Parenting was full of doubts, but at least when you had a partner, those doubts wouldn’t eat you alive. I had no illusions about Dylan. He’d now been relegated to the occasional father. My boys deserved more than that.
Colby was sitting in a booth when I arrived, an omelet already in front of him. “Jasper is a gem.” He pointed his fork at me.
“He’s a brilliant cook, isn’t he?”
“I like having free food again.”
I laughed. “And unlike Ally’s, here you don’t have to work for it.”
“That is a major plus.”
“Are you working today?” I asked.
“Nope. I’m on the next four so today is free.” He looked up at me. “And Jasper is going to cover things here.”
“Why? I’m here.”
“We have plans.”
“Colby.”
He waved a bite of egg at me. “No. Don’t argue.”
“Well, of course, just because you tell me not to.” Sarcasm dripped from my words.
He cracked a smile. “Cal.”
“Ugh, fine. I’ll leave my business in the hands of my cook just weeks after opening when we’re packed to the gills. Sounds like such a good idea.”
“Glad you agree.”
“I think your sarcasm detector is broken.”
“No, I’m just ignoring it.”
Leaning back in the booth, I crossed my arms over my chest. One of the waitresses brought me a stack of pancakes and bacon. I looked up to find Jasper winking from the kitchen. Shaking my head, I dug in.
“You’ll need your strength,” Colby said, explaining the food he’d obviously ordered for me.
“Why?”
He grinned. “There’s a swell coming.”
That caught my attention, but something was off. “Since when do you care about that? You don’t even surf.”
“Since I’m the best brother in the world. I don’t have to surf, but you could use some waves. I’ll hang on the beach.”
I wasn’t about to argue again. Surfing sounded pretty darn good, and the waves had been crap lately. Maybe they’d help me clear my mind. We finished eating and then both drove back to my house.
I ran in and threw on my bathing suit and wet-suit while Colby strapped my board to the top of his car. We rode together to the beach, and when we pulled into the parking lot, a familiar car was waiting for us.
Jay stepped out and came to meet me with a wide smile on his face.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, looking back and forth between Jay and my brother.
“I needed a day off.” He shrugged. “Amber is handling things at the office.”
I nodded, not questioning it more. In truth, it felt good to have both of them there with me. I linked arms with Jay and started leading him across the parking lot where I got a glimpse of the ocean. My feet stopped moving, and I slipped out of Jay’s grasp.
“Seriously, guys?” I looked into their guilty faces. “You make me leave work, and there aren’t even any surfable waves?”
The water rolled slightly before foaming toward the shore. There was no curling, no height. It wasn’t flat, but it may as well have been.
I took my annoyance with me as I marched out onto the sand and threw down my board. “Ugh,” I yelled. “Can’t anything go right?”
I didn’t realize Colby and Jay hadn’t followed me until I heard a different voice behind me. “What’s wrong, Cal? Some jerk leave you hanging?”
I didn’t turn at the sound; my feet wouldn’t let me. I closed my eyes and breathed in the salt air. It calmed me down, but I still couldn’t speak.
“Don’t you hate it when you’re told there are waves, and it’s flat?” He laughed.
I knew what he was doing. He was trying to make me remember, not realizing that I’d never forgotten. I finally turned. Jamie Daniels stood in front of me in faded jeans and a button down that was open over a white tank. His hands dug deep in his pockets as he rocked back in his sandals. His blond hair had grown since he left the Army, and it was now styled to the side. His clear eyes looked at me, willing me to speak.
“I was so mad at you,” I whispered.
“I know.”
“I mean that day. You lied to me about the waves, and I skipped the first day of senior year.”
“Would you have remembered anything you learned that day?” he asked, not waiting for an answer. “But you remember coming here with me.”
“Because we fought.”
“We always fight. You know what I remember about that day? I wanted to spend time with you so bad that I would have done anything.”
“And this day? Why did you have them lie to me about the waves today?”
“Because, Cal, you went on TV for me.”
“But that was a week ago.” I hugged my arms close as if protecting myself.
“I still needed time, but Callie, I don’t ever want to stop fighting with you.” He stepped closer, and I didn’t stop him from reaching out to touch my cheek. “I don’t want to stop watching you. I don’t want to stop kissing you.” He moved even closer, and I was lost in the image of the two of us. He leaned down and brushed his lips lightly over mine. “I don’t want to stop loving you.”
My head was too full, and I needed space so I pushed him back gently. “It isn’t just me, Jamie. There are strings attached to me.”
“The boys.” He understood me without an explanation, he always had. He ran his fingertips under my chin. “It took me seconds to fall in love with them. I want them, Cal. I’m not their father, but I want them to be mine.”
He wiped a tear from under my eye with the pad of his thumb.
“Do you remember the proposition I gave you before we became friends?” he asked.
I nodded, resting my cheek against his palm. “It was the beginning of senior year - our last hurrah. You wanted to have an amazing year. You wanted to be epic.”
