26. Caleb
Chapter twenty-six
“Are you free this Friday to look at that house with me?” Mason asks as he leans against the bench opposite me in Grams’s kitchen, pissing Beth off as he continues to get in her way.
“Why do you want my opinion?” I ask and take a sip of my ice-cold beer.
The heat is picking up, I’ve even traded my usual button-up shirt for a thin cotton T-shirt.
“I can’t bring Mum. She’ll tell me it’s too much work.”
“You’re such a mama’s boy,” Beth says from behind him, where she’s mashing potatoes for dinner. “Make yourself useful and pass me the salt.”
“And I can’t take Beth, she just takes over,” he whispers to me before taking two steps toward the pantry.
“No, it’s right there where you were standing!” Beth scolds.
Mason makes an elaborate turn on his heel, dancing back over to where he was originally standing, and picks up the salt shaker to put it next to Beth.
He rejoins me and leans against the benchtop. “So, you’ll come?”
“Sure.” I shrug.
I see Beth pick up the salt shaker, and with one flick of her hand, the lid flies off. Beth slowly turns her head like an owl, swivelling on her neck with wide-open eyes. She totally just fucked Grams’s potatoes. As if I needed more disappointment with this week. First Lex. Now my dinner.
“Good—” I start to say before Beth cuts me off.
“Hey, Mase, can you pour it in? My hands are full.” She works harder to mash and stir in the big pot.
Mason turns away from me, stepping over to our sister, picking up the shaker with a smile. “Say when.”
The second he starts to pour, the lid flies off again, emptying half the canister into the pot. Mason’s face drops in horror, while Beth looks at him with a shake of her head.
“Grams!” she shouts. “Mason ruined your potatoes.” The little shit.
I raise an eyebrow at my diabolical sister. She shrugs without apology as Grams walks into the room.
“What happened, sweetheart?” Grams goes straight to my baby brother with a hand on his cheek. He holds up the shaker.
“The lid came off.”
With a gentle pat, she says, “That’s okay, my darling. There’s still plenty of food. Come.” She hooks an arm through his and leads him outside.
“You’re so evil,” I tell my sister once Grams and Mase leave the room.
“We both know he’s the only one who wouldn’t get in trouble for that,” she says as she crosses to the fridge to grab a cider.
I pick up my beer, and we make our way to the patio where the rest of the family is.
Dad, Grandpa, and Gage hover over the barbecue, plating the various meats while Mum arranges cutlery around the table.
The sun lingers in the sky, casting a soothing orange glow around us. The string lights over the dining table are lit up, and it feels like a completely different world in the centre of my grandmother’s garden.
“What’s everyone got on this week?” Grams asks once we’re all seated and starting to fill our plates. She has a glass of rosé in one hand while the other rests on the shoulder of a still-sulking Mason.
“My friend, Lee, has a new girlfriend. She’s opening a salon on Main Street on Friday, so I’m going to the launch party,” says Mason.
“Oh, what kind of salon?” Beth asks, loading her plate with Grams’s nectarine salad.
“I dunno. Beauty? It’s called Parlour Tricks.”
My heart stutters, causing a sharp burn. That’s Claire’s salon. “What time is the party?” I ask.
“Six-thirty. I was hoping to check out that house beforehand.”
“What house, Mason?” Mum asks.
“Sounds great. We’ll check out the house, and then we can go to the party together.”
Anywhere Claire is, Lex will surely be. And I’m not finished with her. Not after earlier this week. Not since that first night.
“Cool. Thanks, man.” Mason smiles.
“My pleasure.” I smile back.
My fucking pleasure indeed.
***
The Parlour Tricks opening party started twenty minutes ago, but Mason had endless questions for the seller of the house we looked at. He inspected it for over an hour, and the second we got in my car to leave, he said, “It’s not the one.”
I don’t know what my brother is searching for, but I’m sure he could’ve figured it out in a more timely manner, so I wasn’t late to see Lex.
When we walk into the salon, it looks completely different from when I saw it a few weeks ago.
When I drove Claire and Lex after the place flooded, it was still the bare bones of wall frames and electrical wires.
Now, the space has been transformed into a refined palette of pinks, warm gold and white.
Wallpaper with large, blooming peonies decorates one wall while the rest are painted in a pale blush.
Grand chandeliers hang in the front foyer and all throughout the space.
“Hey, why don’t you ask your friend Lee to help you find a house?” I ask Mason. “He did a great job with this.”
“He does more commercial stuff, but you’re right. This place looks pretty cool. Even if it is pink as fuck.”
I search the room for a gorgeous redhead, feeling flutters in my stomach just knowing the moment is coming. It happens anytime I’m in her presence. The excitement. The contentment. The undeniable attraction I feel for her.
I see a blond head above the crowd, and elbow Mason. “Hey, isn’t that Lee?”
