Page 8

Joey

“Callum?!” I felt my eyebrows furrow as my brain tried to play catch up. “What are you—Um, it’s good to see—Um, sorry, but why are—Fuck.” I paused to take a shuddering breath. “I don’t mean to sound rude or anything, but I’m here on a date…”

Callum settled into the seat, making himself comfortable and draping the white cloth napkin across his lap. “Yes, I know.”

With my heart beating faster than it should have been, I blinked, not sure if I was annoyed with how cavalier he was being or impressed that he seemingly just didn’t care. “And yet you’re still sitting opposite me. Why?”

He looked at me carefully and tilted his head to the side with curiosity. “I would’ve thought that’d be obvious, Joey.” He leaned forward and cupped a hand around his mouth like he was going to tell me a secret. “I’m your date.”

And with that unexpected declaration, my heart stuttered. I blinked again. “W-what?”

He grinned and sat back in his chair, picking up his menu to look it over. “Dinner only, I swear.”

My throat convulsed, and I choked a little at the words taken directly from the message I’d received earlier in the day. He really was my date.

“B-but… You’re Callum!” I stammered. “You’re my stepbrother! And you’re not supposed to be here until tomorrow!”

He chuckled as he put his menu down and let his playful, sparkling eyes linger on mine for a moment. God, how I’d missed that spark. “Yes, I’m Callum. Yes, I’m your new stepbrother, but we barely know each other, so I don’t think anyone can hold that against us. And yeah… I lied to Mam about that.”

I rubbed my forehead as I felt my headache coming back. I seemed to be suffering from a lot of those today. Maybe I needed to get checked out by a doctor. “Why? Why did you lie to Erin?”

Callum waffled his head back and forth, then picked up the menu again. Just as I thought he was going to dismiss my question, he responded, “Because if she knew what I was doing, she’d want to get involved.”

My elbows met the table as I brought both hands to my forehead and pressed at my temples, regardless of how rude the action might be in such a fine dining establishment. “Involved in what?”

He sniffed and pursed his lips in thought, his eyes still scanning the menu. “In something that has been in the works for a long time and should remain between us. At least for now.”

I abandoned my temples and placed my palms on my cheeks. “Can you please stop talking in riddles and explain what’s going on?”

Of course, that was the precise moment our server arrived to introduce himself and request our drink orders.

I was still too shocked that my stepbrother was apparently my date for the night to give much thought to what I wanted for a drink, so it wasn’t until we all fell silent that I realized both Callum and our server were staring at me. “Oh, crap. Um…” I frantically looked at the menu, trying to find something reasonably cheap to order.

“He’ll have a lemon, lime, and bitters. I would like a glass of the house red, please.”

My head sprang up to glare at Callum. I’d never had the drink he’d ordered for me. Why had he ordered for me? What had he ordered for me?

“Certainly, sir. Would sir like to hear this evening’s specials or would sir like some more time?” the server asked us both, even though he was clearly directing the question to Callum, his hands clasped loosely behind his back.

How was he taking our drink orders with no notes? I felt panic spread through me. Why was the server talking so fancy? Why was he looking at me like that? I tugged at my collar. He asked me a question. What was the question? Oh, God.

“If you could give us some more time to peruse the menu, we’d appreciate it,” said Callum, taking control once again.

I felt my heartbeat slow down a little. Not a huge amount, but enough to let me not feel like I was still choking on air.

“Certainly, sir. I’ll bring your drinks out as soon as they’re ready.” The server bowed slightly, turned on his heel, and left us alone.

Callum smirked at me, the playful glint back in his eyes. “You’re not used to fine dining, are you?”

Embarrassed that he’d read me so easily, I leaned slightly over the edge of the table to snap at him, “I’m a reasonably poor nineteen-year-old college student. What do you think?”

He chuckled, then shook his head. “I promise you’ll get used to it.”

“Pretty sure I won’t.”

He raised an eyebrow, the sparkle in his eyes still present, like he knew something I didn’t. “We’ll see.” Callum looked pointedly at the menu that I was gripping tightly in my hands. “What do you think you’ll order?”

