Page 96 of Let Me Be the One
He sounded almost sincere.
“And now you’re trying to hurt me in return. I understand that, Callie. I really do. Butyouneed to understand, it’s not just me. You’re hurting your parents, and Glory. You’re hurting my entire family.”
Guilt crept in again, but she refused to show it to Sutter. “I see. Have you explained to your family why I broke things off?”
He stiffened. “They know you saw me with someone else, but that wasn’t my fault. You were ignoring me. With all the wedding prep, I barely saw you.” He pulled a sad face. “I was lonely.”
“Ah. So I’m the one at fault?”
“No, of course not.” He reached for her again. “I love you. You know that.”
She was starting to feel smothered. “So not your fault, and not mine.” She lifted her brows. “The other woman’s?”
“Yes!” Jumping on that excuse, he cupped her face and smiled. “Not yours, not mine. It was a bad outside influence.”
Fed up, Callie slapped his hands away. “You’re thirty-six years old, Sutter, not ten. If you’re still susceptible to female pressure, then you’re far, far too weakfor me.” After she said it, and seeing Liam wince, Callie almost felt bad for the brutal honesty.
Except that Sutter continued as if he hadn’t even heard her. He rarely did. “She’d been flirting with me forever, you know. Maybe ifyou’dbeen paying attention, you’d have noticed.”
Callie laughed, but not with humor. “Ah, but I wasn’t and I didn’t,” she said with mock sympathy. “Now why would you want a wife who was so uninterested in you?”
“And you didn’t even give me a chance to explain! You just took off. Do you have any idea how awful that was for me?”
“Poor Sutter,” she crooned with mock sympathy. “Standing there with your pants open, looking guilty. Yes, I’m sure you were devastated.”
On a roll, Sutter paced away. He was oblivious to Liam’s presence. Uncaring that her parents were near enough to hear every word. Honestly, he was oblivious and uncaring about her, too. “You humiliated me, Callie.”
Yup, and she was about to do so again. She opened the door. “Get out.”
That tripped him up. “What?No. We have to talk!”
“You’re doing all the talking, most of it accusations. I agree, I was a terrible person. You’ll be much better off without me. Nowleave.”
Her mother hustled back in. “Callie…”
“You, too, Mom. If you can’t respect my wishes, then you should also go.” The mad thumping of her heart seemed to quake her entire body. Never, not in a million years, had she ever envisioned throwing her mother out of her house. But damn it, she didn’t like being cornered, not by anyone.
Apparently, there was a first time for everything.
Her mother stared at her, appalled.
“I love you Mom,” Callie said, hoping to deescalate the situation. “But this is all wrong. Can’t you see that?”
Her father stepped up behind her mother, whispered something in her ear, and her mother’s expression softened. “We’ll be back to visit later then.”
“Later…when?” Hopefully not later today. She couldn’t take a second visit so soon.
“We’ll see how it goes,” her mother said, and breezed out the door.
“Enjoy the plant,” her dad added, then he kissed her cheek—and stepped out around Sutter, who stood there with his hands locked into fists and his face red.
Callie didn’t relent. “You, too, Sutter. Out.”
“This isn’t over,” he practically snarled. “Not by a long shot.”
Whoa. Never before had he been so forceful. Callie stiffened her spine. “Beg to differ.” She held the door wider.
“Big mistake, Callie, but then you’re making a lot of those lately.” As he passed through the doorway, he grabbed the doorknob, yanking it from her hand to give it a good slam.
