Chapter Seventeen
Callie got to her feet and stretched her arms up toward the skylight. It was only when she looked up that she realized the sky above was now dark. She checked her watch.
Damn. It was almost midnight. She'd only come out here to make a few finishing touches after dinner. At least she'd eaten. Sometimes she worked straight through and forgot completely.
She straightened up and put her tools away before stepping out onto the cabin's little porch.
Crap. She picked her phone up from the railing where she'd left it. She didn't like to bring it inside with her. It felt as though she was inviting people into her workspace when she really didn't want them there — even when she put it on silent.
When she checked, she saw that she'd missed texts from both Becca and Ollie.
"Sorry, Becs," she murmured as she opened Ollie's first.
Ollie: Peanut and Butter wanted to say hi.
She clicked on the attached video clip and laughed out loud at the sight of the two dogs waving their paws at the camera. Butter barked and Peanut came to sniff the phone before Ollie said, "Hey, she doesn't need to see up your snoot."
His face appeared briefly, and he grinned. "I won't keep you. We just wanted to say hi."
With that, the clip ended. She tapped out a reply.
Callie: Say hi back to them for me. It's good to see you — all three of you. Sorry it's taken me a while to answer. I've been out in the cabin working. Are you flying tomorrow?
She hesitated, then added:
Callie: I'll give you a call tomorrow evening, if you like.
She hit send, not expecting to hear back from him, but he replied almost immediately.
Ollie: Hope you enjoyed yourself. I want to say don't work too late, but I know part of the beauty of it is that you can make your own hours and do as you please.
So I'll just say hope you enjoyed yourself.
And yeah, we're flying Bentley to a meeting in Phoenix tomorrow, but we should be back by six or seven at the latest. Want me to call you or text when I'm done?
Callie: Sure, let me know when you're free and I'll give you a call. How are you doing?
Ollie: Counting down the days until our date.
Callie: Only a couple more to go. I keep watching the weather. I'm hoping it'll be nice.
Ollie: We'll have a great day no matter what the weather does.
She smiled at that.
Callie: I should let you go if you're flying in the morning.
Ollie: Yeah, I should sleep. Not sure if I should admit that I'm already in bed and had my phone under the pillow in case you answered.
She grinned.
Callie: Are you the sweetest guy ever, or are you teasing me?
Ollie: Neither. Just being honest. Even if I do make a fool of myself, I figure that's the best way to go.
Callie: Well, I appreciate it. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Get some sleep. Good night.
Ollie: Good night, Lady Sunshine.
She closed up the cabin and walked back to the cottage. Moonlight filtered down through the trees, and the ferns seemed to sparkle. She chuckled. Then again, they probably were sparkling — Zia had sprinkled enough glitter around out here.
She planned to get in touch with Alara tomorrow and see how they were doing. She'd texted a couple of times to say that they were okay, but Callie wanted to talk to her.
Back inside the cottage, she flopped down on the sofa and pulled up Becca's message.
Becca: How are you doing? I wanted to let you know that Jacob's meetings next week are on Wednesday and Thursday. Do you want to come visit? Or I could come to you if that's better.
Callie made a face. Wednesday was the day she and Ollie had their date planned. She'd never been the kind of girl who dropped her girlfriends for a guy, but...
She stared at the screen. If she were to ask Ollie to bring her back with him, she could go to Becca's and spend Wednesday evening and Thursday with her.
She worried at her bottom lip, undecided. If she did that, she'd either have to ask him to bring her home again or make her own way.
She set her phone back down. Becca wouldn't be expecting a reply at this time of night anyway.
~ ~ ~
Ollie parked around the back when they got to Charles's place, and Reaves turned to him with a grin. "Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner? Dad would love to see you, and so would Alara and Zia."
He checked his watch. It was only five thirty. Bentley's meetings hadn't run as long as he'd expected, and they'd made it back early.
"I'll come in and say hi, but I won't stay to eat, thanks. I want to get home to the dogs."
Reaves chuckled. "And to sit around and wait for Callie's call."
He shrugged. "Yeah, that too. I'm not gonna lie."
"There's no reason you should. I might be teasing, but I'm happy for you that things finally look as though they might be going in the right direction."
"Fingers crossed," said Ollie. "And what about you and Alara?"
"I'm not even allowing myself to think about what might happen," said Reaves. "My priority is helping her get on her feet. For the time being, it’d be all wrong to ask her to even think about dating me. She has so much else to figure out before she can think about that."
"Right," Ollie agreed. "And what's happening? Has she done anything about seeing a doctor?"
Reaves sighed. "No, she won't go. She insists that now things are more stable, she'll be able to get her feet back under her."
"You think she's just stalling until she can use the health insurance?"
"I do."
Ollie opened the door. "Then maybe I need to have a word with her, because all the headaches and dizziness — that's just not right, Reaves."
"I know, but I can only push so much." As they walked around the side of the house, Reaves shook his head. "I'm in a tough place. I can't force her to do anything. I can only encourage."
Ollie gripped his shoulder. "I know, and I can only do the same. But maybe she'll listen."
When Reaves opened the back door to the kitchen, they both burst out laughing when Zia came running toward them, yelling, "Prince Daddy, you're home! And you brought Secret King with you!"
