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“I wouldn’t have brought it up if I wasn’t. I thought maybe he would have told you where he was going. You guys have a connection?—”
Shaking his head, Caleb sighed. “Not since he stole that money and took off. He doesn’t seem to want anything to do with our family. Not even me.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been thinking, too.” Daniel’s shoulders slumped. “What are we going to do about it? We can’t just sit back and do nothing, right?”
“There’s nothing wecando. You heard what he said. He doesn’t want anything to do with our family anymore. You just have to let him go.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?” There was something in the way Daniel said it that made Caleb uncomfortable. It was as if his brother were judging him for giving up on his twin. That wasn’t what had happened. Caleb hadn’t given up on his brother. Far from it. He’d tried to get Carter to come back. He’d done everything he could think of short of dragging him back kicking and screaming.
And yet none of that made any difference in this moment. Caleb was the one that everyone likely expected to fix this issue. They were probably all wondering why he hadn’t tried harder.
Well, they didn’t know anything. Caleb had figured out a long time ago that people shouldn’t be trusted. Actually, he barely trusted the people in his own home. What could anyone expect, seeing that their parents had ended up doing them wrong so long ago?
Caleb frowned as he maintained a steady gaze with his older brother. He wasn’t going to be guilted into anything. If Daniel wanted his brother back so badly, perhaps he should be the one to track him down and make him return. “I’ve got to go, Daniel. I’ve already spent too much time here.”
“You never did give me anything to go back and tell everyone. Come on, I can’t return to the table empty-handed.”
“Like I said, it’s none of your business. Even if there was something to tell, I wouldn’t breathe a word of it to you. Let them all assume what they want.”
A smile flickered across his brother’s face, and he lifted his brows suggestively. “You can try to hide it all you want, but it doesn’t change anything. Eventually, it will all come out.”
Caleb snorted. “You don’t know anything.”
“I know that you’ve got it for this girl, and it very well could blow up in your face.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Daniel. I can’t say that I really need it, though.” He shoved past his brother and hurried for the front door before he got cornered by another member of his family.
For being in such a big family who didn’t really like to talk about their feelings, it was starting to feel like he couldn’t have anything to himself. He was really beginning to miss Carter right about now. At least his brother would have been running interference for him.
Caleb tossed the bag in the back of his truck and stared back at the house. Nothing felt the same these days. Nothing felt right.
Too much had changed.
At this point, it felt better to be out at Mateo’s place with Emily than it did to be under the roof with his growing family. Carter definitely had it right. It was time to distance himself from his family if he wanted to chase the future he knew he deserved. He wasn’t sure if Emily was included in that future or if she was just a stepping stone to something better, but for now, he was leaning toward the former.
He climbed in the truck, knowing that when he returned home after Mateo relieved him of his duty, he’d have more than one Keagan breathing down his neck for answers. He’d just have to appreciate the peace he could find right now.
17
Emma
Emma heard the buzzing of her phone but didn’t connect that it was actually hers until Caleb glanced at her with curiosity.
“Isn’t that the third time you’ve been called today?”
She jumped up from the porch swing and hurried toward the small table where she’d left it. Her face grew hot, and she avoided looking at him directly. “I can’t remember.” In truth, it was more than three. If she was correct, she’d been called at least half a dozen times. Three were when Caleb was nearby, and the other three were when she was alone. She’d only answered the first one, and the others she’d sent to voicemail.
Her sister was going to be livid with her. She didn’t like it when Emma didn’t pick up, and she refused to leave voice messages. The texts had all been generalized, asking Emma to call her back.
“Sounds like an emergency,” Caleb pressed. “Are you sure you shouldn’t just answer it?”
She declined the call and flashed him a smile. “Not right now. We’re spending time together, and I’m not sure how much of that we’re going to get. I would rather be with you than answering calls.”
His concern didn’t fade. Caleb didn’t even seem to appreciate that she was prioritizing him over whomever it was that called her. He glanced at the phone once more. “You know you can answer it, right? I’m not going to be mad if you do.”
“I know,” she said simply as she climbed onto the porch swing and settled in against him. “I just don’t want to talk right now.”
He wrapped his arm around her, but the feeling she got from him wasn’t quite the same as it had been before.
