by Terri Osburn
Callie nearly snorted green punch out her nose. “You’re kidding. Beth is so sweet and . . . mild-mannered. I can’t imagine her threatening to cut anyone.”
“Wait until she waddles this way,” Will said. “Last I checked, she was still pissed about the flowers.”
“Flowers?” Callie asked, looking from Sid to Will in confusion. Who could possibly get mad over flowers?
“The centerpieces are yellow daisies,” Will said, as if this explained everything.
“Which were a bitch to get this time of year,” Sid added.
So Beth was upset that they had gone to so much trouble? “What’s so bad about that?”
“They’re girlie,” Will and Sid said together.
It took several seconds for Callie to catch on. “And the party was supposed to be gender neutral.”
“You’re quick for a blonde,” Sid said, then received an elbow jab from Will. “What?”
“That’s rude.”
“It was a compliment.”
“In your world, maybe.” Will leaned toward Callie. “Rough around the edges, but she means well.”
“Nothing I haven’t heard before,” Callie said, telling the truth. She’d been a natural blonde since birth, making her the butt of many jokes over the years. Smiling at Sid, she said, “I appreciate the observation.”
Will rolled her eyes. “Do not encourage her.”
“What are you rolling your eyes about?” Beth asked, doing as Will had said and waddling their way. “This is all too much, isn’t it? I hate being the center of attention, and now everyone thinks I’m an attention whore.”
Callie made the mistake of taking a drink as Beth approached and once again nearly spewed the green stuff.
“Don’t get your granny panties in a bunch,” Will said, throwing an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “They’re using the term attention slut. Nothing to worry about.”
“You do remember that my sense of humor disappeared when I started peeing every forty-two seconds, right?”
“Yes, but hope springs eternal that it’ll make a reappearance before the bugger pops out of you.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” Beth said with a snarl. Turning to Callie, she flashed a welcoming smile as if she hadn’t just been hateful to one of her best friends. “Thank you so much for coming today. I’m so happy you could be here.”
Blinking, Callie looked to Will for assurance that the large, round woman before her wasn’t clinically insane. Will winked.
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I hope you like the gift I brought. It arrived just in time for the party.”
“The gifts!” Beth yelled, startling Callie. “We need to open the gifts. People might want to leave, and I’m keeping them here.”
Sid stuffed more cupcake into her face, presumably to avoid saying something else Will would tell her was rude, while Will once again took her friend by the shoulders. “Now would be a great time to open the presents. We’ve put two chairs by the gift table so you can sit right there and open while Sid takes notes for the thank-you cards.”
With a mouth full of chocolate, Sid gaped, waving her fork furiously through the air.
“Head on over there and start with any pretty package you want. Sid will be right behind you.” Will took the paper plate and fork from Sid, who shot her a look that could kill, and pushed her two friends across the room. Once they were moving on their own, she returned to Callie. “That was fun, wasn’t it?”
“I’m sure she’ll be back to normal once the baby is born,” Callie said. “But I’d watch my back around Sid for a while.”
“I gave Sid a really good reason not long ago to kick my ass. If she didn’t do it then, I think I’m safe.” Will continued to watch her friends, saying, “I bet you and Sam are going to make beautiful babies.”
This time, the spew could not be stopped. Will handed Callie some napkins as she apologized to an older, dark-haired woman who’d been walking by.
“The punch packs a punch, doesn’t it, Gladys?” Will said, dabbing at the older woman’s sleeve.
“This is my good sweater,” Gladys said, before walking away in a huff.
Will returned her attention to Callie. “Sorry about that. Not a baby person?” she asked.
“No,” Callie said. “I mean, I like babies just fine, but I won’t be making any with Sam. You surprised me is all.”
“I can see that. I thought since you two are such an item . . .”
“An item?” Callie asked. She and Sam had made no attempt to keep their relationship a secret, but neither had they been blatant about it. The day before, at the festival and then at the Marina restaurant, had been the first time they’d even been out in public together outside of that lunch with her mother. Except for Will’s dinner party, and they had not been in any way affectionate there.
“Yeah. You know. Dating. Together. A couple.” Will tilted her head. “You are together, right?”
The crowd around them cheered, drawing their attention to the gift table before Callie could respond. Beth was holding up the cutest white bear Callie had ever seen with tears running down her cheeks.
“Looks like the hormones bounced to the other extreme again,” Will said, before returning to the topic of Sam and Callie. “Surely you realize that no one sneezes on this island without half the town saying ‘bless you.’ I saw hints of it the night of the dinner party, but the notice that you two are together came via Helga. I think.” Will tapped her chin. “Maybe it was Debbie at the real estate office.”
“How do any of these people know my business?” Callie wasn’t completely unaware of how gossip lines worked, but as a new arrival and only temporary resident, she had assumed no one would pay her any attention.
An obvious error on her part.
