Tandem

“Of course,” Thomas said. The corners of his mouth twitched, as if he wanted to smile but knew that it wouldn’t go over well. “Anywhere you go, I go.”

“Right. Your job.”

“It is my job,” he said.

Gloria narrowed her eyes at us both. “What’s happening here? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Thomas and I barked in unison. He tried to catch my eye again, but I was back to giving him the cold shoulder.

“Where are we going?” I asked, directing the question to Gloria.

“Bethlehem House?” Gloria suggested.

Thomas nixed this. “Too far away.”

“St. Lawrence?” I glanced at the painting on the wall. It did look beautiful; I wouldn’t mind a few peaceful days in the country if I could spend them there.

“Way too far away.”

“Well, it needs to be someplace defensible,” Gloria snapped.

I had no idea what royal residence would be best, but this did seem like the perfect time to make a request, seeing as we were going to have to move anyway. “Do you have anything with a waterfront view?”

“Actually, yes. Why?”

I shrugged. “Callum’s never seen the ocean. If we’re going to have to go somewhere anyway, it’d be nice to show him.”

“Asthall Cottage in Montauk,” Gloria said to Thomas. Thomas’s face scrunched up as if he’d smelled something disgusting, but he nodded reluctantly. Gloria turned to me. “It’s right on the water. The ocean’s still a little cold for swimming this time of year, but we can put Callum in a room that overlooks it, and then of course there’s always the private beach.”

“It’s remote, too, so it’ll be easy to keep track of who comes and goes,” Thomas admitted. He didn’t sound thrilled, but he was on board. “I’ll let the General know we’ll be moving you there.”

He left without saying goodbye.

“I hope you packed your swim trunks, Cal, because we’re going to the beach,” I said as the door to his bedroom slid open. The cheeriness was forced, but when his face lit up, I didn’t have to fake it. It made me happy to see him happy, quite possibly because he seemed to be the only person in the Castle who was happy these days.

“Really?” he asked.

“Thomas and Gloria think it’s best if we get away from the Citadel for a few days,” I explained.

He nodded. “Agent Tyson told me.” Agent Bedford had survived the bombing, but he’d been seriously injured and couldn’t return to his KES duties yet. From the way Thomas had spoken about it, there was a possibility that Bedford would never be able to serve in the KES again. Agent Tyson was his replacement as the head of Callum’s security team.

“I told them we should go to one of the residences by the water, seeing as you haven’t ever seen the ocean,” I told him. He beamed at me. “And they agreed. So we’re going to Asthall Cottage.”

“A cottage? But where will all your shoes go?” Callum’s eyes crinkled when he laughed.

“It’s not an actual cottage, Callum,” I said, affecting a snooty tone that set him off laughing again. “It’s a manse, darling, of course.” I’d actually been wondering the same thing—Juliana’s family owned a cottage?—until Gloria showed me a picture of the place. The name might’ve been humble, but there was nothing humble about Asthall.

Callum put his arms around me, pulling me close, his laughter trailing off. “Is this okay?” he whispered in my ear.

I nodded, figuring it would have to be. Besides, I didn’t mind. It felt nice to be held, after the day I’d had. “Are you okay?”

“I just can’t stop thinking about what happened,” he said, pulling away so that he could look at my face. He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.

“Me neither.” I sighed. “I’m so glad you weren’t hurt.” Thomas had dragged me away so fast I hadn’t even had time to see if someone was coming for Callum. I’d spent thirty frantic minutes after the explosion waiting for news of him. I tightened my arms around his waist, remembering the horrible, sinking feeling that came with wondering whether he was dead or alive.

“Same here.” He released me and stepped back. “I know you don’t like to talk about it, but you have to tell me—did Libertas set that bomb?”

“Thomas seems to think so.”

Callum stiffened and turned away at the second mention of Thomas’s name, pretending to go through his drawers for stuff to toss into an empty nearby suitcase.

“You pack your own clothes?” I asked in wonder, hoping a change of subject would bring back Callum’s cheery side.

“I insisted. Mother never let me do anything for myself,” Callum told me. “It’s fun.”

I shook my head in bewilderment. Packing and unpacking were some of my least favorite things to do, so I was glad to let Gloria take care of it for me. “If you say so.” I stood there for a second, feeling like a spare part. “Well, I guess I’d better go see how my own packing is getting along. You’re sure you don’t need any help?”

“Nope,” Callum said.

“Okay then. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Juli, wait.” Callum looked me in the eye. “I shouldn’t even be asking this, but I have to know now or I’ll always wonder—is there something going on between you and Agent Mayhew?”

“Why would you even ask me that?” I demanded, tensing.

“I don’t know,” Callum said, shamefaced. He ran his fingers through his hair, rumpling his curls to hide his embarrassment. “It’s just that, when I see the two of you together … there’s a connection there.”

“You’re imagining things,” I told him.

“Am I? I mean, it’d be okay if … well, not okay. It’s just that I’d understand if …”

“Thomas is my bodyguard,” I said firmly. “Nothing else. Ask him yourself, if you don’t believe me.”

“No, I believe you,” Callum insisted.

“Forget Thomas. You’re the one I’m marrying,” I reminded him.

He gave me a tight smile. “Yeah, but that wasn’t your choice, was it?”

“It wasn’t your choice, either, but you care about me. Why can’t I care about you just as much?” I knew I didn’t, but Callum had no idea who it was he cared about. If he knew I wasn’t Juliana, he wouldn’t give a damn about me, so I didn’t exactly feel guilty.

“Do you?” Callum asked. “Look, I know it’s weird, that I show up here and act like I’m all in love with you after one day. Believe me, I can see myself doing it, and even I think it’s weird. But for the first time in my life, I’m finally getting to make my own choices.”

“That’s a little ironic, considering that you’re here because of a choice you didn’t make.”

Callum conceded the point. “I can see my future with you, Juli, and it makes me happy. We’re going to have this amazing life together, I just know it. That’s what I’m choosing. To not stand in the way of our future. To let myself fall in love with you.”

“I’m not there yet,” I told him. But that wasn’t what was so bothersome about this. My worry was that the real Juliana, the one who Callum would actually be married to, would never get there. I didn’t want Callum to be miserable for the rest of his life because I had led him on.

“You don’t have to be.” He smiled a bit sadly. “I just wanted to know if it’s possible.”

“It’s definitely possible.” Anything’s possible, I thought.

 

TWENTY-EIGHT