Chapter 26

 

It had been three days since Georgie walked out of Callum’s apartment; three days since he broke her heart; three days since his world had fallen to pieces.

As he stood there that day and watched her walk away, he knew he was making the biggest mistake of his life letting her go. He knew he should have stopped her, made her see that this was where she belonged; this was her home; this was her family. He should have shown her how much he loved her there and then.

“You can’t just let her walk away,” Liam had said to him, as he watched him in disbelief. Callum knew that his brother was completely right, but still, he just stood there and watched her walk away, unable to say or do anything to stop it.

The hardest part of it was dealing with Macy. She was beyond heartbroken, and while Callum knew it was his job to comfort her, he was finding it hard to do because his heart was completely broken too. He couldn’t tell her that everything would be okay because he wasn’t sure they would be.

For the last three days, the only response he got to any question he asked her was, “I want Georgie.” Callum's heart ached every time she said it because the truth was, he wanted her too.

Macy barely ate a thing since Georgie had walked out. She woke several times at night, only instead of crying for her mother, she was now crying for Georgie.

Callum knew this was all his own doing. He had made a mess of everything, and he didn’t know how to fix it.

He had completely over-reacted to the whole newspaper thing. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realised how ridiculous his behaviour had been. That was only made worse by the fact that when Landen did a little digging, he discovered that Shane hadn’t been the one behind the story. Camilla had, making Callum feel like the biggest asshole in the world. None of this was Georgie’s fault. Callum felt like such an idiot.

So, she was engaged to some asshole once upon a time. Callum knew that none of it mattered now. She loved him, of that he was certain. But he acted like an asshole, and he had hurt her with his careless words. Words he knew he could never take back.

He lay there in his bed after yet another sleepless night, wishing he could go back three days. He would do everything so differently. He would have told her that he loved her and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He would have asked her to marry him and to be Macy’s mother.

He had it all in the tips of his fingers, but he had blown it.

Glancing over at the clock on his nightstand, he could see it was almost six a.m. He knew he was not going to get any more sleep at this stage, so he decided to get up. He glanced across at Macy, who was fast asleep on the far side of his bed and sighed. At least he had finally managed to calm her down long enough for her to get some sleep.

Then his eyes fell to the tatty bear she was holding onto tightly in her tiny, little hand, and his heart ached as his mind instantly went to Georgie once more.

He missed her so much; he could barely breathe. He wondered where she was, and if she was okay. He wondered if she missed them as much as they missed her.

Callum knew that going on without her just wasn’t an option. He just didn’t know how to fix what he had broken.

Then he thought about Carolynn; about how he had let her walk away too, almost five years before, and how that had been the biggest regret of his life.

Until now! He thought miserably as he pushed up from the bed. Letting Carolynn walk away had been one of the hardest decisions of his life, but it was nothing compared to the hurt he had inside him from losing Georgie.

Glancing back at Macy asleep in his bed, he knew he needed to fix this. He just didn’t know how.

Callum walked down the hallway towards Georgie room. He paused for a moment before pushing open the door and stepped inside. Everything was exactly how she had left it.

The smell of her perfume still lingered in the air. Breathing it in, Callum’s stomach tensed with frustration, as he longed to hold her in his arms. Then he thought about the phone call the night before, and his mood darkened more.

When his phone rang, and Georgie’s name flashed up on the screen, Callum’s heart almost burst out of his chest.

“Georgie!” He exclaimed into the phone the moment he answered it, feeling elated that she had finally called.

For the past two days, she had refused to take his call, nor had she replied to any of his text messages. But now she was ringing him, so finally he had a glimmer of hope. It didn’t last long.

“It’s not Georgie,” a strange voice said from the other end of the line. “It’s Erin; Georgie’s friend.”

“Erin, is she okay?” Callum asked, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice. “Please, can I talk to her?”

“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Erin sighed, but her voice was filled with sadness. “And honestly, no, she’s not okay. But that’s not why I’m calling. Georgie said she left some stuff, some of her belongings at your place. I was hoping; if it was convenient for you, I could collect them for her tomorrow morning.”

“Ye…Yeah,” Callum replied, a little thrown by the fact Georgie wouldn’t even talk to him. “I’ll be here all day, so anytime you want to drop by…”

“Thanks,” Erin replied, but there was something in her voice, something more. Like she wanted to say something but knew she shouldn’t.

“Can you do me a favour?” Callum asked, knowing this might be the only chance he had.

“Sure,” Erin replied, and Callum was surprised by the kindness in her voice. He was sure as Georgie’s friend; she would hate him as much as Georgie did.

Does Georgie hate me? He wondered to himself, but he knew he didn’t really want to know the answer.

“Can you tell Georgie that I’m sorry?” Callum asked the girl, hoping that somehow Georgie would listen to her if she wouldn’t listen to him. “Tell her that I love her, and I miss her more than I ever imagined possible.”

“Callum…” the girl said, sounding almost hesitant.

“Please,” Callum begged. “I just want her to know that I love her.”

“I’ll tell her,” Erin sighed once more. “I’ll call by about ten in the morning if that’s okay.”

“Okay,” Callum replied, before the girl said her goodbyes, then hung up the phone.

Callum looked around the room. He knew he needed to pack up the rest of her things, but it was just too hard.

“Mr. Murphy,” Annie said from the doorway of the bedroom. “Are you okay?”

