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Calista used her bare hands to wipe the snow off the shared gravestone that lay flat on the ground, cursing the snow as she swept. He knew Dr. Zane had purchased the simple headstone several years ago, realizing Calista couldn’t afford it. Tristan had offered to give her the money, but she’d refused. She’d never wanted their relationship to be about money. Stella and Jonathon had been no help. Their lives, at the time, revolved around themselves as they were trying to deal with a newborn and adjust to married life at such a young age. So when Calista’s mom, Vera, passed away and joined her late husband, all the arrangements and expenses for the funeral had fallen on Calista.
Calista arranged some newly cut daisies on the grave. “I wonder who placed these here?” she asked out loud.
Tristan wondered too. He doubted Stella had in her numb state.
“Hi, Mom and Dad,” Calista’s voice broke. “I bet you’re laughing at me. Remember when I said I would never move back home? Well, here I am. Mom, I can hear you now, saying, ‘Not all promises are in your best interest.’ I thought you only meant that when I was five and promised I would never wear socks for the rest of my life. By the way, I still hate socks and only wear them when I absolutely have to.”
Tristan had to stifle his laugh, and even a grimace. He couldn’t count the number of times, while they were dating, that she had placed her frozen feet under his legs, trying to warm her icicle toes. Anything not to wear socks. He still shivered, thinking about it.
“And … I’m still not sure if moving to Aspen Lake is in my best interest. What am I doing here? I broke another promise today,” she lamented. “I looked at Tristan,” she spewed his name like she was spitting out rotten food.
Ouch. That hurt.
“Don’t worry, though; I’ve resolved to never make that mistake again. This is definitely one of those times a promise is in my best interest. Anyway, let’s not talk about him.”
Tristan stretched his neck from side to side, thinking maybe he shouldn’t have followed her. He knew he had no right, but now that she was back in town, the pull she’d always had on him was back in full force. All he wanted was for Calista to look at him, even if it was only to scowl at him. Anything to stare into her unusual hazel eyes that swirled with deep greens, blues, and browns. Quinn’s were similar to her aunt’s, but there was something mystical about Calista’s. Her eyes begged for him to get lost in them and never return. He wasn’t sure he had ever made it back. He was still lost in Calista.
“I’m worried about Stella and Quinn. Living at their house is worse than I ever imagined, and not because it looks like a Pottery Barn threw up all over it. Okay, so that was another promise I broke when I said I would never step foot in one of those stores. I confess, I bought a headboard from that overpriced place. But in my defense, it was at one of their outlets in Arizona, and on sale, and there was a tiny nick in it. So it really doesn’t count.”
Tristan smiled. He would have loved to have seen her walk into a Pottery Barn. It surprised him that hell hadn’t frozen over when she had.
“This is all beside the point,” Calista continued. “My point is that Stella’s house is so sterile. It’s like they all died. Even our sweet Quinn. I feel like I need to bust out some construction paper and make toilet paper roll turkeys with her. Anything to make her smile. I know they think there isn’t much to be thankful for right now, but Dad, you always used to say that gratitude gives us perspective and even heals. If ever anyone needed healing right now, it’s Stella and Quinn,” Calista said, as if her heart was breaking. “What do I do? It’s so frustrating knowing I can help heal cuts and bruises, infections, and even broken bones. But I have no idea how to heal their broken hearts right now. Or at the very least, breathe some life back into them.”
Tristan had had some of the same thoughts over the last several months, especially about Quinn. She was like the daughter he never had. His little buddy. He was the one who had taught her how to ride a bike and a horse. He’d taught her how to ski both in snow and on the water, just like he’d taught her aunt. They were some of the best times of his life. Happier times.
Calista was right: Quinn needed help. Maybe together they could come up with a plan. Surely, for Quinn’s sake, she would talk to him. Not that he would use their niece to get to Calista, especially given that her dad had just died. He was genuinely worried about Quinn and wanted to do whatever he could to help her.
With Quinn’s best interests in mind, he stepped out from behind the tree. “Hi,” he said, out of breath, like he’d just finished his first marathon instead of his tenth. He hated feeling like a pubescent boy approaching his first crush, but there he was.
Calista stiffened but didn’t turn around.
He didn’t really expect her to. After all, she’d just promised to never look at him again. He’d almost be disappointed if that was all it took. Calista’s feisty side was his favorite side.
Tristan ran a hand through his snow-covered hair. “I know I’m the last person you want to see, but now that you’re living back in Aspen Lake, I was hoping we could talk.” He desperately wanted to apologize to her. Not that an apology could fix what he’d done, but he needed Calista to know how sorry he was for hurting her.
Calista said nothing, but he could see her shake and clench her fists.
“Cal … I mean Calista,” his words came out strangled. He hadn’t said her name out loud in years. It felt almost as sweet on his lips as her kiss. Almost.
“Go away,” she commanded. “I would hate for you to pick up any bad habits.”
And there it was. His own words came back to haunt him. Again and again and again. If he could take them back, he would. The utter hurt and revulsion on her beautiful face the night he’d spoken those words would live forever in his mind. It shouldn’t have mattered that he’d just gotten arrested because of her. That was his choice. She hadn’t made him take the heat when she rescued dozens of puppies from a puppy mill she’d discovered close to her house. It killed her to think of any animal or person being mistreated or abused. So, against his better judgment, he’d helped rescue them. Unfortunately, the owner of the mill thought of it more like stealing. It was especially bad because Calista had already found suitable homes for the pups and given them away after rescuing them. Calista was looking at serious jail time, given it wasn’t exactly her first brush with the law. No charges had ever stuck until then, but that time she wasn’t going to get off with only a warning.
She’d been more than willing to do the time. Doing the right thing was all that ever mattered to her. But … he knew his family connections could make it all go away. And they did. It only took his parents threatening to smear the puppy mill owner’s name, along with withholding the sizable donation they’d always given the police department every year. Tristan wasn’t proud that his money bought him privilege. All he could think about that fateful night was how it would protect Calista.
Sure, the trouble she’d caused had pissed him off. Her crusader ways were a little too much for him sometimes, not to mention the tension it created with his parents. They were constantly reminding him of what it meant to be a Granger. That they had shareholders and employees to think about. And they were right. Bad press often equated to bad sales. The pressure of it all got to be too much for him, and he made a choice. One he’d regretted almost every day since.
Regardless, he should have never told her he needed to quit her like a bad habit. What the hell was he thinking, saying something like that? It’s just that he knew if he wanted to make a clean break with her, he had to hurt her. If not, she would have seen right through him. She would have convinced him to become a ski instructor and leave the family business behind. Little had she known, he was too afraid to live without the money and the name. So, he took the coward’s way out and pushed her away as hard and as cruelly as he could. It was easier than admitting he was a selfish jerk.
Hell, I still am a selfish jerk.
He’d gotten good at playing the corporate game. He even liked it. As CEO, he’d expanded their storefront operations, and their profits were through the roof. It was something he took pride in.
Tristan shoved his hands in his pockets, realizing he had no right to try to work his way back into Calista’s life, even if it was just to be her friend. Their lives weren’t compatible. He’d turned into everything she despised about people on his side of the lake. Knowing her, she would end up saving Quinn and Stella and every other unfortunate soul in Aspen Lake. She didn’t need his help. She never had.
“I’m sorry I bothered you,” he breathed out, his breath forming wisps in the cold air. “It won’t happen again.”
He turned around and walked away, knowing once again he’d left her thinking she was just a bad habit to him. Too bad she would never know how much he admired and loved her.
