Chapter Fourteen
"Is it the usual for you, Callie?" Kai asked when she reached the front of the line at the coffee shop on Tuesday morning.
"Please. Can you put an extra shot in there for me, though?"
"Sure will, gorgeous. Do you want something sweet to cheer you up as well?"
She scanned the pastries. "Yeah, I'll take a blondie, thanks."
He raised his eyebrows as she paid. "Are you okay? You don't seem as chipper as usual."
She shrugged. "I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind. How about you guys? How are things going in here?"
"Yeah, everything's great. That latte will be with you in a minute." He turned away to serve the next customer, and she wondered if he and his partner Drew were the same as Ollie. Were they really rich kids who were just playing at having a different life out here in California?
She worried at her bottom lip. That wasn't fair of her, and she knew it. Ollie wasn't playing at anything. She believed that. She could see it from his point of view. She really could.
She'd been nervous about going to Napa for Becca and Jacob's wedding because she wasn't used to being around people who had a lot of money, and she could admit that she was judging them.
The thing was — and she could see it was totally on her — she'd assumed that Ollie wasn't one of them.
All he'd done was go along with it. She could even understand how he dug himself in deeper and deeper.
"Here you go."
She took the latte and paper bag with her blondie and headed back to the truck. It was still early, still cool and damp, but she hadn't been able to sleep, so she'd come out.
She climbed back into the truck and headed for the beach. She didn't know if Alara and Zia would be up and about, but she was trying to give them some space — or perhaps, more honestly, she was giving herself some space while she figured out how she felt.
She didn't think she was mad at Ollie, but she was definitely hurt.
If she'd known who he was, she wouldn't have opened up to him in the way that she had.
But at the same time, if she held it against him, then she'd be a big fat hypocrite.
It was like he said — she hadn't told Alara how, or even that, Reaves knew where she was.
And she hadn't told Ollie or Reaves that Alara and Zia were staying with her.
When she reached the same pullout where the camper had been parked, she cut the engine and rested her forearms on the steering wheel.
Her mind had been spinning madly ever since she'd taken Ollie and Reaves back to the airport on Sunday.
That had been an uncomfortable ride. It had gone by mostly in silence.
Reaves had thanked her and apologized. Ollie had apologized again, and she'd felt bad that she wasn't able to just brush it off and say it was fine, that it didn't matter and they could put it behind them.
Maybe they could. She didn't know. All she knew was that she needed some time to process it — because the thing was, it wasn't just that Ollie hadn't told her the truth. It was the fact that now she knew who he was.
Of course, she'd spent hours yesterday googling Stratton Wines and Oliver Stratton.
He really hadn't lied that he wasn't one of the wine family royalty.
From what she knew of Jacob and Bentley and Antonio and Chelsea and all the others, those guys came from legacy wine-growing families. Ollie didn't.
She leaned back and banged her head against the headrest a couple of times.
It'd probably be easier to take if he was one of them.
But oh no — Oliver Stratton just happened to be the only son of Miles Stratton, one of the biggest movie directors on earth.
His name was mentioned alongside people like Spielberg, Nolan, and Cameron.
Names so big that even she knew who they were.
And from what she'd read — and she had been down some dark rabbit holes on the internet, including tabloid stuff that she knew she probably shouldn't believe but did — Ollie's mom had walked out on them.
She was an actress, Sabrina Stratton, and she'd walked out when Ollie was still tiny.
He'd been raised by nannies and staff in the once-famous Stratton estate in Napa while his father continued to make movies in Hollywood.
She wanted to talk to him about how his childhood had been. She imagined he must have been lonely, that it must have been hard for him. Of course she cared. But she was still — maybe not mad, but definitely hurt.
She climbed out of the truck, needing to walk, burn off some of the energy that had nowhere else to go. She walked along the beach. It was too cold and damp to really enjoy it, but she kept her eyes on the pebbles, hunting as always for little treasures that she might be able to use in her work.
At least she now understood how and why he was able to offer Alara a job and health benefits without even blinking an eye, and she was glad about that — for Alara's sake.
