10. Caleb
10
Caleb
“Sorry, the calls took so long.” I lean in to kiss her, but instead of her lips, mine land on her cheek. I brush off the little prickles of unease along the back of my neck, knowing that she’s probably a little on edge in case her parents are still at the resort. Hopefully the news I have will put her mind at ease.
After Leila serves me my plate of food and leaves, I reach across the table, grasping Megan’s fingers in mine. “I have some hopefully good news for you. Your parents checked out yesterday. Although I was informed that they left a message for you in case you ever arrived.”
She nods as she pulls her hand from mine, using it to pick up a sandwich quarter which she quickly bites. Again, those tingles make themselves known, but I ignore them because I’m feeling my own unease with our return.
Our return signals the event I’ve been ignoring… the end of her vacation.
These past five days together have only cemented what I already knew. I’ve fallen in love and don’t want her to be away from me. And for once in my life, I’m scared that I’m going to mess it all up. I want to tell her how I feel, how I purchased a diamond ring for her when we stopped in Antigua because I saw how her eyes lit up when she saw it. But conventional wisdom says it’s too soon. Not for love—even if I wasn’t a true believer before regarding love at first sight—but for our relationship since the ink hasn’t even begun to set on her breakup with her ex.
I continue to eat, lost in thought. How do I let her go? Will she be willing to date me back in the real world? What if everything that comes with me—the press, the enemies, the suck ups—are too much for her? Ugh. For someone known for their decisiveness in business and the ability to buck convention, going flat out to get whatever I want, this hesitancy is unnerving, making all the other concerns feel so much worse.
“Would you like some dessert?” Leila asks as she clears the table.
“Maybe later. I think I’m going to take a nap on one of the outdoor daybeds.” The stiffness in Megan’s tone makes me glance up, wanting to catch her eye to reassure her, but she keeps her eyes downcast.
Wanting her not to feel alone, I echo her sentiments and follow her out to the deck. She doesn’t say anything when I climb onto the lounger with her as she turns her back to me. A move that I don’t mind since I love sleeping with her in my arms, her back to my chest. I wrap my arms around her stiff body, but as her breathing slows in the warm air, she relaxes, easing the tension coiled within me.
When I wake, Megan is gone, but the remnants of her dessert sit on an empty plate next to a covered one.
“Ahh, good. You are awake. Miss Masters has gone to pack as the captain says we’ll be docking in less than an hour.” Leila lifts the lid off my flourless, chocolate cake with berries. She adds some fresh whipped cream and a drizzle of hot chocolate sauce before removing Megan’s dishes.
Once I finish my dessert, I carry my tray inside where Leila takes it from me as she informs me of an incoming call from my brother, Alexander, about some construction projects—he’s overseeing the conversion of some condo buildings into higher end residential hotels that offer both long- and short-term accommodations.
As the yacht bumps against the dock fender, I tell Alexander that I’ll continue the conversation from my office where I have access to all my blueprints before hanging up. Up on deck, I find Megan, looking forlorn as she stares toward the resort. I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her back to my chest as I nuzzle her neck. The stress from Alexander’s call melts away and my brain comes up with an immediate solution to our problems.
“Thank you, darling. For everything. This has been an amazing time away.” I press my lips to her neck again, delaying releasing her. But she pulls away when one of the deckhands opens the door and secures the gangplank so we can leave.
“Yes. It was definitely an experience.”
My brow wrinkles as I watch her step towards the deckhand’s outstretched hand. There’s something in her tone, an iciness, that I haven’t heard before. As I follow her to the dock, part of my brain comes up with a multitude of possible reasons for her demeanour while the other half continues to examine my new building solutions for risks and benefits.
At the end of the dock, I reach for her arm, pulling her to a stop. “I need to run to my office for a little bit to handle some business for a new venture we’re opening.”
She nods. “I’m going to walk along the beach for a bit.”
I lean in to kiss her and again my aim is off, landing my lips on her cheek.
And then she walks away… leaving me to stare at her retreating figure. I know something’s wrong, but I’m not worried. She’s most likely feeling the same fear about what happens next as I am which is completely understandable. Only the ring, burning a hole in my pocket, and the need to talk for longer than a few minutes, keeps me from chasing after her. But as I rush to my office, I promise myself that we’ll talk over supper because there’s no way I’m letting her shut me out or leave.
My call to Alexander is quick. The new solutions will require some research, but he agrees that they should fix the problem with minimal disruption to the schedule and should allow us to increase our capacity without compromising the high-end level of amenities and design that we’re known for.
But no sooner do I hang up with him when I receive another call. This time its Micah on the phone and his news makes me smile.
“Anything she can’t eat? You know Fiona is going to be over the moon to hear the news. Have you told mom, yet?”