“There isn’t much to do here,” Will answered with a shrug. “I think that makes them all more observant. And I already told you Sam was a popular topic of speculation. You’ve made him look almost human, which has the locals quite impressed. They think you’re good for him.”
“I am good for him,” Callie said without thinking. “I mean, we work well together. But this isn’t like the rest of you. Sam and I are . . . Well . . .” Callie struggled to describe exactly what she and Sam were. “It’s complicated.”
“Love is always complicated,” Will said, leaving Callie speechless for the second time in the last ten minutes. “You’d be surprised what can be overcome if you give it a try.”
Checking on the gift-opening activities, Will shoved the sticky napkins she was still holding into Callie’s chest. “Hold that thought. I see a pink bow on the next present. Catastrophe looms.”
With that, Will walked away, leaving Callie sticky, confused, and pondering the complications of love. “You’re supposed to drink the punch, not bathe in it,” said Henri, who appeared out of nowhere.
“What? Where . . . ?”
“I was hanging out with Yvonne up front when I heard the ruckus back here. She figured the soiree was far enough along that no one would notice a party crasher.” Henri snagged a cookie from the table beside them, popping it into her mouth without a speck of guilt on her face.
“I don’t think Beth will mind, but she’s a bit . . . volatile right now. So keep a low profile.”
Swallowing her cookie, Henri asked, “So, what brought on the spit take?”
“The mention of babies.”
“At a baby shower? How unexpected.”
“It was the mention of Sam’s and my babies.”
Henri’s face sobered. “Oh.”
“Yes. Oh,” Callie said. “It appears the whole town thinks we’re an item.”
“You make it sound like you’re not.”
“We’re . . .” She struggled again for a descriptor that would fit their situation. “I don’t know wha
t we are, but it’s not an item.”
“So long as you know what you’re doing, who cares what people think?” Henri perused the guests around them. “They’ll find something else to gossip about soon enough.”
She was right, of course. Callie shouldn’t care what these strangers believed, but she’d been the subject of public gossip once before and never again wanted to endure that kind of scrutiny.
“I hope they find it soon,” Callie said, slipping her arm through Henri’s. “But let’s talk about your love life. You seem to have snagged the prettiest woman on the island.”
Henri smiled. “She is hot, isn’t she?”
“Supermodel hot. And it’s not nice to gloat.”
Shoving Callie off balance, she said, “Sam isn’t what anyone would call ugly.”
“Very true.” As Callie said the words, she caught sight of Sam standing in the doorway to the room. He was watching her with a look of possession in his eyes. Her heart did a somersault against her ribs. “Very, very true.”
He’d been watching her for five minutes before Callie noticed him. Other than dousing Gladys Ledbetter with punch, she seemed perfectly comfortable mingling with the locals. Natural and outgoing and his complete opposite. Not that this was a bad thing. In fact, Sam had started to think more and more about how good a thing they had.
Which had started a war in his mind. Part of him said to push her away. Put them back on firmer ground that didn’t involve all-night sex sessions and him constantly thinking about her throughout the day. Then he’d picture her crawling on top of him with that determined look in her eye. Or drinking her tea by the windows, her skin kissed by the morning sun.
He was losing his grip on the situation, going well beyond a rational level of wanting her, and that was making it impossible to even think about giving her up.
“You look like a man in search of something,” Callie said, once she’d crossed the room and met him by the door. He’d had to force himself not to meet her halfway. Not to kiss her in front of half the village.
“Are you interested in being found?” he asked. “I don’t want to take you away from the party.”
“I don’t think they’ll miss me,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “But for the sake of discretion, I think we need to take this somewhere else.”
Sam chuckled. “I didn’t plan to rip your clothes off right here on the floor.”
“You don’t have to.” Callie nodded toward the hall, beckoning him to follow her. She didn’t stop until they reached his office. “We’re already the main topic of gossip these days,” she said, once he’d closed the door.
“These people are always gossiping about something.” Sam said.
“Well, that something is us having kids.”
Sam stopped with his hand in midair. He hadn’t even realized he’d been reaching for her.
“Excuse me?”
“Will called us an item,” she said, dropping into his chair behind the desk. “A couple.”
Sam settled into a chair on the opposite side of the desk, which felt strange since he’d only ever sat in the chair Callie currently occupied. “Where do kids come into this?”
“Will offhandedly mentioned that you and I are going to make beautiful babies.”
The statement didn’t scare Sam as much as it should have. An image of blonde little girls with ice-blue eyes danced at the edge of his mind. They would be beautiful, like their mother.
“Did you hear me?” Callie asked, her voice rising an octave. “They know we’re sleeping together.”
Sam didn’t see the problem. As Callie had pointed out, they were two single, consenting adults who could do whatever they pleased, so long as they didn’t do it in the village park in broad daylight.
“And that bothers you?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “I mean yes.” Callie spun out of the chair and marched over to the window. “I don’t know.”
