Page 91 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
My father must have forgotten something. He was always leaving his wallet or his phone here.
I hurried down the stairs, wondering why he wouldn’t just use his damn key. He should know for certain now that I wouldn’t have female company over.
I got to the front door, unlocked it, and pulled it open. “What did you forget this time, Dad?”
It wasn’t my dad standing outside in the cold. It was Lina. She was wearing that navy jacket of hers and her thigh high boots. The scarf I’d bought her for Christmas was wrapped around her neck, and she had her hands in her pockets. She rocked forward on the balls of her feet and then back onto her heels. “Hey, Cal. I’m sorry to knock so late. I didn’t wake up Asher, did I?”
I shook my head. “No. He’s sound asleep upstairs. Are you okay?”
She nodded. Frowned. Shook her head. “I think so. I just… Can I come in?”
36
LINA
Cal looked about as shocked as I expected him to be.
“Uh. Yes. Of course. Come on in.” He moved aside, and I slipped between him and the door. He locked up behind me, took my jacket, and hung it where it had been hanging for weeks prior to me fleeing his house.
I stood awkwardly in the entranceway as he turned back to me. He gestured for me to go in ahead of him.
We went into the living room, and I sat down, pulling the sleeves of my sweater over my hands.
“You have me kind of worried,” Cal said as he sat down on the other end of the sofa and faced me. “Are you sure everything is all right? Nothing happened?”
I shook my head. “No. Nothing happened. I…” I trailed off.
“You what?” he asked.
“It’s going to sound stupid.” I forced myself to just get it out. “I had a dream about you.”
“A dream?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yes.”
He paused, and his blue eyes flicked back and forth between mine. “Was this a good sort of dream, or a bad dream?”
I rubbed my temples. Why had I thought coming here was a good idea? “I’m sorry. Forget the dream. It just reminded me of some things. Some memories came back. Memories of you.”
“Of me?” he asked.
I nodded. Why did he seem so surprised by everything I was saying? Maybe it was because he hadn’t expected to ever see me again. I hadn’t expected to come back here. That was for sure. “Yes, I remembered things about you. Flashes of things that I can’t make sense of on my own. But I remember why we broke up after high school. I remember that you went to Harvard. And I remember that I was in love with you. So, so in love with you.”
Cal raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m glad you’re starting to remember things, but I don’t think I understand why you’re here. Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to see you, Lina. I’m just confused.”
I sighed in frustration. “I know. I get it. I’m confused too. I’m here to get answers, Cal. Real answers. No bullshit this time. I need to know the truth of what happened between us so I can close that door. Or leave it open. I just need to know.”
He blinked at me, and I stared back.
“Cal, please tell me what happened between us fifteen years ago. Tell me why I haven’t been a part of your life for all that time.”
He looked down at his hands in his lap. “It wasn’t what I wanted.”
I waved his statement away. “It doesn’t matter what either of us wanted. All I care about is the truth. I need to start making sense of this. It’s getting harder and harder every day to get up and smile and act like everything is fine when everything is so not fine. It’s all falling apart, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Now, I finally found some memories. At least, I think they’re memories. I don’t know what’s real and what’s just a part of a dream. A figment of my imagination. Does that make any sense?”
He nodded. “Sure, it does.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
