4. Chapter 4 - Callum
“Well, I should probably get going.” I’d been at the meadery for hours and tried a little of everything, and a little more of the things I’d liked.
I’d stayed long enough that Pax had insisted on ordering a pizza from the place down the road to share, giving me enough time to be safe to drive.
I’d collected almost zero notes for my article.
“Do you have to?” Pax asked quietly.
I glanced at my phone again. “I’ve been here six hours. My folks are going to think I’m dead in a ditch or something, probably.”
“Wouldn’t want to worry them, then.” He nodded and picked up the empty glass in front of me. “But…”
I raised my eyebrows. “Yeah?”
“If you’re writing an article and including us in it, you should probably take my number. You know, in case you have questions.”
I smirked and nodded, dipping my head low before looking back at Pax. “That sounds like a great idea.” Was I imagining the suggestive tone in his voice?
He scribbled a phone number on an index card, the ones they used to write flight requests on, and passed it to me. “Call or text if you have any, you know, questions.”
Okay, I definitely wasn’t imagining it. “I’m sure I’ll have plenty of questions, once I start writing this article.” My face heated again. What was it about this man that made me blush so ferociously?
He leaned in, palms on the bar. “I’m serious. Anytime.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take you up on that.” I pulled my wallet out to pay my tab, but he waved my card away.
“Your money is no good here.”
“Come on. I had a lot of mead. Plus, the pizza.”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
I sighed in defeat and shoved my wallet back in my pocket. “Thanks again. I’ll talk to you soon.
“I’m counting on it.”
With that, I headed out of the meadery and into the parking lot, climbed into my rental car—a little nondescript white sedan—and headed back to my parents’ house. They’d rented a house in a little suburban neighborhood near Foggy Basin, a cute town that I’d always wanted to visit.
When I pulled up to the curb, there were several cars already in the driveway—three I recognized, two I didn’t.
I’d crashed at a hotel near the airport the night before, and I’d taken my time getting up and moving in the morning, making that stop at the meadery on my way in.
I hadn’t seen my family yet, and I was sure they’d be eager to see me—especially my mom.
I grabbed my duffel from the trunk and slung my messenger bag over my shoulder before heading up the walk and into the house.
As I opened the front door, which was brick red, I was bombarded by noise. There were several children running around with brightly colored plastic guns, shooting foam darts at one another.
I managed to dodge an attack and made my way into the kitchen, where my mom was standing at the stove, stirring something and chatting with both of her sisters. Music played from a smart device sitting on top of her microwave. I knocked twice on the breakfast bar to get their attention.
“Hi, Mom.”
She turned around and her face lit up. “Callum, you’re here!” She handed her stirring spoon to my Aunt Elizabeth and rushed over to hug me. “Where have you been? I thought you’d be here a while ago.”
I wrapped my mom up tight in my arms and held her close. As much as I grumbled about them, I did love my parents. “Sorry. I got sidetracked with some work stuff. How are you?”
She stepped back and smiled up at me. I’d gotten taller than her in the eighth grade and now I basically towered over her tiny five-one frame, even though I was a pretty average height.
“I’m better now that you’re home. A whole month. I can hardly believe how lucky I am.” She shot a look over her shoulder at her other sister, Aunt Lynn, grinning.
Lynn rolled her eyes. “My boys are busy!” Her tone was defensive.
I chuckled and looked over at Lynn. “So I take it we’re not going to see Kyler or Liam?”
Lynn shook her head. “Not this year.”
“How’s work?” called Elizabeth from her place at the stove, where she was still stirring.
“It’s great.” I settled my messenger bag to the ground. “I’m working on a tourism piece about the area right now, actually. Which means…” I gave Mom a look.
“Don’t say it,” she protested.
“I’m working while I’m here.”
Mom sighed. “I hope this doesn’t mean you’ll be too busy to spend time with your family.”
“Not at all. I just won’t be around all day every day.”
“Callum!”
“Mom, who can afford to take a month off of work like that?”
She conceded the point. “Fine. As long as you promise to stick around when you can.”
“Scout’s honor,” I said, holding up three fingers in a scouting salute. A beat passed. “I’m going to go put my things down.”
“Your dad’s out in the garage, if you want to go say hello,” Mom said as I disappeared down the hallway with my bags.
I quickly settled into a bedroom that looked as if it hadn’t yet been claimed by anyone.
I unpacked my clothes and stuffed them into the dresser carefully, not in any particular hurry.
Once that was done, I made my way through the house to the garage in the backyard.
The double door was rolled up and inside, Dad was settled down in a camp chair, a beer in the cupholder, family by his side.
My uncles, Martin and Rob, were in two camp chairs, my cousin Charlie in another. Dad perked up when he saw me. “Hey there.” He raised his beer can in my direction.
“Hey, Dad.” I nodded at the rest of the family. “Everyone.”
Wearing a black T-shirt and tight black jeans, Charlie practically jumped up from his chair, his long dark hair tied back in a ponytail.
