “Would you have preferred I came myself?”
He growls. “Fuck no.”
“What happened? Please don’t make me regret confessing my secrets to you.”
His blue eyes darken until they’re nearly black. “You never need to regret confessing your secrets to me. I’ll be your secret keeper.”
“Except you went to visit my parents after I told you my secrets.”
He frowns at me. “You’re shivering. Let’s go inside.”
I allow him to lead me inside where we settle on the sofa, but I’m not done pressuring him.
“Why did you visit my parents? What happened?”
He grasps my hands and lifts them to kiss my knuckles. “I ordered them to stay away from you.”
“Stay away from me? I don’t understand. They’re my parents.”
“No, they’re not. Those people were never your parents.”
“But…” I bite my bottom lip. “It’s my mom and dad.”
He cradles my face with his palms. “No, Bunny, they aren’t. They never were.”
My chest feels tight and my vision blurs. Geraldine gave birth to me. She was supposed to love me unconditionally. Roger is my dad. He was supposed to protect me from all the bad things in the world. Not become the bad thing I needed protection from .
Caleb brushes the hair off of my forehead. “I need to tell you something. It’s going to hurt, but you need to know the truth.”
Help me smugglers. What now?
“Are you ready?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to hear whatever you’re going to say.”
“I’m here, Maya. I’m not going anywhere.”
All the coldness, thoughts of my parents caused, is banished by his words.
“Okay.” I nod. “I’m ready.”
“There’s a reason I never asked you out when we were in high school.”
I know. We discussed this yesterday. “You thought I’d say no.”
“I did but I knew I could convince you to say yes.”
I would have said yes right away. No convincing needed. “Then, why didn’t you ask me?”
“Your dad.”
“My dad? What does my dad have to do with us?”
Caleb squeezes my neck. “Hear me out.”
I blow out a breath. “Okay.”
“After one of our study sessions at the library, I was walking home and ran into your dad. It wasn’t an accident. He was looking for me.”
My dad sought Caleb out? What in the world? I bite my tongue before I interrupt.
“He forbade me from dating you. He said you were meant for greater things than this small town on this little island. He told me I was not man enough for you. And, in case I wasn’t convinced, he said he wouldn’t give you your college fund money if I dated you.”
I gasp. “My college fund money? My parents never gave me any money for college. I got scholarships and worked as a waitress. They didn’t give me a dime.”
He growls. “They didn’t?”
“Nope. This doesn’t make any sense. Mom and Dad thought I was too big for my britches. They never said a nice word to me. And then, all of sudden, Dad’s telling you I’m meant for greater things? What a lying piece of smuggler’s reject whiskey.”
I jump to my feet and begin pacing the room. “How dare he say you weren’t man enough for me! You’re the best man I’ve ever known.” I stop pacing to stare down at him. “Please tell me you didn’t join the Army to become a better man.”
He shrugs and I explode.
“No! I lost over a decade with you because of my dad. All that time. All those years. All those lonely Christmas days. New Year’s Eves spent alone. And for what?”
I don’t bother to try and stop my tears. There’s no chance of stopping them considering the destruction my father caused.
“I knew my dad was an asshole but to ruin my life?”
Caleb wraps his arms around me and sways me from side to side. “I hate to say it, Maya, but I think ruining your life was the purpose of his little talk with me.”
I shove him away. “What? My own father tried to ruin my life? ”
“He is not your father. Or your dad. He’s nothing to you. He’s your past. One you are not going to dwell on.”
“I’m not going to dwell on?” I slap my hand over my heart. “What do you expect me to do?”
He grasps my hands and hauls me near. “I expect you to live your life with me. I expect you to let me protect you from any further bullshit they try to pull from now on. I expect you to be my family.”
It sounds nice but, “It’s not going to be easy.”
He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Nothing worth having is easy, Bunny. Will you at least try?”
“You want me to give up on my parents.”
“Bunny, they’re not worthy of being your parents.”
“It hurts.” I feel as if my heart is tearing into little pieces and will never be whole again. “The people who should love me unconditionally don’t love me at all.”
“That’s on them. Not you.”
“Easy for you to say. Your family is awesome.”
“They’re your family now, too.”
Wow. He’s giving me everything I’ve ever wanted. “You’re making it hard for me to say no.”
He waggles his eyebrows. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
Hang the smugglers. I can’t deny him.
Maybe he’s right. Maybe I need to stop yearning for my parents’ love. Maybe it’s time to face reality. My dad tried to ruin my life. Maybe he’ll never love me.
“I’ll try. ”
He smiles and his dimple makes an appearance. I should make him smile more often because he doesn’t smile enough. He used to smile all the time as a teenager.
“Thank you, Bunny. You won’t regret this.”
I open my mouth to ask him how he’s going to make it up to me but he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder before I have a chance to speak.
“Talking time is over. Time to show you how much I appreciate you taking a chance on me.”
I won’t say no to his idea.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to cut myself off from my parents but if this is my reward for trying, I’m going to try.