Chapter 15
15
I ris stretched a fitted sheet across the toddler bed in Callum's trailer.
She could hear Molly talking to the boys, who were watching a cartoon on the TV in the living room. Molly was unpacking Callum's kitchen.
Early this morning, Cord had shown up to start work on the pens Callum wanted built close to the cow barn, and Iris had been surprised and delighted to see Molly had ridden over with her fiancé.
The man had disappeared down to the barn, and Molly and Iris had taken the chance to catch up in the kitchen over a cup of coffee.
Molly was a good listener. Iris had recounted everything to her. Callum's accusations about her uncle. Iris's mistake with taking Maude's phone call. The fight.
She shouldn't have done it. Maude had been texting frequently, asking for updates about the boys. The frequency of her texts had made Iris uncomfortable, though she couldn't pinpoint why.
Maude had been kind and maybe a little sad, not manipulative like Callum accused. She'd begged for the chance to do a video call with her grandsons and pushed a little by forwarding Iris the photo of the restraining order.
Iris still should've asked permission. Not that she and Callum were on the best of speaking terms.
And then Maude had initiated the video call, and Iris had accepted it on the spur of the moment.
Something she now regretted. What if Callum was right? What if Maude had ulterior motives?
She should apologize, but she wasn't sure she was going to get a chance. Callum had been adamant about moving into the trailer today. He'd told her in clipped tones just before he'd gone out to meet Cord that the boys' new nanny would arrive by noon.
Knowing that last night had been her last night with them, she had been hit with an unexpected wave of grief.
She loved Levi and Brandt.
Sure, sometimes they were exhausting. They were constantly hungry. They had so much energy that she often felt worn out by suppertime. But there were also moments of magic. Impromptu hugs. Silly conversations that made her giggle. And, every once in a while, one of them, usually Brandt, would cock his head to one side and look up at Iris and say, "I love you."
She didn't want to lose them.
But she didn't have a choice.
Callum had every right to move into his own home. She'd wanted to do something for the boys, so she'd decided to come over here while Callum was distracted down at the barn and unpack some of the moving boxes. Hopefully, having their belongings unpacked would make the transition easier for the twins. Maybe Callum would decide to rearrange things when his leg was healed. But for right now, she could do this for Brandt and Levi.
Molly had come along for moral support. She was a neutral party here. Cord was Callum's friend from way back, and it seemed as if they'd rekindled their friendship. Molly had known Iris longer than anyone else in town. She was trying not to choose sides.
Levi ran into the room as Iris was spreading the superhero comforter across the second bed.
"Look, Iris. Look!"
The boy was so excited that she had to smile, though it was bittersweet. She sat on the edge of the bed and motioned him to come closer. "What is it?"
She expected him to show her a new toy, but when he opened his chubby little hands, it was a simple maroon-colored jewelry box with a hinged lid. A ring box, if she wasn't mistaken.
"Uh oh. Did this come out of your daddy's room?" She hadn't gone into Callum's room other than to shove a few boxes into the corner. He'd have to make his own bed, or maybe Molly would get to it before they left today. Iris couldn't bear to do it.
Levi ducked his head. "Yeah."
"We better go put it back, don't you think?"
"But it's for you," he said.
She shook her head. "We better stay out of daddy's room, okay?"
"But it's for you," he insisted.
He was so fixated on the idea that she decided to pop open the box just to get him to move on. She would put whatever it was back in a few minutes. But when she opened the box, a hot knot lodged in her throat, and her heart pulsed painfully.
An engagement ring. A thin gold band with a tiny diamond solitaire. It wasn't anything to write home about, but it was the kind of ring she'd once imagined Callum would give her. Because when he'd been eighteen, how would he afford anything else?
But this wasn't hers. It was probably Rachel's, stuck in Callum's things as a keepsake for the boys when they grow up.
Levi lost interest and ran out of the room, shouting for his brother. Iris started to close the lid but, as she did, something fluttered out and fell on the floor. It must've been lodged in the top of the jewelry box and shaken loose when she'd opened it.
She bent and picked it up, intending to put it back, until she saw her own name. She unfolded the small square of paper with trembling fingers. The ink was faded on what looked to be a quarter of a college ruled sheet of notebook paper. As her eyes scanned the words, she stopped breathing all together.
This was a proposal. A marriage proposal. To her. Drafted in Callum's messy scroll, with lines crossed out as if he was trying to figure out the best way to ask.
Noise from the other room startled her out of her shock, and she quickly re-folded the paper and placed it back in the jewelry box, snapping the lid closed.
No little boys rushed into the room, though, and she could hear Molly speaking softly to them in the living room. Sounded like they were about ready for a snack. Their room was almost all the way put together, so they could head back to Iris's farmhouse.
