| |
Ultimately, Jamie was the more sensible of the two of them. He went home, he said, to clear his head and not have to deal with the awkwardness of a walk of shame or a changed pickup location the following morning. Callum worried over it like a loose tooth while he tidied the flat. With Jamie here all weekend details like making the bed or ensuring dirty clothes went in the hamper had fallen by the wayside. Callum hoped he had given Jamie the answers he had demanded. But had he been too forward and effusive in doing so?
He was distracted from his fretting by his mobile ringing. It wasn’t, to his brief disappointment, Jamie. It was Leigh, his and Nerea’s eldest daughter.
“Hello, sweetheart,” Callum answered. “Is everything all right?”
“You know,” Leigh sounded amused but also slightly annoyed. “Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean that everything is a crisis or about to be one.”
“So that’s a yes,” Callum surmised. He gladly abandoned trying to make the bed by himself — he’d be going to sleep alone soon enough anyway — and sank down onto the couch.
“Yes,” Leigh said decisively. “And you and Mum both need to stop assuming the worst is going to happen.”
“It sounds like there’s a story there,” Callum said cautiously.
“You think?”
“What’s going on?”
“Mum rang me up, out of the blue, and announced she’s going to come stay with me and Sam. For some unspecified length of time.”
“That’s bad?”
“Dad.” Leigh sounded exasperated. “Sam works. I work. Mum’s already been calling me every day to check in on how we’re doing, which is annoying enough. I don’t think I can deal with having her in my house for that long. Sam definitely can’t. I love her, but that would not end well.”
“Her your mother or her your wife?”
“Yes.”
“Wait,” Callum said, sitting up a bit straighter as something else occurred to him. “Why is she staying at your house?”
“This is why I’m calling! What did you do to piss her off?”
“Nothing! That I know of.” Callum was somewhat hurt. He had just talked to Nerea, and she’d mentioned nothing about coming to London. Why on earth would she come to town and stay anywhere but their own flat? He thought about calling her immediately, but supposed it was best to get the full story from Leigh first. Nerea was her own woman and had never hesitated to be clear with him in her own time.
“Can you come over to our place tomorrow? Just so we can strategize the best way to deal with this?”
“You want me to referee between our wives.” Callum couldn’t lie, even to himself. The prospect was daunting. But he did like to be involved in things.
“Between Mum and my butch wife who terrifies you, yes.”
“She doesn’t terrify me,” Callum protested. Then he laughed. “God, you really are my daughter.”
“Mhmm.” Callum could hear the smirk in her voice. “And you love me, which is why you’re going to do this for me.”
“You’re lucky you’re my favorite.”
“You say that to all of us.”
“And it’s all true. All right. When’s a good time?”
“You tell me. When are you supposed to be done shooting tomorrow?”
Callum thought about Jamie and what had been his plans. He sighed. Juggling relationships and commitments was hard, and an evening with his daughter wasn’t going to do wonders for his open invitation to Jamie. But Leigh had an absolutely reasonable claim on his time. Polyamory meant more than just managing multiple romantic relationships. Maybe Callum would hand Jamie his keys and see what beauty he came home to; he’d deserve the reward.
* * *
WHEN CALLUM ARRIVED at Sam and Leigh’s snug row house in Chiswick, Sam was nowhere to be seen.
“Don’t get too excited,” Leigh said when she saw Callum glancing around. “She’s just in her office finishing something up.”
“Ah.”
Leigh was tall like Callum and took after Callum’s mother more than she did her own, with a nose and jawline she hadn’t inherited from Nerea. She did have Nerea’s coloring though: tawny skin and dark hair, cut to shoulder-length and streaked with highlights.
“I don’t even get why Mum’s doing this,” Leigh said as she waved Callum into the kitchen. Callum trailed after her obediently. “Her being here will be useful in six months when I can’t see my feet and later, when there’s an infant, but now? No. Are you two fighting?”
“No, your mother’s just smothering. But — ” Callum had a sudden flash of realization. He couldn’t believe it hadn’t occurred to him before.
