The Way Forward

by Eliana West

  There was a long pause. “That’s okay,” Presley continued. “We can have more fun if it’s just the two of us.”

  There was no way he was going anywhere with Presley alone. He could practically smell her perfume over the phone. Her attempt to sound alluring and seductive had the same effect as nails on a blackboard.

  “We aren’t going to be spending any time alone either. This isn’t high school Presley, I didn’t come back to Colton to pick up where we left off. The last thing I want is for things to be the way they were before. Goodbye Presley,” he said, hanging up and sliding the phone into his pocket.

  He picked up the broom and started sweeping again. He was just starting to see the potential of the old floorboards when he noticed his mother standing in the doorway, a scowl on her face.

  “I have been wandering around this derelict building for ten minutes looking for you. Didn’t you hear me call?”

  Dax rested the broom against the exposed brick wall. “You could have shouted.”

  “A lady never shouts.” His mother pursed her lips and looked around. “This building should have been condemned. I never should have allowed you to waste your money on this.”

  “We’re long past you allowing me to do anything.”

  His mother waved her hand dismissively. “Presley just called and she’s very upset.”

  As always when his mother didn’t like the direction a conversation was headed, she changed the subject. Only this time she picked another argument she wasn’t going to win. How could she be so unaware that he was no longer willing to blindly follow her?

  “You need to stop encouraging her, Mother. I have no intention of dating Presley, and I’m never going to marry her.”

  Their eyes locked. Her lip curled up just a bit, enough to let him know that his mother still believed she was in control. “I expect you to join the Beaumont family at our table at the country club this weekend. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to show you off to my friends.”

  “I’ll come for one dinner but I’m not going to go every Saturday the way we used to.”

  His mother turned on her heel and walked out. When the front door slammed he rested his chin on the broom handle, his gaze straying toward the library. He’d endure another dinner at the country club if it gave him a chance to convince his mother to change her attitude toward Callie. There was no logical reason for her to treat her with so much disdain. He’d caused her enough grief; this was one more thing he could do to make amends.

  He wandered back over to the window. The day was fading into early-evening twilight as Callie stepped out to the sidewalk, locking the door behind her. She ran her fingers over the cream and gold lettering on the window as she walked down the sidewalk toward home. She should have been riding her bike, but according to Mae it was damaged beyond repair. He remembered Callie and Mae as little girls riding their bikes down the dirt roads, laughing, with pink and purple streamers fanned out from their handlebars. He wished he could go back and ride alongside them, laughing with them instead of throwing rocks and calling names.

  I’m not the same person I was then.

  He’d traveled around the world, served his country, and learned how to be a better friend. He’d found new brothers. No one could replace Reid, but these were men he trusted with his life and his moral compass.

  Chapter Six

  Callie poured melted butter over the warm cake and then carefully tapped the mesh strainer against the palm of her hand as a fine dusting of powdered sugar snowed down on the 7UP cake. She sneezed as the tiny particles of sugar tickled her nose. She placed the cake in the center of the table and looked around satisfied with her efforts. Was the book club popular because of the books or the homemade sweets she baked for every meeting?

  Would Grandma be pleased? Her eyes misted for just a moment before she adjusted the pressed glass platter that was her grandmother’s favorite and took a deep breath. She’d like to think she’d done a good job honoring her grandmother’s legacy.

  The book club wasn’t her invention. Callie’s grandmother had started it many years ago. The Jewels insisted that she carry on her grandmother’s tradition and keep the book club going after her grandmother’s passing. The three sisters, Pearl, Opal, and Ruby were her grandmother’s best friends. Tradition meant a lot to Callie. When you grew up without anything to keep you grounded, even the smallest tradition took on greater importance. Her grandparents gave her a warm and loving home filled with the laughter and love she craved. And so, for the last two years on the first Tuesday of the month, members of the Colton Book Club gathered in her living room to discuss the monthly selection while they drank tea and devoured sweets. The Jewels were regular members, along with Tillie from the Catfish Café, Mae, Mae’s mother, and Emma Walker. To Callie’s surprise, Robert Ellis had joined the group a few months ago.

  She added a vase of yellow roses to the table as a finishing touch before the doorbell rang. She opened the door with a warm smile to greet the Jewels, who were always the first to land on her doorstep. The three sisters all wore their hair short, and when they stood together, they created an ombré effect with the varying shades of gray from oldest to youngest.

  “Evening, Miss Callie.” Opal, the oldest of the sisters, greeted her with a hug.

  Pearl nudged her sister out of the way to get her hug, followed by Ruby, who grasped Callie’s hands with an anxious glance over her shoulder. “There’s trouble comin’ up your front walk, Miss Callie,” she said in a hushed voice.

  Callie peered over the youngest Jewel’s shoulder, her eyes growing wide as Robert came down the front walk followed by Dax. The blue-and-white checked oxford shirt he wore stretched across his broad shoulders as he carried the book club selection in one hand and a bouquet of lilies in the other. She moved back as his imposing frame filled her doorway. The Jewels clustered around her, Ruby and Pearl on each side and Opal standing in front of her like warrior queens with their arms folded.