Why did Callum have an engagement ring?
He'd obviously intended to propose before he’d left. They'd talked about getting married after her high school graduation. Mostly, she’d talked about it. She'd always been the one to bring up the future, to talk about her dreams of dancing on stage in big venues and what it would be like when they started their family. And now to find this...
She'd known he loved her. She'd forgotten how much, or maybe forced herself to forget in her grief after he up and disappeared. But now she had actual physical proof.
Things were so messy between them, she didn't know whether she should bring this up or leave it be. What good could it do to bring up the past again?
"You about ready to head out?" Molly called out from the other room.
"I'm coming." But instead of heading into Callum's room to stash the ring in one of the boxes there, Iris slipped it into her hip pocket. Better if Molly and the boys didn’t see her go into Callum’s room.
Back in her own house, she and Molly were tag-teaming an early lunch for the twins when her cell phone rang. It was a local number, but not one she recognized.
Molly waved at her to answer it while she plated some sliced strawberries, so Iris stepped out on the porch to take it.
"Hey, there. This is Melody Carter from the dress shop."
The dress shop. That was right. Iris had spent one afternoon canvasing the businesses in town to see if anyone was operating a surveillance camera. Melody had been out of town, and Iris had left a message with the college-aged cashier. At the time, Iris had been full of righteous indignation that her father and the local PD didn't seem to be investigating Callum's crash at all.
"I'm sorry it's taken so long to return your call. I was on a buying trip in New York."
Wow. Iris had been in to the dress shop a few times, but she was more of a jeans-and-T-shirt kind of girl. New York fashion in tiny Sutter's Hollow?
"Thanks for calling me back," Iris murmured. With everything that had happened with Callum, should she even bother following up on this? Callum didn't want her in his life. He'd made that much clear.
"What can I do for you?" Melody asked.
No sense backing away now. She'd started her own investigation—sort of—and she couldn't just let it go. It would be an injustice to Callum if he was declared at fault in the accident.
"I came in to the store the other day to ask about your security camera." She'd seen a camera positioned behind the register in Melody's store. She'd found out from the tiny grocery store in town that their cameras were fakes, designed to deter would-be shoplifters. If Melody's camera was real, it pointed toward the stoplight out the store's front window, and there was a minuscule chance that it'd recorded the accident.
She explained why she needed a copy of the footage. "I know it's a long shot. You've probably already taped over the footage for that day."
Melody hesitated. "The footage from the store is all digital. It goes to a hosting website, and I can log in and look at it whenever I want. I'm really bad about deleting the old files. I probably have about a year of footage on there that I don't need." She laughed, a self-deprecating sound.
And hope streaked through Iris.
"Can I ask you something, though?"
Uh-oh.
"How come the police department isn't investigating this?"
Iris didn't want to cast blame on her father, not without proof that he was stalling the investigation. "It's possible they've just been busy and haven't had a chance to check with you about the video."
Melody seemed to think it over for a few long moments. "It'll take me a day or two to track down my password and download the footage you want. I'll put it on a flash drive for you, and you can pick it up at the store."
"Thank you!" Iris didn't know whether to be hopeful or sad as she hung up the phone.
There was a chance the tape wouldn't be of any help. And Callum had been very clear that he wanted her to stay out of it.
He had to know what her father was capable of. Callum needed help, even if he wouldn't admit it.
And even if there was no chance of them ever being together, she was going to do the right thing.
Four days after Callum had lost his temper and walked out, Iris had another pop-up dance class. This one was outdoors in the community park.
Apparently, she'd mentioned it to the boys once in passing and, even though they couldn't count to ten, they kept asking about it constantly.
Which is why he found himself leaning on his crutches underneath a poplar tree, far enough away that he couldn't hear what Iris was saying but could see if anyone—Maude—approached.
He wasn't going to feel safe around town until he knew she'd gone back to Oklahoma. Or Alaska. Or Timbuktu.
The little community park wasn't much. A dilapidated, outdated playground and some sprawling fields of grass and wildflowers. Iris had the kids gathered on a cement slab under one of the picnic pavilions.
She hadn't looked his way once. She was surrounded by six little kids, and teaching them to dance looked to be about as easy as herding cats.
She was clearly in her element. She lit up when she was giving them instructions and showing them how to position their legs or arms. She seemed to have infinite patience.
He couldn't stop the stupid ache. It was like a black hole inside of him, eating everything in its sights. Eating him alive.
Was he stupid to stay in Sutter's Hollow? Living next to Iris meant he'd see her often. Maybe every day.
She knew he'd been the cause of the accident that had taken Noah's sight. But she didn't believe that Joe had threatened him.
All his plans when he'd decided to move here were in the can. Joe was dead. He didn't care that Callum had bought his property.
