by Natalie Ann
“Weren’t you afraid of him?” Marcus asked Celeste, reaching over and patting her hand. She fought not to yank it back. “I mean, he was loose and just came running onto your property. I’d probably lock myself in the house and call the police.”
It was said as light teasing, Celeste knew, but since he was a guest she couldn’t insult him. Still she felt the need to defend her new furry friend. “Of course not. Sparky is just a gentle giant.”
“If you say so,” Marcus said, shrugging.
There was a bit of silence between the two men while they continued to eat. Caleb giving Marcus the eye and Marcus either clueless or not the least bit concerned.
Celeste wanted to think it had to do with Marcus’s disdain toward dogs, but she had a feeling there was more under the surface.
“I hope everyone has room for dessert,” Celeste said as she looked around the table.
The two young couples looked up from their conversation, one of the women saying, “We’re going to have to hike an extra hour tomorrow just to work off the food tonight!”
Her husband asked, “What’s on the menu tonight? Betsy, you need to learn to bake like this. I don’t think I’ve ever had such awesome sweets as I’ve had here.”
Betsy laughed. “I’d burn it all and you know it. Maybe Celeste wouldn’t mind letting us purchase some desserts for the road? Have you ever considered baking and selling some cookies or muffins?”
The idea had merit and was one she’d thought of for years, but couldn’t find a way around being that greedy. “I’d consider it for the right occasion. Since tomorrow is your last full day, why don’t you let me know your favorite cookie and I’ll bake a batch and send you off with a care package for the road.”
“Oh man, you’re the best. We’re coming back for sure next year,” the other wife said. She had no problem putting away the baked goods the last few days and looked to have a healthy appreciation for them.
“I have to admit, Celeste,” Marcus started to say. “You’ve got the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. What’s your secret?”
Caleb looked up and grinned, then stared at Marcus some more. “They are pretty sweet. Even better when they’re hot. All moist and gooey. Makes you want to come back for more.”
She felt her face turn flame red, even more so when Marcus turned his head and asked, “Are you okay? You look a little flushed for some reason.”
Caleb turned his head toward her. “She always gets flushed when I compliment her cookies.”
The two women at the table giggled, but Marcus just went on being clueless. He really was wet behind the ears. If Caleb was showing any signs of jealousy, they were completely misplaced.
Boys like Marcus were nothing more than an entertainment to Celeste. Men like Caleb— he was the encore.
Trying to Help
Caleb was trying his damnedest not to grind his teeth. Wonderboy was doing his best to hit on Celeste every chance he had. If he wasn’t complimenting her on her cooking and hospitality, then he was flashing his ten-thousand-dollar teeth at her or bragging about his job.
Yep, a restaurant supply salesman no less. The guy made his living traveling around to tourist areas selling pots and pans and thought he was the shit with designer jeans and a knock-off three-hundred-dollar polo shirt with his rental BMW.
Didn’t he know most people could spot a poser a mile away? Sure, looking expensive made you seem like you did well as a salesman, and talking the talk helped, too. But not when it was forced or coated with candy either.
He was so happy when dinner was done and Celeste started to clear the table. The young couples continued to talk amongst themselves and he was thrilled they got the hint he wasn’t interested in the newest nature trail they were discussing.
Mr. Millennial, of course, just pushed back from his seat and got comfortable as Celeste did all the work. Screw that, he didn’t care if they were paying guests; the least they could do was offer to help her. Couldn’t they see she was a one-woman show?
All she did was wait on people hand and foot. Sure they said the food was great, but how hard was it to pick up their dish and bring it to the kitchen?
“Would anyone like some coffee while I clean up? Dessert will be a few minutes,” she said.
“I’d love a cup,” the poser said. “Do you have espresso?”
Of course he’d want espresso. Probably wanted a skinny latte as well.
“I do,” she said, the smile never leaving her face. Caleb didn’t know how she could be so cheerful to people all the time. “Would anyone else like one?”
“Just coffee for me,” one of the women said, the one who seemed the most enthusiastic over dessert. The other three declined, instead reaching for the pitcher of tea and helping themselves there. At least they didn’t ask Celeste to pour it for them.
Caleb stood up and grabbed his plate and the four plates belonging to the couples.
“What are you doing?” she asked him.
“Helping you clean up,” he pointed out reasonably.
“Don’t,” she said. “You’re a guest.”
He just walked right past her into the kitchen, then said, “I’m not a guest. You don’t have to wait on me.”
“Of course you’re a guest in my home,” she said, taking the dishes from his hand and putting them in the sink to rinse one by one.
“That doesn’t mean you should wait on me. Don’t you ever just get to relax? Do you always do this much work for each meal?”
It never occurred to him she worked this hard. He’d watched her cooking all by herself tonight, setting the table, bringing everything in, and then calling her guests to the table. He would have helped her if he’d realized it, but he was trying to keep an eye on Sparky in the yard.
“Caleb, they pay me for this. It’s my business. This is an all-inclusive B&B.”
