Chapter Fourteen
Cash left Callie’s place with a casual smile on his face, which disappeared the minute the door shut behind him.
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.
In his truck, he started the engine, then slammed a hand down on the steering wheel. Fuck again! His hand still hurt from the fight yesterday, and now more pain radiated up his arm. He shook off the pain, cursing himself.
They’d nearly been caught in bed by Callie’s mother. He didn’t give a shit about that, other than…well, there were a lot of reasons he had to give a shit about it.
It was hard to think of what had happened between them last night—and this morning—as a mistake, because, holy hell, it had been fucking amazing. It had been everything he’d ever dreamed of. No, more…more than he’d ever dared dream of; even allowing himself to dream of her was terrifying in its risk. Being with Callie had been heart-tripping and mind-scrambling and soul-scorching. It was almost hard to believe it had really happened, after years of longing, hopeless lust, and restless misery.
He backed out of Callie’s driveway, careful to avoid Mrs. Sutherland’s Mercedes parked on the street, and started for home.
Last time they’d blamed the hormones after Callie’s tattoo. This time…okay, he’d admit to being pretty hopped-up on testosterone and adrenaline after that fight yesterday, not to mention that crazy surge of protectiveness that had led to the fight… Hell. He’d been enraged that those douche canoes had been coming on to her when he’d left her alone for a few minutes. He shouldn’t have left her alone. Ever.
Fuck.
Okay, maybe he’d overreacted a bit, but she’d clearly been trying to get rid of them, and they were drunk and not listening to her. And there was no way in fucking hell that he’d ever leave Callie unprotected.
He sucked in a breath and let it out, then rolled his head to loosen the tension in his neck. What was done was done.
He had shit to do today, so maybe it was just as well that her mother stopped by and propelled his ass out of Callie’s bed. Glancing at the clock on the dash, he saw it was nearly two in the afternoon. He’d promised his mom he’d come by and help her with some computer problems she was having, plus he had a bunch of work he’d planned to get done yesterday after that client lunch. That hadn’t happened.
At home, he changed out of the dress pants and shirt he’d had on yesterday for his client lunch, rolling his eyes at the blood on the shirt. He showered and dressed in a loose pair of cargo shorts and a T-shirt and called his mom to make sure she still wanted him to come over. She sounded a little weird but said she still needed help, so he jumped back into his truck and drove to her place.
He gratefully accepted the big glass of sweet tea she offered him and sat in front of her computer. “So what’s the problem?”
“My internet browser is all messed up, and I can’t figure out how to fix it.”
Cash smiled and started clicking. In a few minutes he had the settings back the way she preferred them. “You want this as your home page?” he asked.
“I guess so.”
While he was there, he ran her antivirus software, installed about fifty updates that were waiting—okay, maybe five—and did a cleanup. As he was working on these things, his mom perched on the desk near him. “Um, Cash?”
“Yeah?”
“I heard from your father the other day.”
His head jerked back. “Seriously? Why? Is he dying?”
Mama grimaced. “No, he’s fine. At least, if he’s not fine, he didn’t say that. He, uh, wants to get in touch with you and Ginnie.”
“What the fuck?” He shook his head. “Sorry.”
“That was pretty much my reaction, too.”
“Why? Why now?”
“He wants his son to meet you. Your brother.”
“Half brother. Jesus.”
“Brandon is twelve now, and your father wants you all to know one another.”
“That’s bullshit.”
Mama winced. “I don’t know. Your father seems pretty convinced it’s a good idea.”
He studied Mama’s monitor as the cleaning program scanned her hard drive. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know. I guess a twelve-year-old boy is a pretty innocent party in this mess. He wasn’t responsible for your father cheating. He can’t help what happened, and wanting to know his brother and sister is a reasonable wish.”
Cash didn’t know what to think. “Fuck,” he muttered. “I have no desire to meet him. And I have no desire to see Dad again after all these years. He’s been out of my life for a long time.”
“I know that. And I understand.” She paused. “I can tell him that, if you want. Or I can give him your email or phone number and you could tell him that yourself.”
“I don’t want to talk to him.” Even as he said the words, he realized how childish they sounded. He was twenty-eight years old, man enough to talk to the father who’d walked out on them and tell him how he felt about this fuckery. “But hell, give him my number. He can call me if he wants. He doesn’t need to drag you into it.”
“He didn’t know how else to reach you.”
“Jesus. A Google search would bring up my name and the company. He could’ve called me at work or emailed me through the website.”
“Ah…you’re right.” She nibbled her bottom lip.
“So why’d he contact you and not me? What’s happening with his marriage?”
“I don’t know.”
“He better not be thinking he wants to get back together with you.”
“I hardly think so after all these years. And he gave no hint of anything like that.”
“Okay, then he’s just stupid.”
“Cash.”
He shrugged and clicked the mouse to delete a bunch of cookies. “Whatever. Have you told Ginnie?”
“Not yet.”
He sighed. “You want me to?”
“No, I’ll do it. I’ll call her tonight.”
“I just talked to her last night. She’ll be home in two weeks for your birthday. Well, give him my number and tell him to leave you alone.”
She huffed out a laugh. “Okay, I’ll do that. Believe me, I’m not interested in seeing him, either. But he’s your father, and you do have a brother—okay, half brother—and I didn’t want to make that call for you, so I said I’d talk to you.”
“Done.”
