Calling Charlie

by Pamela M. Kelley

  “Time to eat! Everyone help themselves,” she announced.

  Over dinner, her grandmother told everyone how marvelous the Spinazolla event had been and then embarrassed Maggie by raving about her dancing with Charlie.

  “The two of you looked like you’d been dancing together for years. Almost Dancing with the Stars worthy.” Her friends all nodded in agreement. “So, is there anything we need to know yet about you and Charlie?” her grandmother and her friends leaned in closely.

  “There is no ‘me and Charlie’, Grams. I was there with Josh, and Charlie brought his sister, Hannah.”

  “Hmmmm. Well, you should work on that. A man who can dance like Charlie won’t stay on the market long,” her grandmother warned.

  Maggie smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Later, during one of the commercial breaks, Maggie joined Bethany and Robyn in the kitchen so they could chat without disturbing the others and so Bethany could have dessert. Maggie watched in amusement as Bethany put a fudge brownie on a plate and smothered it with a giant scoop of strawberry ice-cream.

  “Want some?” she asked before putting the ice-cream back in the freezer. Maggie and Robyn both shook their heads no.

  “I was hoping Katie would be here tonight,” Maggie said. “I drove by her house the other night, on the way to Lewiston, and I saw that car you mentioned.”

  “The black sports car?” Robyn asked.

  Maggie nodded. “Has anyone talked to her?”

  “I’ve left her a few messages but we haven’t connected yet,” Robyn said. “If I hear anything I’ll let you know. How are you feeling, Bethany? Is your back better?”

  “Yes. My appetite has kicked in, though. I’m always hungry. Ryder’s been good about keeping me well fed, though.”

  “He seems so excited about the baby,” Maggie said. “He keeps a copy of your ultrasound picture in his wallet. He was showing it off to me earlier today.”

  Bethany laughed. “He is excited. And willing to give me nightly foot rubs. Being pregnant isn’t so bad.”

  “Do you want kids, Maggie?” Robyn asked.

  “When I was a kid, I thought I’d have four kids by the time I was thirty-five. Now I can’t imagine having that many, but I think I’d like at least one or two. I suppose I should find someone to have them with first?” She laughed, but it was interesting how the thought had crossed her mind recently. Ever since Bethany and Ryder announced that they were expecting, Maggie started noticing babies everywhere, and wondering if it would actually ever happen for her.

  Maggie was sitting in her kitchen Tuesday afternoon, painting her toenails a pretty shade of coral when her phone rang and she was surprised to see that it was Charlie. She had the afternoon off and didn’t have to be into work for another few hours. It wasn’t like him to call her this time of day and she’d just called her weekly order in the day before.

  “Hi, Charlie.”

  “Hey, Maggie, sorry to bother you. But I remembered that you’re off today and I wasn’t sure who else to call. I know that you’ve had cats.” He sounded anxious and Maggie hadn’t a clue what he was calling about.

  “What’s going on, Charlie?”

  “It’s Tank. I put one of those cat doors in a few months ago, so he could get into the basement when it got cold out, but he never used it, until now. And it turns out that he is a she and just had a litter of kittens in my basement. I’m not sure what I should do, if anything.”

  “Kittens? What’s your address? I’ll be right over.”

  Maggie jotted down Charlie’s address, then jumped in her car and drove to Paw’s, the pet shop on Main St. She stocked up on wet cat food, bought a litter box and some litter and a soft fleece blanket. She figured Charlie would have some old towels they could use, too.

  She put his address in the GPS of her white Honda Civic and arrived at Charlie’s house twelve minutes later. He heard her pull into the driveway and opened the front door as she walked towards it, carrying the bag of pet stuff. He took it from her and glanced inside it.

  “Thanks for coming. What is all this?”

  “Everything I could think of that you might need. Tank might not be up for leaving her babies anytime soon. So you’ll need food, and a litter box. Do you have any old towels we can put down around them? I picked up a soft fleece blanket for them to snuggle on, too.”