  “Evenin’, ladies.” He nodded.

  Opal harrumphed, followed in order by Pearl and Ruby. Robert cleared his throat and moved around Dax. He gingerly lifted Opal and set her to one side, ignoring her angry growl and swipe at his hands to give Callie a peck on the cheek. An uncomfortable silence settled around them until Robert nudged his nephew.

  “Give her the flowers boy before you kill ’em,” he ordered.

  Callie glanced down at the bouquet of white lilies. Dax had his hand clenched so tightly around the stems he looked like he was trying to strangle them.

  “T-thank you,” she stammered. She snatched the flowers out of his hand and retreated to the kitchen where she pulled a vase off the shelf while she eyed the garbage can. Did he think flowers were going to make any difference? Dax showing up in the library was one thing but having him in her home was something else. Uncle Robert coming by to vouch for him after her bike was destroyed didn’t mean she could trust him or that she was interested in anything to do with Dax Ellis.

  “I see you have a new member,” Mae announced as she walked into the kitchen.

  Callie shoved the last of the lilies into the vase. “I can’t believe he thinks it’s okay to show up here like this. What kind of game do you think he’s playing?”

  “What if it isn’t a game?”

  Callie paused, the last flower hovering in midair for a second before she crammed it into the vase along with the others. “Of course it’s a game. He’s going to start teasing again, and then… It’s going to start all over again.”

  “He’s not a boy anymore. He’s different, Callie,” Mae reassured her.

  “How do you know and why are you taking his side?”

  Mae held her hands up. “I’m not taking sides. I talked to him, and I believe him when he says he’s changed.”

  “You talked to him?” Callie almost shouted. “We have to go; they’re waiting for us but, we are going to talk about this later.”

  Robert and Dax were quietly talking in the
corner while the Jewels lined up on the couch, staring at the intruder.

  Emma Walker was perched on the edge of her seat, her large blue eyes darting around the room. Mae’s mother had arrived and was standing next to Emma with her arms crossed, tapping her foot. Mae rushed to her mother’s side and whispered something in her ear that made her mother drop her arms and take her seat, her eyes never leaving their target. Callie sat the flowers on the coffee table, her gaze met Emma’s, and she tried to give her friend a reassuring smile. She took her seat and folded her hands in her lap.

  “Well, shall we begin?” she said.

  *

  Callie handed Mae another plate to dry.

  “That may have been the worst book club meeting we’ve ever had.” Mae shook her head as she placed the clean plate back into the cupboard.

  “I’m sorry.” She closed her eyes and let her hands sink into the warm soapy water. “He can’t hurt me the way he used to.” Saying it out loud made it more real. For her own well-being she had to believe it.

  “It’s hard to let go of the past, isn’t it?” Mae turned and rested her hip on the counter. “I’m sorry if…”

  Callie pulled her hands out of the soapy water and dried them off on her apron so she could pull her cousin into a hug. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t insisted that we be best friends my first summer here. You were just as bossy that summer when we were five as you are now,” she teased.

  Mae cocked her head. “It’s too bad.”

  “What?”

  “That the hottest guy to walk through your front door in months is Dax Ellis.”

  “Really, Mae!” She reached into the sink to flick soapy water at her cousin.

  Mae jumped back. “Those broad shoulders are a sight to behold. And don’t think I didn’t notice the way he couldn’t take his eyes off you during the whole meeting. You know—” Mae tapped her chin thoughtfully “—you could go on a date every once in a while.”

  Callie pressed her lips together and scrubbed harder at an invisible spot on an already clean plate. Dates were usually a disaster for her, especially if her date knew who she really was. And she hated to admit that ever since Dax had come back into her life, she’d been thinking about her lack of a love life a lot more. Every time his eyes met hers during the meeting her heart beat a little faster and not just from fear.

  “It was awkward for him, and it didn’t help that I could barely string two words together. It couldn’t have been easy for him, especially with the Jewels glaring at him the whole time.”

  Mae snorted. “Emma was so shocked she didn’t say a word.”

  The shy pharmacist rarely said a word on a good day. With Dax in the room she only managed to speak in a whisper.

  “And you—” she pointed at Mae “—you could have helped smooth things over with your mama.”

  “She’s just being protective of her girls.”

  “I guess it’s going to take time for all of us to get used to Dax being back.”

  Mae hesitated. “We had a good talk the other day and I’m willing to give him a chance, but that mother of his? Hell no!”

  “And just what were you doing having a good talk with Dax?”

  “Don’t get mad.”

  Callie raised an eyebrow. Most of the time if Mae said those words it meant she did something Callie didn’t approve of.

  “I went over to Uncle Robert’s and confronted him after your bike was ruined,” Mae added.

  “Mae Theodora Colton, how could you? He’s going to think I’m completely helpless. I don’t need you butting in.” Her cousin always meant well. Mae would make a great mother someday—her protective streak was wider than the Mississippi.

  “I know, I know, I shouldn’t have but I was just so…mad.”

  Callie let the water drain out of the sink. “So, what did he say?” she asked after a moment.

  “That he’s changed and he’s trying to work things out with his mom and his brother.”