“But?” Leigh asked dubiously.
“But she might be coming to stay with you so she doesn’t have to stay with me. I’m seeing someone.”
“Oh, for Heaven’s sake.” Leigh rolled her eyes and marched over to the sink to fill the kettle. “Isn’t there enough drama already?”
Callum shrugged and didn’t bother to look sheepish. That sort of thing never worked on Leigh anyway.
“I know Mum’s already talked to Tonio. Is this person coming to Devon’s wedding too?”
“That’s still pending.” Callum hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.
“Oh good,” Leigh said, clearly meaning that there was nothing good about it at all.
Sam came downstairs just as the kettle started to boil. No matter what Leigh said, Callum was not terrified of his daughter-in-law. But Sam was five years older than Leigh, a difference that hardly mattered now that Leigh was thirty, but that had seemed unreasonable and daunting when Leigh had first brought her home. Also Sam was nearly as tall as Callum and, Callum was certain, completely able to take him in any and all fights.
Sam greeted him politely and kissed Leigh on the cheek.
Callum reminded himself that he was a grown man with a successful career and was her father-in-law. Still, he took a deep breath to steel himself.
“Leigh tells me you’re having issues with Nerea,” he said when they settled into the back garden with their tea to enjoy a fleeting bit of London sunshine.
Leigh and Sam exchanged looks. “You could say that,” Sam said.
Callum was grateful that Leigh didn’t mention the fact that his new fling was possibly the reason Nerea was coming to stay with them. So now, instead of defending himself, Callum could have a lovely chat about how excited Nerea was for the new baby, how being in Spain while two of her three children lived in London was always hard, and that he would, absolutely, have a word with her about expressing her affection from a proximity pleasing to all parties. Callum did not mention how sexist and appalling man-to-man chats about mother-in-law problems were, even when he was the only man involved in the conversation. Callum didn’t think that battle was worth having, and, truth be told, he enjoyed being useful a little too much.
He was, however, beginning to worry. He had too many people to keep happy. He clearly needed to be wooing his own wife more than he was for her to skip over even discussing being in the same city as him. Jamie, meanwhile, was hopefully waiting for him in his flat. With this many things going on at once, it was only a matter of time before he bollocksed one of them up.
* * *
WHEN HE PUSHED OPEN the door of his flat that evening, Callum immediately tripped over Jamie’s shoes in the entry. He toed off his own, nudging both them and Jamie’s out of the doorway. A lump in the bed stirred and mumbled when Callum dropped his bag on the floor.
He was going to ask Jamie how his evening had been, perhaps even inquire as to how the rest of his day at work had gone, since they’d hardly had a chance to speak to each other. But when he approached the bed, Jamie cracked open one bleary eye and lifted the blankets — not very high, but in distinct invitation. Callum almost tripped a second time as he hurried to get his clothes off and get to Jamie.
After they had sex Jamie fell asleep again quickly. Callum tried not to be disappointed; as delicious as the boy was, he would have enjoyed some conversation with him. But he knew his heart was heavy not because Jamie was tired, but because he and Nerea needed sorting. After a quarter of an hour of cuddling Callum climbed out of bed, pulled the blankets up over Jamie’s shoulders, yanked on a pair of trousers, and slipped up the stairs and out onto the balcony.
He took a moment to savor the evening air, to feel secure in his place in the world and his worthiness in the hearts of those who professed to love him. And then he dialed Nerea’s number knowing this might be one of those conversations where they both had apologies to make.
She answered the phone in Spanish and sounded distracted.
“Did I interrupt you?” Callum asked.
“No. No, I was thinking about putting dinner together. What do you need?”
“Need?” he asked, sitting down on one of the chairs they kept at the café table up here. “Can’t I just say hello?”
“You can....” Nerea hesitated.
“But usually I want something,” he admitted.
“You usually do.”
“Leigh tells me you’re coming to visit,” he said carefully. He was hoping Nerea would volunteer whatever was going on. The more he thought about the situation, the more her decision to plan a trip to London without telling him felt like a snub. But he desperately did not want to be unreasonable about it.