“What do you think?” Micah laughs, but I hear the fear in his voice. “If mom knew, she wouldn’t allow me to take my wife anywhere except to her house where she’ll smother Amy to death. We’ll call her later this week and give her the news. That way your staff can prepare for her arrival.”
“Gee, thanks for the warning.”
“Anytime.” He laughs again, making me happy. His first marriage had been a horrible mess, causing him to become a womanizer even worse than me. So hearing him so happy and excited to be welcoming a new addition even though his other child, Mason, was a year younger than Colton, is almost everything I could ask for. “As for Amy, nothing’s bothering her yet. Just let the chef know that she’s pregnant as a precaution.”
“I will. And I’ll have everything ready for your arrival in an hour.”
“See you then. And Caleb, I can’t wait to meet your new woman.”
The sound of a dial tone rings loudly in my ear. Lucas. I’m going to kill him. Yet even as the thought crosses my mind, I can’t help but be excited to introduce Megan to my other half, my identical twin.
Hoping she’s still at the beach, I race there, making a single stop along the way to order supper for four to be delivered at the villa and to inform the chef of Amy’s pregnancy. When I get close, I see Megan marching across the sand in the area where she loves to sit and relax. It’s the same spot where we kissed for the first time. As I watch, her shoulders shake, and her hands ball up into fists.
“Megan, darling,” I call out as I hurry towards her, worrying about what’s wrong. All those earlier warning signs that I pushed away and ignored come roaring back to life when she turns to face me, tears streaking down her face.
I stop in front of her, wanting to touch her but I hold back. The look on her face shows her utter devastation along with anger. It’s worse than when she told me about her ex and her sister. “What’s wrong? Did you hear bad news from home?”
Her eyes narrow. “No, nothing from home, but it’s definitely bad news.”
Needing to touch her, I hold onto her wrist, slowly tracing circles on her pulse point with my thumb. “Let me tell you my good news, then you can tell me all about your bad. This way, maybe the bad won’t feel so horrible.”
She glares at me, making me second guess myself, but I’m just too excited to have her meet my brother and his wife to hold it in any longer.
“My twin brother, Micah, and his new wife, Amy, are arriving in”—I glance at my watch—“less than twenty minutes from now. I’m so excited for you to meet them.”
Her mouth drops open as her eyes widen. “Tw-twin brother?” I nod, hadn’t I told her that Micah’s my twin? “Identical?”
“Yes. Although when we were younger, we made sure that we didn’t look alike, wanting to forge separate identities, but as we’ve aged, our styles have merged a little.”
Before my eyes, her skin whitens as she sways on her feet.
“So, you’re not married?”
“Married? No—”
“I’m so stupid.” She drops onto the lounger, hanging her head as I crouch in front of her. “I-I thought it was you. That you were cheating with me. That was my bad news. I was working up the courage to confront you.”
“Darling.” I push her hair back around her ear before trailing my finger over her cheek to her chin where slight pressure raises her face until I can see her green eyes, dull with sorrow and devastation. “I would never do that to you. What made you think that?”
“I-I saw a picture on the boat. One of the crew had dropped it. It was you—well I guess Micah—kissing a bride—”
“And I never told you that I was an identical twin,” I finish. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. That’s on me. I should have told you.”
“No. I should have just asked you when I saw it, but we were on the yacht and with my ex…” I nod, understanding completely. I never really loved my first wife, yet her betrayal, her affairs, had a profound affect on how I conducted myself afterwards. What little trust I already had with women had been completely wiped out. Some would say that Megan is the first woman nearly twenty years to have it and they’d probably be right. Even in my professional relationships, I found it harder to trust female colleagues than male ones.
“Maybe if I’d told you that I love you, you wouldn’t have been afraid.”
The green in her eyes is swallowed by black as her pupils blow wide open with my declaration.
“You-you love me?”
I cup her cheek with one hand as I reach into my pocket with my other, wrapping my first around the ring box. “I do. I know it’s fast, but my Pop always told us that when we’d know we found our true love when we felt like we’d been kicked in the chest by a mule and, darling, the moment you walked into my sight, I felt that kick.” I release my hold on her cheek, dropping my hand to pick up her left one. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She leans in, kissing me, giving me a chance to slide the ring on her finger. When she pulls back, I lift her hand to my lips.
“Will you marry me?” I press my lips below the ring before straightening her hand so she can see it.
“Oh, Caleb.” She smiles widely even as her eyes glisten with unshed tears. “People are going to think I’m crazy, but I don’t care. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
At her response, the last shards of ice, clinging to heart within me that begun to freeze the moment my first wife’s cheating came to light and completely froze when she was killed, thawed and it took off racing. Genuine happiness, like I’d never felt before, fills me.
I stand, pulling her up with me. “Come, darling. Let’s go share the news with my family. They’re going to be so excited.”
And then without waiting for her response, I swing her up into my arms, carrying her bridal style toward the villa. A position that I’ll never get tired of being in.