14. Caleb
Chapter fourteen
“Could you please explain to our airheaded brother that equal partners means he doesn’t get to boss me around and call all the shots?” Beth says to me from across the dining table.
“I’m not trying to call all the shots. I’m merely explaining that what you see in your head isn’t always possible.”
It’s not unusual for Sunday night dinners at my grandparents’ to be filled with sibling banter, particularly between the youngest two.
I watch as Mase scoops more peas than necessary onto his plate, wayward vegetables rolling around the table as he continues to pile them on.
Gage swiftly snatches the spoon from him with a scowl, dishes himself a reasonable serving, then moves the bowl out of Mason’s reach.
“Well, I’m the designer, you’re the builder,” Beth fires back. “It’s your job to figure out how to make what I see a reality.” Her eyebrows pinch as she smothers her whole plate in gravy.
He throws his hands up, eyes searching the heavens for patience to deal with our sister. “Exactly! I’m a builder, not a magician.”
Beth pauses her pouring, slowly directing a murderous gaze at Mason. When footsteps enter the room, she clears her face of fire and adopts a look of rehearsed innocence.
“Daddy.” Her voice is dripping in syrup as my father takes a seat beside me. As the youngest and only daughter in this family, she’s used to getting her way with that pout. “Mason said I can’t have a wagon wheel chandelier in Gage’s new bar.”
Gage’s head pops up from his plate. “A what in my bar?”
Mason scoffs. “She wants it to look like it’s floating mid air like fucking magic.”
His hands fist on either side of his plate as he scrunches his face back at our sister. “It has electrics and weight, Beth. It needs to be attached to something that supports those things.”
An immense stare-off between them starts.
Mason, with a look of overzealous confidence, straightens his back to appear more authoritative over our sister, but she simply arches a brow in challenge, followed by the barest hint of pursed lips.
Mason slumps back in his chair and returns to his endless plate of peas.
I guarantee we’ll be seeing wagon wheel chandeliers in Smoke and Barrel.
I half-heartedly load my plate. My head has been a kaleidoscope of confusion ever since I dropped Lex back home last night.
Maybe it’s because I was expecting the reaction I normally get from women.
The fawning. The renewed interest. It makes it easier to move on when they show their true colours.
I’m not interested in fake or phony. Gold diggers, or attention seekers.
Before Lex, I wasn’t interested in anything more than a single night.
Lex, however, couldn’t get away quick enough.
Even worse, she started dismissing what had happened between us.
Like it was something I could find anywhere.
Just snap my fingers, and along comes the next woman to knock me off my feet.
I can guarantee that women do not knock me off my feet.
Only sirens do. And I’ve only ever met one of those.
“Well, like you said. You’re a builder, so figure it out,” says Beth .
“I don’t remember anything about fucking wagon wheel chandeliers.” Gage stares down the table at Beth. His Heart green eyes full of fire, his jaw rolling as he chews his food like a maniac.
Beth is none the wiser as she cuts her roast chicken, satisfaction coating her face.
“I added them to the design this week. Don’t you think they’ll look fabulous?”
She still hasn’t noticed the less-than-amused expression he wears.
“No.”
My father, sitting beside me, silent until now, quickly covers the bubble of laughter in his fist. Beth pauses and finally looks up at Gage.
“No?” She sputters. “What do you mean, no?”
“No, I don’t think they’ll look fabulous,” Gage says. No emotion and no apology.
Mason sits back in his chair, where he’s stuck between Beth and Gage. He looks up at me with a bob of his eyebrows.
Beth waves a hand in Gage’s direction. “You just can’t visualise it. Trust me,” she says and digs back into her dinner.
“Beth, I don’t want wagon wheels. I want the design that we pitched to the High Rollers. That was the look.”
“Those were just concepts, that wasn’t final.”
Gage’s face turns hard with resolve. “Yes, it was,” he says slowly.
I see Mason rolling his lips in, hiding his delight. “You know, I think I’m going to side with Gage on this one,” he says.
“Shut up, you mama’s boy,” Beth says.
“Hey!” Mase says in outrage.
“Beth, darling, don’t be mean to your brother,” Grams says as she enters the room, passing behind their chairs. She runs an affectionate hand over Mason’s head before taking a seat at the head of the table next to Gage.
“Grandmama’s boy,” I hear Beth whisper .
“Caleb,” Dad says, loud enough to direct the conversation from my siblings’ squabble. “How’s work been for you?”
“No work talk,” my mother says, walking into the room with Grandpa following behind her.
Her deep caramel hair is loose around her shoulders.
Her face is free of makeup, and she wears no jewellery apart from the diamonds glittering on her wedding rings.
She’s a simple woman. Kind, loyal, effortlessly elegant. Family is her greatest treasure.
