by Josie Kerr
He’d fallen hard, so hard. And so quickly. Since he’d gotten back from his impromptu visit to Boston, he’d been mulling over every single one of their interactions, replaying all their conversations. Everything seemed absolutely normal until Cal asked Kat to come visit; that’s when she got weird—hesitant and evasive. Cal had actually contemplated hiring a private eye to investigate her, but then he put himself in her shoes and decided to just man up and ask her what she was thinking, if she was involved with someone else. But he hadn’t, because he was a damn coward.
Cal’s phone buzzed and he glanced at the ID. Speak of the devil.
“Hey, Kat. You miss me so much you had to call me for a morning pick-me-up?”
Her words came out in a rush. “What are you doing in about four hours?”
“Uh, I’ve got a couple of meetings. Why?” Cal schooled his voice to sound like nothing was amiss, or at least, he hoped it did.
“I’ll be at Hartsfield in about four hours.” He was absolutely stunned, so stunned that he didn’t say anything until Kat prompted. “Cal?” she asked, her tone unsure now.
“You’re going to be in Atlanta in about four hours?” he repeated stupidly. “Really?”
Kat laughed, that husky, throaty laugh that instantly conjured up images of her in the kitchen, wearing his shirt while she used every pot and pan she had to make a one-pot chicken dinner. “Yeah, I am. My schedule suddenly opened up—like, wide open. Anyway, they’re calling my group to board . . .”
Cal no longer felt like barfing. “Sure, that’s fantastic, Kat. That’s more than fantastic. I don’t even know a word to describe it.”
“Okay, Cal.” That sexy laugh reappeared, then morphed into a giggle that betrayed her nervousness. “I can’t wait to see you.”
“I . . . I can hardly wait to see you either.”
He could practically see her smile through the phone. “Okay, I’ll see you in a little bit.”
“Not if I see you first, darlin’. Bye, Kat.”
Cal pressed the End button on his phone, laid his head back against the headrest, and thanked whoever was watching over him. His best friend’s pounding on the roof of his very basic rental car interrupted his meditation of thanks.
“Come on, Cal. I have news for you, and I’m starving. Get your ass in the pub.” Alphonse thumped the roof once more and headed inside Foley’s Public House.
“Ca c’est bon!” Alphonse waved his fork in the air as he continued chewing. “That brother of yours needs to get back in the kitchen full-time.”
“He is back in the kitchen, only it’s not a restaurant, at least all the time. He actually does reverse trials here at Foley’s, then he uses them on his private clients.”
Alphonse grunted and took another bite of steak. “Mmm, mmm, mmm.” He swallowed the morsel of meat and took a sip of wine. “Okay, catch me up. What’s been going on with you, Calhoun Harper, since I’ve been away?”
Cal shrugged. “Same ol’ same ol’. Slinging drinks, dealing with the last bits of estate bullshit. You know, same crap I’ve been doing.”
“You staying on here?” Alphonse gesticulated wildly again, fork still gripped in his hand. “I like it, though they undercharge.”
“Don’t get me started with the prices. I’ve finally gotten her to add a few actual mixed drinks to the menu to go with some of Nolan’s entrées.” Cal shook his head. “But no, I’m not staying. I was never going to be staying, really. This was meant to be a short-term consult to jump-start their business. I’ve been working with some junior guys, getting them up to speed on the recipes, et cetera.”
“Okay, so on to more important topics.” Alphonse slit his eyes at his best friend. “What about your pretty lady, hmm? She called you lately?”
Cal snorted. “You mean, to tell me that she got shit-canned earlier today?”
Phonse actually stopped chewing. “ ’Scuse me?” he said, mouth still full of steak.
“Yep. She’d been saying that she figured it was coming, but it still took her by surprise.” Cal related what little Kat had shared with him, while Alphonse grew more and more agitated. His friend was very easygoing and the friendliest person you’d ever meet, until he wasn’t. By the look on Alphonse’s face, the management team of Reynolds Restaurant Group was about to experience the not-so-easygoing side of Alphonse Gassiott.
