He turned away. “My life is a farce. I don’t deserve to have my father’s business. I’m not his son! I might as well be a stranger. Aiden’s bloodlines are real. No wonder my father would rather give it to him.”
“He’s never said that, I’m sure. And your life is the same as it has always been,” she said to his back. “You haven’t changed at all. Edward was the one who raised you. He instilled his work ethic in you. He taught you how to be a man. He is no less of a father to you now than he has always been. But you’re right; your bloodlines belong to someone else. And he wasn’t a part of your life. But he, too, is a good man. He mourns your absence in his life still to this day. Wouldn’t you rather know him than not know him?”
Luke still hadn’t turned around. He ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation.
“Luke, we don’t have to solve it all right now.”
He started walking away. “I can’t stay. I don’t want to talk anymore. It’s just too complicated.”
She let him go.
Twenty
Callie woke to dreary skies through her window. She turned over to check her clock, but the screen was black. With a yawn, she got up and examined the plug. It was plugged in. Frederick had asked if he could stay over since he was still working on the mural, and he couldn’t face going over to his cottage yet. Callie had agreed to let him stay and, not wanting to bring the subject of Luke up anymore, she’d turned in early so she wouldn’t have to talk to anyone. She didn’t want to tell him what she’d told Luke, or Luke’s reaction. She didn’t want to meddle anymore.
She’d been up all night thinking about yesterday, replaying every word she’d said, wondering if she could’ve handled it any differently. She needed her grandmother. She’d know what to do. Feeling completely lost, she rubbed her sore shoulder, a pinch having formed in the night, threw on some clothes, ran her fingers through her hair and headed downstairs, dread building with every step. She’d have to face Frederick and she had no idea what to say to him. On her way to the kitchen, she passed him, asleep on the sofa, and let out a sigh of relief that she’d at least have time to wake up before she faced him.
Through the large window black clouds swirled; they wouldn’t get much work done outside today. The building crew had today off anyway, so it was just Olivia, Wyatt, Callie, and Frederick.
Her eyes aching, she loaded the coffee maker and hit start. But her shoulders slumped when she realized that the coffee maker didn’t have power either. She tried the lights—nothing. Then she vaguely remembered the crew saying they were cutting the power to do the electrical work on the back deck. Had they not turned it back on before they left? She sat down and looked out at the ocean.
“I texted Aiden,” Olivia whispered, startling her.
Callie threw her hand to her chest to steady herself, whipping around from the window, rain beginning to lash at the glass.
“Sorry.” Olivia sat down next to Callie at the table. “The crew was in a hurry to get things wrapped up—having spent a very long day—and I think they forgot to turn the power back on. I’d been outside with Wyatt until late, and we both just came in quietly so as not to wake up Frederick and went to bed. I checked my phone a few minutes ago to see if Aiden had texted back, and it’s dead. I forgot to charge it. Maybe we can use your phone.”
Callie rubbed her eyes and nodded, her head starting to throb.
There was a loud, pounding knock on the door, and both Callie and Olivia jumped. Callie dashed to it before it woke Frederick and Wyatt. The pounding started again, stopping only as she unlocked the door, her fingers fumbling with the lock. She opened it. Luke and Aiden were on the front porch.
“They say we should evacuate,” Luke said, without even a hello. That soft, sweet voice she knew so well, the affection in his eyes when he looked at her—gone. “The hurricane is headed this way. We couldn’t get you on the phone. Aiden’s been texting all morning.”
“We have no power and Olivia’s phone is dead. Mine’s upstairs.” She moved aside to let them in, struggling to make sense of all the commotion having just woken up, her thoughts so preoccupied with everything else that she almost couldn’t compute what he was saying.
They stayed where they were, the wind whipping around them. “Callie. If they say evacuate, we need to do it, and quick,” Luke said, breaking eye contact to shoot off a text on his own phone. “We’re getting everyone together and I’ll find somewhere to stay. We need to hurry, though, before everything is booked up. Start packing, keep your phone with you, and if the power comes back on, plug it in. I’ll be back to get you.”
“Okay,” she said, alarm zinging through her. She locked eyes with Luke. “Frederick’s here,” she said, her head feeling like it was full of water from the stress. “Should he come with us?”
In the infinitesimal pause that followed, she could see a million thoughts run across Luke’s face. Finally, he nodded. “What about Gladys?”
“She’s already gone. She went to her daughter’s house.”
“Okay. You have about thirty minutes,” he said, all business.
As Luke left, Callie yanked Gladys’s plant inside and then paced in circles for a minute, trying to figure out what to do first. She ran in to tell Olivia but she was already heading upstairs.
“I heard,” she said.
They entered their rooms and pulled out the suitcases, Callie filling one for herself and Olivia throwing items for her and Wyatt into the other one. They packed clothes, socks, underwear, toiletries, toys for Wyatt, and anything else in their paths that would fit.
Callie grabbed the stack of laundry that was still in the hallway where she’d folded it and divided it among the suitcases. She got all her jewelry and her family photo album with old photos of her parents and her grandmother and stuffed them into the smaller bag, then zipped it up and headed downstairs. With a quick swipe, she took Luke’s painting off the wall and leaned it against the suitcase.
Callie was packing food into the cooler when Frederick walked in.
“What’s all the commotion?” he asked.
“I was going to wake you in just a minute. The hurricane is coming our way. Luke’s getting his family. We’re all evacuating together. I’m packing enough food for you too. Wyatt, I packed your Legos and your gears building set. I’ve also got your iPad,” she said as Wyatt shuffled in.
Olivia told Wyatt to come with her and check to make sure he had everything he thought he’d need, leaving Frederick in the kitchen. He started helping Callie put food in bags. “Luke’s coming back?” he asked as he filled a paper grocery bag with bread and chips.
“Yes,” she said, asking him with her eyes to be okay with it. She checked her phone—no messages.