Callie frowned but he blithely ignored her, his dazzling smile deliberately taunting.
‘Merry Christmas, by the way,’ he said.
He produced a box from behind his back, in crimson shiny paper bound by gold ribbon. ‘Not very original, I’m afraid, but if you’re anything like your daughter I thought you might enjoy a sweet treat.’
‘How thoughtful.’ Nora’s hands shook as she took an eternity to undo the ribbon and rip the paper.
Callie had to stop from reaching out to help. Not from pity for her mum but the desire to see Archer leave.
‘Dark mint, my favourite.’
Nora’s grateful smile made Callie’s heart ache. She hadn’t wanted to tell her mum anything about Archer, and now the rat had left her no choice. Nora would want to know all about the nice young man who knew her favourite chocolates and how he knew and...the rest.
She’d kill him before she sent him packing.
‘I hate to intrude, but do you mind if I have a quick word with Callie?’
Nora shot her a quick look—a very perceptive look by the mischievous gleam in her eyes.
‘Not at all. Go ahead.’ Nora rattled the box. ‘And thanks for these. I’ll enjoy each and every one.’
‘My pleasure.’
His smile was genuine, without an ounce of pity, and Callie grudgingly admired him for it.
‘We can talk outside,’ she said, with a subtle jerk of her head towards the door. The last thing she needed was for her mum’s gossip radar to prick up. Any more, that was.
Callie couldn’t figure out what Archer was doing here. She’d given him an easy out with that note, and she’d assumed he’d jump at the chance to fly off into the blue yonder and resume his life.
The last thing she’d expected was to see him rock up here. It made her angsty and uncertain and decidedly edgy.
She’d had this all figured out—end fling; resume working relationship—and now he’d messed that up.
She waited until they’d stepped outside Nora’s room before jabbing him in the chest. ‘How did you find me?’
Her snappish tone only served to make him lean against the wall, arms folded, grin cocky.
‘Not all that difficult. You said you’d be spending the day here, so I checked redial on the phone at the beach house for the number, rang it, discovered where your mum was staying.’
‘Nice one, Sherlock,’ she muttered, still clueless as to why he was here.
‘Actually, I’d make a lousy detective, because I have no clue as to why you ran out on me in the middle of the night.’
‘It was early morning. Tom and Izzy were heading to Melbourne, so I thought I’d get a head start on spending Christmas with Mum.’
‘Bull,’ he said, his grin replaced by thinly compressed lips and an unimpressed frown. ‘You couldn’t have rung Tom at four a.m. on impulse to hitch a ride, which means you must’ve organised this last night.’
Why couldn’t he be all brawn and no brains?
‘Tom’s wisely not answering his phone, but I have no doubt you coerced him into aiding and abetting your little escape.’ For the first time since he’d shown up a flicker of uncertainty creased his brow. ‘I don’t get it, Callie. I thought we had something going—’
‘Had being the operative word.’ She shook her head, wishing her heart would stop flipping all over the place and slamming against her ribcage at the thought of him showing up here because he genuinely cared.
No use wishing for the impossible.
Fact: he was still getting on that plane later today.
Fact: whatever he said wouldn’t change a thing. They led different lives, a world apart.
Fact: she loved him, and seeing him again only drove the knife in that little bit deeper.
‘Look, we had a great time, Arch, but it’s over.’
His glare turned mutinous. ‘Doesn’t have to be.’
He rummaged in his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
‘Here. This was supposed to be your Christmas present.’
When she made no move to take it, he placed it in her hand and curled her fingers around it.
‘Go on, take a look.’
More than a little curious, she unfolded the paper and gasped.
A computer printout for an open-ended, first class, round-the-world air ticket.
In her name.
‘We’ve got a pretty good thing going, Cal, I don’t want it to end. This way you can join me wherever I am. We can hang out—’
‘No.’
She crumpled the paper ticket and let it fall to the floor, her gut spasming with sorrow.
‘Don’t you get it? I can’t just jet off whenever I feel like it. I have obligations.’ She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. ‘I can’t leave Mum and you know that.’
His face fell. ‘I thought... Well, I hoped you might want to explore...a...relationship—’
‘On your terms?’
Pain lanced her resolve, making her waver. Was she being too harsh? Was she annihilating any chance of a possible future of happiness?
She shook her head. ‘If you’re so keen to explore what we have, why don’t you stick around? Stop running? Commit to something for once in your life?’
A flash of anger sparked his eyes. ‘I’ve committed my life to being the best in the water—’
‘Yeah, but what about out of it? What about your family? You can’t bear to spend longer than a few days with them once a year. How the hell do you expect to maintain a relationship?’
She knew what she was doing: deliberately sabotaging his attempt at a relationship. Fear clogged her throat at the thought of continuing what they had, growing closer, only to discover he hadn’t really changed after all and she’d end up pining and waiting for someone she couldn’t rely on. Been there, done that, still waiting for her dad to bring her the T-shirt as a present.
She might have foolishly wished for a happily-ever-after with Archer this past week, but at the time she’d recognised her pie-in-the-sky dream for being just that. That was why she’d indulged in another week-long fling, confident of the end date.
She’d never take the risk of a full-blown relationship knowing she was opening herself
