“He was strongly provoked.”
“Okay.” Caleb was more than sorry they’d gotten into this argument. “Let’s leave it at that.”
“And he was arrested,” she continued.
“He only ended up with probation.” It was on the tip of Caleb’s tongue to remind her that his own father had required dental surgery.
But he stopped himself. He didn’t know who had said what, and how the incident had escalated, but it seemed like both of the teenage boys had lost out.
“By the time the case was settled, it was too late.” Jules’s voice rose with emotion. “My dad had lost his scholarship. While your family could afford Stanford or any other college your father wanted, because your grandfather had, years earlier, swindled my grandfather and stole the woman he loved.”
Caleb was through defending his father, especially because there was every chance Jules’s version of the story was true. But his grandfather was another story.
“She freely chose Bert over Felix.” Of that, Caleb was certain.
“Yeah, well I’m not so sure she was a prize.”
“That is my grandmother you’re talking about.” It didn’t take a genius to feel the conversation going way off the rails, but Caleb felt honor-bound to defend his grandmother, Nadine.
“Your grandmother agreed to marry the first who made his fortune.” The disdain in Jules’s tone was clear.
“Maybe she couldn’t decide between them,” he offered.
“A woman can always decide.”
“You’re an expert?”
“I’m a woman.”
“Yes, you are definitely that.”
She took a swallow of her wine. “I’m saying, if she let money make the choice for her, then she wasn’t in love with either of them.”
“Maybe she was in love with both of them.”
“That’s not possible. You can love two men, but you can’t be in love with two men.”
“I saw my grandparents together. They seemed very happy.”
Jules’s smile was cynical. “I’m sure they were very comfortable together what with the mansion and the Rolls-Royce they bought after your grandfather swindled my grandfather.”
“I’m sure that’s the way you heard it.”
“That’s the way it happened.”
Caleb knew it had been emotionally complicated, but the business deal was straightforward. “Your grandfather bought my grandfather’s half of the Crab Shack.”
“For twice what it was worth.”
“They had it appraised.”
“They’d made a gentleman’s agreement a year before the appraisal, when the property value was lower, after your grandfather stopped putting in any effort to build the business.”
Caleb took a drink of the wine. It was crisp and tart. A shot of alcohol was exactly what he needed right now. It was easy to see how the difference in perspective had caused so much bad blood. But he didn’t want to fight about it.
“We’re not all bad guys, Jules.” He hated that her low opinion of his family included him.
“The facts seem to show otherwise.”
“How can I change your mind?”
“Easiest thing in the world for you to do.” She let the statement hang.
She didn’t have to finish it. If he capitulated, she’d believe he was a nice guy.
“You saw Neo,” he said instead. “You saw what I can do, what I can build. I can help you with the Crab Shack.”
“But you won’t, Caleb. You won’t help me. You’ll only help you. Of all the chances I might take in this life, trusting a Watford is not one of them.”
“I know my father’s not a nice guy, but I’ve never done anything to hurt you.”
She gave a sad smile and set her napkin on the table, rising. “I should go.”
“Don’t.” The last thing in the world he wanted her to do was go.
“I’m not sure what you expected out of this, Caleb. But this date thing is not going to work. No amount of fine food and fancy wine is going to change my mind.”
Caleb rose with her. “I wish we could go back.”
“Back to what? When were we ever in a good place?”
He closed in. “Back to the part where you wanted to run away with me.”
Her expression turned calculating. “Are you saying you’d walk away from Neo?”
He laughed softly at himself. “You’re too quick for me, Juliet Parker. I can’t even hope to keep up.”
“You know that’s not true.”
“It’s entirely true.”
She pushed back her damp hair. “The truth is, you’re more cunning than I could ever hope to be.”