But she still had to decide what she wanted to do.
She'd told him not to call her, that she'd call him.
But now, it wasn't just about forgiving him for lying.
The bigger question was: did she even want to get involved with someone like him?
She took a sip of her latte and waited for the extra caffeine to kick in. It wasn't that she thought he was any different a person now than the guy she already knew and liked. But his situation — that was something she didn't know if she wanted to get involved in.
He'd never mentioned his father. Did he see much of him? If they got together, would he expect her, as his girlfriend, to go to Hollywood with him for parties or who knew what? She so wasn't up for that.
She jumped when her phone beeped in her pocket. Every time it had done that since he left, her heart leaped into her mouth and then felt like it sank back down into her boots. Even if it was him, she still didn't know what she wanted to say.
The thing was, this time it hit her that every time a message or call came in, she hoped it was him. That had to say something.
She took her phone out and smiled when she saw Becca's name on the display.
Becca: Hey you! Sorry I haven't texted before now. We're having an amazing time. Hope everything's good with you. And Jacob just told me that he has meetings two days next week, so I wondered if you want to come stay. We could ask Ollie to come get you.
Callie let out a short laugh. Of course she wanted to see Becca. But having Ollie fly her there was the last thing she wanted.
Callie: Let's figure it out when you're back. What days are you talking about? Next week is a busy one.
She hit send, thinking that she'd need to at least talk to Ollie before Becca came home — she'd only worry and want to help otherwise.
She checked her watch. She should get back. She'd stop at the coffee shop again on her way to get pastries for Alara and Zia. She'd been feeding them well, but she felt guilty having a blondie for herself and not taking them anything back — she knew they'd love it.
And Alara was feeling so guilty over what had happened with Ollie. Zia was just thrilled that she was going to be seeing her Prince Daddy again.
~ ~ ~
When the jet touched down on the runway at the DuPont estate on Wednesday evening, Ollie sat back and let Reaves take charge.
"Are you doing okay over there?" Reaves asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Are you going to come over to Dad's for dinner?"
Ollie really wasn't in the mood. But Charles had already left him a voicemail asking if he'd come over with Reaves this evening because he wanted to talk to them both. There was no way he'd turn Charles down.
"Yeah, I'll be there, but I'm going to run home first and collect the dogs."
Since he got home from Callie's on Sunday, he'd been with the dogs 24/7. He always found comfort in hanging out with them. It had been a wrench to leave them with Rosa this morning, even though it was only for the day, while they flew the sales team to San Diego.
"I'm guessing you don't want me to come with you?" asked Reaves.
"No, it won't take me long. I'll be over there shortly after you."
"Okay. Listen, bud, I'm really sorry again about how things worked out."
"There's no need. It's not your fault. You were the one who kept telling me right from the beginning that I had to come clean with her."
"Yeah, but that's not the point. The point is that I feel bad. I don't like seeing you like this."
Ollie shrugged. "I'm okay."
He didn't add that he was okay for now because he still had some hope that when Callie had had time to think about it, she might call him and still be prepared to see him again. He was going to have to be okay even if she didn’t; it wasn't like they'd been seeing each other for months or anything.
They'd hardly even been on a real date. But she'd gotten to him. Gotten under his skin.
When they reached the hangar, he took his headset off, but Reaves waved for him to remain seated.
"I'll go open the doors. You stay there till these guys have gone."
"Thanks."
Ollie wasn't going to argue. He didn't feel like laughing and joking with the guys on the sales team like he usually did. All they wanted to do was thank him and Reaves for the ride and invite them out for a drink.
Reaves came back into the cockpit a few minutes later. "We're clear. They've all gone now. Do you want to get out of here? I can take care of things tonight."
He got to his feet and grasped Reaves's shoulder. "Yeah, thanks. I will. I'll run on home to get the dogs. Do you know what your dad wants to see us about?"
Reaves smiled. "He said that he's been thinking about the rebranding."
That earned a genuine smile from Ollie. "Well, that's good news. I thought he was going to blow off the whole idea. He didn't seem too thrilled about Delaney."