Pint of No Return
Page 5
“What are you doing for a car now?”
“I get a rental occasionally, but mostly I use my mom’s truck,” she said.
He laughed. “The elegant Callie Stone driving a beat up 1996 Ford Ranger around town. I’ve got to see this.”
She liked it that he called her elegant. “Believe me, every time I get in it I feel the same way. I’m keeping my eye out for something more suitable to my dignity. Besides, she needs it some of the time, so it’s not one hundred percent convenient for either of us.” Callie realized the conversation had so far focused on her.
“And what about you? Skinner’s finest solve any large crimes while I was out of town? Take out any major drug rings?”
“No, after our excitement this past summer, it’s been relatively quiet. We had to arrest some tree protesters at the university.”
“That’s not out of the norm here, is it?”
He shook his head. “No. There’s a protest of some sort every other week. It’s a local industry. Speaking of the summer, did you hear what Stephen Felson did?”
Callie remembered Stephen from the Slug Queen pageant. He was a librarian by trade and had been almost murdered by his wife, the former mayor of Skinner. “No. From what little I knew of him, I assumed he would pack up and leave. He seemed very shy and someone who wouldn’t be happy to be in the public eye.”
“I would have said the same thing,” said Scott. “Instead, he offered to take up the remainder of Dot’s term. He’s interim mayor until the election next year.”
“You’re kidding me. What would make him do that?”
“Apparently, the memory of his late girlfriend. He said that as she would never get the chance to be mayor, he’d do it for her.”
“Wow. Love leads people to unexpected places,” she said.
They were both silent for a few moments. “How are the girls?” she asked.
“They’re fine,” he said, giving a tight smile. “Audrey is treating me better lately, but I think it’s going to be difficult to be a part-time father. Right now, I’m still only getting short visits and they seem to grow so much between each time I see them. I feel as if I’m missing a lot.”
“How’s Audrey? I haven’t seen her since I’ve gotten back into town.” She knew he would understand she was referring to Audrey’s drug use.
“I think she’s good. Something gave her a jolt over the summer. The drug trade slowed after we put Sheldon Normal away. Maybe that was enough to make her realize that’s not a lifestyle choice that was good for her, or the girls.”
“Maybe she’s growing up. When we went out over the summer I thought that for her, life had never moved on from high school.”
“I can understand that,” he said. “From a relationship standpoint, she was always tied to me. When we got divorced it’s possible she found some things in the world had passed her by.”
“And she now has kids. Someone else to be responsible for,” said Callie. “I think it just took her awhile to understand that.”
“Maybe,” he said.
Callie changed the subject, not wanting the evening to focus on his failed marriage. “Do you still hang out with anyone from our high school days? Do they still do reunions?”
“I’ve seen the invitations, but I haven’t gone. I don’t think I have much in common with people from those days. Besides, Skinner is such a small place, I see a lot of them around, so a reunion seems sort of pointless to me.”
“Don’t say that,” she said, laughing. “You’re talking about my livelihood here. If people stop having parties and reunions, what will I do?”
“I can’t imagine you not being able to think of something,” he said, his eyes sparkling.
Their conversation continued on with doings in Skinner, and Callie provided Scott with an update of farm life. She was surprised to find the waitress coming with the check. She hadn’t realized how fast the time had gone.
“Shall we move on?” he asked.
She shook her head. “You didn’t drink much, but I’ve had some wine with dinner already. If we go and have another, I won’t be able to drive. So as much as I want to, I think I have to say no.”
He was quiet as they paid and went out the door. As they stood outside of the restaurant, he said, “If you don’t mind, maybe we could do this again sometime soon?”
“I would like that,” she said, smiling. Callie wasn’t sure if it was the wine or just being with him that was causing the buzz in her head, but she couldn’t resist. Slowly she leaned towards him, giving him time to pull back. His gray eyes regarded her seriously, but he didn’t move. Their lips touched and she sighed. Their first real kiss, not just a quick peck on the cheek. He pulled her in close and returned the kiss with equal fervor.
He held her hand as they walked downtown and to her mom’s pickup truck. “Now I’ve seen everything,” he said as he opened the door and helped her climb into the faded red cab of the truck.
“Maybe I’ll buy something just like this,” she said.
“I don’t think your fashion sense would allow it,” he said, giving her one more lingering kiss as she leaned out the window. She started the engine and waved at him as she drove away.
The downstairs lights were all off when Callie reached home, so she headed to the cottage and went to bed, her thoughts full of Scott.
Chapter Four
Callie woke the next morning when it was still dark although she could see by the lightening of the sky that dawn wasn’t far off. Memories of last night’s dinner came back to her. Was it easier to fall in love with someone you already had a long history with? Her still sleepy mind didn’t shy from the word “love” like it would have if she’d been fully awake. She thought of how long she had known him.
In high school, she would never have even crossed paths with him except for Audrey. Although she knew he was intelligent, his crowd of friends tended to be the jocks who were too cool for school. Callie’s crowd were taking the AP classes and continually competing with one another for grades, favors from teachers, and hanging out in the after school French club.
