“Why?”
“Just meet me there. No games, no bullshit. I promise.”
Jack took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Fine.”
The line went dead and he shoved his phone back into his pocket, his heart pounding. What was he doing here? He leant forward and crossed his arms over the steering wheel, forehead resting on the back of his hand.
Callum sat in his car outside Barney’s. He tried Ally again but she didn’t pick up. He hung up halfway through her voicemail message with a frustrated sigh. Apparently she was too pissed off to talk to him. All he seemed to do lately was push her away.
Or maybe – looking at it from another angle – all she seemed to do lately was push him away. Ever since Jack got home.
Damn it.
He shoved his cell phone back into his pocket, climbed out of his car and headed inside.
Entering the gloomy bar at this time of night, he took a few moments to spot Jack in a booth in the corner. He detoured to order a drink first and Harry nodded in Jack’s direction.
“What’s his poison?” Callum mumbled.
“Whisky. Neat.”
Callum groaned quietly, shaking his head. “Better give me two more.”
He slid his money across the bar and waited. Picking up the two glasses, he nodded his thanks to Harry before heading over to the booth.
Jack glanced up as he slid into the seat opposite him, setting both glasses down and sliding one over the table towards him.
“I’ve already got one.”
“Got a feeling you might need another.”
Jack eyeballed him, his expression unreadable. “What’s this all about? What do you want? Because I’m in no mood for games. Whatever you want, you can have it. You win, okay? I don’t belong here – I get it. Believe me, I get it.” He shook his head and took a swig of whisky.
“What happened?”
Jack stared into the glass in front of him. “I told you. She threw me out.”
“I thought she might try something like that.”
“Congratulations. You win.”
“It’s not a game, Jack. Far from it.”
“Then why do I feel like a pinball? What’s going on here? Because I honestly have no clue.”
“There’s no one answer to that question,” Callum sighed, running a hand down his face.
“Jesus, you’re as bad as she is. It’s like talking to a revolving door.”
Jack downed the last of his whisky and slammed the glass down on the table.
“You thought she was complicated before? Buckle up dude, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” Callum said.
“Meaning what, exactly?”
He had to make his point and make it quickly, because he could see Jack was teetering on the brink.
“Reading between the lines? She doesn’t want you to know anything that might make you disappear again. And that means that her injury, and anything to do with it, is off limits.”
Jack stared at him for a few moments, and he could see the cogs turning in his brain.
“She doesn’t trust me,” Jack said simply.
“It’s a hell of a lot to ask, you have to admit.”
“But, I’m not gonna just – I mean, I want to stay, I told her that – I asked her what she wanted, and she said –”
“I know. But put yourself in her place. Is it any wonder? You’re not the only one she’s protecting. She’s been doing this for years. She changes the subject a lot. Anytime the conversation gets too raw, she backs off. It’s always ‘never mind’, or ‘it doesn’t matter’, or ‘let’s talk about something else’.”
Callum saw recognition in Jack’s eyes and he nodded across the table at him. “You’ve seen it too, haven’t you?”
Jack nodded slowly. “Yeah.”
“It’s a diversionary tactic.”
“Why?”
Callum shrugged again, taking a sip of his whisky and waiting as it burned a trail down his throat, ending with a slow warming glow that lit up his belly. “Best I can figure is she’s trying to protect us.”
“From what?” Jack frowned.
“From whatever’s going on in her head.”
They eyeballed each other across the table for several moments and Callum tried to block out the memories of their relationship prior to the accident. He tried to concentrate on seeing Jack as a stranger sitting across from him, but the vision wouldn’t stick. He kept seeing his friend, Jack – and more disturbingly, he kept seeing Jack and Ally together, before their world turned upside down. They were happy. They were going to get married and have a house full of kids. They were in love.
Suddenly, the last four years fell away and some of the anger and resentment fell away with it, right along with the realisation that he and Ally never really had a chance together. She had been right all along. It would never have worked between them.
Jack’s the one she was always meant to be with, not me. That’s why he’s here. That’s why she wants him to stay.
The whisky felt like it had burnt a hole in his gut and a deep ache settled in, right in that exact spot.