  “This is great. I didn’t think of any of this. Do you want to go see them?”

  Maggie nodded and quietly followed Charlie into the basement. It was mostly empty except for a few big plastic storage containers and in one of them, a giant brown and white cat lay with six or maybe seven kittens clamped onto her, trying to nurse.

  “Aw. They’re so tiny. And their mother looks exhausted.”

  “She does.” Charlie set up the litter box in a corner and went back upstairs and returned a minute later with two bowls, one filled with water and the other for the wet food. He also had a stack of old towels that he laid around Tank, along with the fluffy, fleece blanket. Tank rubbed her cheek against the blanket and purred. Charlie reached down, and lightly petted her head and scratched behind her ears. “You did well,” he told her as she purred even louder.

  Tank’s eyes grew heavy and soon she was sound asleep, while her kittens continued to nurse. Charlie and Maggie watched for a few minutes reluctant to leave them. When one of the kittens rolled away, Tank woke immediately to check on her baby and nudged it back into place.

  “I think she has things under control,” Charlie said.

  “I can’t get over how tiny they are.” The kittens were the size of mice. Squirmy, damp mice with eyes that were almost completely shut. They were so helpless looking. “It’s hard to believe that they’ll soon be running around.”

  “You sure you don’t want a kitten? You’ll have your pick to choose from!”

  “Maybe it’s a sign that I should take one,” Maggie agreed.

  “I don’t think that it will be hard to find homes for them. I’ll spread the word. There’s always the shelter, but I’ve heard kittens are always in demand. Do you have time for a cup of coffee before you head into work?”

  “Sure.” Maggie followed him upstairs and into the kitchen. It was a sunny room, with lots of natural light steaming in through oversized windows. She liked the big center island and the creamy off-white cabinets and her jaw dropped when she saw that his counter tops were made of honed Calcutta marble. She ran a finger lightly across the smooth surface. It was absolutely gorgeous—mostly white with streaks of ash and gold running through it.

  “This is exactly what I dreamed of doing in my kitchen. I’ve always wanted marble, but everyone says it’s not practical.”

  “Oh, it’s not. I was a little worried about that when I had it built, but my contractor said it would be fine as long as I kept wine away from it and wiped up any spills immediately. So far, so good.” He grinned as he handed Maggie a mug of hot coffee.

  “I have cream and sugar if you need it.”

  “Thanks, but I don’t use either.” Maggie watched with amusement as Charlie dumped at least four sugars into his coffee and gave it a stir. They sat at the kitchen island and sipped their coffees. Charlie looked like he had something on his mind, but they chatted about nothing in particular until Maggie finished her coffee and reluctantly realized she needed to head into work.

  She stood and put her empty mug in the sink. “I should probably go.”

  “Thanks so much for coming. I think I panicked a little. We never had cats growing up, just dogs.”

  “It will be fun to watch them grow. Maybe you’ll want to keep one, too?”

  “The thought crossed my mind. I even considered keeping two, so they’d have a playmate.” Charlie walked Maggie to the front door. He reached to open it and paused. “Before you go. If you’re interested, I’d love to take you out soon, maybe dinner later this week?” The words came out in a rush and took Maggie by surprise, in a very good way.

  “I’d lo
ve that. I’m off Friday night and of course on Sunday.”

  “Okay, good. I want to talk to Josh first, to give him a head’s up. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll see you soon then.”

  Charlie opened the door and Maggie walked by him on her way out. They were standing so close that she could feel his breath on her face. They both stopped and for a moment, she thought he might kiss her, but then he stepped back to let her pass by and the moment was gone.

  “Bye, Maggie.”

  As soon as Maggie drove off, Charlie grabbed his phone and called Josh. He picked up on the second ring.

  “Josh Winters.” He sounded busy and distracted.

  “Josh, it’s Charlie.”

  “Oh, hey, Charlie. I’m sorry. I’m just swamped and didn’t look at the caller ID. You know how it is. What’s up?”