His gut twisted into knots at the idea of talking to his father after twelve years of never hearing from him. Asshole. How could he even think of trying to have any kind of relationship at this point?
He turned and fixed his gaze on his mom. “You okay? Did he upset you?”
Her face softened, and she smiled. “I’m fine.”
“What do you want for your birthday?”
“Nothing. There’s nothing I need.”
“I know, but what do you want?”
“You bought me this condo. You certainly don’t need to spend more money on me.”
“Okay.” Diamond earrings it was, then. “I think your computer is all set now.”
“Thank you. Will you stay for dinner?”
“I wish I could, but I have a ton of work to do. I intended to do it yesterday, and then I got…sidetracked.”
She grinned. “By a girl?”
He shook his head. If he admitted that, Mama would be all over it like a duck on a June bug. “Just stuff.”
“Darn.”
He grinned.
“I know you go out with a lot of girls, but I never get to meet them.”
He kept his tone light. “Guess they weren’t special enough.”
Hell. He’d fucked around a lot, mostly trying to forget Callie. It had never really worked, and now that he’d slept with her, how the hell was he ever going to get over her? Christ. He’d well and truly screwed himself. He rubbed his forehead.
“What’s wrong?” Mama gazed at him with her eyebrows pulled together.
“Nothing.” He forced a smile. “Nothing at all. Okay, I’m outta here. Don’t forget the big birthday bash coming up.” He headed to the door.
“It’s going to be so much fun! Are you sure you don’t want me to do anything?”
“Nope. We’ve got it all under control. Bye, Mama.” He gave her a quick hug and headed out.
His thoughts immediately went back to his father. Jesus fucking Christ. Twelve years later he wanted to connect. And although Cash’s first reaction was to say hell no, he had to admit to some curiosity about the man. He had memories of his father, of course, and mostly good ones, even though he wanted to hate the guy. He still had dreams about his dad that seemed so real, bizarre dreams that made no sense given how life had gone.
He also had to admit curiosity about his brother, which led him to his own computer when he got home and a Facebook search. While he might have thought once or twice about looking up his father, he’d deliberately refrained from doing so. Now he found him on Facebook and found his kid—Brandon Hale. He couldn’t see much of his info, since his privacy settings were all locked down. Which was a good thing.
He stared at the picture of his father. Some might say there was a family resemblance…he had the same chin, same eyes behind a pair of rectangular glasses…maybe same nose, it was hard to tell. Short, graying hair that had probably been dark brown like his own.
He had no intention of having any kind of relationship with his father, and he’d tell him that clearly if the asshole ever called. Which he had his doubts about, considering the past. As for his brother…his gaze lingered on the small profile picture of the boy.
He didn’t know what to think about that.
Since he was on Facebook, he found Callie’s profile and brought it up. A picture of the wedding cake she’d dropped off yesterday greeted him. He smiled. Then he sent her a private message.
Hey. How are you? You make out okay with your mom?
He didn’t know if she’d answer right away, but she must have been online.
Weeeell…she freaked out about my tattoo, and then she freaked out about my business. But yeah…okay.
She ask more questions about why I was there?
No. She gave me shit for looking like a mess with you here. :)
He smiled.
Little did she know I’m the one who messed you up.
She’d freak out about that, too.
No doubt. Hey…I got some weird news today. About my dad.
What?
He wants to see me.
Shut up!
No shit. He wants his kid to meet me and Ginnie.
Whoa.
I know, right?
Are you going to do it?
I don’t know.
His cell phone rang, and he picked it up. Callie. He smiled as he answered the call. “Hey.”
“Are you freaked out?”
“About my dad? Um, sort of. I mean, I don’t give a shit about him. But…”
“Your brother.”
“Yeah. Half brother. I’m kinda curious.”
“I get that. Wow, Cash.”
“Mama says the kid isn’t to blame for what happened.”
“That’s true.” She paused. “Having a brother is kind of cool. I miss mine.”
“Aw.” He knew how much she missed Griff. He rubbed his face. “I know, darlin’. I’m just confused about it all.”
“That is totally understandable. It’s so funny, you just told me about all that yesterday, and then this happens.”
“Ha. Funny.” He’d never really talked to many people about his family. Beau knew the story from back in college but had apparently never talked to Callie about it. Cash liked that she knew it. It gave him a weird fizzy feeling in his chest that she was so supportive and understanding. Not judging him. Just caring.
It was one more thing they shared—a dysfunctional family. Although she’d made light of her own family issues, he wasn’t sure who had the better or worse deal—a father who’d cheated on his wife and left, abandoning his kids, or a father who’d cheated on his wife and stayed but ignored his kids. Parents who were there but not there, or one parent who was painfully absent but a mother who’d been there for him and Ginnie no matter what. “Well, I’m not holding my breath that he’ll actually call. It took him twelve years to make this move. Who knows.”
“How did you hear this?”
“From my mom. Went over there to help her with some computer stuff, and she told me. She’s going to give him my number.”
“He couldn’t track you down himself?”
“That’s what I said! Maybe he’s an idiot.”
“Somehow I doubt it, considering you’re pretty much a genius.”
“Ha again.”
“You okay?” Her voice went gentle.
“Hell, yeah.” Maybe. Sort of. He’d wanted to talk to her, and it felt good doing that. “Thanks for listening.”
“Anytime. You know that. You were there for me when my marriage fell apart. I’m here for you anytime.”
He cleared his throat. “Thanks.”
He liked the sound of that way too much.