Chapter Nineteen #2
Callie scowled at her. "I know that he's one of these guys. And now that I think about it, why didn't you warn me? A lot's happened while you've been away. You could have clued me in that he wasn't just a pilot like I thought he was."
"Oh." Becca's eyes grew wide. "Oh my gosh, Callie, I'm so sorry. I didn't think. I knew you were wary of people here, but you didn't need to be. I kept trying to tell you that."
"Yeah, but I didn't think he was one of them. You should have told me. Could have told me."
Becca wrinkled her nose, obviously trying to remember something.
Then her eyes widened. "I did try to tell you.
You said something about him not being one of them, and I tried to tell you that no, he's really not one of the wine family royalty — but he is one of them in the way that matters to you. He's very, very, like, super wealthy."
"I know that now," said Callie with a wry smile, "but it would have been nice to know sooner. Nice if my best friend had filled me in."
"Oh no, I'm so sorry. It's just that when I tried to tell you, something else came up, and then..." Becca sighed. "I should have tried harder."
Callie took pity on her. "Oh, come on, I'm not really mad at you. It didn't even occur to me till now that you could have warned me. I haven't been stewing about it or anything. And it was hardly top of your priority list of things to talk about on your wedding weekend, was it?"
Becca grinned. "Wasn't the wedding wonderful?"
Callie had to laugh. She knew that although Becca's concern about not having told her who Ollie was had been genuine, it would also be completely forgotten while she got to talk about the wedding.
"It was fantastic," she agreed. "Everything a girl could ever want."
"Even a girl like you?" Becca asked.
"Oh, hell no. Don't look at me like that."
"I seem to remember you were the one who caught my bouquet."
"I did, but not on purpose. And remember, I moved out here to escape the whole having-to-get-married-and-have-kids thing. My life's finally my own. Why would I sign it away to someone else now?"
Becca's face fell. "No, it's not like that.
Getting married isn't signing your life away.
It's joining it with someone else's. Someone you love.
" She sat back against the cushions on the sofa.
"But sorry, that's just me — all lovey-dovey and newlywed.
Are you and Ollie just having a fling? I shouldn't be imposing my silly romantic ideals on you, should I? "
"That's not what you're doing," said Callie, "and I know it. And..."
She inhaled deeply before blowing it out slowly.
"If you want to know the truth, I'm hoping that whatever's going on between Ollie and me might turn into something... real. I mean, hell no, I'm not talking about marriage or anything like that, but—"
Becca leaned forward eagerly. "But like, something serious? Like you might move in with him?"
She frowned at that but then relaxed when she remembered his words. What he'd said when she told him that she wouldn't give up her cottage.
"Maybe he could move in with me."
Becca laughed but then caught herself when she realized Callie was serious.
"You mean it?" she asked.
"Yeah, why not? He's been to the cottage. He likes it. I mean, I doubt he'd give up his whole big fancy estate and move up there with me, but we could split our time."
She smiled, liking the idea — until she remembered that it was way, way too soon to be talking about anything of the kind.
~ ~ ~
When they landed the jet back at the DuPont estate, Ollie left Reaves in the cockpit while he went out to open the door and let the steps down for Willow. She was already up from her seat and greeted him with a smile.
"Are you going to see Callie this evening?"
He rolled his eyes at her. "I hope so, but I don't know yet. I'm going to call her and see how things are going."
"You should talk her into staying."
He raised his eyebrows, and she laughed. "Okay, so maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but I only mean until Saturday night. Everyone's going to Muse. You're coming, aren't you?"
"I don't know yet. It'll depend how things go with Callie this evening. If she needs to drive home, I could maybe talk her into letting me go pick her up on Saturday."
"That's crazy," said Willow. "Just get her to stay with you."
He let out a short laugh. "It's not that easy."
"Why not?"
"She hasn't even seen my place yet."
"So? What difference does that make?"
He blew out a sigh. "I wasn't exactly upfront with her about who I was in the beginning."
"Shit. Why not, Ollie?"
"Because I'm a damn fool. Mostly. But partly because she had this whole not-fitting-in-with-the-Napa-wealthy-crowd attitude."
"Right. And you wanted her to fit in with you."
"Yeah."
She punched his shoulder. "But you've figured it out now, right?"
"Yeah. I thought I'd screwed it up completely, but we're past all of that now."
"Well, isn't that all the more reason to get her used to who you really are — and how you really live?"