  “I won’t keep you, just had something I wanted to talk to you about. First of all, have you talked to Liz?”

  “That would be a no. I’ve called Liz twice since Spinazzola. Left her a message each time and haven’t heard back from her yet. Looks like it’s over for real.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe you should try going to see her?” Charlie suggested.

  “She should answer her phone!” Josh was clearly in a mood. Charlie debated waiting a day or two to talk to him about Maggie. But, he didn’t want to wait any longer.

  “I’d like to ask Maggie out. As long as you don’t have a problem with that?” Charlie asked. His only answer for a very long minute was complete silence. Finally Josh spoke.

  “You want to ask out Maggie? My Maggie?”

  “I wouldn’t exactly call her your Maggie. Have you asked her out since Spinazzolla?”

  “Well, no. Not yet. But I was planning on it. Especially since Liz seems to want nothing to do with me. Maggie’s much nicer. And she’s already gone out with me twice. I’d say my chances are pretty good.”

  Charlie sighed. This wasn’t going the way that he’d hoped.

  “So, you don’t want me to go out with Maggie?”

  “Are you serious, Charlie? Of all the women in Quinn Valley, you want to go out with her? Your timing really stinks. I’m not ready to give up on Maggie yet. Can you find someone else? Please?” He sounded annoyed and spoiling for a fight and Charlie wasn’t up for it. He could tell that Josh was in a mood and it wouldn’t go well.

  “All right. I’ll back off. For now. Let me know if anything changes.”

  “I wouldn’t hold your breath on that.”

  Charlie ended the call and sat fuming for almost ten minutes. Finally, he decided to go for a run and burn off the anger and frustration that was coursing through him. The last thing he felt like doing was calling Maggie and canceling their date. But he didn’t see that he had another choice.

  He called her the next afternoon, and she sounded happy to hear from him.

  “Hi, Charlie! I’m looking forward to our date this weekend. Did you want to go out Friday night or Sunday?”

  Charlie sighed. “I wish we could go out Friday night. But I have some frustrating news. I called Josh after you left, to let him know that I wanted to see you and well, he didn’t take it well.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “That Josh is going through something right now. He’s not himself. This thing with Liz is wearing on him.”

  “The ‘thing’ with Liz is entirely his fault and he could clear it up immediately if he just talked to her.”

  “I agree, but she’s not taking his calls at the moment.”

  “And until she does, he won’t let you date me? That’s silly.”

  “It is. But Josh is my best friend and he’s hurting right now. I just don’t want to make things worse for him. You have no idea how badly I want to take you to dinner. But I think we need to wait a little until this works itself out or dies down. He’ll come to his senses soon.”

  “And if he doesn’t?”

  “Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, I suppose.”

  “Okay. But, if he calls me again I am not going out with him!”

  “I would hope not!” Charlie laughed, then added softly. “I’m really sorry about this Maggie.”

  “It’s all right. You’re just being a good friend.”

  “I’ll keep you posted.”

  Chapter 11

  “So, you haven’t heard from Josh, or Charlie, and Josh won’t allow Charlie to ask you out?” Bethany dipped her spoon into a big bowl of strawberry ice cream and shook her head at the ridiculousness of the situation.

  “That’s about the gist of it,” Maggie said. It was Friday afternoon and she and Bethany were sitting in the back room, while Maggie counted the money in her drawer to make a deposit. They were both almost done for the day. Bethany was just waiting for Ryder to finish up and then the two of them were going home to shower and head out for their regular Friday date night.

  The weekend stretched out in front of her, long and empty. She’d been looking forward to seeing Charlie Friday night but now she was going to be staying home alone.

  “I don’t even have a cat to keep me company,” she complained. She was feeling pretty sorry for herself.

  “Well, that’s dramatic. You have loads of friends. Is no one around to go out with tonight?” Bethany asked.

  “Oh, probably. I’m just not feeling up to going out with the girls tonight. I’m tired and I want a long, hot bath, a good book and some of that ice cream.”

