Chapter 26
CALVIN
It’s a little past ten in the morning when Ollie buzzes my office.
“Mr. Aarons? There’s a… Lois Henderson here to see you? She doesn’t have an appointment, but she says it’s important.”
I look up from the financial reports I’ve been staring at without actually reading. “Lois? Georgia’s neighbor?”
“She says she knows Dr. Halford, yes.”
My heart does something complicated in my chest. “Send her in.”
I stand as the door opens, and Lois walks in looking exactly as I remember—a little bent but spry, with sharp eyes that seem to see right through people’s defenses. She’s wearing a sensible coat and carrying a large purse, and she looks around my office with frank curiosity.
“Well,” she says, “this is quite the setup you have here. Very impressive.”
“Lois. This is… unexpected.” I gesture to the chair across from my desk. “Please, sit. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water?”
“I’m fine, thank you.” She settles into the chair, studying me with an expression I can’t read. “You look terrible, by the way. When’s the last time you slept properly?”
The bluntness startles a laugh out of me. “It’s good to see you too. You’re looking well. Fully recovered?”
“Oh, yes. That virus knocked me flat, but I’m back to my old self now.
” She sets her purse on her lap. “I’m in the city with some girlfriends.
Girls’ trip, though at our age we probably shouldn’t call ourselves girls anymore.
We’re seeing the sights. Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, a Broadway show tomorrow. ”
“That sounds lovely.”
“It is. But tourism isn’t the only reason I’m here.”
I sink back into my chair, suddenly wary. “No?”
“No. I’m here to talk to you about Georgia.”
The name makes me freeze. I’ve been so carefully not thinking about her, not saying her name, not letting myself remember. And now here’s Lois, saying it like it’s simple, like it doesn’t tear something open in my chest.
“How is she?” The question escapes before I can stop it.
“Miserable,” Lois says bluntly. “Just like you, from the looks of it.”
“I’m fine,” I argue, my whole body stiffening.
“Don’t.” She holds up a hand. “Don’t lie to me, Calvin. I may be old, but I’m not blind. You’re just as unhappy as she is, and you’re both too stubborn to do anything about it.”
I don’t know what to say to that.
“Georgia told me what happened,” Lois continues. “About the argument. About you telling her she was replaceable. About her walking away.”
Shame burns through me. “I shouldn’t have said that. I was angry and just wanted the best for the project. I thought that meant going to the press immediately.”
“You were an idiot,” Lois finishes. “But you already know that, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“So, why haven’t you done anything about it?”
I lean forward, elbows on my desk, suddenly exhausted. “Because there’s nothing to do. I destroyed what we had. She made it clear she doesn’t want to work with me, and I don’t blame her. Why would she give me another chance after how I treated her?”
“Because she loves you, you fool.”
The words stop my breath. “She doesn’t—”
“She does. She won’t admit it, I bet she won’t even let herself think it most days, but I see it.
I see it in how she gets quiet and stares out the window like she’s in some gothic romance novel.
I see it in how she checks the news every day, looking for announcements about the discovery.
I see it in how she cries when she thinks no one’s listening. ”
Each word is a knife. Georgia has been crying because of me. Because I was too damaged to fight for what we had.
“That doesn’t mean she wants to hear from me,” I say quietly. “Wanting something and it being gone, that’s grief. It doesn’t mean she wants it back. Sometimes things are too broken to fix, Lois, and this is one of those things.”
“Are you really going to give up that easily?” Lois’s voice sharpens. “I watched you with her, Calvin. I saw how you looked at each other, even before I got sick and the two of you weren’t doing anything other than bickering. There was something real there. Something worth fighting for.”
I sigh and look down at my hands, which are clenched into fists on my desk. “I lost that fight the moment I let her walk away.”
“Then start a new fight. A better one. One where you’re honest about what you feel and what you want.” She leans forward. “Calvin, Georgia has convinced herself that she can’t trust her judgment. That she picks the wrong men, that she’s better off alone. And you’re proving her right by giving up.”
“I’m not giving up. I’m accepting reality. I hurt her. I told her she was replaceable when she’s the most irreplaceable person I’ve ever met. I chose my pride over her. Why would she forgive that?”
“Because people who love each other forgive things. That’s what love is: choosing each other even when it’s hard, even when you’ve hurt each other, even when you’re both scared and flawed and making mistakes.
” Lois’s voice softens. “But you have to give her the chance to forgive you. You have to reach out. You have to be brave enough to be vulnerable.”
