Chapter 31 #2
They stood there for a moment, just holding each other, the crowd behind them cheering now. Calista breathed in the familiar scent of Reid’s cologne mixed with salt air, feeling more at peace than she had in . . . well, she didn’t think she’d ever felt this much at peace.
“So, what do we do now?” she asked.
Reid pretended to consider, rubbing his chin and shaking his head. “Well, I suppose I could go unpack. Unless you’ve changed your mind and want to get rid of me after all?”
Calista swatted the air around him. “Not a chance, Thornton. You’re stuck with me now.”
“Good”—his smile softened—“because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than here with you.”
He moved to pick up his abandoned duffel bag and then held out his palm.
Grinning, Calista clasped his hand, let it drop to her side. Holding hands. They were holding hands like when they were teens.
“Need a ride?” Cantu called out, pulling up on a six-person golf cart.
“Well, that was convenient.” Calista giggled.
“Not really.” Cantu grinned. “Eloisa sent me to keep an eye on you. She was worried. Hop in.”
They climbed into the back, and as Cantu carted them to Reid’s cottage, hope overflowed Calista’s heart. It felt as if the sun had chased away all the shadows and she was bathed in light. Her head spun and her toes tingled.
Please don’t let this feeling be from a head injury.
Worrying again. Worst-case scenario. She didn’t have to do that anymore. It would take time for her to honor her anxiety for what it was, the long-term effects of toxic abuse, but she was trying.
She still had a lot to work through, trust to rebuild, a new family dynamic to navigate, but she was ready to face it all for the first time ever.
After Cantu left them at the cottage, Reid turned to her, speaking the same words that were tromping through her head. “You know this doesn’t magically fix everything, right? We’ve still got a lot to sort through. Both of us.”
“Agreed.”
“Promise me, we talk things through, no matter what.”
She put a hand to her heart. “No more running away, no more pushing you away when things get tough. I’m all in if you are.”
“You know,” Reid said, “your mom would be proud of you. For facing your fears, for giving Gavin a chance, for having the courage to walk away from golf and Benjamin.”
Thinking about Demetra, she got teary-eyed. “You think so?”
“I know so. She wanted you to be happy, Cal. Even if she wasn’t able to reach out to you. She loved you. She did her best even if it wasn’t good enough.”
“Athena and I . . . we get to break the cycle.”
He leaned over, gently tugged her head to him, and kissed her crown. A caring caress. Tenderness. “Yes, you do.”
Calista palmed her mouth, touched. “I wish she could be here. There’s so much I want to ask her, so much I want to tell her.”
Reid took her hand, squeezed it gently. “I know, but she’s still with you in a way. In your smile, in your stubbornness, in the hugeness of your heart. And now you have a chance to get to know Gavin, to understand that part of yourself as well.”
Hope waltzed, daring her to grab hold and hang on tight. “It’s gonna be weird getting to know him as my dad. I mean, I’ve known him my whole life, but not like this.”
Reid’s kind smile promised support and encouragement. “It will take time, but you’ve got all the time in the world now. No more secrets, no more hiding. You can build the relationship you both want, on your own terms.”
Calista tightened their entangled fingers as if hanging on to the last shred of her emotional stability. Which, if she was being honest with herself, she probably was.
“You know, I’ve always felt like a dolphin at a cat show,” she said.
Reid’s eyebrows quirked in that adorable way of his, encouraging her to go on.
“You know, sleek and smart and supposedly amazing, but completely out of place and constantly making weird noises.”
His lips twitched, trying to contain his grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you make weird noises, well, unless you count last night . . .”
She laughed and nudged him with her elbow. “That’s because I’ve been holding them in. For years. It’s incredibly stressful.”
His laughter joined hers. “Calista Gonzales, professional weird noise suppressor. I like it.”
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help grinning at him. “Be serious.”
“I am serious. About you, not the noises.” His voice lowered and the air felt thick with Things Unsaid. “What’s really going on in that beautiful mind of yours?”
Calista took a deep breath, steeling herself. Vulnerability, her old nemesis, knocking at the door. “I’ve spent so long trying to be the person everyone wanted me to be, I’m not sure I know who I am, and I’m terrified that if I figure it out, no one will like me.”
Reid’s hand came up to cup her face, and she resisted the urge to nuzzle into it like a touch-starved kitten. “I like that person. I more than like her, actually. Even if she makes weird dolphin noises.”
“I don’t deserve you.”
“Probably not,” he agreed cheerfully. “But you’re stuck with me anyway.”
She swatted at his chest, but there was no heat behind it. “Egomaniac.”
“Your egomaniac,” he said, pulling her closer.
“What did I get myself into?”
“You love me, and you know,” Reid said. “So, about that golf tournament this weekend.”
Calista groaned. “And here I thought we were having a moment.”
“We were. Now we’re having a different moment. Will you play the course?”
She paused, considering. “I suppose I have to, in honor of my mother, and to bond with Athena.”
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Cal.”
“I think I want to.”
“Good!”
“Will you vlog it?”
“Of course. I want to capture your win on camera. The Comeback Kid.” His grin took up his entire face, his eyes sparkling with mischief and something deeper, something that made her heart do a little flip in her chest.
“It’s just this once. To play with my real dad.”
“There won’t be a dry eye among my two million subscribers.”
“I’m glad you’re here for it.”
“Correction, I’m here for you. C’mon, let me prove it.” Smirking, he tugged her toward the porch.
And she giggled all the way to the bedroom.