  “That sounds like a pretty good night to me,” Bethany said.

  “It doesn’t sound too bad, actually. It’s just not what I originally had in mind. I was really looking forward to seeing Charlie.”

  “I know you were.” Bethany’s eyes were sympathetic and Maggie felt her own eyes water. She was feeling so emotional. It was silly. She tried to push the sad feelings aside and to think of something positive instead.

  “There’s a new romantic comedy that just opened today. Do you maybe want to catch a matinee on Sunday?” Maggie knew that Bethany shared her love for fun, romantic movies.

  “I’d love to.”

  Maggie was in a mood Monday morning when she strolled into Quinn’s for her lunch shift. Her mother was already there, making the coffee and setting out a plate of hideously green muffins. They did not look appetizing. Maggie helped herself to coffee and ignored the muffins.

  “Oh, you have to try one,” her mother urged. “It’s a new recipe. Pistachio, like the ones we liked from the bakery. I think they came out good.”

  Bethany was sitting at the bar, making notes on her food order for the week. She took a bite of a muffin and looked like she was in heaven.

  “See, Bethany likes them,” her mother said.

  “Bethany likes everything right now,” Maggie laughed.

  “It’s true. I do,” Bethany agreed. “These are very good, though.”

  To appease her mother, and because she knew she’d never let up until she tried one, Maggie took a muffin and ripped a chunk off and ate it. She knew that she was in a bad mood because it actually made her mad that the muffin was good.

  It had just been a long weekend. Even though Friday night had been relaxing, she couldn’t help thinking more than once that she could have been spending it with Charlie if he’d been firmer with Josh. She understood. She just didn’t like it.

  As soon as she finished her muffin and waved good bye to her mother as she went off to run errands, Maggie picked up the phone to call Charlie and put her weekly order in. He answered on the first ring.

  “Hi, Maggie, it’s great to hear your voice. Did you have a good weekend?”

  “Hi, Charlie. It was fine.” Her tone was short and she couldn’t seem to keep her frustration out of her voice. “Are you ready for my order?”

  “Of course. Whenever you’re ready.”

  Ten minutes later, they were done discussing her order and the conversation suddenly halted. There was an awkward moment of silence bef
ore Maggie asked, “How are Tank and the kittens?”

  “Oh, they’re good! They’re already getting bigger.”

  “That’s great.” She paused for a moment then asked the question she needed to know. “Have you talked to Josh? Has anything changed with Liz?”

  There was a long moment of silence before Charlie spoke. “I haven’t heard from him.”

  “I see. Well, I have to get going. Goodbye, Charlie.” Maggie hung up the phone and sighed. Time to focus on work.

  Charlie couldn’t relax after his call with Maggie. The frustration in her voice echoed his own and it had only grown worse after what had been a very long weekend. One he’d hoped to spend with Maggie. He’d thought for sure that he would have heard from Josh by now. He entered Maggie’s order in the system and decided to take matters into his own hands. He was tired of waiting.

  He drove downtown, to Josh’s posh office and greeted Estelle, Josh’s receptionist, warmly. She was about his mother’s age, and she was always elegantly dressed with her hair curled and a double strand of pearls over a cashmere sweater.

  “Any chance I could steal ten minutes from Josh’s schedule?”

  She glanced at her computer screen. “He just hung up a call and doesn’t have anything for another twenty minutes. You can go on in."

  Charlie tapped lightly on his office door, that was slightly ajar and then walked in. Josh looked up in surprise when he saw him.

  “Hey, there. What are you doing downtown? Is everything all right?”

  “Everything is fine, or at least it will be. We need to talk about Maggie.”

  Josh scowled. “I thought we already did.”

  “No, I told you what I wanted to do, out of courtesy since you’re my best friend. But you’re not serious about Maggie. There is absolutely no reason why I can’t ask her out. Except that you don’t want me to because you’re miserable about Liz. What have you done about that?”

  “I’ve called her and left messages. I don’t know what else you think I should do.”