Page 53 of Caleb's Salvation
“What?” I snapped. The door opened and Eli poked his head in.
“Hey, just checking on how Vivienne was doing. Sammy seemed his normal self last night. Wanted to make sure she wasn’t rushing back to work.”
“What the fuck do you care? Don’t you already have a woman to worry about?”
I watched his head snap back and closed my eyes when I realized how close to the edge I was.
She thought I was like the scumbag who’d knocked her up because I didn’t want anyone seeing us leaving Bud’s together. I was only doing that for her protection. So when things ended, people wouldn’t have to realize she’d been dumped.
And that was pretty fucking arrogant of me. Who was to say I would be the one to end it? Maybe she’d get tired of an old man with a fuck-ton of baggage and dump my ass to the curb sooner rather than later.
“Shit,” I mumbled. “I’m sorry.”
Eli shut the door behind him and leaned on it. “You want to tear a strip off me just for fun. I’m here,” he said, putting his arms out.
“You and that damn contest!” I shouted at him, just because I could. I stood, agitated, and started pacing behind my desk. “Everything was fine up here. Quiet. Normal. Winter was winter and everyone knew what to expect. Now Bud is handing out fucking special-of-the-day menus. There are kids running around getting people sick. Now we have nannies and waitresses. Gert’s stocking fucking tampons and condoms. When the fuck did that happen?”
“When we asked Gert to start stocking tampons and condoms,” Eli said casually. “Cal, have you ever thought—”
“What?” I snapped. “Thought what?”
“Have you ever thought about wanting to be happy again?”
“I was fucking happy before the damn contest!” I railed.
“No, you weren’t!” Eli shouted back. “You were fucking miserable every day and we all knew you liked it that way so we let it be. You don’t smile, you don’t laugh, you have no fucking joy! And I get that it was torn away from you and no, not for one second would I know how to move on if something happened to Shelby. I only know where you are now. The chance for happiness is staring you in the face. She’s serving your beers first and sitting next to you when you play cards. And the second she was in trouble, you dropped everything and ran to her. You want her. You think we’re all oblivious to that? The only thing more obvious is the fact that she wants you, too, you miserable sonofabitch. And why that is, none of us can figure out.”
“Get out,” I snarled.
“Sure thing, boss. But first I wanted to show you this.”
He pulled a box out of his back pocket and set it on the desk. A jewelry box.
“Took longer than I expected to find the one I wanted,” he said.
Tentatively, I reached out to open it. A beautiful, round diamond in a white gold setting sat nestled in the silk interior.
“You’re always fucking calling meson, so I thought…I thought I would show you. That’s what happiness looks like, Cal. It looks like a future with someone instead of a dismal existence of isolation and self-punishment.”
I shut the box and handed it to him, my fury evaporated in the face of such optimism.
“Congratulations.” I waited a beat. “Son.”
Angel smirked, then took the box. “We’re going hiking tomorrow. I’m going to do it then. Hoping everyone can meet up at Bud’s to celebrate after.”
I nodded. My personal shit aside, I wasn’t not going to be there to wish him and Shelby well. I knew what it was like to be that excited about the future and everything it entailed.
“You deserve to be happy. So does Shelby.”
He nodded. “You’re right. And you do, too.”
With that, he left, and I sank into my office chair.
He was wrong. I didn’t deserve it. But those hours last night fucking Vivienne, having her touch me, getting her to admit she wanted her ass smacked.
I’d been more than sated. More than relieved to have finally gotten laid.
I turned around and picked up our picture from the shelf. Me, Sarah and Emily all smiling.