Iris was here. Not abroad.
Wade hadn't given him a chance to settle in. The court date was still pending.
What was he doing here, other than spinning his wheels?
"I'm a little surprised to see you here."
He'd been focused on the boys and lost in his thoughts and hadn’t heard someone approaching until she was almost upon him.
"Surprised you let them come."
Jilly. She'd approached from behind the tree. Maybe that was why he hadn't noticed her.
"Surprised you're talking to me," he returned.
"I'm not." She turned so she was looking in the same direction he was. He studied her for a few seconds. She looked slightly more hale than when he'd first arrived at Iris’s house. Her skin had gained some color, and she seemed to be standing straighter.
He let his gaze travel back to Iris and her troupe. Her hair was in a bun behind her head, but the breeze blew wisps against her cheeks. She was smiling.
He couldn't help but remember another time, watching her dance. Even he couldn't ignore that innate grace. It didn't take an idiot to see her talent, even in the simple movements she was showing the kids.
"She should be in New York. Or Dallas. Not here."
"Yeah." Jilly actually agreed with him?
"She's stubborn," Jilly went on. "And once I got diagnosed, I knew she was sticking around."
"Doesn't mean she won't leave once you're better."
"She won't. Not now. She loves her work with the rescue horses." She gave him a side-eye. "And her dream of being on the big stage kind of soured when she found out her dancer boyfriend was cheating on her."
Her what? Boyfriend?
It was a stark reminder that he'd been absent from Iris's life for a decade. She'd had experiences he didn't know about. Including, apparently, a broken heart. He didn't even know the guy's name, and he wanted to pummel his jealousy into the dude's face.
Not that he had the right.
Jilly sighed. "The night before she brought you home, I told Iris she was going to get her heart broken again."
His heart pulsed in painful recognition. He swiveled toward her. "Why are you telling me this? I thought you weren't talking to me."
She turned to face him, arms akimbo. "Because I think you still have feelings for her."
Flames licked up his neck and into his face. How could she know that? She'd been avoiding him since he'd moved in. It had to be a guess.
Didn't mean she was wrong.
He didn't admit it. Just stared at her with a blush flaming in his cheeks like he was in seventh grade all over again. Would she be like Wade and tell him to stay away from her sister?
She threw up her hands with a dramatic groan. "You're an idiot if you can't tell she still cares about you."
They were words that he would've given anything to hear a few days before. With everything that had happened—his revelations about Joe, the fight they'd had over Maude—he didn't see how it changed anything.
He was distracted by the sight of a silver-haired woman standing across the way. She was holding an empty bread bag as if she'd just walked over after visiting the duck pond.
It was Maude, and she was watching his boys with undivided attention.
His gaze darted to Iris. Had she known Maude would show up here? Had she orchestrated the whole thing?
Fear lashed him like a whip.
"Callum!" He barely heard Jilly calling him as he made his way down the slight hill toward the pavilion. Every step was treacherous. The ground was uneven, and he couldn't trust the crutches.
His eyes flicked over the area. Dog walker. Mom and kid. Was Jackson here too? Had Maude come alone or had she hired someone else to grab the boys?
Heart beating so loudly that he couldn't hear anything else, Callum dimly heard Levi call out to him.
He tried to smile so Levi and Brandt wouldn't worry.
Judging by the concern on Iris's face, it didn't work. "What's wrong?"
He ignored her. "C'mon guys. We gotta go."
"We're still dancing!" Brandt protested.
"Cal. What's happening?" Iris hadn't seen the threat that was his mother-in-law. He shot another glance at the woman, who hadn't moved.
Iris must've followed his gaze, because she stiffened. "She's not coming over here."
He didn't know if she meant it as a defense of Maude or a reassurance for him. "We're done here."
He ushered the boys away even as Levi started crying.
"Just… Would you wait a second?"
But he couldn't wait. Not when it meant his boys might be in danger.
And Iris couldn't leave, not with four other kids whose parents weren't picking them up for twenty more minutes.
He was crutching his way toward the parking lot, where he was supposed to meet up with Cord, his ride.
He glanced once over his shoulder to make sure Maude wasn't following. She remained where she'd been frozen in place.
Even from here, he could see the tears on her cheeks.
He couldn't shake the image as he rushed the boys toward Cord's waiting crew-cab.
Maude had always used tears to manipulate, he reminded himself.
But she hadn't tried to approach him or the twins, which would've violated the restraining order. He wasn't sure she was a good enough actress to fake the distress he'd seen on her face.
Was she working some long plan to steal Levi and Brandt away again?
Or could Iris be right? Was Maude genuinely remorseful?
He wasn't sure he could risk everything he held dear to find out.