“She sounded in good spirits, though. But, hell, you’ve seen more of Kat than I have.” Alphonse’s new role as a general manager of of Reynolds Restaurant Group’s new Southern Division put him in daily contact with Kat, and Cal was green with envy. Video chats and texting was no substitution for the real thing. Cal cracked his neck and blew out a breath.
“Uh-oh. I know that move, and that neck crack signals some sort of trouble.” When Alphonse put his knife and fork down, Cal groaned and steeled himself for an inevitable interrogation. “What’d you do, Cal?”
“I didn’t do anything, for once.” Cal swiped his hand over his face and then threw up his hands. “She’d been putting me off, and I know they’re trying to do a major expansion and blah, blah, blah, but I was getting really worried, Phonse.” Cal’s voice petered out. He was just whining now. He hated whiners, especially when the bitching and moaning involved relationships. What was he? Some needy high school boy? Jesus.
“What the fuck are you laughing at, Gassiott?” he snapped, suddenly peevish.
“Whoo, you are so gone, Harper. So gone.” Alphonse continued to laugh. “When she gets down here—” Alphonse suddenly stopped. “Um, if she comes to visit . . .”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, she is coming—in, like, a few hours—so that’s pretty awesome.” Cal gave Phonse a weak grin. And of course, Phonse was right: he was gone, and he had no idea if she really felt the same way, which he now realized was why he’d flipped out on Toby earlier. Alphonse had been his friend since middle school and could always be trusted to say if an idea was terrible, so Cal floated something by him that he’d been thinking about, something that needed to be discussed in person. Kat’s trip would be the perfect opportunity for a good, friendly discussion.
“What do you think about me moving to Boston?” Cal asked.
Alphonse choked on his steak, enough that Cal had to pound him on the back. “You? In Boston? Like, living there? Oh man. No, that’s a terrible idea. You just need to cool your jets, Cal. You’re always rushing into things—remember Amanda?”
“I dated Amanda for two years.”
“God, that long? Shit.” Alphonse made a face that encapsulated exactly what Cal thought about his ex. “Okay, so Amanda was a poor example, but you weren’t in your right mind during that whole thing. But Kat? Kat’s good for you, even though you two aren’t in the same city right now. Just slow down, bon ami. Savor this while you’re still young enough to enjoy it.”
“Oh, fuck you,” Cal huffed, good-naturedly tossing a napkin at his friend.
“Seriously, you need to stop acting like some sort of pussy-deprived high school boy and keep getting your act together.”
“Hey, man. No need to be crude about it. And besides, Kat’s not just . . . you know.”
“I know. I’ve been working with her for the past five weeks. She’s awesome, so don’t fuck it up by being your usual jackassy self.” Alphonse nailed Cal with a pointed look. “Got that?”
“Yeah, I get it.”
“Good. Now, what’s on your plate for the next few days?”
“No, no. We’re having dinner with Tobias, Nolan, and Bridget, and then tomorrow morning, bright and early, gotta meet with a mediator to wrap up this bullshit with Candy.” Cal’s mouth dropped open, and he collapsed back in his chair. “Oh, fuck.”
“There something you want to share with the rest of the class?” Alphonse had gone back to his early lunch, but the little Cajun’s eyes glimmered with curiosity as he chewed.
Cal waved him off. “No, I just realized something. Catch up with you later in the week?”
“Sure thing.”
; The two men said their goodbyes, and right as Cal was about to walk out the door, Alphonse called his name. “Don’t forget what I said regarding Kat, Cal. She’s something special, so don’t make me kick your ass.”
Cal nodded. “I know she is, and no, you won’t.” With a final wave, he headed out to the parking lot.
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Cal stood by his car in the parking lot of Foley’s and waited for Tobias’s voicemail to pick up. He knew his older brother wouldn’t answer his phone. Hell, he barely answered it on a good day, much less after the shit show that was this morning. He smiled at the voicemail greeting, which wasn’t really a greeting at all—just the robot-lady voice saying a standard message and Tobias barking his name.
“Hey, Toby. Um, yeah, I showed my ass this morning, big-time. I wanted to say I’m sorry, man. I’ve got my stuff out of the house, and I’ll be staying at Nolan’s for a few days until I get my furniture out of storage. So, yeah, uh, I know the studio is not far from Foley’s, so if you get a chance, stop in.” He swallowed hard before he continued. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for me, man. I mean it. Love ya.”