“I was thinking about it, yes.”
“And that you’re going to stay with her and Sam.”
“Yes?”
“Why aren’t you coming to stay with me? In our flat?” Callum didn’t think he’d done anything too egregious lately, but he had his suspicions that Nerea felt as hurt and confused as he did. Hopefully the whole matter was merely a miscommunication.
“I thought you’d want the space.”
“Why?” Callum never wanted space. Especially from Nerea.
“Your new boy? The one who’s so decent he insists on getting my blessing before he graces your bed?”
Callum wasn’t sure if Nerea was trying to start a fight or not. Even after all these years he wasn’t always good at telling when she was being direct and when she was being angry. “Jamie?”
“Do you have more than one boy at present?”
“No,” he was annoyed at having to be defensive about it. So what if there were two boys?
“Good.”
Callum scrubbed a hand over his face. “Nerea. What’s going on?”
“I’m giving you space and time to spend with your new relationship. We’ve been married twenty-nine years, Callum, we don’t need to spend every moment together.” Her voice was condescending in a manner he had certainly deserved at the beginning of their relationship but probably didn’t this many years in.
“No, we don’t. But you always stay with me when you’re in London.” Callum frowned up at the sky, disappointed there were no stars easily seen from this part of London. “Is this about Antonio?”
“Why would this be about Antonio?” she snapped.
“Because not only was I bad at being present in our relationship at the time, I didn’t give you the space you wanted or deserved with him once I finally got it together?”
“Are you accusing me of being spiteful by respecting your new relationship energy?”
“I sound crazy when you put it like that.”
“That’s because it’s crazy. I feel like we are arguing, and I don’t even know what we’re arguing about!” Nerea’s frustration was evident, and it did nothing to make Callum feel calmer.
“I don’t know either!” If she was going to be snappish, he could meet her tone without trouble.
For a long moment they were both silent. Callum didn’t like that they were rowing, but he appreciated their ability to be quiet together, keeping the line open even when things were wrong.
“So I’m gathering you don’t want space,” Nerea said eventually. There was a tinge of reluctance to her voice, embarrassment maybe at giving up the fight, but Callum was happy to match her in detente.
“No. Not at all,” he said, not caring how pathetic he sounded.
“Are you done with Jamie already?” she asked cautiously.
“He’s asleep in our bed right now. I’m up on the balcony,” Callum admitted. It was good policy to be honest. “But I miss you, Nerea. We never get to spend enough time together. If you’re going to come to London, stay with me.”
“And Jamie?”
“Is someone with his own apartment.” Callum may have been smitten, but he had to acknowledge Jamie was also someone with his own life to balance with whatever they were doing.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.” She was too good at getting Callum to say things he didn’t feel ready to say yet. She always had been. “I like him enough I should probably figure out how to date him,” he said softly.
“Really?” she asked.
“Really. And on top of the already long list of things I would like, I would like you to meet him. And not while you’re hiding out at our daughter’s house.”
“This is serious then.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Also, you’re driving Leigh mad.”
Nerea, to his relief, laughed. “I suppose I should have expected that. It seemed like the perfect solution.”
“Occasionally I come through with better ideas.”
“Very occasionally.”
“I do miss you,” Callum said. “And love you. Rather desperately.” Callum stood and leaned on the railing on the balcony though he hardly saw the traffic and bustle of London below; His thoughts were all with Nerea.
“And I you. I’m sorry I misread the situation.”
“And I’m sorry we’re both revisiting the fact than I was an arse about Antonio. Truly. But next time ask before you want to give me that much space, because I’ll always say no.”
“Callum.”
“It’s true.”
“Point taken. How does my showing up in two weeks sound?”
“It sounds perfect.”
“Done. Now, tell me about Jamie,” Nerea said.
“I thought you were going to make food?”
“I can work and listen to you at the same time. And I like hearing about what makes you happy.”
Callum could hear the smile in her voice. “Nerea, you’ll laugh, but I swear, you’re going to absolutely adore him.”