Just One Year(64)

“What’s the point? It’s not like we can be together. I’m not likely able to get approval to go to the US anymore. She’d have to dump this new guy and leave everything she knows to follow me—a bloke who’s already abandoned her—across the pond. How does that make sense?”

My mother placed her hand on my arm. “Love doesn’t make sense, my boy. People have done crazier things for love than move across an ocean.”

Pressure built in my chest. On one hand, I knew she was right, and I needed to fight. But the seeds of doubt, of self-loathing, were growing. “I miss her.”

“You love her?”

I closed my eyes and nodded. “I do.”

“You never told her?”

“Not in those words, no.”

My mother looked stricken. “You’ve spent a good portion of your life trying to punish yourself for what happened with Emma. It’s time you stopped sabotaging yourself. If you’re in love with Teagan, you should tell her and let her make the decision as to whether she’d like to try to make things work. It’s likely she never suggested coming to England because you never gave her the option, am I right?”

“You would be right.”

“Why would a girl offer to move for someone who never told her he loves her?”

I didn’t have an answer. I’d always told myself I’d find my way back to Teagan. But seeing her happy with someone else made me second-guess everything. Regardless of what I wanted or what my mother believed, I knew contacting Teagan now and disrupting her happiness wasn’t the right decision.

So, I wouldn’t.





CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT




* * *



TEAGAN




As I stared into the lights of the tree, I could hardly believe it had been a year since last Christmas. It seemed like yesterday that Caleb and I were exchanging gifts down in my room. Playing with the snail necklace around my neck, I wondered what he was doing tonight. Wherever Caleb was, I hoped he was happy.

I knew Christmas was hard for him. I’d been more tempted tonight than ever to contact him again—especially since his social media pages were back up. Whatever had caused him to remove them remained a mystery. The whole thing seemed bizarre, but he’d made a decision to cut ties, and I had to trust he had a good reason.

Since ending my relationship with Ethan, I hadn’t dated anyone else. I knew now that I really shouldn’t settle. As hard as it was to leave a decent guy, I knew it was the best decision for me and also for him. Ethan deserved a girlfriend who could give him all of herself, something I hadn’t been willing to do.

My dad sat next to me on the couch as we waited for the neighbors to arrive for our annual Christmas Eve party.

With an eggnog in hand, he asked, “How’s my girl?”

“Hey, Dad.”

He tilted his head. “You look down.”

“I’m okay. Just thinking about stuff.”

“Would stuff happen to have an alter ego named Caleb Yates?”

My father was definitely more astute than I’d given him credit for.

“He’s crossed my mind tonight, yeah.”

“Maura told me you haven’t heard from him in a long time.”

“Yeah. At first I thought there might be something wrong, but I called his house. His father said he was away for the weekend. Then all the social media pages he’d taken down reappeared. He still hasn’t bothered to contact me, so I’m guessing he felt it best to cut ties.”

“It’s hard when someone you care about does that.”

Ah, yes. My father could relate to this feeling. “I know you understand what this is like.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “But you know, a wonderful thing came out of Ariadne disappearing. Not only did she leave me with the most beautiful gift—you—but she left the door open for me to meet the true love of my life.”

I smiled. “That’s true, isn’t it?”

“And of course, Shelley became the other wonderful result of that situation.”

“It’s hard to imagine life without that rug rat.” I laughed.

“Yep.” He grinned. “Things will work out the way they’re supposed to. You have to trust in that.”

I really wanted to believe it. “Thanks, Dad. I’ll try.”

As much as I knew the right thing was to stay upstairs and mingle with all the arriving guests, I found myself going back down to my room for a while, though I told myself I would rejoin them later.

Lying on my bed, I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind, which had been focused on Caleb all night. Fondling the snail necklace, I ended up nodding off.

I had no idea how long I’d been asleep when my phone rang, waking me up.

The number on the screen was one I didn’t recognize. Typically, I wouldn’t have answered, except this number was unique: it was a UK number. When that sank in, my heart nearly skipped a beat as I picked up.

“Hello?”

His voice was low and gravelly. “Teagan…”

It took a few seconds for it to register. He’d only uttered my name, but it was the most beautiful sound.

“Caleb?” It came out in a whisper. My voice was weak, my body was weak—everything felt weak.