The Teacher's Billionaire

by Christina Tetreault

  ***

  Had it really only been a few days since Warren’s announcement? It felt like a lifetime ago. Both her cell phone and house phone seemed to be constantly ringing. Even her uncle was getting phone calls. People at the summer camp were continually asking her questions. Television and newspaper reporters were camped out across from her apartment. And Neil, her bodyguard, constantly followed her. It seemed like the guy never slept. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take. Already, she’d reconsidered Warren’s offer to come stay in Newport until things died down a bit. At first, she’d thought he was exaggerating about how crazy things might get, so she’d turned down the offer. Now though, she was seriously thinking about going for a little while.

  A knock at the door sent Lucky barking through the tiny kitchen.

  “It’s me,” Lauren called from the other side.

  A friendly face. Callie unlocked the door. Lauren was one of the few people who wasn’t treating her differently these days.

  She immediately handed Callie a copy of The Star Report. “Have you seen this yet?”

  Unlike the cover of Celebrity magazine that she’d seen in the grocery store, which had one picture of her and one of Warren on the cover, this one just had a picture of her the night of the fundraiser. The constant knot in her stomach tightened. “No, I haven’t seen this one,” Callie answered with a sigh.

  “Turn to page twelve.”

  By the tone of her friend’s voice, Callie knew she wasn’t going to like what she saw. Flipping to page twelve, she was greeted by a double page spread of pictures. All of them featured her and Dylan. There was even one of them standing outside her motel room in Newport the weekend she went down to meet Warren for the first time.

  Tears welled up in Callie’s eyes, blurring her vision. Seeing her face on the cover of a magazine was bad enough, but seeing her disastrous relationship, or whatever her thing with Dylan had been, announced to the world was just too much.

  How? They’d been alone when some of the photos were taken. Or at least she’d thought they were alone.

  Pushing the magazine away, Callie dropped her head into her hands. “What a mess,” she groaned. “I never should have gone along with this. What was I thinking? No one else ever needed to know.”

  Lauren patted her on the arm. “I don’t think you could’ve kept it a secret forever.”

  “It was a secret my entire life. I think it could have stayed that way for a few more decades.”

  “That was before anyone else knew, including you,” Lauren said in the same voice she used when she tried to make a student see reason. “Too many people knew to keep it a secret forever. Eventually it would’ve come out.”

  Callie knew she was right. “It still sucks.” Standing, she went to get some iced coffee. “Do you know there have been at least four reporters and I don’t know how many photographers parked across the street all week? They follow me. I can’t even take Lucky for a walk without someone bothering me. I actually asked Neil to do it for me last night so I wouldn’t have to deal with them.” Callie slammed her glass down on the counter, causing some of the coffee to slosh over the sides. “And I’ve lost count of how many reporters have called or just showed up looking for a statement from me.”

  Lauren remained silent, just letting Callie unload which was something she hadn’t done in a while. “To top it off, Mrs. Brooks called this morning and let me go,” she said, referring to her boss at the summer camp.

  “I’m sorry. I know how much you liked it there.” Lauren accepted the iced coffee Callie handed her.

  Callie shrugged. “I don’t really blame her, but it still makes me mad.” It was true; she didn’t really blame her former boss. Her presence at the camp was disruptive for the children. Still, she resented the situation. She would miss working with the children. This was her fourth summer there.

  “I think I’ll just take the summer off. Maybe by September, I will no longer be newsworthy. My fifteen minutes will be up.” She hoped that would be the case. She couldn’t risk losing her full-time teaching job too.

  Lauren didn’t reply, and Callie didn’t know if that was a good sign or not. Instead, Lauren reached for the discarded magazine, which was still open to the pictures of Callie and Dylan. “Have you spoken to him?”

  Forcing herself not to look at the pictures, Callie took a long sip of coffee. “No, and he hasn’t called again.”

  “Maybe you should call him. Hear what he has to say,” Lauren said gently.

  Callie opened her mouth to reply, but Lauren cut her off. “I know what you’re going to say, but it is possible that it wasn’t a lie, that he does care about you.”

  “And pigs can fly, Lauren.” Callie shook her head. “You didn’t hear him that night.” Callie didn’t want to have this conversation with Lauren again. She thought about Dylan enough without having to talk about him too.