I was startled at the change in direction. “Uh, maybe the beef dish.” It was the only thing on the menu that I recognized even half of what was described and sounded halfway edible.

His eyes ran down the menu until he found the dish in question. “Oh, good choice. I was thinking I’d get the lamb. It sounds so very succulent.” He raised his eyes to mine and the spark in his eyes turned molten.

I gulped and focused on the menu to see what he was talking about, desperately ignoring the warmth that filled my cheeks. Why did he have to make the word succulent sound so tempting? And why was I responding to it?

A shadow fell across the table, making me look up. Our server was back. How did he know to come back? I felt my collar tightening on my neck again as my anxiety spiked.

“Sir?”

“Yes, we’re ready to order. My date would like to have the sous vide filet of beef, pomme anna and mushroom purée—”

I sputtered as Callum pronounced every word perfectly.

“—however, he's allergic to peanuts. Is it possible to make this dish to accommodate his allergy?”

The server nodded. “Certainly sir. This dish has an allergen free alternative that is very popular with our guests. I will make sure to let the chef know of the restrictions needed.”

I let out a breath I wasn’t even aware I was holding. Would I have been as smooth as Callum in asking about my meal? Considering that I stammered whenever I had to make a similar request at any fast food chain, my guess would be a definitive no .

“Thank you,” Callum responded before referring back to his menu. “I will have the Cinderford lamb, with farm goat’s curd and wild garlic roots and shoots.”

“Very good, sir.” The server took our menus and left, leaving me questioning again why he’d never written anything down.

I stared at Callum long enough to make him squirm.

“What?”

“How are you so good at this?”

He tilted his head to the side and held my stare with a slight frown before he licked his lips nervously, his eyes flitting away. “I’ve been preparing for tonight for a long time.”

“For this date?”

He coughed quietly. “For you.”

I sat back, letting my hands fall into my lap. “What?” My eyes narrowed at him in disbelief, even though my heart stuttered again at his unexpected words. Words that a significant part of me had longed to hear from him for so long, but I’d convinced myself I’d never hear, especially when our parents had married.

This had to be some sort of game to him, right?

I reminded myself that this was just a meal. Just a shared meal. I could get through a meal.

Right?

But was it? Was it really? Did it remain just a meal once he’d sat down opposite me? Or had it morphed into something else?

Callum pushed his shoulders back slightly before he let himself relax. “I might need to explain a few things.”

“You think?” I scoffed.

He sighed. “Okay. I deserved that.”

“You think?? ”

Grimacing, he leaned forward and kept eye contact as he began. “Mam told me she explained our family secret to you.”

I nodded stiffly, then looked up at our server who was back with our drinks. Callum said nothing until we were left alone again.

“Well, my ability is slightly different to everyone else’s in my family.”

I frowned and felt myself leaning forward slightly. “What do you mean?” I sipped at the drink Callum had ordered for me and hummed when the taste hit my lips. This was a good drink. How had Callum known that I’d like it?

He shifted in his seat, squirming once more under my concentrated gaze. “I can do everything that she told you, but what she didn’t realize until a few years ago is that I can access snippets of the future.”

My initial reaction to Callum’s statement was to scoff and tell him he was delusional, but something in his tone held me back. Instead, I held still as the full impact of what he said went through me.

Maybe he hadn’t heard something in my head that day four years ago that made him run.

Maybe he’d seen something in my future.

I felt the color drain from my face as every possible scenario ran through my head. Of course, what ended up blurting out of my mouth was, “Oh my God, I’m going to die, aren’t I? You saw me die.”

Callum’s eyes widened to almost comical proportions. “What? No!”

“You saw Dad die.”

“No!”

“Erin?”

“Joey—”

“Oh fuck, not you?!”

“What?! No! No one’s dying!” His voice carried loud enough to make several people in the restaurant turn our way. He grimaced and leaned forward, reaching his hand over the table to take mine, and lowered his voice. “I saw our wedding day.”

“WHAT?!” I reared back in alarm, but Callum gripped my hand like a vise, not allowing me to move far.

“Shh!”