I want to believe her. God, I want to believe that there’s still a chance. That Georgia might be willing to listen, to forgive, to try again. But the hope feels dangerous. Like setting myself up for another devastating loss.
“Even if you’re right,” I say slowly, “even if she would be willing to talk to me, what would I say? How do I apologize for something that fundamental? I showed her exactly who I am when things get difficult. A controlling businessman who can’t handle vulnerability.
Why would she trust me to be different?”
“Because you are different. You learned. You kept the tomb covered, didn’t you? Didn’t announce it to the press like you wanted to?”
“How do you know about that?”
“Georgia told me. She checks every day, looking for news about the discovery. And there’s nothing. Which means you listened to her. You respected what she said, even after she left.”
“That doesn’t fix what I broke.”
“No. But it’s a start.” Lois reaches into her purse and pulls out a piece of paper, setting it on my desk. “This is her address. You already know it, of course, but here it is anyway. A reminder that she’s just a plane ride away. That it’s not too late to try.”
I stare at the paper without touching it. “Lois…”
“She hasn’t moved on, Calvin. She’s raising Ella and working and going through the motions, but she hasn’t moved on. And neither have you.” She pauses. “Also, she has some important news. News that I know you’ll want to hear.”
My head snaps up. “What news?”
“That’s not my place to say, but it’s something that affects you.
Something you need to know about.” She stands, shouldering her purse.
“So, you have a choice. You can sit here in your fancy office, being miserable and alone, convinced that you’ve burned every bridge.
Or you can get on a plane to Maine and have an honest conversation with the woman you love. ”
“She might slam the door in my face.”
“She might. But at least you’ll have tried.
At least you’ll know for certain, instead of spending the rest of your life wondering ‘what if.’” Lois heads for the door, then pauses.
“For what it’s worth, I think you’re good for each other.
I think you make each other better. I saw it at that camp—how she challenged you, how you grew, how you both softened around the edges.
That’s rare, Calvin. That’s worth fighting for. ”
“I don’t know if I can,” I admit. “I don’t know if I’m capable of being what she needs.”
“Then maybe start by being honest about that. Tell her you’re scared. Tell her you’re broken. Tell her you don’t know if you can do this but you want to try.” She opens the door. “That’s all any of us can do, you see? Show up honestly and hope it’s enough.”
After she leaves, I sit at my desk for a long time, staring at the piece of paper with Georgia’s address.
Important news. News that affects me.
What could that mean? Something about the project? Something about Ella? Is she okay? The thought sends a spike of panic through me. What if something happened to her?
No. Lois wouldn’t be this calm if something was wrong with Ella.
I pull up my calendar. Tomorrow is full of meetings. The day after, a board presentation. The rest of the week is similarly packed.
I could clear it. Could tell Ollie to reschedule everything. Could be on a plane first thing tomorrow morning.
But then what? Show up at Georgia’s door and say… what?
I’m sorry?
I love you?
I’m broken but I want to try to be better?
All of it sounds inadequate. Insufficient for the magnitude of what I destroyed.
And there’s still the very real possibility that she’ll tell me to leave.
That she’s moved on. That whatever we had is too shattered to rebuild.
That the “important news” is something terrible—that she’s seeing someone else; that she never wants to hear from me again; that Ella has forgotten me entirely.
The thought of facing that rejection, of having my worst fears confirmed, of knowing definitively that I’ve lost them forever… it might destroy me completely. But not knowing is its own kind of destruction. Slow. Corrosive. A lifetime of wondering.
I pick up my phone and call the agency that handles travel logistics for me. One call to them and they’ll have my jet ready ASAP, pilots and a stewardess good to go.
It only takes one call. One decision. One act of courage.
Or cowardice, depending on the outcome.
I think about Georgia’s face when we first kissed.
The way she looked at me in the lamplight, soft and open and trusting.
I think about Ella calling my name. “Cav-cav! Cav-cav!” Tiny hands reaching for me with absolute faith that I would catch her.
I think about the life I could have had with them.
The family. The love. The belonging. And I think about the life I’m living now. Empty. Successful. Hollow.
Lois is right. I have to try.
Even if it ends in disaster. Even if Georgia tells me to leave and never come back. Even if the “important news” is something that breaks my heart all over again.
At least I’ll know.
I make the call. One flight to Portland. Tomorrow morning.
Then I sit back in my chair, my heart racing, wondering what the hell I’ve just committed to. And what “important news” could possibly be waiting for me in a cottage by the sea in Maine.