Chapter Thirty-One

Callie:

College application deadlines were long passed, and I hadn't sent any in. Not a single one. It was a decision that Aunt Kat and Colby wouldn't understand, but I felt like there was something else I was supposed to be doing.

Graduation was only a couple months away, and I didn't know what would happen after that. Before the shooting, I may have done what was expected of me - go to a small school and get a degree in something I didn't particularly care about. That wasn't me anymore. I might not have known what I wanted, but I knew what I didn't want.

Would I stay in Gulf City? That was another question that had no answer. Was there anything for me here?

I looked toward Jamie's sleeping figure. Was he staying? If so, was that enough for me? I wanted something big for my life, but I also wanted him.

He shifted, groaning in his sleep, as the sheet dipped lower, revealing more of his bare skin. Unable to resist the urge, I reached out to touch the soft blond curls on his chest. He groaned again, shifting toward me. One eye cracked open.

“Mmmm, hi.”

I smiled at him, angling closer. We'd gone to his house after school. The intention was not to spend all afternoon making out in bed, but there we were. We'd fallen asleep. The sun was long gone, and the moon cast shadows across the room.

“I wish I could stay all night,” I whispered.

“You can.”

“Kat would kill me.” I laughed.

“Well.” He rolled over, pinning me to the bed. “We can't have that.”

I rose off the bed to kiss him, eliciting a moan when I bit his lip.

“Keep kissing me like that, and I'll never let you leave.” His voice was low.

“Kiss you like what?” I kissed him again. “Like this?”

He pushed closer, a growl ripping from his throat.

His hands ran up my skin underneath my top. I was so distracted I didn't hear the pounding on the door.

“Jamie, you in here?” Jay pushed open the door, freezing immediately. “Crap.”

“Jay,” I yelled.

“What the hell, man?” Jamie cursed.

Jay backed out quickly, shutting the door behind him. I scrambled from the bed, fumbling for my clothes on the ground. Jamie switched on the lamp by his bed and started getting dressed as well. Neither of us said anything. Weird didn't begin to cover it.

I was out the door before Jamie could stop me. Jay was waiting downstairs, his hands in his pockets. He gave me a sheepish grin and rocked back on his heels nervously.

“Oh, shut up,” I snapped, wanting to slap my best friend.

“I'm just surprised is all.” He laughed. “I knew you guys were kind of starting something, but wow.”

“Don't you be a jerk to him about this.” I grabbed his arm and made him follow me out the door. “Why are you even here?”

“Doesn't sound like you're happy to see me.”

“You know it's not like that. I'm always glad when you're around.”

“Spring break.” He shrugged.

“Us too. Today was our last day of school. Look, I've got to get home. Sunday I don't have to work. You want to hang out?”

“With you? Always.”

Jamie came out, and I waved goodbye as we got into his car so he could drive me home.

* * *

The house was dark when I got home save for a single light in the kitchen. I stood in the doorway, watching Aunt Kat sit hunched over at the table, papers spread out in front of her. She pressed the heels of her hands against both eyes and let out a troubled sigh.

“Dammit,” she muttered to herself.

“Everything okay?”

She jerked her head up sharply as if I'd shocked her. “Callie.”

As I moved further into the room, she quickly gathered up the papers in front of her, hiding them from view. “You're home late.” She was trying to distract me.

I walked to the fridge and pulled it open. Peering inside as the cold jolted me, I grabbed a bottle of water, but before the door could swing shut, I changed my mind and pulled out a beer instead. Kat raised an eyebrow as I unscrewed the cap and set the chilled bottle in front of her.

“You look like you could use it.”

She didn't argue, taking a long swig before looking at me again.

I sat across from her. “Now, what's wrong?”

“Not anything you should have to worry about.”

“Kat.”

“Callie.”

I leaned back in the chair, crossing my arms over my chest. If she wanted to be stubborn, so did I. “I have all night.”

“When did you get so grown up?” She laughed, brushing honeyed bangs out of her face.

“It's been quite the year.”

