I go upstairs to the guest room, which is where Nash stays. He doesn't like the master. He said it smells weird. I've only been in Nash's room once, when he gave me a tour of the house. It's just a basic room with a double bed and a dresser. And now it has a cat bed in the corner with cat toys scattered all around it.
"No wonder you like living here," I say to Cat. "Nash spoils you."
I set Cat down on his bed and he curls up into a ball. I take one of his cat toys and see if he'll play with me. He just lies there, but then I see a paw move so I dangle the toy in front of him again. It catches his attention and he sits up and bats at it, so I keep going and we play for several minutes. I set the toy down and hold Cat up in front of me.
"I know you want Ben back." I feel a lump in my throat and swallow past it. "Is that why you don't like me? Because you think I took Ben away?" I set him in my lap and pet him. "I'm sorry. If I could, I'd do anything to get him back."
There's a light knock on the bedroom door. "Callie."
The door was open but I had my back to it. I wonder if Nash heard me talking. I hope not.
"Yeah?"
"Could you come downstairs and help me? I need you to hold something in place for a minute."
"Sure." I set Cat back in his bed and walk past Nash into the hall.
"Hey." He catches my wrist.
"What?" I look back at him.
From the concerned expression on his face, I think he heard what I said. I assume he's going to ask me about it, but then he says, "Never mind."
We go back downstairs and continue on as boss and employee. Neighbors. And nothing more.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Nash
I'm tired of being cooped up in this house day and night so when I saw a sign promoting a band playing at a bar not too far from here, I decided to go. I didn't invite Callie because I'm trying to give her some space. She asked me to keep our relationship professional so that's what I'm doing. She needs to work through this and decide when she's ready for help. I doubt she'll decide that on her own so I'm trying to subtly lead her to that conclusion.
Those few weeks we spent together before I found out the truth gave Callie a taste of what her life could be like. But in order to get to that place, she needs to work through her grief, instead of denying it.
When she went to Lou's house the other night, I took that as a good sign. I know that's where she went because Lou told me. I called him the day Callie locked herself in her room. I was worried about her and I didn't know who else to call. I ended up telling Lou that she'd kept this from me, but made him promise to never tell her about our conversation. He agreed, then went on to tell me more about Callie and her parents and her little brother, Ben. He told me how she's been living the past year, hidden away in her house, not sleeping well, not eating much. And he told me how she counts, sometimes not even aware that she's doing it.
By the end of our conversation, I realized that Callie's situation isn't something that can be fixed just by talking to her. Something needs to happen to jar her out of the denial she's currently living in so she can see that things need to change. It kills me to know she's over there alone at her house, sad, and surrounded by her family's things, but she's not ready to accept my help, so for now, I'm giving her space.
It's only eight and the band plays at nine so I have some time to kill. I take a seat in my almost-finished kitchen and admire my work. I need to get my dad down here to see it. Just as I'm thinking that, he calls.
"Hey, Dad. I was just thinking you should get down here and check out the kitchen."
"Maybe in a couple weeks. I'm tied up with that Victorian right now."
"Jake said it's going well."
"It is, but it's getting a lot of publicity so I've been having to do a lot of interviews for the local media. You know how I hate that stuff."
"You could always have Jake do it. You know he'd ham it up for the cameras."
"That's for sure. Maybe I will. He's a lot better looking than me. I'm sure the public would rather see his face than mine."
I laugh. "Come on, Dad. You still look good for a guy your age. Didn't one of our clients ask you out?"
"A woman in her eighties. I'm not quite that old." He chuckles. "Speaking of women, you still dating the girl next door?"
"We weren't dating. We're just friends."
"Jake said you were dating her."
"You know better than to believe Jake. He always stretches the truth."
"Bryce and Austin said the same thing."
"Okay, yes, we had something going for a while but it didn't last. She has some issues to work through that I wasn't aware of before."
"What issues?"
"Her family was killed in a car wreck last year."
"And you just found out?"
"Yeah. She told me they were living in Chicago this summer, but her boss told me the truth. Anyway, we kind of broke things off after I found out."
"Nash, you can't break up with her over that. In fact, it surprises me that you would."
"I didn't break up with her. She broke up with me. I want to help her but she won't let me."
"Sounds like you after Becky died."