“So be epic with me, California McCoy.”
I nodded as I held in a sob.
“You already proposed to me, so I think I only need to say yes.”
“I did not propose!” I shoved him.
He laughed. “Oh yes you did. On Riley King. I think your words were ‘I want to marry the heck out of you.’ Not very original, but I’ll take it.”
“That was not a proposal, especially since you said it first.”
He grinned. “If neither of us proposed, then what do we do?”
“I guess we go our separate ways?” I shrugged.
“Yeah.” He stopped, reaching out quickly to grab me around the waist and pulled me against him. “Marry me.”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”
“Marry me,” he growled.
I fake sighed. “I guess if no one better comes alone.”
He brought his mouth down so hard against mine, I thought he’d swallow me alive. I wound my arms up around his neck, digging my fingers into his hair. His hands slid up by back.
Seagulls squawked overhead, the sea rolled and foamed, and somewhere on that beach there were a couple of high-schoolers wishing they could surf. They didn’t yet realize that sometimes the best things happen when life didn’t go as planned.
Colby and Jay joined us with their congratulations, and then we headed home to tell my kids that our family was whole.
28
Callie
Thirteen months later
The place was filling up quickly. Reporters, reviewers, industry professionals. This night had been highly anticipated since it was announced.
A sign hung in the doorway, painted with the restaurant’s name; Emma’s. I smiled just as I did every time I saw it. This place was hers. The part of my mom I hadn’t known until I wrote my first book.
But this night wasn’t about the book that shared her Hollywood name. It was about the one that followed.
Invincible told the story of the night that forever changed my outlook on the world. It was about the people who got
each other through it. The boy who was everything to me and was currently standing behind the bar in front of the mirror that stretched the length of the wall. He glanced up at me, a grin splitting his face.
Invincible was about the brother who was my rock. Colby sat with his new girlfriend at a high-topped table off to the side.
Invincible told the story of the girl who everyone loved. The one who’d lost more than anyone and managed to come back to us. The one none of us could live without. Morgan and her husband Dean had flown in from London just for this. Her eye caught mine as she led her mother through the door.
Eleven years later that day was finally behind us.
In Invincible, a group of teenagers used each other to make sense of the world. They were broken and remained strong, remained together.
It was the story of us.
Emma’s had become a popular tourist destination, helped by both of my books. News clippings and pictures of my mother lined the walls. Posters and props from her movies complemented them. When I was younger, I’d needed to be out on the water with a surf board under my feet in order to feel her with me. Maybe that was a part of growing up. I’d learned to carry her with me wherever I went.
Jamie came out from behind the bar to wrap an arm around my waist. He placed his lips near my ear. “Have I told you how much I love you today?”
I grinned. “I love you too, babe.”
“I’m so proud of you.”
A blush crept up my cheeks, and I stepped toward the bar, straightening the salt shakers and sugar packets. Zack, our talented bartender, shook his head at me. He and Jasper teamed up earlier to lecture me on enjoying my night and leave the running of the restaurant to them.
It felt odd being out in the evening, but my grandmother had come to watch the boys and Jamie was determined to make me enjoy myself. He’d even taken the day off work to be at Emma’s getting things ready so I wouldn’t obsess over it.
It was a big night. My last book release.
Aunt Kat and Noah showed up next. They were dressed much fancier than me, but that wasn’t surprising. Kat gave me a big smile and a hug. “We’re so proud of you.”
Jay was behind them, but Amber had to stay home with their baby girl.
“Always knew you would do great things, Cal.” Jay released me and went off to join Colby.
My father walked up to kiss my cheek before being lost in the blur of congratulations and shaking hands. Seth came in with a stocky man by his side.
“Callie,” he said. “This is my son, Jerry.”
And that was how I found myself shaking hands with Matthew’s father at a party celebrating a book about Matthew changing our lives forever. It was surreal, but he pumped my hand strongly and didn’t say a word. I imagined it was all a bit too much for him. Just being there was a step, I guessed. Seth led them off to greet Morgan, and I was called up front.
My publicist had organized much of the evening and wanted me to speak. I couldn’t say no, not tonight. Jamie released me, and I made my way to the front. Colby hollered something, but I couldn’t make it out, and Morgan added her voice to the din. Their cheers propelled me forward.
Over the last few days, I’d tried to come up with what I should say. Should I do a reading? Make a thank you speech? None of that seemed right and now I found myself in front of everyone without anything prepared. A stack of books sat on the bar behind me and I reached for one, hoping it would hold the answers.
“Any of you actually read this thing yet?” I laughed, running a hand over the cover that depicted a desolate beach being pounded by the waves.
A few people called out that they’d loved it.
I smiled. Was it strange of me to say I loved it too? That day was tragic and reading about it was hard, but I’d poured my heart and soul into those words. They were me.