“Don’t you have any help?”
Why hadn’t any of this occurred to him before? She did it all and got hit on besides.
“I don’t do it all. Sure I do the cooking and baking for everyone, but I have a cleaning person come in daily and take care of the bulk of that. I just do the light cleaning around the house and the kitchen.”
“And all the maintenance outside,” he said.
“I enjoy that. What’s this about?” she asked, her hands on her hips. “I don’t need you telling me I’m not capable of running my business.”
“I’m not saying that,” he said, then walked out to gather more dishes before she could say another word.
She followed him, carrying the wannabee’s espresso and a cup of coffee. Then she gathered up more dishes and returned to the kitchen and pushed him out of the way where he was rinsing off empty bowls.
“Please let me do this. I’ve got a system and you’re disrupting it.”
“I’m just trying to help,” he argued.
“Thank you for that, but you don’t need to.”
“I want to,” he said, then walked out and grabbed the remaining dishes in the final trip. “What do you do with the leftover food?”
She sighed. “I’ll take care of it. Just leave it on the counter there. I’m going to bring out the cake now. If you’re bent on helping, can you please carry out those plates and forks?”
He grabbed the small dishes she pointed to with the forks on top and brought them out while she followed with the cake.
“Everyone tell me how big of a piece you’d like,” Celeste said smiling and ignoring Caleb’s frown next to her.
Once everyone had their slice, him included, she started to walk back out. “Aren’t you going to have some with us?” Mitchell, or whatever the twerp’s name was, asked. Of course he did. Not that Caleb wasn’t about to ask that question himself. Not really.
“I don’t often have dessert. Please enjoy it. I was just going to finish cleaning up.”
“We’d love your company though,” Michael maybe, continued, all smiles with a wink this time at Celeste.
&nb
sp; “If you insist,” she said, pulling out a chair and sitting down, though not eating. Caleb was going to push his own cake aside and help her finish cleaning up, but now he wasn’t leaving the table.
***
It did feel nice to get off her feet for a minute, but Celeste really wanted to get the kitchen cleaned up. As she told Caleb, she had a system, but oftentimes her guests did like her to visit; only she did it after she cleaned up.
Though she knew Caleb was uncomfortable around the group and possibly a bit jealous of Marcus’s attention, she didn’t expect him to be so grouchy over her work.
Certainly, it was sweet he was helping her, but she didn’t want him to. She didn’t want her guests to feel obligated either, or even offer…not that anyone did.
The young ones hardly offered. The older couples or women always did. Even the men. And though she shooed them away, there were plenty of instances where they shooed her right back and helped her clean up.
The first time it happened she was so embarrassed, but then she realized that she was offering them a place where they could feel comfortable, almost like home. If that made them feel good, helping her clean up, she wasn’t going to dispute it.
During all her years with her B&B, she’d come across a lot of different people and she learned to adapt to their wants and needs, always with a smile on her face regardless.
Once dessert was out of the way, the two couples said they were going out on their kayaks and would be back later. Marcus, for all of his overworked charm, informed her that the toilet in his bathroom was running.
It had been a few days ago, too, and she’d thought she’d managed to fix it, but obviously not.
“I’m glad you stopped in for a visit,” she told Caleb. “I just wish I could have spent more time with you alone. You caught me at a busy time.”
“My fault,” he said looking out the window at Sparky lying under the tree eating leftovers. “You didn’t need to feed him chicken, too.”
“A little meat never hurts a dog. Besides, it’s not fair that he got to smell it and not have any,” she said, walking over and giving him a little cuddle.
She’d wanted to touch Caleb since he showed up, but it wouldn’t have been professional on her part, so she had to wait until they were alone.
“I’ll go look at the toilet before I go, if you don’t mind keeping an eye on Sparky.”
“You don’t need to do that,” she said, her hackles rising again. So much for that tender moment.
“I don’t need to, but I want to,” he said stubbornly.
She laughed lightly. “You want to go look at a toilet. That’s the first time I’ve heard a man say that.”
“Don’t be cute. Why can’t I help you?”
“I don’t need it,” she said, crossing her arms. Really, was he going to be just like Cole? What she didn’t need was someone telling her she couldn’t run her own business.
“I didn’t say you needed it. I said I wanted to do it. Show me the damn toilet or I’ll walk around the house looking at them all.” He crossed his arms back, mimicking her.
She wanted to growl at him but thought better. This was a side of him she hadn’t seen before. She figured he’d be running for the hills once dessert was done to get away from people, yet he was offering to help her tonight—again.
“Follow me,” she said grudgingly.
She led him to the toilet in question and watched as he lifted the lid, then looked around, touched this and that, and finally said, “You need a new toilet.”
“I know,” she said. “I’ve been tinkering with it for weeks. I just haven’t had time to call a plumber.”
“I’ll replace it. Piece of cake.” He looked at his watch. “There’s time to run into town before the hardware store closes and pick one up.”
“No,” she said.
“No, what?” he asked, looking confused.
