One Step Closer(29)
“Woman? Does the white car on the front driveway belong to her?”
“Yes. She arrived about an hour before you, after Caleb had already gone. Her name is Macy. I’m not sure if she is a friend or something to do with his work. But what I do know is she is nosy and bossy. She’s been snooping around this house and asking all sorts of inappropriate questions, like she owns the place. She asked where Caleb’s room was, but I put her in one of the spare bedrooms at the back of the house.” Jonesy’s disapproval was evident.
Wren’s eyebrows rose and she inhaled a short breath. “I’d guess they’re more than friends if she expected to stay in his room.” Wren swallowed. She couldn’t help the stab of pain that shot through her at the thought of anyone else sleeping with him in that bed, after the night they’d spent together. Wren’s heart did an involuntary plummet, but she tried to hide it. Her hope of private time to speak with Caleb alone, dashed.
“Mighty presumptuous, if you ask me.” The old woman sniffed. “You’ll meet her soon enough, but for now leave her to me. You just relax for a while and get situated.”
“Okay. Thank you, Jonesy.” Wren leaned forward and gave the old housekeeper a big hug. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“I love you, doll.” Jonesy wrapped her plump arms around Wren’s thin body in a tight hug. “I’m gonna make you a big dinner and a cake. You’re way too thin,” she said again. “I thought those days were over.” As she pulled away, Jonesy’s face twisted in a wry expression.
“Of course. I do have to stay trim, but dancing as much as I do, I can eat more than you might think. But no cake.” She smiled and then yawned, her eyes closing and her hand coming up to cover her mouth. “Oh, excuse me. I’m so tired.”
“Nonsense. I’ll bring you up a snack and some water while you’re in the shower, and then you can have a nice long rest. I’ll plan dinner for eight, and I am making cake, and you’ll have a nice big piece, young lady! That’s that!” With a wink and a bright smile, she exited the room, her arms full of clothes, leaving Wren to her thoughts.
Her room was much the way she left it and she’d find some clothes to kick around the house in, though she’d have to go shopping before the funeral for a suitable dress. Her first pair of ballet slippers hung, tattered and worn, over the mirror on her dressing table, which was lined with tickets to various ballets and concerts that she’d attended with Caleb. After he’d left for MIT, Edison had attended some with her and through it was awkward and stiff in the beginning, it was one of those occasions without her mother’s shrewish presence, when Wren got to know the older man and discovered some of the secrets that he should have shared with Caleb.
Wren was filled with regret for them both. Full of sorrow at the loss of the only father-figure she had ever known, for the regret Caleb must surely be suffering now that Edison had died, and for the loss of Caleb in her own life. No matter what had gone on between them, he was still the most important person she’d ever known, and something had to be done to fix things between them.
Maybe Edison’s death, though a great loss and tragedy, would give them another chance. They were both older, and she hoped they’d be able to forgive each other enough to know each other again, at least. Though, now, with this woman, Macy here, it might not be as she’d wished. She closed her eyes at the thought. Caleb had been the center of her world for so long, and she missed him more than she wanted to admit.
Wren sighed. She was glad to be back home in Colorado, though she was nervous about seeing Caleb after so long. Rising from the bed to walk to the window she looked out over the back yard with the pool house and large multi-layered deck, with the Rocky Mountains majestic in the background. That pool house was where her world changed forever, when she realized how much Caleb really meant to her. That was a night she’d never forget, and a memory she’d cling to for life.
IT WAS STILL LIGHT out, though the sun was low on the western horizon, as Caleb finished his run, enjoying the crisp air and scenery. The neighborhood hadn’t changed that much since he left, but still it felt different.
He pounded out the path he was familiar with; subconsciously unaware of even where he was going, but then added a few more miles in the opposite direction because the responsibility of the coming days weighed on him heavily. The decision to continue running longer than he normally would, briefly registered in Caleb’s mind; his thoughts were consumed with his father’s death, and the uncertain future in front of him.
Macy’s connection had been grounded due to a large line of thunderstorms and she was stuck in Phoenix, and rather than spend the night sitting at the airport waiting in case the weather cleared, he’d encouraged her to stay at the Hilton at the airport and try to catch another flight when the weather cleared this morning.
He rationalized that he was being considerate, but really, he was hoping he’d get a chance to speak to Wren in private before Macy arrived. Though, he conceded, if weather was a problem in Phoenix, the chances of Wren’s flight being delayed out of LAX would be likely, as well. That worry was dismissed when the driver from the limo company had called to let him know he’d safely delivered her to his father’s estate. That might have been the reason for his extra-long run. He wanted to see her, but it had been two years, and they hadn’t parted on the best of terms. Over that time, their phone calls had moments of closeness and regret, but most of the time, the distance between them boomed, making communication awkward. Caleb f*cking hated it.