He was possibly the only cousin I actually liked, and one of the few who came to every reunion.
The rest of the people my age in the family were fine, just…
they were all overly perfect. Charlie was like me—a family fuck-up, a black sheep, which really just meant we were both people who didn’t want to live the rest of our lives in our small hometown in Southern California.
We wanted more excitement out of life than small-town living could provide.
He pulled me into a hug. “How the fuck have you been?”
“Good,” I said into his shoulder.
When he pulled back, he grinned at me. “Want to take a walk?”
I nodded, relief at being free of conversation with my uncles washing over me. “That sounds great.”
We said goodbye to everyone in the garage and Charlie led the way down the driveway and to the sidewalk. We were quiet for a few moments, until it felt like we’d safely cleared the property line and the zone of eavesdropping by the half-dozen preteens who were still bouncing around.
As we walked, I let the conversation flow, asking about Charlie. “How’s it going? Seeing anyone these days?”
He snorted and shook his head. “Negative.”
“You have, like, all the choices. How are you still single?”
“Just because I’m bi doesn’t mean I sleep with anyone and everyone,” he protested.
“Okay, but you do.”
“Eh. What about you? Seeing anyone?”
Paxton’s face drifted through my mind and I shook my head to clear it away. “Not lately. You know me. Bad luck with romance.”
After a quiet moment, he spoke again. “Do you ever think you might want to reconnect with Jacob?”
I snapped my gaze in his direction and narrowed my eyes. “Absolutely not.” Jacob had been my first serious adult relationship. At one point, I even thought we were going to get married.
Charlie grimaced. “It was that bad?”
“Charlie.” My tone was a warning.
“What? You never really went into details.”
I shrugged and kicked a pebble on the sidewalk. “He was just terrible. Manipulative. A liar. Cheated on me—a lot. I stuck around way too long. I should’ve known better. Left sooner. And he’s so fucking charming to everyone else, I knew nobody would believe me.”
“I believe you.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“Is that why you took that job on the East Coast all those years ago? To get away from Jacob?”
I laughed once, bitterly. “It was a definite perk.” After Jacob and I split, I’d bailed on small-town life, promising myself I’d only return to visit my family.
I never wanted to live near him again. I’d taken a small-time job at a magazine across the country and eventually was hired as a feature travel writer at Connection Monthly.
And besides these family reunions, I hadn’t looked back.
“Why are you asking me about Jacob now?”
Charlie cleared his throat. “I need to tell you something.”
My eyebrows shot up and my stomach went sour in anticipation. “What?” I asked warily.
“It’s about Jacob.”
My mouth tasted like acid. “What about Jacob?”
“He’s dating Angie.”
“Angie?” I asked, confused. Angie was another cousin, one on my dad’s side. Charlie nodded silently, hands stuffed in the pockets of his tight jeans. When he didn’t follow up, I stopped walking. “Really?”
He exhaled slowly. “I didn’t want to tell you, but I also didn’t want you to find out when they show up this weekend.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
“Angie’s coming this weekend and she’s bringing Jacob.” I didn’t know why it wasn’t sinking in. I took a slow breath to steady myself. “Why would she do that?”
“They’ve been dating for a few months now. Six, maybe. I don’t know. I just found out today. Your dad mentioned it.”
“Why would she think it’s a good idea to date Jacob, of all people?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know the whole story. I wish I did. I just didn’t want you to be blindsided in front of the family.”
I nodded slowly. “Thanks for telling me.”
We kept walking, silently for a while, before Charlie spoke again. “You going to be okay?”
I nodded, uninterested in continuing to talk about Jacob and Angie and the panic rising inside of me. Instead, I changed the subject.
“Have you been to that mead place just outside of town? Celestial Cask?”
“No, why?”
Because I can’t stop thinking about the owner. I chose not to say that part out loud. “Just curious. I stopped by there on my way in.”
“Today?”
I nodded and hummed. “I was kind of dragging my feet on getting here, so I swung by and took some notes for the next piece I’m working on.”
“Was it any good? I don’t think I’ve ever had mead, come to think of it.”
“Yeah. It was… charming. The owner showed me around a little. I’ll definitely go back.”
Charlie glanced at his phone briefly. “Speaking of going back, we should probably head back to the house. It’s almost dinnertime and they’ll all be texting us soon to make sure we’re not dead in a ditch or something.”
I laughed uneasily, knowing exactly how true it was, but also reluctant to head back.
I needed to process the whole Jacob thing.
Instead, as we turned around and headed back to my parents’ rental, my mind wandered back to Paxton.
His calming voice and warm hand on the plane, his easy smile, the scent of honey and wood smoke on his skin, the way my heart had leaped into my throat as he’d leaned in to kiss me.
Had it been a fluke or was he really interested? There was only one way to find out, and I promised myself I’d head back to the meadery just as soon as I had the chance to see if I could get some answers.