Callie never thought Scott deliberately cruel, but he wasn’t above enforcing the high school hierarchy where the jocks had free run to make fun of those who were more academically inclined. As far as she knew, he had never instigated throwing someone in a dumpster or tripping them in the lunch room, but he always laughed with the rest of his clique. Callie realized now that she had been insulated from those sorts of interactions by her friendship with Audrey.
She supposed at that time she didn’t really know him, she just knew of him. When Audrey and Scott started dating, Callie felt like a third wheel. The two of them were a natural fit, the jock and the beauty queen. Callie wondered if they would have ever gotten together if they had met later in life when they had matured beyond their stereotypes.
Callie had been very surprised to hear that Scott had become a police officer. Not only had he not seemed the public servant type, the profession wasn’t known for its high pay, which was something anyone dating Audrey should have been concerned about.
Callie concluded that as nice as it was to know about Scott’s past, it shouldn’t influence how she thought of him in the present. Especially as he had changed significantly in the years she had been away on the East Coast.
Sighing to herself and looking forward to the future, Callie snuggled deep into the bed and went back to sleep.
Callie thought it must have been about an hour later when she woke up again, this time to full daylight pouring into the room. She got up and searched around the floor for her purse, finding it where she had haphazardly tossed it the night before. She grabbed her phone to see if there was a message from Scott. There was none.
She texted him, “Thanks for dinner. I had a great time.” That was safe enough. No overt admissions of romance or anything like that. Although she was pretty certain she had come a little ways down that road already, she wasn’t quite ready to share it with him.
Thankfully, the list of tasks was short. Callie sighed to herself. No use putting it off any longer. She would have to go in and face her mom and grandma sometime.
Grandma Minnie didn’t say anything as Callie walked into the kitchen although Callie was sure there was a smirk on her face. “Good morning, Grandma,” she said as she put the goat’s milk in the refrigerator.
Grandma Minnie spoke up. “And where were you at last night young lady? Coming in at all hours…”
Callie shook her head. Why try to hide it? She smiled broadly, “I had a date.”
“Is this someone we know? Will he be a repeat offender?” asked Grandma Minnie.
“Yes, as if you couldn’t guess, Scott McMillan. And yes, I’m thinking you might see him around.”
Grandma Minnie shook her head. “Dating Scooter McMillan, who’d have thought it? I always imagined you didn’t like him.”
“I don’t think I knew him as well as I thought I did when we were in high school. Besides, people change.”
After breakfast, Callie returned to the cottage to shower and dress. Fall in Skinner required layering as it could be rainy one moment and sunny the next. She pulled on her Ralph Lauren jeans. A white pullover sweater with a multicolored infinity scarf and brown leather half boots completed the look. She checked her phone again, but there was no reply to her earlier message to Scott. The phone rang in her hand and she answered it eagerly. “Hello?”
A woman’s voice answered, “Callie? This is Janna Cates from Rivers Real Estate.”
Masking her disappointment, Callie said, “Janna, it’s good to hear from you. Have you got some places for me to look at?”
“There’s a condo in a great location that hasn’t even come on the market yet and it seems the sort of place you’d like. Very loft-y and New York-ish.”
Callie wasn’t sure if she wanted to be reminded of her old life while making a new one there, but in Skinner, New York-style meant something very different than what it meant in New York. In fact, Janna Cates, with her thick black rimmed cat’s eye glasses and asymmetrical short hair, seemed to think she was displaying an East Coast sensitivity for style. Callie gave her points for trying.
“Sounds great. When is it available to see?”
“It will be open all morning if you’re free.”
“Would it be an imposition if you could come by and get me? Afterwards, you can just drop me off downtown at Caffe Misto.” Callie said. “Then I can ride with you to look at these places.” Callie also thought she could then partake of coffee and cinnamon rolls.
“Sure. See you in a few,” said Janna.
Janna arrived, wearing knee-high black boots, black tights and a well-fitting black sweater. The only color in her ensemble came from a Black Watch tartan skirt with its distinctive dark blue and green checks.
The condominium complex, located on the north side of Skinner, was in a renovated elementary school. They were buzzed in tall glass doors by the on-site manager, who gave Janna a set of keys to the unit that was for sale. Although it was two bedrooms, it was barely larger than the cottage where Callie was currently staying.
Janna walked through the condo, pointing out the key features. “The school was converted three years ago, so all the appliances are still fairly new.”
The kitchen included a sub-zero freezer and had an open space floor plan Callie thought would be nice for entertaining. One bedroom overlooked a central courtyard shared by the condo owners. The courtyard was bright with the sunlight reflecting off the white stone walls of the buildings. It was definitely a place Callie could see herself living in.
“I haven’t lived in a condo before,” she said to Janna. “What makes it different from an apartment?”
“Not much, really,” said Janna, adjusting her glasses. “I think the biggest difference is in the management. You pay a housing association fee that covers things such as water as well as major maintenance to the common areas and outer building.”