It was only the other week I saw the guy waiting on Lex’s front porch. Thank fuck he was waiting for Claire. It was dark, but as he reminded me, I had met him a few times before. I recognise him easily now.
Mason smacks the back of his hand against my stomach. “Yeah, that’s him. Let’s go say hi.”
As we make our way through the crowd, my heartbeat thunders when I notice Lex hiding between Lee and Claire.
Her beautiful red hair is curled and swept over one shoulder.
A pastel pink dress is painted to the curves of her breasts and waist, with dainty straps high on her tanned shoulders.
It flares out and over her hips with a flirty hemline that touches just above her knees.
I nearly swallow my tongue when I see the gold high heels on her feet.
Cute little toes painted in white, and the ankle straps wrap a good twenty centimetres up her calf. Have mercy.
Lee brings his arm from where it rested over Claire’s shoulder and the Lex sandwich they were creating, extending a hand in greeting to both Mason and me .
“Mase. Caleb.” He nods and looks at Lex’s best friend. “This is my girlfriend, Claire, and the owner of Parlour Tricks. And I think you both know Lex.”
“Hello, Siren.” The nickname slips out.
Claire moves behind Lex and snuggles into Lee’s side, then whispers something in Lex’s ear. Lex throws her shoulders back and lifts her chin. “Hello, Mason. Caleb.”
I smile when she says my name. Every way she says it is like a mark upon my skin.
“Is it just me, or is it tense as fuck in here?” Mason says.
“Yep,” Lee says. “Why don’t we get you something to drink, Mase?”
Claire, Lee, and Mason take off, leaving Lex and me still staring at each other.
“How have you been?”
She looks around the room, avoiding my eyes. “Good. You?”
“Better now.”
She peers up at me, and I see the way she wants to fight our chemistry, shift the focus to where it should be.
She’s so determined, so dutiful in her aspirations.
Not at all pretentious in her pursuit. I so desperately want to learn all the pieces that led her here, to the woman she is standing before me. So tender and ambitious.
“How old are you?” I find myself asking.
“I turned twenty-three in June.”
Holy shit. I didn’t think she was that young. Of course, she looks young, but it’s hard to know from looks alone. With how she conducts herself, I would have thought she was a few years older. Not that it changes anything. I just want to learn every crumb of knowledge about her I can get.
“So, you were quite young when the tavern was passed down to you, then?”
“I was fourteen when my dad passed.” She clasps her hands in front of her, interlacing and unfolding her fingers every few seconds.
“Dylan was twenty and already working at the tavern, so he took over. Since I was so young, I had to move to the city to live with my grandmother, so I haven’t really had much time working there, except for a few holidays since I turned eighteen.
Then I decided to stay in the city to get my business and marketing degree. ”
Pride swells in my chest. Her motivations.
Her intelligence. She’s level-headed, kind-hearted and stunningly beautiful all wrapped into one.
How did I manage to make this woman give me the time of day?
I feel painfully out of her league, but I know in my heart, I could be so good for her.
I would be so good to her. She deserves nothing less.
“I’m sure your father would be very proud of everything you’ve done. You and your brother.”
She smiles and nods but says nothing more.
“I wanted to talk to you about last week.”
“What about it?” The words are curious and open.
“I just wanted to clarify what I meant when I said I’d done something wrong before. When I mixed business and pleasure.”
I see her take a deep breath as if she’s preparing herself, then she turns her body so we’re standing side by side, both looking out into the crowd. Maybe it’s easier for her if we’re not looking into each other’s eyes for this. “Okay.”
“When I started working at my grandfather’s company, I met a woman who was also working there, and we started dating casually.
” I shake my head, not wanting to go back to the past. “Long story short, she was just using me to get my money, and my grandparents had to do damage control when it hit the tabloids. It was bad for a while, and I felt so guilty, so stupid. Ever since, I’ve been very careful with who I get too close to. Especially if it mixes with work.”
The clinking of wine glasses interrupts us. Turning, I see Claire and Lee standing in front of a gathered crowd. He kisses her cheek, then steps aside with a proud smile.
I look around for Mason, spotting him closer to the front. He’s standing with a young guy, half a head of light brown curls above him.
Claire starts her speech, making a special note to thank her best friend. Lex sniffles beside me, and I reach my hand out, brushing my pinky against hers.
She doesn’t pull away, she keeps her soft skin touching mine. I take a deep breath and dare to wrap my finger around hers while Claire continues to shower affection upon her.
When her pinky finger stays wrapped around mine for the entire speech, I can’t stop the grin on my face.
“I didn’t know you were the investor before that night,” Lex whispers.
I look down my shoulder at her. She twists her hand around, interlacing our fingers, and lets the truth of her words seep in. She turns her attention to me, letting me see the doubt as it slips away, leaving room for hope.