“Yes, it has.” Another sigh. “Maybe you do have a right to know.”

“Know what?” Colby appeared in the doorway.

“I might as well tell you both.” She gestured to an empty chair. “Sit down.”

“You're scaring me, Kat,” I said.

“When your mother died, she left everything to the two of you. I'm only the guardian. The will was written, so that control goes to you the day you graduate high school. That's coming quickly.” She slid a paper across the table, and I scooted closer to Colby so we could both read it. Numbers were arranged in columns with dates along the side.

“I don't understand what this says.” Irritation was starting to get the better of me.

Colby picked it up to examine it closer. After a long moment, he looked up at Kat. “That bad?”

She nodded. “The diner has lost money every summer since it was opened by your mother. That's nothing new, but it's always been rectified once the snowbirds come to town. Winter carries us the rest of the year. The last two winters have seen more loss than profit.”

She pulled out another sheet from the pile in front of her. I jumped out of my chair to go look over her shoulder. Colby stood and laid a hand on Kat's shoulder.

“These are the projections for the rest of the spring and summer. I'm not sure there's enough to keep the doors open.”

She slammed her fist down on the table.

I stared down at her, words failing me. The diner. Our diner. Mom's diner. It was home. And now it too would be gone.

A tear rolled down my cheek. “How did this happen?”

Kat's shoulders shook under Colby's grasp. He grabbed my hand, connecting the three of us.

“I'm so sorry kiddos,” Kat choked out. “I've failed you. I've failed my sister.”

“No one believes that, Kat,” Colby said, his steadiness keeping us from falling apart. “Look at me, both of you.” We did as he asked. “We're a team, right? We'll get through this.”

Kat placed a hand over his and I nodded slowly.

“There will be some decisions to make,” Kat said. “But first, I need to go make a phone call.”

She left us standing there, the foundation on which we'd stood less stable than it was before.

* * *

A desperate calm overtook me, and I donned my pajamas. A feeling of being out of control, but an acceptance that there was nothing to be done.

The rhythm that came with brushing my teeth brought about a welcome feeling of normalcy. Every night I did it. There was nothing different about tonight. Only there was. Hours ago, I'd been with Jamie, only worried about the future. Now it was the past that came unbidden to my mind.

The diner held many memories. Working there provided the stability I'd sorely needed in my life. The connection to my mother when not even the ocean called.

Kat's raised voice drifted through her door. “No. I already told you. We aren't using it for this.”

I inched closer, pushing the feeling of intrusion from my mind. Aunt Kat had kept enough from us.

“You don't understand,” she said, her voice low. There was a long moment of silence when the person on the other end of the call must've been talking. “That money is theirs. It will go toward their future. I will not sink another dime of it into keeping a failing business afloat.”

She let out a curse and then everything went silent. I pushed open her door.

“Who were you talking to?” I demanded.

“Callie.” She sighed. “Leave this alone.”

“No. Colby and I have a right to know things that will affect our lives. Maybe if you'd told us about the problems with the diner sooner, we wouldn't have been blindsided.”

She jerked back as if I'd slapped her.

“When you grow up, Callie, you'll learn quickly that just because you demand something, doesn't mean it's what you'll get. Leave. This. Alone.”

I spun around and stormed out of her room, slamming the door behind me. Stomping into Colby's room, I threw myself onto his bed.

“I'm so sick of these secrets,” I growled.

He looked up from his desk, removing his glasses as he did.

“I don't get it,” he said. “If the diner hasn't been making any money, how has Kat been paying the bills?”

“That's what I mean. She was on the phone talking to someone about us, and I got the feeling someone has been sending money.”

“Who, though? Grandma and grandpa didn't leave them anything. There's no more family that we know of.”

I leaned forward conspiratorially. “That we know.”

He picked up on my meaning. “You think?”

“We need to find out.”

“Kat and Noah are going down to Tampa for a couple of days this week.” Colby wasn't usually one for breaking the rules.

“We can go through the stuff in the attic.”

“Monday.” He nodded.

Waiting that long was going to be torture.