“Fuck you and your shushing, Callum! You can’t drop a bomb on me like that and expect me not to react!” I glared at Callum accusingly, trying to tug my hand from his as I spoke.

“Did he say bomb?”

“Is there a bomb?”

Slowly, the murmurs from our nearest seat neighbors broke through my heated focus on Callum, but it wasn’t until our server came rushing up to our table that it registered what I’d just said.

“Is there an issue, sirs? Do I need to call for some assistance?”

The server stared pointedly at me like this was all my fault, which I guess in a way it was, although I’d never admit it to anyone. Callum sighed and turned to face our server. “No, no problems,” he said, flicking a short glare at me before returning his attention to the young man standing at our table. “My date received some shocking news and wasn’t aware of how loud he was being. There’s no issue, I swear.”

The server nodded stiffly and shifted his attention to me. “Sir? Is that true?”

Finally, I pulled my hand from Callum’s and rubbed it against my cheek as I grimaced guiltily. “Yeah, that’s true. I… uh… yeah. He told me something I wasn’t expecting to hear. That’s all.” I glanced around to see some of the guests staring at us, one with a phone to her ear. “I’m sorry. Truly. There’s nothing to worry about.”

The server narrowed his eyes as he studied me, much like he was trying to see if I was sending him help me vibes. “Okay. If you’re certain.”

I nodded quickly. “I’m certain. Again, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize I was being so loud.”

He pressed his lips together and nodded stiffly. “All right. I’ll check in with our chef to see how your meals are coming along.”

The underlying threat of not causing any more trouble was clear, as was the implied rush on our stay. He clearly wanted us gone but was too professional to say it out loud.

This fine dining thing was going swimmingly.

I gulped and thanked him, but he had already turned his back on us and was walking away, pausing at a couple of the tables near us to talk to other guests, including the woman on her phone. Thoroughly embarrassed after what had just happened, I tried to make myself as small as possible in my seat, feeling my shoulders bunch up around my ears.

It wasn’t until I heard Callum chuckling that I lifted my eyes from the top of the table.

Even though I was staring daggers at him, I withered in my seat just a little more.

“Come on, admit it. That was funny,” said Callum, still snickering.

I winced. “I’m sure I’ll find it funny later. Much, much later. Right now, I’m trying very hard not to be mortified.”

He waved his hand in the air. “Eh, don’t worry about it. It’ll be something to tell our grandkids about.”

My eyes widened again. At this rate, they were going to pop out of their sockets. “We’re going to have grandkids?!” I hissed at him, trying desperately to keep my voice low, my eyes darting from side to side to make sure I didn’t upset our neighbors again.

Callum burst out laughing. “It’s just an expression, Joey.”

Even as a wisp of disappointment flickered through me in response to his words, I heaved a sigh of what might have been relief, scraping my fingernails through my hair, and scratching my scalp. “Right. Sure. Okay. Just an expression.”

“Although…”

“Nope.” I held my hand up as hope plunged through me again. Fuck. My emotions were definitely on some kind of extreme rollercoaster ride right now. “Don’t want to hear it.”

He tilted his head to the side and grinned at me cheekily. “Are you sure? You were so eager to hear what I saw earlier.”

I felt my teeth grind as I narrowed my gaze at him, before gritting out, “I’ve. Changed. My. Mind.”

Still smiling his Cheshire wide grin, he shrugged like it was no big deal. “Okay.”

Thankfully, our server decided that was the perfect moment to drop off our food. It felt way too quick of a turnaround on our orders, which made me doubly sure he was trying to get us to leave as soon as possible. His service was still impeccable, but there was an underlying tightness to his movements that hadn’t been there earlier.

As soon as he left us alone, Callum picked up his cutlery and dug in.

I sat there and stared at him, somewhat astonished that he wasn’t taking a photo of the beautifully displayed meal to post on social media.

He paused once he realized I hadn’t moved, his fork halfway to his lips. “What?”

Laughing to myself, I shook my head and picked up my own cutlery. “Nothing. I’m just used to having to wait for photos to be taken of the food.”

A look of understanding graced his face. “Ah.”

