Chapter Twenty-Four #2
"No," she said, coming to pet them both with no fear whatsoever. "You already gave them the right names. They like them. They told me." She looked up at him. "And they're my friends too now. Forever friends." She looked at Callie. "Like you."
Callie smiled down at her. "Absolutely. Forever and a day."
~ ~ ~
As she followed Ollie back to his place, Callie kept laughing at the way the dogs watched her out the back window of his SUV. She loved them. They were so good, and they'd been so gentle with little Zia — gentle with her the same way they were with Charles. They really were intelligent.
When they arrived at the estate, she watched the gate swing open as Ollie approached and followed him through it. It didn't even seem that strange anymore to pull up at a big automatic gate like that. It seemed like everyone around here had one.
She made a face to herself. It was amazing how quickly you got used to things that seemed so strange initially. At the same time, she made a mental note not to ever start taking things for granted.
She parked next to Ollie out back by the pool, and just before she went to get out, her phone started ringing. She checked the screen and opened the door.
"I'll be right with you," she told Ollie. "This is Becca. I should take it."
"No problem. Take your time. I'll let the dogs out and we'll throw the ball."
"Hey, Becca. How are you?"
"Me? Never mind me," Becca exclaimed excitedly. "Have you seen it?"
"Seen what?"
"Oh my gosh, Callie, you have to see. It's gone viral."
"What has?" Callie asked with a laugh, wondering what her friend was so excited about.
"The post that Delaney did about your work."
Callie's throat went dry. "She posted? She didn't say anything. I haven't seen anything."
"Oh my gosh, you need to get on your— I need to get off the phone so that you can look at your Instagram. It's got thousands of likes already."
"Seriously? What exactly did she even post?"
"Oh..." Becca sounded wary. "She didn't tell you what she was going to do?"
"No. And don't tell me to look again. I can't until we're finished, so please tell me what's going on."
Becca let out a nervous laugh. "Well, before you get mad, you should know the photo's absolutely gorgeous."
"What photo?" Callie was half amused by her friend and half agitated, wanting to know what exactly Delaney had done.
"She posted a photo of one of your mugs, and it's all staged.
I don't know where it is, but you can see the vines and the sunlight's perfect, and it's on this table.
I don't want to describe it — you should look.
I'll mess it up. And I'm not even going to attempt to say what caption she used, because it was perfect, and I'll only ruin it.
But Callie, it's a beautiful photo, and it's kind of saying, 'Look at this new artist I discovered. '"
Callie frowned. "And that's it?"
"Uh, no." Becca sounded cautious again. "There's also a photo of you... and Ollie."
Callie scowled. "There are no photos of me and Ollie. What on earth are you talking about?" The only photos of the two of them were the ones they’d taken out by the pool. She and Ollie were the only ones who had them. She looked over at him.
"It's from Muse last weekend," said Becca. "Don't be mad. It's gorgeous. You should look."
Callie blew out a sigh. "Okay. I'm going to go take a look. Thanks for letting me know."
"Call me back," said Becca. "I can wait, but I need to know that you're okay. But check the comments too. All right, I'll shut up. I'll talk to you soon, okay? But Callie — this is a good thing. More than good. This is huge."
Callie ended the call and opened her Instagram. She was shocked to see that she had hundreds of notifications. Usually, she got one or two when someone tagged her after a purchase. This was...
She scrolled through and then found it, and her mouth fell open. Not because of the image of the mug in the beautiful wine country setting — which she immediately recognized as Charles's place, where they'd just been. It was the photo of her and Ollie.
It was perfect.
Her hand came up to cover her heart. They looked like a real couple.
Ollie came to her looking worried, and the dogs crowded around. "Is everything okay?" he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She shook her head, still trying to find words. She'd read the caption, and she didn't know what to say. She didn't know how he'd feel.
She held her phone out to him. "Delaney posted. And it's blown up."
He grinned as he reached for her phone. "That's awesome, Callie. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"
She shrugged. "It seems to have brought a lot of interest in my work, but... she used you, Ollie."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"She talks about me as this new artist. But she used you. She used your name. That's not right."
Ollie was looking down at her phone now, and a big grin spread across his face. "Have you seen this photo of us?"
She couldn't help but smile back. "Isn't it gorgeous?"
He chuckled and rested his forehead against hers. "Of course it is. Because we are."
