It's a special kind of fucked-up to look back on your past choices and realize you made some very wrong fucking moves…
I seem to have made a history of making the wrong choices when it comes to Callie Street. Am I still doing that? That seems to be the fifty-million-dollar question…
I pull into dairy bar’s parking lot and immediately spot Katie. She’s at a picnic table that’s off to itself under a big tree. As I get out and walk toward her, I find myself smiling because, sure enough, she has a huge ice cream cone of that crap she loves.
“Katie.”
“What are you doing here, Reed?”
“Callie called and said you needed a friend.”
“Good ole’ Callie,” she huffs, clearly upset.
“Is she right?”
“Depends on what question you’re asking. Is she right when she says I need to talk to Jake and tell him about a baby that he never wanted to begin with? Is she right when she took Jeff’s side over mine? I suppose she is. That’s what best friends are for, right? They step up and tell you when you’re wrong and being a bitch?”
“I can’t see Callie calling you a bitch, Katie. She loves you,” I mutter, planting my ass on the table and my feet on the bench beside where she’s sitting.
“You’re right. Callie’s a saint. It’d never occur to her to be human.”
“Katie—”
“Spare me, Reed. I don’t need you to defend the girl you’ve loved your entire life. Hell, the whole world loves Callie—even Jeff.”
“Do you really believe she has something going on with Jeff?”
She laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “Not Callie. She just has this thing about her that makes everyone love her.”
“Jeff loves you, Katie. He’s choosing you over his own brother,” I point out.
“God, Reed, stop. You’re just as bad as the rest of them. Everyone wants to preach to me about how I’m doing Jake wrong. How about how he did me? Doesn’t that count for anything?”
“Katie—”
“I showed you his letter. What the hell was I supposed to do differently? Jake made it clear where he stood when it came to having a family and being married. What were his words? Oh, yeah, I remember. Sorry Katie, I love you but that’s not the life I want. I don’t want to be married with kids. I have dreams and if I don’t live them, I will always regret it, and I’ll blame you for it. It’s just better we end it here. What would you have done, Reed? What the fuck would you have me do?” she asks, crying.
“You made an impossible choice. There’s no one that can judge you. Do I wish you had told Jake? Sure. But I’m not in your shoes. I’m not judging you.”
“You’re the only one. I don’t get it. Jeff wanted me to marry him for years. We break up, and I give him a chance to find someone else, and he says he still wants me. Now, he tells me I need to tell his brother the truth first. Well, fuck that. He either wants me as I am, or he doesn’t. I’m done letting the Ryan boys hurt me.”
“Isn’t this a conversation the two of us should be having, Katie? Not you and Reed?”
I jerk when I realize Jeff came up behind me.
“You and I already talked about it. I already know how you feel.”
“Katie, honey, I’ve loved you since before you even said one word to my brother. If you truly know that, we wouldn’t be having an issue now.”
“I think I’ll just be going,” I mutter as I ease off the table.
“The wedding rehearsal will be tomorrow night,” he says, and I nod.
“I didn’t agree to that,” Katie argues.
“No, you and Reed just accused Callie and me of sleeping together and made her decide to back out of the wedding.”
“Fuck!” Katie literally cringes. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I hope not. I would expect you to know that would never happen. Especially considering you know how hard it is for Callie to even be around us!” Jeff says, clearly pissed.
“We can have the rehearsal tonight, and I’ll apologize to her then,” Katie insists.
“What did you mean when you said it’s hard for Callie to be around you?” I find myself asking. I look between Jeff and Katie. Katie avoids my eyes, but Jeff looks straight at me, and he doesn’t blink.
“You know I love you like a brother, but this is none of your business.”
“If it’s about Callie, it concerns me.”
“No, it doesn’t. It stopped being your business when you left Macon behind.”
“You act as if she gave me a choice.”
“I think she did. What was it you told me she said to you, Reed? She couldn’t give you what you needed, right? Maybe what Callie needed was you to step up and say she was enough right then.”