Page 20 of Let Me Be the One
“No, I’m myself, Callie McCallahan, a woman with a plan of her own.” She veered off that quickly, and then, as if to convince him of his worth, she said, “Don’t you see? It sounds like you had a really rough start but you’ve built this incredible life and you have people who love you.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t in need of a pep talk.”
Face going hot again, she clammed up, but not for long. With a glance around, she admitted, “I could almost be jealous, except that I’m determined to build myself a good life, too.”
“Here?” he asked with skepticism.
It said a lot that she dodged the question. “I assume Addie was just what you needed—which makes sense now that I’ve seen her in action. She has an aura about her that makes everything feel warmer and more comfortable. Less daunting.”
Tanner let her off the hook. No reason to belabor the point. She’d play around a day or two at most before she turned tail and went back to her easier way of life. “That sums up Addie.” In part, anyway. “She was definitely good for me,tome. I didn’t make it easy, either.”
“Sounds like you’d been through a lot. It’s understandable that you’d be defensive, at the very least. I mean, with your father killed and everything.”
Defensive, yes. Scared to death, too. And so God-awful afraid to dare hope. “You’re curious how my dad died.”
“How could I not be? But seriously, if you don’t want to talk about it, I completely understand.”
“I don’t usually, but right now…” Here with her, in the quiet kitchen with their soft voices and Blu’s light snore as the only sounds, it didn’t seem like a horrible prospect. “Like I said, you’re bound to hear gossip anyway.”
“Gossip,still? That had to be what, fifteen years ago?”
“Sixteen, and some shit sticks around.” Especially the vicious rumors that continued to haunt him. “It’s ugly, so you may as well hear it from me.”
Eyes solemn, she said, “Have to admit, you’ve got me on the edge of my seat, so thank you for filling in the blanks.”
Thanking him for dumping his fucked-up life onher? She’d think differently soon. “My old man was the type to get stinking drunk and then get behind the wheel of a car. For some sick reason, he always made me go along. The lousiest bars turn a blind eye when someone dumps their kid near a pool table and then runs up a big tab drinking.”
“That’s what your dad did?”
Her words were so softly spoken, yet so filled with dread, he barely heard her.
“That last time, he managed to piss off the wrong people. He dragged me out of there in a hurry. He was so drunk that he was all over the road, crossing the line, nearly passing out a few times—then we got hit from behind and the car spun hard. When Dad got it straightened out, he sped home, cursing a blue streak all the way. At the house, he shoved me through the door and into a closet.”
Remembered pain, confusion, and fear, all sank into his bones, but he’d long since learned to shake it off, refusing to let himself dwell there. Much.
“I didn’t realize I had a broken arm until then. I guess it happened when the car was spinning. Must’ve hit something.”
Callie gave a soft gasp.
“Anyway, he locked the closet and I couldn’t get out.” They hadn’t eaten yet, and he had to use the bathroom, but he knew better than to make any noise. Complaints had always enraged his dad more. “The people who rear-ended us? Guess they had followed him home because I heard shouting, accusations, and then gunshots.”
Her hand covered her mouth.
Right. He needed to wrap it up. “Long story a little shorter, Dad was dead, and I was locked in.”
Her eyes went huge, filled with sympathy and what looked suspiciously like a touch of anger. He couldn’t be sure because he’d never seen that particular expression on her face. Even yesterday, when he’d given her such a hard time, she hadn’t looked quite so stormy.
Then her hand slowly left her mouth and curled into a fist. “You’re sitting here now, so I know you got through it, buthow?”
Definitely anger. On his behalf? Should he tell her the accusations from some people? Many people? Nah. Why bother? If she stayed around long, she’d get an earful.
“I waited for what felt like forever, until I couldn’t wait anymore.” The pain in his arm had grown severe, and he’d had to relieve himself in the closet, soiling the corner and the boxes stacked there. Maneuvering had been difficult, but he’d finally managed. “I sat on a clean spot on the floor and managed to brace my good arm and shoulder against the back wall. I used the leverage of my legs to kick the door until the frame split and it opened.”
This time Callie reached out, covering his hand with her own, squeezing as if to share her meager strength. “You must have been a very strong boy, physically and emotionally, to manage that.”
She didn’t know him and had no reason to care. Her reaction confused the hell out of him, making him want to retreat, except he’d long ago decided he was done retreating. Now if someone insulted him, he confronted them. When they whispered behind his back, he turned around and stared them down.
If they tried to take from him, or they insulted Addieor Kam, they opened the floodgates of hell and had to deal with the consequences.