She laughed and slapped his arm. He looked more serious as he added, "We make a great couple, don't we?"
She glanced down at the phone. "I'm so glad I bought that dress now."
It was his turn to laugh. "It's not the dress, Callie. It's you. You're beautiful."
"Aw, thank you. So are you."
He rolled his eyes at her. "Thanks. But hang on — what are you worried about? Why did you think I wouldn't like this?"
"Because she used your name." She let out a breath. "I thought you had a problem with that. You know — being your father's son and everything. Wanting to be who you are in your own right."
He reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Not when it comes to something like this, Callie.
I don't mind. In fact, I'm glad." He paused.
"It hasn't been easy being my father's son.
Having his name has caused me pain all my life.
If being related to Miles Stratton is finally going to be useful for something, I'm glad it can help you. "
Callie made a face. "I'm not sure that I am." She looked down at the photo again. "It seems wrong."
"I don't see why," said Ollie. "I really don't. If the Stratton name brought eyeballs, that's all it did.
It's your work that kept them." He pointed at the thousands of likes on the image of the mug.
"They wouldn't be there if people were only interested in who Oliver Stratton's dating.
I bet you've got lots of messages wanting to buy your work as well, haven't you? "
She inhaled sharply. "I don't know. I haven't looked yet."
He chuckled as he handed back her phone. "I think you should."
She couldn't believe it as she scrolled through all the messages — asking about pricing, asking about delivery time, asking about quantities. There was even a specialty store in San Francisco that wanted to stock her work.
Her heart was pounding as she looked back up at Ollie. "Is this real?"
He grinned. "Yep. It's real, Callie. And you've earned it."
She shook her head slowly. "I've done no such thing. This is all Delaney."
"No. Delaney knows how to present things right. But no matter what she does, demand wouldn't be there if people didn't love your work."
Callie let out a breath. "This is all a lot to take in. How the heck am I supposed to meet all these orders? There's no way, Ollie."
He grinned. "You don't need to meet them all. You get to be selective now."
She jumped when her phone buzzed in her hand. "This is Delaney," she told him.
"I'll let you talk to her."
"No, it's just a text," she said as she opened it.
Delaney: Have you seen the post yet? I should have warned you, but I thought it might take a little while to get traction.
As you can see, I was wrong about that. Hope you're not mad about the photo of you and Ollie.
When I watched you guys walk out onto the dance floor at Muse, I couldn't resist. I knew it would come in handy. Say you're not mad.
Callie held her phone out to Ollie, and he read it with a smile. "I'm not mad. Are you?"
She shook her head slowly. "No. How could I be?"
She tapped out a reply.
Callie: I'm not mad. I am kind of blown away. What happens now? What do I need to do?
Delaney's response came quickly.
Delaney: Not a damn thing, girl. And don't worry about any of it. They'll wait. But all you need to remember for now is one basic law of business — when demand exceeds supply, you're golden. Talk Monday. Have a great weekend.
She held it up for Ollie to read, and he nodded happily. "There's no denying she's good at what she does."
"There's not," said Callie. "But seriously, Ollie — how am I going to make that many?"
He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her. "You're not going to make that many. That's what she means. Now you have this massive audience who all want your work, but you can only make so many pieces. That's where your prices go up. A lot."
She raised her eyebrows. "But what's a lot? Like ten times?"
He chuckled. "If I know Delaney, it'll be more like a hundred times. At least."
"Damn, Ollie."
He laughed and started steering her toward the house. "It's only because you're so damn good, Callie. You'd better get used to it. You're going to be a famous name around here."
Her step faltered at that. "But I don't want to be."
There was no mistaking that he looked relieved when she said it. And she had to ask. "You don't want that either, do you?"
"I want whatever you want for yourself, Callie. It's not about me."
"Yeah, but—" She stepped closer. "You've spent your life hiding from your father's name. The last thing you need is your girlfriend's name putting you back in that spotlight."
He chuckled. "I’ll stand in any spotlight you like if I’m standing next to you."
She pursed her lips. "I believe you mean that. But even if it comes to it, I'll use Callie Clay, so no one knows it's me."
He laughed and inclined his chin toward her phone. "I think everyone knows it's you already. And the thing is — they know it's me, too." He cupped her face in his hands. "And I couldn't be prouder."
She smiled up at him. "We look like us in that photo."
"We do." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Because that's who we are."