Determined not to think about my ex-girlfriend, I steered the conversation into much safer waters. “So… what have you been up to since our parents’ wedding?” I cut into my meal, lifted the fork to my mouth, and looked at him with a raised eyebrow before I put the forkful into my mouth. Then I closed my eyes and moaned as my tastebuds were assaulted with the most exquisite mixture of flavors I’d ever tasted. “Damn.”

Callum grinned after he swallowed the mouthful he’d already chewed. “Good, huh?”

“Holy shit, Callum.”

“Thought you’d like it.”

“You thought right.” I quickly shoved another bite into my salivating mouth before looking at him expectantly.

A look of utter satisfaction briefly overcame his face before he realized I’d asked him a question, and he coughed as some color filled his pale cheeks. “Promise you won’t tell Mam?”

“That sounds ominous.” I raised an eyebrow and leaned forward excitedly. “Tell me everything .”

He snickered. “I’ve been back in town for a few weeks now.”

I blinked. That wasn’t what I expected to hear him say.

He took a sip from his drink before he continued waving his fork in the air. “I met with Mam’s former boss at the wedding. We got to chatting, and he offered to train me once I finished college. The training finished about a month ago, and I asked to be transferred back here. He agreed, and we’ve been setting up our base ever since.” He looked proud as punch with himself until he swallowed nervously. “Mam doesn’t know.”

Resting the heels of my palms on the table, I gave him a curious stare. “Doesn’t know… what exactly? You’re working for her old boss? You’ve moved back here? What?”

He gulped. “All the above.”

“Dude.” I leaned over the edge of the table as far as I could. “You need to tell her.”

“I know, I know,” he said guiltily, diving into his food again. “I needed to see you first. This date needed to happen first.”

“Why?”

His eyes met mine in a heated gaze. “You said you didn’t want to know. That you’d changed your mind about knowing what I’d seen.”

Squirming in my seat, I grimaced. He was right, damn it. However, that was an answer in and of itself. Anything he told me about whatever relationship we would have would end up influencing my actions toward him, whether or not it was favorable. It had already influenced his actions and was still guiding him. Did I want to know about my own future? Or did I want to find out what my future held for myself naturally?

I felt sure that curiosity would eventually wear me down, but for now I wanted to let myself discover my own fate at my own pace. Knowing that Callum had seen a future where we would get married was more than enough information to guide some of my choices already.

My brow furrowed as I stared at him, trying to figure out how someone who saw the future could live their life. Was their future their own? Or were their actions dictated by what they’d seen?

Did they have any free will left after seeing even one tiny piece of their own future?

Preferring to err on the side of caution, I changed the direction of the conversation slightly. “What is it you and your boss do?” I popped more food into my mouth. This meal truly was delicious.

He let out a breath and smiled softly at me. “We’re private investigators. He knows of my family’s skills, and they’re an excellent complement to the skills he has. That’s why he and Mam worked together for so long. She only quit when she met your da. She wanted to settle down with him. Get away from the danger.”

A warmth spread through me at his words. It sounded very much like what Erin was like. Until his last sentence registered. Then my blood ran cold. “Danger?” The thought that Callum was willingly putting himself in danger filled me with dread so powerful that I felt like my skin was crawling. Everything in my body was screaming at me to protect him, to make sure he wouldn’t get himself hurt or killed. His safety was everything to me. I shook myself. Why was it everything to me? Why was I getting so upset by this? “What danger?”

Callum shrugged casually. “Nothing we can’t handle.”

My eyes widened. That wasn’t an answer. Before I could stop myself, I reached over the table and grabbed his hand. “Callum. Tell me. What. Danger?”

He turned his hand over and gripped mine gently. “It’s okay, mo lus na gréine . We employ security to handle all that now. Mam didn’t have that luxury back when she was working there. Truly. It’s nothing to worry about.”

Annoyingly, that didn’t explain anything, and my body was still thrumming with concern. I grumbled at him but let his hand go after one last squeeze so we could both finish our meals. I was confident I’d be able to get it out of him later.

We were each chewing our last mouthful when we heard a commotion to my right.

“Matthew? Matthew! Oh, my God! Somebody help him!”