“What’s the fee here?” asked Callie.
Janna paged through a stack of papers on the black marble kitchen counter. “Let’s see. It looks to be about two hundred dollars per month.”
“Yikes—and that’s on top of the mortgage? I’m not sure I could swing that,” said Callie.
Sensing the possibility of a lost sale, Janna said, “It depends on how much you allow for your down payment. If you consider adding the two hundred dollars in as part of your budget, you just need to put more into the original purchase price so your monthly payments are manageable.”
Callie thought to herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t have the funds to make a large down payment, she just didn’t want to tie them up in real estate. She was devoted to living in Skinner, but hated losing flexibility with her money.
“I’ll have to think about it. Was this the only place you wanted me to see?”
“No, I have a house for you to take a look at as well, but it’s in Millton,” said Janna. “I thought you’d prefer a Skinner location, so we looked at this one first.”
Callie laughed. The distance between Skinner and Millton was about a mile. However, people here acted as if it was like driving from Baltimore to D.C. Callie’s mom avoided driving between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. because of the traffic congestion, which lasted all of fifteen minutes. Callie was used to a rush hour that lasted from 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. “I’m open to both towns,” she said.
They left the busy streets of Skinner and headed past the college football stadium into Millton. Although the downtown area looked more to Callie like a strip mall than an actual city, the neighborhood Janna drove to was nice, with well-kept lawns and houses.
“This is the historic part of town and many of these homes were built in the 1930’s and 1940’s,” said Janna. The streets, lined with maple and oak trees, were just beginning to show their fall glory of vibrant reds and yellows.
They pulled in front of a small house, parking alongside the curb because the home didn’t have a driveway. The house was dark green with white trim and featured a graceful A-line doorway. “The garage was originally entered through the alleyway, but they converted it to a bedroom, so there’s now only on-street parking,” said Janna.
Callie didn’t think that was a deal breaker for her, but when she stepped inside the house, she immediately knew it was too small. For Janna’s sake she did a complete walk through, but both the kitchen and bathroom had fixtures painted in avocado and tan, giving away their age, and were not improved by the fact the first house they had looked at had been chock full of modern amenities.
“I don’t think this one’s for me, Janna,” Callie said. “I’m sorry if I’m treating you like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, this one’s too expensive, this one’s too old…”
“No worries,” said Janna. “We’ll find the one that’s just right sooner or later. If being a real estate agent was easy, everyone would be doing it.”
Callie smiled, relieved that Janna was OK with the state of their housing search.
They headed back into Skinner and Janna dropped Callie off at Caffe Misto.
As she drank her coffee and did her best to eat a whole cinnamon roll, she thought about Scott’s comments on her mom’s truck. Callie realized she was more than ready to get her own transportation.
Although the planner side of her had done some research online, she realized that as she wanted a used car, what she needed to do was go to a car lot and check out the selection. She called a cab and had it drop her off at one of the dealerships located by the Creekside Place mall. They were stretched out for blocks, so if she didn’t find what she wanted at o
ne place, she knew she could just walk up the street to the next one.
She looked down the street, with cars as far as her eyes could see. There was going to be no Goldilocks indecisiveness here. She was going to choose a car and leave with it.
The wind was blowing steadily and the auto dealership flags were fluttering in the wind, the plastic making little snapping sounds. The lot was circular, with a large glass walled building in the center. She headed in that direction, but didn’t even get half way there before several men came from various parts of the lot, making a bee line in her direction. She stood still as she thought she recognized the closest man, rapidly approaching her. There couldn’t be two of them in town? The man stuck out his hand and said, “Kurt Carter.”
Callie looked at him with a furrowed brow. “Are you related to Kit Carter in any way?” Callie had worked with Kit during the Slug Queen pageant earlier in the summer.
“Why, yes,” he said, slicking his dark hair back in the exact same manner as Kit. “He’s my older brother.” Kurt was wearing a dark lavender collared shirt and a purple patterned tie. His black pants were slightly shiny.
“Did you move here for him? I had the impression he was from the East Coast,” said Callie, remembering Kit’s disparaging comments about Skinner.
“No, we were born and raised in North Skinner,” said Kurt. “Kit worked in New York for a few years and seems to think that should impress everyone.”
Callie wasn’t sure what to say. “Well, I was impressed, I guess.”
“How can I help you?” he asked, returning to a salesman’s script.
“I think I want to buy a car,” she said.
Three hours later, she pulled into her mother’s driveway. It hadn’t actually taken three hours for her to purchase the car. The 2006 Audi S4 was black and had low mileage. Kurt had tried to get her to go for something splashier, but once she saw this car, she knew she wouldn’t want anything else. It was a case of Goldilocks and for once, she had easily found something just right. A large portion of time was spent with Kurt showing her other cars and then the remainder working out a payment plan she could afford. In her professional life, she spent a lot of time negotiating with vendors. Purchasing a car was no different from that. She certainly wasn’t going to let Kit Carter’s younger brother get the best of her.