Cal pressed the Off button and opened the car door. He’d definitely won this iteration of “Asshole Brother of the Week.” Funnily enough, that title seemed to only be passed between Tobias and himself, never Nolan.
“Hey, Cal! What’re you doing here?” Nolan, Cal’s younger brother, was walking through the parking lot, laden with cakes. Speak of the devil.
“Meeting Phonse for an early lunch before . . . picking up Kat at the airport.” Cal fidgeted. It was way too early to head to the airport, but at the same time, being at Foley’s lately had been making him realize how badly he’d fucked up.
Nolan set the boxes on the hood of the car. “Wait—Kat’s coming? Is that why Bridget called me, babbling about a dinner with food other than just ‘fighter fuel,’ as she calls it? What’s going on?”
Cal ran down what he knew of Kat’s firing, and when he finished, Nolan whistled through his teeth. “Well, damn. I’ll definitely have to fix something special.”
Cal nodded, absently looking at the small two-story building in front of him. Foley’s Public House was very different from Pickett & Spence, but better, so much better. He could feel the magic of the place the first time he set foot in it on the day that Tobias called that fateful family meeting to decide what to do about their father. He’d definitely miss it, but it was time to start rebuilding something permanent.
“Don’t you have a meeting about the estate tomorrow?”
“Hmm? Oh yeah, I do.” Cal nodded at his brother.
“Why don’t you and Kat stay at the apartment tonight? It’s just sitting there, and Lord knows you don’t need to drive up to Blue Ridge just to turn around and come back a few hours later.”
“Thanks, Nol.” Cal rubbed his neck, hoping to relieve some of the tension that had sprung up now that the reality of his upcoming meeting was imminent.
Nolan turned to face Cal. “Toby told me that y’all had a thing this morning. Look, I’m not saying you didn’t need to get your ass kicked, Cal, but Toby—he needs to chill out. It’s been ten years.”
Cal rubbed his eyelid with one finger. “It was ten years on top of thirty years of abuse, Nolan. The whole Candy thing just added insult to injury. Tobias had a whole different relationship with Chet than we did. That cut was a hell of a lot deeper for Toby, and both of them knew it.”
“I suppose so.”
“Yep. And I can guaran-damn-tee that thinking about that meeting is in some way responsible for some of Toby’s reaction.” Cal shook his head in wonder. “Man, Toby’s never laid hands on me, ever, but today . . .”
“Wait—Toby hit you?”
“No, but he had me by the throat against the kitchen wall.” Nolan’s eyes popped wide, and Cal huffed a mirthless chuckle. “Yeah. I think it scared the shit out of both of us.”
“Holy crap.” Nolan grabbed Cal by the shoulder. “That’s why he sounded so weird. Man. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Cal sighed and said, “Okay, you gotta get those cakes inside before Meghan comes and kicks your ass.”
Nolan started to say something but then snapped his mouth shut and shrugged. “We’ll see you guys tonight, right? Toby, too?”
“Yep. Kat needs to meet Toby so she can convince him that she’s not a polygamist with fourteen kids.”
Nolan cackled and scooped the cakes off the car. “Oh God. Yeah, this is going to be a hoot. See you in a few hours, Cal.”
Nolan wandered into the pub with his cakes, and Cal got back into his car, decided to spy on some of the newer gastropubs, just for research, and hoped that Kat’s flight might actually be early.
Cal took a series of deep, calming breaths, and then some more. And while those meditative breaths worked, what truly soothed him was thinking about Kat, about the fact that he was going to be able to have her in his arms very shortly. He drove around the airport cloverleafs a few times and then parked. After a few more calming breaths, he got out of the car and made his way to the terminal to retrieve the woman who had changed his life so much in less than two months.
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All the Pollyanna-ing she’d done for the almost-four-hour trip to Atlanta had completely disappeared. She should have known even the suggestion of things working out would jinx it. Her stomach roiled, and Kat swallowed back the nausea that threatened to turn into full-blown barfing as she rode the longest escalator she’d ever encountered.