I fingered the cover a little longer before looking up. My eyes flicked to Noah before I began speaking. “I had a teacher in high school who once said that we all experience things differently. Everyone who was at the dance on the night of the shooting could write a book and they’d all tell different stories. That’s why I wrote Invincible as fiction. Because my non-fiction might be your fiction. This book is my experience, my perception of not only that night, but of high school, of life.”
I paused, not wanting to get preachy, and flipped open the cover.
“There are a lot of people who played a role in this book and I could’ve dedicated it to all of them, but I didn’t.” I looked up for just a moment, catching Seth’s watchful eye.
As I read the dedication, my voice grew quiet, and it felt like Seth and Jerry were the only other people in the room. Their stares burned into me.
“To the boy who held me together. The boy who was too good and too young. And the boy who felt he had no other choice.”
Silence followed my words. The advanced copies hadn’t included the dedication and my words settled down around them, thickening the air. I closed the book and held it to my chest as I inhaled.
I looked to Morgan as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her mother openly wept beside her, but she was the first to move. She stood and walked across to me before gathering me in her arms.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Seth was next, but his son had left. “I’m sorry about Jerry,” he said, squeezing me tight. “I thought he could handle this. Thought it would be good for him.”
“I get it.”
“I should go find him.” He gave me one more look. “Thank you for your words about Matthew.”
As he walked out, I noticed the copy of Invincible tucked under his arm and hoped it proved helpful to him and his family.
Others started to move and conversations resumed. People hugged me and talked of the beauty of my words.
“Mind if I steal my wife?” Jamie asked after a while.
He pulled me out of the throng. I couldn’t get used to the term wife. We’d gotten married a couple months ago in front of our families and close friends in a small ceremony.
“Thanks,” I said, kissing him.
He shot me a wink.
By the time Jamie took me home that night, I was exhausted.
Grandma was watching TV when we got in.
“Are our boys asleep?” Jamie asked.
It still warmed me each time he called them “our boys”. They still had their father, distant as he was, but Jamie loved them without reservation.
“They’ve been out for a while,” she said.
We said goodnight to her before hitting the sack.
Invincible was released the next day. My hands shook as I scrolled through the book reviews on the USA Today website. It’d be the first to come in.
“I can’t look.” I shoved my computer toward Jamie. His eyes scanned the page and his lips tilted up.
“A beautiful tribute to the end of childhood and the beginning of real life where we are shaped by tragedy and sometimes the choices we make from our brokenness.”
My chest heaved as the tears began to fall. “It’s finally over.”
Jamie wrapped me in his arms and surprised me by starting to recite the final lines from the book. “Tragedy touches us all. We move on from one to face another. Only kids believe they’re untouchable. But maybe that’s not what invincible means. Maybe it means that we can be down, but not out. We can rise up from the ashes. Invincibility is not being unbreakable. It’s using our brokenness to make us stronger.”
I snuggled in closer to him as the words reminded us just how quickly life could change.
Thank you for reading! Want more from Gulf City? Don’t forget to check out Jesse and the Ice Princess on Amazon.
Want to be a VIP reader? Sign up to never miss an update here:
https://bit.ly/3b2kjoV
Jesse and the Ice Princess
Chapter One
"Jesse King Carrigan skates in, slowing to weave around defenders as if they mean nothing to him. It's just him and the goalie, no one else stand
ing in the way of the glorious Stanley Cup. He pulls back and releases a slapper from the left dot. Score!" The puck hit the back of the empty net, and Jesse's arms shot into the air as he yelled and skated around the deserted rink.
A grin stretched across his face as imaginary sounds from the crowd crashed down around him.
"You're ridiculous." The only actual person present laughed from her perch on the half-wall near the bench.
Jesse turned his grin on his sister, not stopping his victory lap. "You're just jealous," he shouted. "Not everyone gets to score the winning goal in the Stanley Cup final."
She lifted a brow. "In your dreams, bro." Hopping off the wall, she walked across the ice in her tennis shoes.
Jesse had been trying to get her in skates for years, but Cassandra Carrigan wasn't one for joining. He’d promised no one would be at the rink this early on a Saturday morning and that was the only reason she showed up.
Jesse skated toward her, not looking at his feet as the front of his skate hit a rut. He couldn't stop the momentum as his legs flew out from under him, and his butt slammed into the ice.
Cassie crossed her arms over her chest and smirked down at him. "Real smooth, Jess."
"Just practicing my falling skills." He shrugged as he brushed ice from his jeans. "You know, so it doesn't hurt when it happens in a game."
"Didn't they teach you how to fall in intro to skating when you were like five? You know the one thing that's more painful than playing hockey?"
He pushed himself to his feet and looked down at his sister, knowing where she was going with this. He didn't ask.
She answered her own question, anyway. "Having to watch you play."
"Not cool, dude." He wrapped his arms around her waist before she could stop him. She squealed but couldn't break free as he picked her up and pumped his legs, gaining speed.
Invincible- The Complete Set Page 35