She skidded to a stop in front of them, smiling up at Reaves before turning to Ollie.
"Hey," he greeted her.
She continued to study him carefully, her little eyebrows drawn together.
"What's wrong?" he asked when he couldn't take the scrutiny any longer.
"Nothing. It's just that I think you really could be the Sunshine King. I think sunshine suits you better than secrets. But for now, you're still the Secret King."
He chuckled. It sounded about right to him.
"What are you up to?" Reaves asked. "Where are your mom and Grandpa Grape?"
"Mom's taking a nap. They've been working hard this afternoon. But Grandpa Grape—" She glanced back over her shoulder, and Ollie had to bite back a laugh when Charles appeared, looking a little flustered.
His shirtsleeves were rolled up, his glasses sat on top of his head, and he was carrying what looked like it might once have been a journal — but it was currently covered in shiny stickers. Ollie had a feeling that Zia’s glitter pot might be responsible for the sparkle on his cheeks.
He greeted them with a rueful smile. "I'm glad to see you. Are you staying for dinner?"
"I am," said Reaves.
"I know that. Even if you weren't planning to, you would be." Charles shot a meaningful look at Zia as he added, "I think we need your help."
"I'm not staying," said Ollie. "I just wanted to drop in and say hi."
"Hi," said Zia.
Charles chuckled. "Well, I'm glad you're here. I wanted to ask you about the rest of my sunflower glazes."
"Oh." Ollie grinned when he remembered. "You're still waiting on the last four, aren't you? I'm sorry, I didn't think to bring them back with me."
"And it didn't occur to me that we could have brought them in the camper," said Reaves.
"There's nothing to worry about," Charles assured them. "I simply thought it might be an opportunity for you to make a return visit to the Land of Fog and Clouds."
Zia grinned up at them. "You should go and see Lady Sunshine. Maybe I can come. She’s my friend, you know."
Ollie didn't know what to say to that and was relieved when Reaves scooped her up and sat her on his hip and said, "Maybe we can all take a ride up there one day to visit her."
She nodded sagely and glanced back at Ollie. "Maybe you can bring her to visit me here, too."
"I think she'd like that." He hoped that she'd agree to come to Napa soon.
She'd been adamant that she didn't want to when he asked about their date.
But he hoped that she'd come around with time.
He didn't mind how long it took — but unlike other girls he'd dated, he was eager to bring her to the estate.
For her to get used to it, and to him. It was too soon to think about it, but he kept imagining how the house would feel if she were there with him.
It was crazy, and he knew it — they hadn't spent a single night together yet. He shouldn't be hoping that at some point she'd want to spend all of them with him.
He came back to the moment when Zia said, "Prince Daddy told me that you have two big dogs. Can I meet them?"
"Of course you can. They are big, though, and some people think they're scary-looking."
She curled her lip. "Some people are silly. Doggos aren't scary. They're friends and protectors. The only people they don't like are mean people."
He glanced at Reaves, wondering if there was a story there that he didn't know, but Reaves and Charles both shrugged.
"You're right about my two," he told her. "They are my friends and protectors. And they love Reaves — Prince Daddy — and Grandpa Grape."
"Of course they do." She said it as if there was no need for him to state the obvious. "And they'll love me, too, and I'll love them. Maybe one day soon we can come to your castle to see them."
"Sure. We'll figure out when we can make it happen." He'd look forward to Reaves bringing her and Alara to visit. It might help to persuade Callie that she should come, too. He smiled when it hit him just how much Rosa would love this little imp.
"For now, I'm going to head home and let you guys get on with your evening."
Charles nodded. "Give my regards to Callie when you talk to her."
"Will do."
"I'll talk to you tomorrow," said Reaves.
Zia came and tugged his sleeve, and he squatted down when he saw the serious expression on her face.
"Will you be my friend, Secret King?"
His heart squeezed tight in his chest. "I am your friend."
She smiled and gave a small nod. "I want you to be. But you belong to Prince Daddy and Lady Sunshine. I didn't know if I'm just because of them."
He got down on one knee, as if he were about to propose, and then patted the other. She climbed up onto it and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, watching his face closely when he spoke.
"Want to know the truth?"
She nodded solemnly.
"I didn't know if you only liked me because of them."
She leaned back, and his arm came up around her to steady her. She blinked and then took a deep breath, as though she'd carefully considered her reply and decided to tell him her findings.
"I think I did at first," she said eventually.
"I didn't know who you were. You're Prince Daddy's best friend and one of the Flying Ones, but you weren't you.
I couldn't tell who you were. But now I know that's just because you were keeping secrets.
" She fixed him with a look. "You're not anymore, are you? "
"I'm not. No more secrets."
"Good. You shouldn't have them. You're nice and kind and you don't need them."
He nodded. "I know. You're right."
She sat up taller and pulled his head down to her. He smiled as he rested his forehead against hers.
"Please will you be my friend?" he asked.
"I already am, silly!"
With that, she laughed and jumped down, running back to Charles's study as if the moment had never happened — leaving him to get to his feet feeling as though she'd seen him more clearly than most people ever did.