“Not really, Annie,” Callum replied, turning to look at the lady, giving her a warm smile. When Annie called and heard that Georgie had left, she insisted on coming back to work. She assured Callum that the doctors didn’t think that her daughter would give birth for a few more days. “Georgie’s friend is coming by in a couple of hours to collect the rest of her things, so I need to pack them up for her.”

“I can do that for you,” Annie insisted as she walked further into the room.

“Thanks, Annie,” Callum replied, giving her a warm smile. “But I think it’s something I need to do myself. Who knows, maybe I’ll get some closure.”

“If you’re sure,” Annie said, giving him a sad smile before she turned and walked towards the door. She stopped when she reached it, turning back to look at Callum. “For what it’s worth, I think you and Georgie are meant to be together. I know she is angry and hurting right now, but that girl loves you. It was written all over her face.”

“Then why did she leave me?” Callum asked, giving Annie a questioning look.

“Sometimes love makes us do stupid things,” Annie shrugged. “Sometimes we hurt the ones we love the most. But if she is meant to be in your life, then love will find a way.”

“And what if she’s not?” Callum asked, hoping that Annie was right in what she said.

“You have to believe that she is,” Annie replied, smiling once more before she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Callum alone once more.

He wanted to believe that they would get past this. But for now, he needed to pack her things, and pray that it was not too late for them.

It was a little after ten when the buzzer on the intercom sounded. Callum was sitting at the breakfast table, trying desperately to get Macy to eat something.

“I’ll get it,” Annie said, wiping her hands on her apron before she headed for the door.

“Mace, please eat something,” Callum begged, knowing he was wasting his time.

“I want, Georgie,” Macy pouted, as tears danced in her eyes once more.

“I know you do, Sweet,” Callum sighed, giving her a sad smile. “I want her, too.”

Callum heard voices coming from the living room. He sighed, as he stood up, knowing he needed to get this over and done with as quickly as he could.

“What’s going on?” Liam asked, as Callum walked from the kitchen to the living room, and found him standing there, next to him was a pretty brunette that Callum recognised from the coffee shop.

“This is Georgie’s friend,” Callum explained. “She here to collect the rest of her stuff.”

“And you’re just going to give it to her?” Liam asked, giving him a questioning look. “So that’s it? Just like that, it’s done?”

“What else can I do, Liam?” Callum asked, wishing more than anything he could give his brother the answers he wanted. “I wish I could make her come back. I wish I could change everything that’s happened, but she won’t even talk to me.”

“You go, and you make her listen,” Liam insisted. “She doesn’t want this, neither of you do.”

Callum looked at Erin who gave him a sad smile. There was something in her eyes, something telling him that she wanted to say more, but once more she was biting her tongue.

“I guess you think I’m an asshole too,” Callum sighed, as he walked towards the stairs. He picked up the bag and the box filled with Georgie’s things from where he had left them a short while earlier.

“I don’t think you’re an asshole,” Erin replied, her voice filled with kindness. Callum turned back towards her, carrying the bag and box and smiled. “I don’t think anything.”

“Well I do,” Callum said, as he walked back towards her. “So, you wouldn’t be alone.”

She took the bag from Callum, then the box, before she gave him another smile.

“Thanks,” she said, giving him a nervous smile.

“Is she…is she okay?” Callum asked, wishing he could grab this girl, and make her tell him where Georgie was.

“No,” the girl replied honestly, and Callum's heart broke. “She said she didn’t want to talk about it, but I know she is as heartbroken as…well as you appear to be. I don’t know what happened between you two, but I know no matter what Georgie may say, she doesn’t want this either.”

“Then tell me where she is,” Callum begged. “If I could just talk to her…”

“I can’t,” Erin replied, giving him a sad smile. “I promised her that I wouldn’t say.”

“But if I could tell her that I behaved like a complete dick...” Callum tried to reason with her, but it was no use.

“I’m sorry,” Erin replied, smiling once more. “I should be going.”

“You can’t let her just leave,” Liam insisted before Erin could turn to leave. “She knows where Georgie is.”

“She doesn’t want to talk to me, Liam,” Callum insisted. “Even if she tells me, then what?”

“You go, and you tell Georgie that you love her,” Liam replied, giving his brother a pleading look. “Tell her that your life has no meaning without her. Tell her that she needs to come home to her family.”

Callum knew Liam was right. He needed to make her see she belong there with them. They were her family now, whether she believed it or not.

“Erin, please,” Callum begged, looking back at the girl. “I love her, and I want her to come home.”

“I can’t tell you where she is…” the girl said hesitating for a moment, but the look in her eyes told Callum she was torn. “Because there is no point. She is not at my apartment anymore. She is going home.”

The girl stopped and looked at her watch.

“Her flight is in an hour,” Erin said, looking up at Callum once more.

“You can leave her stuff, Erin,” he said as he grabbed her, and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m going to bring my girl home.”

He hurried past, the girl but stopped and turned back to her.

“Thank you,” he added, before turning, hurrying toward the kitchen. Wasting no time, he scooped Macy up in his arms. “Come on, Mace. Time to go get Georgie and bring her home.”

“YAY!” Macy squealed, smiling for the first time in three days.

When Callum returned to the hallway, he found Liam waiting for him.

“What are you doing?” Callum asked, giving him a questioning look.

“You’re not going to make it at this time of the day in less than an hour,” Liam announced, but then grinned. “At least not without sirens.”

“Thank you,” Callum replied, giving his brother a grateful smile. They hurried to the elevator, where Erin was waiting for it to arrive. When the doors opened, they all stepped inside. “Oh, and Liam, try not to kill us on the way there.”

“I’ll try my best.” Liam laughed, as the doors closed.