Michelle Major – Fortune's Fresh Start (страница 8)
“Are you the oldest?”
He studied his plate for a long second, as if unsure how to answer. “No. Dillon, who was at the ribbon cutting ceremony, is a year younger than me. Our parents divorced when I was a toddler, and Dad met Marci shortly after. They married almost immediately. She also had two boys from her first marriage. Steven is two years older and Wiley is my age, although he has a couple of months on me. It felt like I went from being the oldest to the little brother overnight.”
“That’s a lot of blending,” Becky murmured, not quite able to imagine how that would have felt for a young boy.
He nodded. “We were a handful, especially at the beginning. I think each of us had something to prove. Unfortunately that meant we pushed every one of Marci’s buttons any chance we got.”
“How did she handle it?”
“Like a champ,” Callum confirmed. “I didn’t see my real mom much after the divorce, but Marci always made Dillon and me feel like we were her sons as much as Steven and Wiley. If we were testing her, she passed with flying colors.”
“And things got easier?”
“Stephanie was a turning point for the family. She was the most precious thing I’d ever seen. Suddenly, these four rowdy boys had something in common—our sister. She brought us together.”
“It’s obvious you’re close with her.”
“Yeah.” The softening of his features gave her that fizzy feeling again. “Mom…” He cleared his throat. “Marci became mom to me pretty quickly. She loved having a big family, but had a couple of pregnancies that ended in miscarriage after that. It took a toll on her.”
“I can imagine.”
Fine lines bracketed his mouth, as if the thought of the woman who’d become a mother to him hurting caused him physical pain, as well.
“Then the triplets were born. They were miracle babies, really.”
“Multiples are special,” Becky couldn’t help but add, thinking of her sweet girls.
“It took Marci some time to recover. There were complications and she wasn’t herself for a while after.”
“From how she made it sound, you were a huge help.”
His big shoulders shifted and an adorable flush of color stained his cheeks. “I kind of had a way with the ladies, even back then.”
Laughter burst from Becky’s mouth, and the excitement bubbling up in her felt like she’d gulped down a flute of champagne. Was there anything more attractive to a mother than a man who was good with children?
“You certainly worked your charms on Luna and Sasha,” she told him. “They aren’t accustomed to having men in their lives.”
“Someone told me your husband died while you were pregnant,” Callum said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
The pleasure rippling through her popped in an instant. Grief had been a sort of companion to her after Rick’s death, and she knew the facets of it like the back of her hand.
“It was a car accident,” she said. “I’d just taken a home pregnancy test but we didn’t know I was carrying twins.” She bit down on the inside of her cheek. “I wish I could have shared that with him. I wish I could have shared a lot of things.”
She held up a hand when he would have said more because she knew another apology was coming. Not that he had any responsibility, obviously, but people didn’t know how to talk to her about the loss she’d suffered. Some things were too unfathomable for words.
“We’re okay,” she said, which was her pat line even when it wasn’t true. Sometimes she struggled, but she was dealing with it and making the best of things for her daughters. She blinked away the tears that stung the backs of her eyes.
“In some ways Rick is still with us,” she told Callum. “There’s a park outside of town where he and I used to go on walks after work. Now I take Luna and Sasha there when I want to feel close to him. I sit on the bench near the pond and talk to him, and I feel him with us. I know how much he would have loved his girls and he’s their guardian angel. Some people don’t get that or they think I’m just trying to see the silver lining in a tragedy that has none. But it’s what I know.”
His cleared his throat as if unsure how to respond. Becky mentally kicked herself. No guy wanted to spend an evening talking about a woman’s dead husband, even for a homecooked meal. This was the reason she could never hope to date, especially not someone like Callum Fortune. She had enough emotional baggage to fill a freight train.
“Can I ask why you stayed in Rambling Rose?” Callum asked after several awkward moments.
She opened her mouth to give him a pat answer, but was somehow unable to tell this man anything but the complete truth. “This was the home Rick and I chose together.” She glanced around the small kitchen. “And we picked this town because we wanted to be a part of a close-knit community. Neither of us was tight with our families growing up.”
“Do you have brothers and sisters?”
She shook her head. “Only child. Rick was, too.” She lifted the wineglass to her lips, watching Callum from beneath her lashes. Maybe it was inappropriate to talk about her late husband with a man she felt attracted to, but Callum’s steady presence made her feel like she could share anything with him.
She appreciated that more than she could say. Yes, she’d loved her husband deeply and would give anything to change the tragedy that had stolen their future.
That loss was woven into the fiber of her being. It had formed her into the woman she was today, resilient and fiercely protective of her daughters. She understood the only way to celebrate Rick’s life was by honoring what had brought her to this point.
Callum helped her clean up the dishes after they finished dinner, another point in his favor. They said goodbye, and Becky watched him drive away as she tried to tamp down the disappointment at the night ending so soon. Seriously, she needed to get out more. One simple thank-you dinner and she felt like a silly girl with a crush on the most popular boy at school.
Callum had called her a friend and that was how she should think of him, as well. Too bad her body wouldn’t cooperate.
“What’s your next move?” Stephanie asked as she joined Callum in the main house’s expansive kitchen later that week.
The morning had just begun to dawn, with the sky outside the window turning the Fame and Fortune Ranch a dozen shades of pink and orange.
“I don’t have one,” he said, keeping his gaze trained on his laptop. He took another drink of coffee as he perused the article on trends in the food and hospitality industry. “What would you think about an upscale restaurant in Rambling Rose?”
“I think it won’t compete with the local Mexican food,” she said, dropping into a chair across from him at the table.
“The idea isn’t to compete,” he explained. “I want to expand the options for folks around here. What if you wanted to go on a special date?”
“At this point,” Stephanie said with a slightly sad smile that tugged at his heart, “my favorite men have four legs and fur.”
Callum hated that his sister seemed to have given up on her chance at love. Unlike him, Stephanie had so much to give. “Hypothetically,” he clarified.
“Are
“She’s a great cook,” he said.
“I don’t care what you ate.” Stephanie pushed his laptop closed. “You like her, right?”
“She’s nice.” Callum reached for his coffee, ignoring his sister’s raised brow. Of course,
He didn’t understand the connection he felt with her and knew it could go nowhere even if he wanted it to. Which he didn’t because he’d learned his lesson about commitment and getting hurt the hard way. Things were better all around when Callum focused on the parts of his life he could control. Matters of the heart definitely didn’t fall into that category.
“What did you talk about?”
“Stuff.”
“You know how persistent I can be,” she said. “I’ll follow you around all day until you spill it.” Stephanie grinned when he narrowed his eyes. “Might as well just tell me now.”
“We talked about a lot of things.” He shrugged. “My family, her family. Her late husband.”
She made a soft sound of distress. “Was that awkward?”
“No,” he answered simply. Maybe it should have been. Although the way she’d described Rick made the man sound just about perfect. Callum knew he was bound to pale in comparison. There was no use pretending that he’d gone to dinner at Becky’s just to be kind. He couldn’t stop thinking about her.
He wasn’t just attracted to her physically. He wanted to know as much as he could about her, which included her past. Losing a husband so young had obviously played a large part in shaping the person she was today.
“I haven’t seen you like this since Doralee.” Stephanie tapped a finger on the tabletop, and Callum focused his attention on that instead of meeting her insightful gaze.