“You make it all sound so simple, but you weren’t there, so you don’t know.”
“You’re right, but I’ve been here since and I know she doesn’t deserve the bullshit you spewed on the phone to her today.”
“She came running to tell you all about it, I see.”
“Actually, she called to ask me to find Katie. She said she called you, but you were too busy accusing her of sleeping with me to listen.”
“Reed, no,” Katie says.
I rub the side of my neck in frustration. “I was upset.”
“Leave her alone. She may have been broken when you left Macon, but she’s worked like hell to even function since you’ve been gone. The last thing Callie needs is for you to demolish all of her progress that she’s fought for.”
“I’ll go apologize to her and take her to the rehearsal,” Katie says.
“No. You and I are going to have this out. Then, we’ll get Callie together.”
“I’ll get her. You two see to your own shit.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jeff counters. “I think—”
“I don’t really care what you think, Jeff,” I growl, walking off.
CHAPTER 14
Callie
“This is nice.”
My body tightens as I turn around to see Reed standing behind me. I’m feeding the fish in the pond out from my house. It’s full of koi. Feeding them relaxes me—watching them does, too. Which means, Reed being here is interrupting one of the rare moments when I feel at peace.
“It was,” I admit. “I’m not in the mood for company, Reed. Did you come by to accuse me in person of sleeping with Jeff? Or maybe this time you’d like to accuse me of sleeping with Mr. Johnson?”
“I was upset,” he tries to explain, grimacing as he walks closer to me.
“Weren’t we all?”
“I thought you might need a ride to the rehearsal.”
“You should think again. I’m not going and even if I was, I could drive myself.”
I’ve turned my back to Reed, and I look at the pond as I speak. I don’t really want to see him. I want him to go. Today has been way too emotional. Honestly, I haven’t recovered from the other night when we had dinner together.
“I’m sorry Katie hurt you, Bluebird. Hell, I’m sorry I hurt you.”
As he calls me by a nickname that I had almost forgotten, my heart squeezes inside my chest, causing pain I didn’t know could still exist. It hurts so much that it takes a minute to be able to respond.
“I’m fine.”
I jump when he sits down beside me and fight the urge to move away from him. I don’t want to show weakness in front of Reed. I’d rather he doesn’t know how fragile I am.
“I was really nervous about seeing you again.”
Surprise has me turning my head to look up at him. “Why?”
“Callie, you’re the only woman I’ve ever loved in my entire life. Why wouldn’t I be nervous about seeing you again?”
“We were kids, Reed.”
“That doesn’t change how we felt about one another,” he says.
“We were too young to understand it. If we did, neither one of us would have made the decisions that we did.”
“It’s not like we both didn’t have help in making our mistakes,” he counters, and I can’t really say anything about that. He’s probably right. Mitch played me like a fiddle. Reed, too, if you think about it.
“Water under the bridge. That’s all in the past. We can’t concentrate on anything but the here and now and that seems to have worked out great for you, Reed.”
“I suppose. Do you ever wish you could go back, Callie? Go back and change everything?”
Every day….
I can’t say that, so I paste a smile on my face and look at him. “If I did that you wouldn’t be a famous star making music every day.”
“If it didn’t affect anyone but you, what would you change?”
“Everything,” I answer without thinking. “But that’s a silly question because we can’t. I need to go. I’m going to have dinner with the Johnsons tonight.”
“What about the rehearsal?”
“I really can’t tonight, Reed. I’m not like the rest of you.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I can only deal with so much in one day. I’ve had my fill today. I’m going to eat dinner with people I love and avoid stress.”
“What if you go to the rehearsal with me? I’ll shield you from all the bullshit, and then treat you to Dale’s ice cream at the dairy bar afterwards?”
“This is going to surprise you, but you are stress, too, Reed.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll call Jeff and tell him neither of us can make it tonight. Then, I’m taking you to dinner with the Johnsons.”
“I don’t under—”
I stop talking when he holds up his hand to interrupt me.
“Jeff, this is Reed. Callie needs tonight off. You guys go through with the rehearsal without us.”
“Reed,” I hiss.
“No. I’m here with her. She’s fine. You and Katie get your shit together.”