Page 105 of Untroubled Heart

“You’re welcome.”

“Is there something wrong with your mum?” Beth stares at Tristan, more patient than I’ve ever witnessed. When it comes to him, at least.

“Car accident when I was fifteen. I was fine, but she ended up with an incomplete thoracic spinal cord injury. She’s largely wheelchair bound, and didn’t have access to the best rehab and physiotherapy fresh from her accident. It’s been a long journey, but she’s gained more independence than ever in the last few years. The place Mason helped her get into is fully adapted to her needs.”

My sister is speechless, which is rare for her. Maybe now she’ll go a little easier on Tristan, knowing his life is so much harder than anything we’ve been through. This latest nightmare included.

I’m not going to let this ruin us. I believe Callie and I are meant to be together. We can get through this. No matter what I have to do to get us back to the place we were before, I’ll do it.

She stole my heart the second I saw her. I didn’t know what to do with it then, but now I know, and I’m not giving up without a fight. I’m going to love her and look after her until my dying breath. Nothing in my life has ever felt as right as it does when I’m with Callie. My soul has been waiting for her this whole time, and I know she feels it too.

Just like the couple from our love letters, we were meant to transcend the pages. I wonder what Greyson did when he spoke of the decision he made to secure his future with Florence.

Forgive me for what I must do, and know, I would sooner suffer any consequence than willingly bring you pain; for it has ever been my sole desire to love you with the utmost devotion.

That’s what he wrote.

I shift uncomfortably on my feet. “You guys didn’t look at them, did you?”

“I’d rather stick a fork in my eye,” Beth says without a hint of resistance.

Tristan chuckles. “Yeah, hard pass, dude. I mean, I love you, but no.”

“I can’t go back in time and erase all this, but how do I convince her that girls in my past don’t mean anything to me. Callie… she’s my everything.”

Beth’s eyes turn glassy, and she sucks in a breath. “She loves you, I know it. She just needs to remember that what you two have shared means more than either of your pasts.”

“Have you even shown her the floor plan?” Tristan asks me.

“You mean, how he basically let her pick everything?” Beth adds, while my eyes drop to the water bottle as I start picking at the label. “It was never a house you were looking for, Mase. And if you weren’t so busy staring at Callie, you would have heard my theory months ago when I said exactly that. You were looking for the person who felt like home.”

Yeah, well, I found her, and I refuse to spend a lifetime without her.

Chapter thirty-nine

“Hey, sweetie.” Mum steps onto the back deck at Caspian’s place, where I’ve stayed hidden for the past forty-eight hours. “I put your dinner in the fridge. Are you sure you’re not hungry?” She holds Navie in her arms.

One good thing about coming back home has been watching my mum create a bond with her granddaughter. I should have visited more often.

“I’m okay.” I smile, then go back to staring at the sun as it dips below the horizon.

“Have you spoken to him?”

No. And I feel so ashamed for not knowing the right words to say. For running instead of being by his side when he was going through shit. I know his family will be rallying around him, but I’m disappointed in myself for letting my own hurt hinder my ability to be there for him, especially with how much he’s always done for me.

I shake my head as tears brim in my eyes. “I don’t know how to fix what I’ve done.”

“I’m sorry is a good place to start,” Mum says as the sound of Caspian’s motorcycle rumbles behind us. He passes down the driveway, pulling into the shed in the back corner of his open yard.

He removes his helmet, then unzips his leather jacket as he makes his way over to the back porch steps, silently assessing both Mum and me.

“Everyone doing okay here?”

“I was just trying to get Callie to eat something.” Mum gives me a tight-lipped smile as Caspian scoops Navie from her arms.

“Come on, Cals. I don’t think I’ve seen you eat anything since you got here. We both know what happens when you get hangry.” He grimaces playfully at Navie as he tickles her stomach.

“I had toast this morning.”