“You are not going in and just ‘picking one up.’ It has to be the right toilet. I have to pick it out and I don’t have time tonight. I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“It’s just a toilet, Celeste,” he said, frowning at her now.
“It’s never just a toilet, Caleb.” Didn’t he get it? This was her house—her business—she didn’t just grab something random and call it a day.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Look around you? Does this house represent anything that you can walk in and grab and walk out? Do I represent that? Do I look like you can classify me as something without getting to know the real me? Huh, do I?”
“I don’t know what that has to do with anything,” he said, his face flushing.
Guilty! She knew it. He didn’t need to deny it at this point. “Figure it out, Caleb. Thank for you the help tonight, I appreciate it.”
“Let me at least stop this thing from running all night; otherwise what’s his name is going to be on your case,” Caleb said, shaking his head at her.
“Fine. If you feel you must.” She turned and walked out the door and wondered what the heck crawled up her own butt.
A Story
The next morning after breakfast, Celeste walked to Caleb’s house. She shouldn’t have been so hard on him last night. She could be honest with herself there, but for some reason she couldn’t stop her reaction.
Hormones. That’s what she told herself. It was hormones. It was a weak excuse that she’d never used before, but today she was going with that. It was easier than admitting she was wrong.
But darn it all. She was sick of everyone underestimating her in life. First the doctors, then her parents, then Cole, and now Caleb.
She wasn’t some weak-kneed girl that needed her hand held in life. She was a fighter, a survivor, and she had the scars to prove it. She didn’t need a man to fix her darn toilet!
Well, maybe she did. Still, she didn’t need Caleb to do that for her. That’s what the plumber was for and she was more than capable of calling one.
By the time she turned the corner into Caleb’s driveway, she kind of figured out what she was going to say. Maybe. Swallowing her pride was a hard thing.
Knocking on the door, she heard Sparky’s bark and knew he had to be home. Her eyes fell on a car in the driveway, and she realized she was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice he had a guest.
She turned to walk away when the door opened, and there he was in all his frustrated glory. It shouldn’t turn her on, but sadly it did.
“Hi. I’m sorry to just show up. I didn’t know you had a guest, so I’ll come back another time,” she said.
“There’s no one here.” Sparky nudged himself between Caleb’s legs and rested his head against her thigh.
“Oh,” she said, her eyes glancing back to the sedan.
“It’s the rental. I need to bring it back at some point.”
She was so caught up in her own behavior from yesterday that she hadn’t recognized that car as the one Caleb had before.
“Do you need me to follow you there and bring you back?” Why wouldn’t he have asked her that?
“You’re busy; I’ll figure it out, no worries.”
“I’m not busy right now. I can do it.”
“Is that what this visit is about?” he asked, leaning against the door jam.
“No. I came to apologize. Do you have a minute?”
“Apologize for what?”
He moved to the side and let her in. Unsure of her next move, she stood in the hallway.
“My behavior yesterday. You could say I was a tad bit grouchy over your offer of help.”
“A tad, huh?” he asked, his lips twitching. “No one can help you, but you can come over here and offer to help bring my rental back?”
She felt the heat rise up her face. She didn’t often get this flustered and was wondering how it happened with him. Normally she was a pretty cheerful person.
“You’re right. I’m wrong. I admit it. It’s just that I thought you were acting jealous and overprotective around Ma
rcus and that was the reason for it. It set me off, you could say.”
He laughed at her. “Come sit down. No, I wasn’t jealous over that twerp.” She lifted an eyebrow and he amended, “Not really. I wanted to help you because I never realized how much you did on your own. It’s a lot. I didn’t like seeing you work that hard.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Why what? Why don’t I want you to be busting your butt waiting on other people? No one should have to do it. I just don’t know why you can’t hire more help. I get the feeling money isn’t an issue.”
It wasn’t. “It has nothing to do with money and everything to do with me running my business. I enjoy my career path. I don’t understand why it’s so hard for people to recognize that. Why everyone worries I work too hard.”
She needed her business to fill the real hole in her life that she feared would always remain empty.
“Maybe because you do,” he said, looking at her.
“I really don’t. Sure, I have some fussy guests now and again, but it’s like always having a party at my house.”
“If you say so,” he said, looking unconvinced. “Tell me about this miracle thing.”
“What?” she asked. Where did that come from?
“Everyone says you’re a walking miracle, and I’m starting to wonder if that is the reason your nose is out of joint when someone says you’re working too hard. What’s that all about?”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to go there, but since he went out of his way last night and made the effort to stay for dinner, she figured the least she could do was fill him in a touch. Plus, she kind of owed him something for getting on his case last night.
“Do you really want to know? Are you asking as a friend?”
“I kind of thought we were more than friends, but either way, I’d still like to know.”
She’d insulted him just now. She walked over to where he was standing. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. I’m a little hormonal right now.”
When he cringed, she giggled. She hadn’t meant to place the blame on that, but she was feeling out of sorts. She’d never been regular and because of that, when her time of the month came, it normally came in like a hurricane.