She vowed to herself that she’d never make an on-the-fly decision again, because it was always, always a disaster waiting to happen. Like this last-minute trip to visit Cal when her unemployed butt should be saving money. Like spilling all the gory details about her and Cal’s whirlwind romance to Evelyn, the little, prim lady sitting next to her. Like not realizing when Evelyn pulled those mini bottles of Jack out of her purse that she would only keep two for herself and give the other six to Kat. And now this hellish escalator. Jaysus.
Her phone buzzed, and Kat cursed again before checking the text. Merely looking down made her brain slosh around in her head. Thankfully, it was Cal informing her that he was waiting for her. Kat tapped out a reply and pocketed her phone, or so she thought until she heard the all-too-familiar sound of plastic hitting the hard metal stair of the escalator.
“Son of a ham sandwich, can I not get a break?” she shrieked.
“Ma’am?” The inquiry came from a frightened-looking hipster with a ukulele strapped to his back like a weapon. He also held up Kat’s phone.
“Oh, thank you.” She grinned sheepishly as she took the phone from the man. “I’ve had a hell of a day.”
He just grinned, but when she turned around, she swore she heard him mutter, “Smells like it, lady.”
Twerp.
Kat stumbled off the escalator, even though she closely watched for the top step to disappear into the floor plate, and heaved a sigh of relief. Then she looked up and immediately spied Cal. He was frowning as he scanned the horde of people that spilled from the top of the escalator, but she could see him visibly relax when he met her eyes.
Cal leapt over the barrier and pulled Kat to him in a tight hug. “Darlin’, I am so glad to see you,” he murmured in her ear before pressing his lips against hers with enough passion to cause several bystanders to whoop and clap. “Whew! Chickadee, when did you start drinking Jack?”
“About ninety minutes ago.” Kat hiccupped and tasted the remnants of the previous hour and a half. Yuck. “It’s been a really long day, Cal.” A wave of emotion cascaded over her, and Kat let out a shaky laugh. Looking up at him and seeing the affection—and something else she wasn’t quite willing to put a name to yet—in Cal’s eyes almost made her break down. “I’m so glad to see you, Calhoun.”
Cal stroked her hair, even straightening her ponytail a little, and gave her face little feather touches before kissing
her again. “Let’s get your bag and get some food in you to sop up all that whiskey, then you can tell me all about your day, okay?” Cal lifted her off her feet and swung her around, then grabbed Kat’s carry-on bag and steered her toward the baggage claim.
Cal held Kat’s hand during the ride from the airport to Bridget and Nolan’s place in an area of Atlanta called Cabbagetown, but she couldn’t quite decide if he was hanging on to calm her or himself down. They spent most of the ride in silence, except when Cal would point out a landmark of interest. Kat used these small interludes to discreetly examine Cal, who seemed unusually tense. Finally, she couldn’t stand it any longer.
“Cal, did I disrupt something you had planned? If so, tell me and I won’t be offended at all. You don’t need to be rearranging your life be—”
“Just stop, Kat,” he barked but then gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “There is absolutely nothing else I’d rather be doing than spending time with you, okay? I’ve got a big meeting tomorrow, but after that? I’m all yours.” He pressed his lips to the back of her hand. “I’m all yours,” he repeated.
“Okay. Okay.” Kat smiled at him, but she was pretty sure he wasn’t convinced, because, heck, she wasn’t convinced that this trip was a good thing. Then again, if it was a disaster, better to find out that they were going to be incompatible now, just six weeks in, rather than waste months or years lying to themselves. But she sure hoped it was a good thing, because even kind of disgruntled and distracted, Cal still made her tummy flip-flop.
“I just want to warn you, though, that I had an argument with Tobias this morning. It . . . wasn’t good. I’ve already called him to try to work through it, but Toby’s kind of a . . .”
“Grouch?” Kat suggested. “Curmudgeon? Crankypants?”
Cal finally smiled and chuckled a little. “More like ‘giant fucking asshole,’ I hate to say. But you know what? Pay him no mind, or try to. He’s a miserable jackass who wants everyone else to be a miserable jackass.”
Kat nodded. “But he’s your brother.”