  “No, but these pictures tell another story. He could really care about you. Maybe even love you.”

  “It’s called acting, Lauren. People do it all the time.”

  Lauren held up her hands in surrender. “If you say so.”

  Her friend’s words resonated in Callie’s head long after Lauren left. How she wanted them to be true. The time she’d spent with Dylan had been magical. Never had it felt so right to be with someone.

  Without intending to, she’d fallen in love with him. Even now, after his betrayal, he was lodged in her heart. Yet wanting something to be true didn’t make it so. Don’t I know that by now?

  She wanted to go for a walk. Sometimes that helped clear her head. Pulling back the curtain, she saw three cars were parked outside, waiting for her to leave. Already that morning, she’d dealt with several reporters and photographers when she’d tried to take Lucky for his walk. In the end, Neil sent her back in the apartment and did it for her.

  I just don’t have the energy to deal with them again. She let the curtain fall back into place. Instead, she settled onto the couch to watch the Red Sox game and consider her options.

  Maybe I should go to Newport. No one will bother me there. Security at Warren’s mansion won’t let anyone through. She wouldn’t stay long. Just long enough to recharge. With any luck, some other big news story would break in the meantime. Then everyone would forget about her and life would go back to normal.

  The plan sounded perfect, assuming Dylan wasn’t there. He’d told her once that he visited Cliff House occasionally. What constituted occasionally to him? Did that mean once a month or once every few months?

  She couldn’t handle running into him. Not now anyway. Sure, it was bound to happen someday. After all, his mother and Warren were married. Hopefully, that someday would be years away.

  Years might be pushing it, Callie admitted. Still, she didn’t want to see him until she’d been able to bury her feelings for him. Right now, her emotions were too raw.

  Would it sound odd to ask if anyone else would be there? Possibly. Then again, this entire situation was odd. It had been from the very moment Helen Lee told her the truth.

  Muting the television, Callie pulled Warren’s number up in her contact list. The phone rang several times before Warren answered.

  “Callie,” her father greeted warmly. “I was going to call you later tonight. How are you holding up?”

  She could hear the concern in his voice. “So, so.”

  “Have you thought anymore about my offer? Elizabeth and I are arriving at Cliff House tomorrow for a few days.”

  “Actually, yes. That’s why I’m calling.” Callie paused to think of her next words. She didn’t want to come right out and ask about Dylan specifically. At the same time, she needed to know if he would be there. “But I don’t want to intrude on any family time if everyone is going to be there.”

  “Callie you are family.”

  She was touched by his statement and wasn’t sure how to reply. Thankfully, she didn’t have to.

  “Don’t worry though. This trip, it s
hould just be Elizabeth and me. Sara is visiting a friend in Miami and Dylan hardly ever comes anymore. I don’t know what Jake’s plans are, but it is doubtful he’ll show up.”

  She couldn’t have asked for a better response.

  “Oh, and if you want, bring your dog; there is plenty of room for him to run around outside and an empty kennel next to the stable. Then you can stay as long as you want without having to worry about boarding him.”

  He’s really trying. Callie had been impressed with Warren’s treatment of her since their first meeting. His offer to bring Lucky really sent her opinion of him over the top.

  “Uh, okay. If you’re sure.” While she appreciated the offer, she already felt as if she was taking advantage of the situation by accepting his invitation to hide out there.

  Hide out. Never in a million years had she thought she would need to hide out. Then again, she never imagined someone like Warren Sherbrooke was her father.

  An unexpected burst of anger exploded in her heart. If her mother had never bothered to write that letter, none of this would be happening. She wouldn’t have reporters staking out her apartment and hounding her. She wouldn’t be nursing a broken heart either. Instead, she would be happily living her life as she always had. Perfectly content to think her father was dead, killed in a car accident as her mom had always claimed.

  It’s not her fault. Deep down, Callie knew that. Yes, her mother wrote the letter and Helen told her the truth, but she’d made the decision to meet her father. She gave Warren the green light to tell the media. No one had forced her to do that. Just like no one had held a gun to her head when it came to getting involved with Dylan. She’d made that disastrous decision all on her own. She could have told him not to call after that first kiss they’d shared. She hadn’t been strong enough to. Now she had to pay the price for her lapse in judgment.