Chapter Forty-Six

 

 

 

Sydney pulled away from Brett. “No,” she murmured.

He was plainly confused. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head and continued to stare down the now-empty hallway.

“Syddie?” Cara asked, coming up beside her.

“What is it?” Theo asked, concerned.

“Caleb,” she managed to croak out. “I… I thought I saw…”

“Oh, shit!” Cara cried out, frantic. “I’ll be right back.” She bolted along the hall and out of sight.

“Who’s Caleb?” Brett asked.

“Hey, Brett, man, we’re all cool now, right?” Theo said, saving his sister from having to answer that question. “I mean, we’re not cool, but we’re better. We really need some alone time with our father and stuff, and shouldn’t you be with your mom right now? If your dad is home when your mom and Mel get to the house…”

“You’re right. I’ve got to get there in case they need backup.” He turned back to Syd. “Hey, are you okay if I maybe call you tomorrow to check on your dad?” he asked hesitantly.

“Of course.”

He frowned. “When your father is doing better, I’d love to sit and talk, the four of us, and explain everything.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Theo said, his voice full of forced cheer. “You better get going!”

Alone at last, he turned to his sister. “Okay, what’s this about Caleb?”

“I thought he was standing right there, no more than ten feet away, and then he was gone. I… I’m sure it was him.” She shook her head in dismay. “Just when things begin to turn around for us, I start to go crazy seeing things,” she tittered.

“Hey now, come on, sis. This hasn’t exactly been a normal day in the life of. A lot of shit happened and you still need to absorb everything that’s gone on. Hell, I do, too. Try to relax.” He settled her into one of the chairs that dotted the floor’s waiting area. “Papa will be out of the hospital soon, and we can go back to leading normal lives again—without fear or limitations. Especially you.”

“You’re right,” she agreed. “My mind… So much going on… It had to have been my mind playing tricks on me.”

 

* * * *

 

Unbelievable.

He crumpled Cara’s letter into a ball and stuffed it into his pocket as he stalked toward his car in the hospital parking lot. When would he ever learn that anything involving Sydney Bennett meant heartbreak for him? He never should have allowed himself to get sucked back into her little games. He dreaded telling Lilly the bad news—she’d had such high hopes for this reunion.

So did I.

The first thing he was going to do when he got back home was burn that goddamn painting.

“Wait!” he heard from behind him. “Caleb, wait!”

He glanced over his shoulder to find a pretty blonde chasing him down.

“Oh, awesome, another fan found me,” he muttered, increasing his pace to a steady jog.

“For God’s sake, man,” she yelled. “I’m wearing heels that I can barely walk in, let alone run in, and I can’t catch up to you. Have some pity!”

While that did make him chuckle, her plea in no way slowed him down.

He heard the steady click-clack of her heels slow to a stop, and she called out, “Caleb Jones, you insufferable, stubborn man. You stop running from me this instant!”

He froze. “What the hell?” He turned to catch a glimpse of her. She was bent over, her hands on her knees, wheezing and trying to catch her breath.

She met his gaze. “Oh, thank God.” She righted her position and raised her index finger, pointing at him. “I don’t care who you think you are, or what bloody band you’re in—even if it is my absolute favorite—you will stay put and you will listen to me for one fucking minute.”

He smirked and, his curiosity piqued, took a couple steps toward this mystery woman. “What’s your deal?” he shouted to her.

She started walking toward him again, much more slowly this time due to a slight limp. “I twisted my frigging ankle because of you,” she said when they were in reasonable talking distance. She shook her head. “The things I do for a friend. I take it you got my note?”

“Your note?” he asked, puzzled. Then the lightbulb clicked on. “You’re Cara?”

“Duh,” she laughed.

The smile left his lips. “Yeah, listen, Cara. Thanks for trying and all, but there’s absolutely nothing to talk about.” He moved to turn away from her.

“Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa there, buddy! I did not just run after you like a mad woman in four-inch heels for nothing.” She continued limping her way over to him. “There has been a lot—and, by a lot, I mean a shit-ton—of stuff going on with Syd for a year now. All hell broke loose today… Actually, it’s more like all hell broke loose twenty minutes ago. If there was ever a good time for you to show up, it would be now.”

His shoulders slumped in resignation. “I really do appreciate you trying to help smooth things over with me and Syd. Really, I do.” The next words he spoke pained him to the core. “But Syd and I, we’re finished, and there’s no going back.”

“Don’t say that.”

He faced her. “Cara, it’s true. Look, I don’t even know you, but I see how much Sydney loves you. I’m not so sure how happy she’d be with you trying to convince me to go in there and face her at the moment. She’s with Brett. She chose Brett. She didn’t choose me, and it is what it is. So please, just let me go home.”

She hobbled closer to him and put her hands on his arm, giving a gentle squeeze. “No, but that’s the thing, Caleb. It is not what you think it is. She loves you, Caleb.”

“Bullshit,” he said, anger and hurt bubbling up inside him. “She loves me so much, that’s why she was cozied up to her fiancé in there, right? Because she loves me oh so much? Don’t even try to sell me that line. I won’t buy it anymore.”

“She does,” Cara interjected. “She does love you more than anything…but she couldn’t do anything about it. Her hands were tied, I swear.”

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that with everything that went down tonight, she’s ready to talk to you, and since you came all this way, maybe you could suck it up, buttercup, and let her try to explain. Even if you only give her a couple minutes,” she pleaded.

“Shit,” he muttered as he ran a hand through his hair. He was torn. He had no idea if he should bother going back inside to talk to Sydney. He anticipated the heartache he’d undoubtedly have to deal with—yet again—but at the same time, he owed it to himself to give her a chance to enlighten him as to what the fuck was going on. All along he’d said he wanted the truth, that he wanted answers and closure, and this was his opportunity to get just that.

He let out a little growl. “Fine, I’ll give her five minutes, but that’s it.”

Cara squealed like a four-year-old on Christmas morning and threw her arms around Caleb’s neck, hugging him hard. “Oh my gosh, you’re as awesome as she always said you were. This is going to be great!”

“Yeah, don’t get your hopes up, Cara. All I said was that I would listen to her.” He took her arm and helped her stagger across the parking lot, back toward the hospital. “I can’t even imagine how her fiancé would react to me being there.”

She laughed, and to Caleb’s ears it was the sound of pure, unfiltered joy. She beamed up at him. “Oh, you mean ex-fiancé.” She winked, and led a stunned, slack-jawed Caleb into the building.