  “Have you ever seen his brother?” Callie asked.

  “Reid?” Mae’s brow creased. “I don’t think so. He was sent away to boarding school the first summer you came here.”

  “I wonder why he was sent away and not Dax. He was the one who could have used the discipline of military school.”

  “We had a good talk Callie, and I hate to admit it, but I like him.”

  The rational part of Callie knew it shouldn’t bother her that Mae liked Dax, but it did. A small seed of jealousy sprouted in the pit of her stomach. “If you like him so much, maybe you should ask him out,” she muttered.

  Mae threw her head back and laughed until her eyes glistened. “He’s not my type, and I’m not the one he couldn’t take his eyes off of tonight.”

  “It doesn’t make sense. He hates me.”

  “You can’t help who you’re attracted to.” Mae shrugged. “He was a stupid little boy who was scared he’d be sent away like his brother if he couldn’t make his mama happy.”

  “Did he tell you that?”

  Mae nodded solemnly. “It doesn’t excuse what he did, but it does explain a lot.”

  Callie bowed her head, and a curtain of curls hid her face. “I’m just not ready yet.”

  “That’s okay, sweetie, just promise me something.” Mae waited until Callie’s gaze met hers. “Promise me that if Dax Ellis asks you out, you’ll think about saying yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I think you’d like him if you got to know him—”

  “No.”

  “—and you two actually have a lot in common. You both love Colton. You both want to preserve the legacy of this town.”

  “I want to preserve my grandparents’ legacy.”

  “Which is this town.”

  Callie’s jaw firmed. “I can’t.”

  “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from kissing a cute boy.”

  Callie reluctantly smiled. “You know I don’t like baseball.”

  “Never underestimate the wisdom of Babe Ruth.”

  “I’m pretty sure that’s not what he said.”

  “It’s still a pretty good quote.”

  “Oh, what are men compared to rocks and mountains,” Callie replied.

  “Jane Austen is boring as hell.”

  “Never underestimate the wisdom of Jane Austen.”

  Mae shook her head, trying her best to give Callie a stern glare, but they both burst out laughing.

  After Mae left Callie stood in her little living room, staring at the chair Dax had occupied during the book club. She still couldn’t get over having Dax Ellis in her house, eating her 7UP cake.

  Since that drunk driver had killed her grandparents, there were times that their absence hurt more than others; this was one of those times. She pulled out her phone and her thumb hovered over the name at the bottom of her short favorites list. Even though she knew it was foolish, she hit the call button and waited.

  “Callie, darling, we’re just on our way out the door,” her mother answered on the fourth ring.

  “Oh.” She waited. This is where her mother would promise to call later, only she always forgot.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t call you back last week.”

  “That was a month ago,” Callie said quietly.

  “Was it? Oh, my goodness.” Mom laughed. “Your father and I have been so busy I’ve lost track of time.”

  “The thing is, you never remember to return my calls, Mom.”

  “You know how crazy your dad’s schedule can be. He’s just finishing up a new album and then we have an award’s show next week. You can’t get mad every time I forget to return a phone call.”

  “It’s more than losing track of time. It would be nice if we could have more time together than a five-minute call ever now and then. I miss Grandma and Grandpa so much, and sometimes it’s hard being here without them.”

  She held her breath. In the past she would just accept her p
arents’ excuses for their neglect, but Dax’s reappearance had triggered so many childhood memories and reopened the wound in her heart. If she was supposed to believe that Dax could change his ways, shouldn’t she believe that her parents might take the time to be present in her life?

  “What are you talking about? Please tell me you’re finally ready to give up the idea of making that backwater town your home. Colton is dying, and you can’t save it,” her mother said.

  “What happened that made you hate it so much? You haven’t been here since Grandma and Grandpa’s funeral and even then you only stayed for a few hours.”

  “You know your dad had a concert we needed to get to that night.”

  “Yea I know.”

  There was always another album that needed to be made or concert that they had to do to. “Listen, darling, your father is waiting. I’ve got to go. We’ll talk again soon.”

  “Bye,” Callie whispered to the silence.

  Why did her mother do anything she could to avoid Colton? It hurt her grandparents terribly that their daughter had refused to visit. When Callie came for her summer visits she was delivered by private jet and accompanied by a nanny.

  Enough feeling sorry for herself. She grabbed her laptop and went out to the porch swing; her favorite spot no matter what time of year. She opened the file on her desktop and tapped her lips planning her next gift for the town.

  She hated the term trust fund baby but that’s what she was. Instead of living off the money her parents put aside for her she used it to fund various project that would help the town she loved.

  Her phone buzzed and she looked down in surprise at a text from Dax.

  Callie, I hope it’s okay, I asked Mae for your number. I was wondering if I could buy you a cup of coffee?

  Dax Ellis wanted to meet her for coffee. Callie blew out a long breath while she stared at her phone. The devil on her shoulder told her to tell him to go to hell but she brushed it aside. She was curious where Dax had been all this time. There were worse ways to get over a bad experience from the past than facing it over a cup of coffee.

  Her fingers hovered for just a second before she typed yes.