I adore my mother. I’ve always admired the way my parents seem to work like partners. Supportive of each other’s endeavours. I remember as a child, I would always catch my parents talking late at night, or early in the morning, when most of the house should be asleep.
I often went to bed late and got up early because my mind was always overthinking, needing to be doing things.
I would get up for a drink, and my parents would be sitting on the couch or on the deck outside, just talking.
Listening intently to the other and sharing everything.
It’s how I always imagined a partner to be.
A person you shared everything with. The person you confide in.
To help bear the weight of your worries and doubts.
To seek your solace within. The person whose hand you held, and whose eyes you’d look for when you wanted to share the moment.
I always imagined one day, when I had achieved a certain level of success, I would know it was time to slow down and look for the person to share those quiet moments with.
There’s still so much to do, so much to achieve, and I haven’t made time for it.
So, I looked for women who also weren’t looking for that.
Some would try to turn me into the person they wanted.
Namely, their sugar daddy. One fooled me into thinking she was different, Tiana faked a pregnancy to tie herself to me.
Well, the pregnancy wasn’t fake, just the fact that it was mine.
It was actually one of the managers at Heart Assets.
Turns out, they were both scheming to secure themselves further into the company and steal our billions for themselves .
As I look at my mother, the wife of a billionaire, I notice how perfectly uncomplicated she is.
She must feel my stare as she sits beside me, leaving me sandwiched between my parents.
She looks at me with her light brown eyes ringed with a deep chocolate, golden flecks like flames around her pupils.
She smiles. Soft and content. She reaches up to hold my hand that rests against the white linen tablecloth and gives a reassuring squeeze before she pulls away to pick up her wine glass.
“So,” Mum says after a sip of her rosé. “What about the girl from a few weeks ago?”
And just like that, my father becomes my favourite.
“Oh, yes,” says Grams. “I, too, have been wondering about this girl Caleb likes.”
I groan. “I don’t like a girl.” Lies. “She was just some random at a club.” You disgust me . “I’ll probably never even see her again.” So let me fucking cry in peace about it.
“Well, you’ve seen her twice at the bar now, surely she’ll be there again,” Gage says. He brought his Great Dane, Tiny, with him tonight, who’s looking up at his owner with affection as he’s hand-fed some chicken.
“You’ve seen this girl?” Grams asks, stroking the top of Tiny’s head. Between Gage, Grams and Mum, he’s the most spoiled and wimpiest dog you’ve ever met. He may look mean and intimidating, like his owner, but he’s a total softie.
“The redhead from last night?” Beth asks.
Fuck. I forgot I ran into Beth there. Right after the hottest fucking moment of my life in the middle of the dancefloor. I’m relieved she didn’t spot us any earlier. I had to throw out those pants.
“Ohhh, a redhead. Not enough of those around.” Grandpa pumps his eyebrows at me, then winks across the table at Grams.
“I hear redheads are fiery.” Mason leans on his elbows, waiting for me to confirm what he’s really asking, and I’m absolutely not indulging him with an answer on that .
“She’s not red like copper, she’s red like cherries,” says Beth.
I wish everyone would stop bringing her up. I’m already going out of my mind with my own unanswered questions about Lex.
“And she seemed sweet,” Gage says, then snorts. “Way out of Cale’s league.”
“I beg your pardon?” I say.
“Any woman would be lucky to have Caleb.” Mum finds my hand again and squeezes.
“And many women have been,” Gage says, causing Mason and Beth to lose themselves in laughter.
Mason’s dual-coloured eyes light up as they look at me, as if I’ll join him in laughing at my womanising reputation. He’s just as fucking bad.
Beth’s wiping tears from her eyes as her laughter slows to little hiccupping sighs.
“We’re all guilty of using the Heart name to our advantage.” I raise my eyebrows, daring my siblings to challenge that fact.
“I certainly hope not,” says Mum.
“Oh, come on, Matilda,” Grandpa says. “They’re young, single, good-looking, and they’re worth billions. Of course, they indulge a little.”
“Well, you can’t buy love and happiness,” says Mum.
“And that’s all that matters in the end.” Grams raises her bottle of apple cider in a toast. “To love and happiness.”
We all raise our drinks and join Grams’s toast before returning to our meals. Idle chit chat fills the table, but once again, I’m stuck in my head.
Everything feels wrong. This feeling unsettles my gut.
I couldn’t get Lex out of my head because I thought I needed more, wanted to figure her out.
I thought it was a feeling of unfulfillment, that there was too much left unknown from our first night together.
But that’s not it at all. It’s deeper. It’s haunting me .
She found a way to penetrate the carefully constructed world I’d placed myself in and disrupted the balance. She took my tidy soul and untethered the pieces, tying them back together with hers. And now I can’t handle the distance. I’m used to going after what I want.
And what I want is Lex.