"It is, but I don't want to rush it. Don't want to push her. I need to take my time and go at her pace."
She gave him a wry smile. "This is different from your usual problem, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Just that when you've started dating someone in the past, we've all been worried that she might be after you for who you are and what you have."
"Ah, yeah. Right. Yep, it's definitely the other way around with Callie."
Willow grinned. "You'll get there. I like her. You two seem like a good match to me."
"Thanks."
Reaves came out of the cockpit. "Oh, hey, Willow. You're still here. I thought you were in a hurry to get back to Slade."
Willow checked her watch. "I am, but we're good for time.
I made sure I kept my meeting short and to the point, since I have a date with Slade tonight.
" She turned to Ollie. "And I was hoping that if we got back earlier, you'd be able to spend more time with Callie.
" She looked at Reaves. "And what about you? Are you headed over to your dad's?"
Reaves smiled. "Yeah, Dad's decided he wants the sunflower glazes moving to a different position, and Zia has to be there to supervise — and decorate everything with glitter," he added with a chuckle.
Willow laughed. "I'd better get going, then, so that you two can get on your way. Are you going to bring Alara out on Saturday night?" she asked Reaves.
He made a face. "I'll ask her, but I don't know if she'll feel up to it." He gave Willow a stern look. "And if I do, don't go playing matchmaker. And tell the others the same thing, would you?"
"Why? Have you decided that you're not interested in her in that way?"
Ollie had to smile when Reaves said, "No, I'm far too interested. But she has too much else on her plate right now. I'm being there for her as a friend. If anything else happens, it'll be down the line."
Willow rolled her eyes. "I don't know what the hell's going on with you two. Neither of you ever used to take your time with women." She smiled. "But then I guess it hits us all in the end, doesn't it?"
"What, growing up?" Reaves asked.
"No. Getting serious about someone."
With that, she made her way down the steps and turned back to wave at them. "If I don't see you before, get your asses to Muse on Saturday night and bring your women — even if it's only as friends."
After she'd gone, the hangar fell quiet. Late afternoon sunlight slanted through the open doors, catching the dust motes in the air.
Reaves checked his watch. "Are you gonna call Callie?"
"I am."
"I'll take care of things here. Go."
Ollie only hesitated for a moment before pulling his phone out of his pocket. "I won't leave yet, but if you don't mind closing up, I'll give her a call."
"I don't mind. Go if you want to."
"No, I'll wait."
He made his way to the office in the hangar and stared at his phone for a moment. There were no messages from her, and he didn't want to interrupt if she was still hanging out with Becca. It was only four o'clock. They were back earlier than he'd expected.
He decided to send a text instead.
Ollie: Are you having fun with Becca? We're back in Napa now. But no pressure if you're busy.
He watched the screen, and the three little dots started to jump.
Callie: Yeah, I'm still here. But Jacob just called to say that he'll be back in an hour. So I'm going to head out then.
Ollie frowned. She was leaving?
Callie: I thought if you were back in time, we could have dinner at Molly's or something before I head home.
Ollie: At Molly's or at Ollie's?
He knew he was pushing it and held his breath as he waited for her reply. It took a little longer.
Callie: Molly's this time. I think I need to prepare myself to see your place, and I have to drive home afterward, remember?
Ollie: You don't have to. You could stay.
His heart pounded as he waited for her reply. When it didn't come, he sent another.
Ollie: Everyone's going out to Muse on Saturday night. If you wanted, you could stick around till then... And if it helps, I have lots of spare rooms.
Callie: How about we meet at Molly's at 5:30 and see how we go from there?
Ollie: I'll be there waiting.
Callie: See you then.
He looked up when Reaves came into the office.
"Did you get ahold of her?"
"Yeah, we're going to meet at Molly's at five thirty."
"Is she going to stick around?"
Ollie shook his head slowly. "I don't know yet. She's not even sure about coming to the house, so asking her to stay there might be a bit much." He pursed his lips. "I could fly her back to Fort Bragg so that she doesn't have to drive all that way."
"Yeah, but if you do that, she'll be stuck. Her truck's here."
"Shit, yeah. I didn't think about that." He smiled. "We've got nothing on tomorrow, have we?"
"No," said Reaves. "Why?"
"Maybe I'll ask if I can ride back with her until Saturday."
Reaves chuckled. "Good luck with that."
"You think she'll say no?"
Reaves shook his head. "I don't know. I guess you'll have to find out, won't you?"