One Step Closer(90)

Macy swallowed and pursed her lips, before picking up her wine glass again. She was livid, and Caleb could see anger simmering in her eyes.

“Calm down,” he coaxed. “This isn’t the place to fight.”

“I don’t want to fight. I want you to wake up. What do you expect to happen? Wren got what she wanted. Do you think she’ll be running to you now? She doesn’t need you anymore.”

Caleb’s teeth clenched, then he grabbed his glass and slammed his drink. “You know nothing about her. She never asked for anything.”

Macy laughed bitterly. “She doesn’t have to! You’re so blind. I never took you for a fool. Maybe she was doing your dad to steal everything from you. Ever think of that?”

“Enough!” he seethed. Macy was grasping at straws and he wasn’t about to fall for it. She would never make him doubt Wren, no matter what she said. “You won’t change my mind by being a bitch about Wren. The opposite is true. It was my decision that she inherits half of everything, not my father’s. He gave me the choice. What the hell do you think I’ve been agonizing over since we got here?”

“What?” she asked, her words halting in surprise. “Why? Out of some idiotic sense of duty?”

“No. To keep her in my life!” he burst out and Macy looked as if he’d slapped her. “I don’t have to explain anything to you, and I wouldn’t expect you to understand even if I tried.”

Macy paused for a few seconds as she processed his words, and more, his conviction. She could see him soften whenever he spoke about Wren, but she didn’t understand. “Cale…” she began, but he put up his hand to stop her.

“Don’t call me Cale, Macy.”

She poured herself another glass of wine, her feelings clearly hurt.

“I’m sorry. No one ever calls me Cale, except Wren.”

“So, you’re just going to give up everything for her?”

“I don’t look at it like that. She’s been a huge part of my life for ten years. It’s just the way it is.”

“Then why didn’t I know anything about her?”

“Because I keep my relationship with her close to the cuff. Growing up, even Dex didn’t know the truth. Don’t take it personally.” Even as he said the words, he knew it sounded absurd. Their relationship was casual, but they’d been intimate and now it was over. How could she not take it personally?

“What happens now? You’re giving up your job?”

“Yes,” he answered shortly.

“I can help you pack your things, if you want.” She appeared resigned to the inevitability of the situation and the finality of his decision, but helping him would keep the connection open.

The waiter showed up at the side of their table with their meal and sat a plate down in front of Macy first, then Caleb.

“Sir, would you care for another drink?”

“I would, thank you.” His appetite was dwindling after the conversation and he just wanted to get through the meal and check on Wren. “I think you should fly out in the morning and then in a few days, I’ll go back, give notice at the firm, and put my apartment on the market.”

“I see. Just like flipping a switch, everything is all f*cked up?”

“Macy, I’m truly sorry. This wasn’t planned, you know that.” Caleb watched her face and he honestly felt bad for her. In the short time he’d known her, he would have sworn she wasn’t the type to get overly emotional and could have sworn they’d been on the same page.

“I thought we had a good thing.”

He had the grace to feel guilty. Truthfully, he didn’t love her, and he never said he did, and they did have fun together, but the events of the past few days had changed the course of his life forever. “We had fun, but we both know it wasn’t serious.” He felt like he was trying to close a deal, but there was no way to make it a win, win.

“You don’t have to be a prick about it, Caleb.” Her mouth pursed and the look she shot him was filled with hatred.

“I didn’t think I was.”

She picked up her fork, looked at her plate for a few seconds, and then sat it down beside it. “Can we just go?”

“Yes.” Caleb could barely hold in a sigh of relief.

When the waiter brought his new drink, he requested the bill.

***

ON THE WAY BACK to the house, Wren sat in quiet contemplation for most of the drive home.

It was too dark to see the outline of the mountains from the right side of the car as she looked out the window, but the city lights raced by as Jared drove on the highway. Jonesy reached out and placed an old hand over Wren’s young one when they only had a few blocks to go.

“Quite a day, wasn’t it?” she asked. “A penny for your thoughts.”

Wren turned her head to look at Jonesy whose features were shadowed due to the night and the dark windows of the limousine, which kept most of the passing lights from reaching the inside of the vehicle. Wren smiled sadly.

“My mind should be racing, I guess. I should be worried that this inheritance means I’ll have to give up the ballet or that my mother will try to pressure me to support her, but all I can think about is Caleb and Macy.”

Jonesy understood. Macy was like a clinging vine on the young man all day and she could sense Wren’s trepidation. “I understand, dear, but don’t worry about anything. You’ll talk to Caleb and he’ll take care of everything.”