He waited, giving her time to think. Time to make sense of whatever worries were bouncing around in that head of hers. When she continued to stare out the window in silence, Sam crossed the office and put his arms around her.
“We aren’t doing anything wrong, Callie.”
“I know that,” she said around the thumbnail clenched between her teeth. “In my head.”
“But?”
Relaxing into him, she dropped her head onto his chest. “I didn’t think about how this would look to people who don’t know us.”
Turning her around, Sam nudged Callie’s chin until she met his eye. “Did anyone in that room insult you? Let me know who it was, and I’ll walk back down there and set them straight.”
Toying with the button on his shirt, Callie grinned. “You’d do that for me?”
“I’d do anything for you,” he said. And meant it.
Her eyes went wide, and the smile shifted into an O.
“Try not to look so surprised,” Sam said, using levity to downplay the confession he’d never intended to share.
“You mean that, don’t you?” Callie pulled away, and Sam had to force himself to let her go. “You can put your shining armor away,” she said. “No one insulted me.” With a sigh, she added, “I better get back to the party.”
If Sam had needed confirmation that Callie’s feelings hadn’t changed, he got it in that moment.
“Callie?”
“Yes?” she said, looking back.
“Will I see you tonight?”
After studying the floor for several seconds, she said, “You know where to find me.” Then she walked out.
CHAPTER 23
Callie lingered at the cottage after Sam had left on Monday morning. She needed time to think without him there, and without the chaos she was likely to find across the street. Though their night together had been like all the others, strictly physical and satisfying, what he’d said in his office still bothered her.
He would do anything for her.
She appreciated his willingness to fight on her behalf, but the statement had served as a blaring reminder of their inequality. The point wasn’t that Sam would do anything for her, but that he could. Sam had the connections, the money, and the power to ride to her rescue at any time, in any situation.
Callie could not offer the same in return.
She’d been in this position before. Josh had been the breadwinner while Callie had stayed home, attempting to be the perfect wife. He’d controlled their finances, decided where they would vacation, and told her what car she would drive. The house they lived in had been Josh’s place before they’d ever met.
Callie had brought nothing to their relationship but herself. And she hadn’t been enough.
While rinsing out her mug in the sink, she reminded herself that Sam was not Josh. And since she and Sam would not be exchanging vows, the possibility of infidelity didn’t exist. But for once in her life, Callie wanted to feel like an equal. Like she had something real to offer.
And then she recognized where her mind was going. Why was feeling like she was enough the hardest thing for her to master? She had survived losing everything when Josh died. Faced down the attorneys and the creditors, the abandonment by their friends, and the humiliation of having her life dragged through the papers. She’d gone back to school for her degree, changed her name, and started over.
But six years down the line, Callie still had nothing to show for her life but a mouthy bird, a box of books, and an unhealthy obsession with chocolate and peanut butter. Not exactly sparkling fodder for an online dating ad.
As she slipped on her tennis shoes, Callie dug deep to find the inner Pollyanna that Henri teased her about. She would not throw herself a pity party, and wallowing about what you didn’t have did nothing to change things. This job was going to boost her résumé. Callie was going to have her pick of jobs. There would be no more b
egging for a chance.
She needed to turn the Sunset Harbor Inn into a sparkling boutique jewel of the mid-Atlantic in the next five weeks, and then everything would change. Which meant she’d better get to work.
With renewed determination, Callie stepped through the cottage door and almost burst into tears. The inn parking lot was dotted with cars Callie had never seen before, and people were milling about as if waiting to receive their orders. Orders that she would give them.
Callie charged through the crowd, yelling out greetings as she went, and found Jack in a panic behind his counter. “They all want to know what to do.” He followed Callie into her office, practically stepping on her heels. “I told them we had to wait for you. Where were you?”
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Callie said, tossing her purse into a desk drawer. “But I’m here now.” She took the notepad she’d used on Saturday out of her briefcase and transcribed four names onto a Post-it before handing it to her trusty clerk. “Find these people and show them where the materials are for floor installation. Then get them working in the rooms at this end of the hall, two people per room.”
Jack studied the note. “I know these people.”
“I figured you might.” Callie carried the notepad with her around the desk. “Is Lot here?”
“Yeah,” he said. “He’s helping Olaf with some furniture stuff.”
Callie grinned. “Olaf is back?”
“Well, sure,” Jack said. “Everyone is back. And then some.”
Giving Jack a spontaneous hug, Callie could feel her Pollyanna doing a happy dance in her soul. “We’re going to do this, Jack. We’re going to get this project done.”
After recovering from the shock of Callie’s sudden embrace, Jack hugged her back. “And we don’t have to do it all by ourselves!”
Callie laughed. “No, we don’t. Now, you get the floors going and I’ll assign rooms for painting.” Dragging Jack out of the office, she added, “We’ll have the upstairs ready for floors in no time.”