by Rose Pressey
"Would you like dessert?” the waiter muttered.
Callahan looked at me and I smiled. Funny how he could practically read my mind on only our first date. How was he doing that, anyway? Okay, maybe knowing I wanted dessert was not such a big deal. But still...
"We'd love some,” Callahan said.
My cheeks flushed and I didn't think it was the heat from the candlelight making them that way.
The waiter threw the menu down on the table as Callahan continued to watch me, not even noticing the waiter had a serious attitude problem.
Callahan leaned the menu over to me. “What looks good?"
"You can't go wrong with chocolate in my opinion.” I chuckled.
"I agree one hundred percent. How about the triple chocolate cake?"
"It sounds divine to me.” I licked my lips subconsciously before I realized what I was doing. When I saw Callahan's face, I thought he might have a heart attack right then. His eyes were wide and his mouth drooped slightly open.
I hadn't meant to do it, but it sure made my heart flutter knowing that he obviously approved of the motion I'd made with my mouth. I wasn't sure if it was just me or if they'd raised the thermostat in there, but it was getting extremely hot.
Slowly, Callahan moved his hand and placed it on mine.
My heart rate spiked. I needed one of those portable oxygen masks to help me breathe. STAT. His hand was soft and rough at the same time, but in all the right places. I'd never liked a man who had hands softer than mine, nor did I want them so rough that every time he touched me he eliminated my need for a loofah in the shower. Undeniably, Callahan had just the right combination.
"You know, I saw you the first day I looked into renting the spot next door to you. There were several other spots I looked at for my shop, but none of them would've given me a neighbor like you."
All right, now it was my turn to blush.
"I bet you say that to all the neighbors.” I laughed.
He chuckled, and then the serious look on his face returned as he gazed into my eyes and said, “I mean it. I'm not feeding you some silly line."
I blushed some more, then, before I had a chance to respond, the chocolate cake was thrust in front of my face. Seriously, what was this guy's problem? If it were up to me, he wouldn't be receiving a tip for that move.
The cake was mouth-watering. Chocolate drizzle leaked down the sides of the decadent tower of dessert. It was any chocolate lover's dream and I tried my best to pace myself and not shove the whole thing in my mouth. Although at the rate Callahan was going, he'd be finished in three bites. The guy meant business when it came to sweets.
"You know, when the candlelight flickers, the little green specks in your eyes sparkle. You have hazel eyes, right?"
All right, he had me melting like the wax on the side of that romantic candle in front of us. Suddenly the movement outside on the sidewalk caught my eye again. Once more, it was Brianna. I was tempted to lean over and plant a juicy wet one on Callahan's lips right in front of her. That would make her furious, and that was, without a doubt, what Mindy would have done. But, unlike Mindy, I didn't have the nerve. After all, in my opinion if Callahan had wanted her, he'd be sitting in the restaurant with her and I'd be the one outside peeping in. No, wait ... I would never stoop to peeping in windows.
Abe popped up at the doorway, looked at me and gave me a wink. He then, without giving me another glance, glided through the door and vanished around the corner. Uh oh. I knew where he was headed. I almost didn't want to know what he'd try to do to Brianna to scare her. Ha, serves her right, though.
"I suppose you were wondering what I was doing standing in front of your shop talking to Brianna earlier?” Callahan said with a bashful grin.
Had he read my mind or had I subconsciously placed Brianna on his brain? If it was the latter, I needed to watch myself because I most definitely didn't want him thinking of her. That was exactly what she wanted. I knew he hadn't seen her walk by because his back was facing the window.
I waved my hand in response. “I really don't pay attention to anything she does.” Liar. I am a complete liar.
I hoped that statement came across as believable because, the truth was, I'd wanted to know what their conversation was about, and the need to know had actually been gnawing at me all evening.
"That Brianna, she's something else.” Callahan sat his fork down.
Huh? She was something else, all right. But I was too much of a lady to say just what I really thought she was.
"She's a real tiger,” Callahan continued, as he dabbed the side of his mouth with his napkin.
What was that supposed to mean? I raised my eyebrows and gave him a confused look.
"She's a real go-getter, I guess."
"I suppose,” I said flatly. I was trying to be nice about it, but I wasn't all that thrilled about his topic of conversation.
"She actually cornered me when I was standing there waiting for you. I couldn't just run away, so I was stuck there."
Stuck, huh? He looked like he was having an all right time to me. Not exactly miserable, by any means. I'd had a feeling Brianna would try something like that after Mindy had made me go into her shop.
It seemed undeniable that war had been declared. There was no telling what kind of maneuvers she would try to get to Callahan. I'd tried to avoid Brianna and any kind of war she'd declared ever since I'd first met her. I'd seen the results from when others had attempted to do battle with her, and she was always the victor.
"She did mention you, though,” he said, finishing off the last of his wine.
I raised my eyebrow once again and said, “She did?"
"Yes, she said you make a lot of trips. I asked if she meant business trips, and she said not exactly. Do you know what she meant by that? It was kind of strange. Like she was being enigmatic."
That bitch.
"She's kind of strange,” I said sharply.
Oh, no. Did I just say that out loud?
Callahan just looked at me as if waiting for more of an answer.
"Well...” I coughed slightly to buy myself enough time to think of something to say. And not just something to say, but the right thing to say. “All the trips I take are for business, unfortunately. I'd love to take a vacation, I just don't have the luxury of whisking away whenever I want. So I'm not sure what she meant by that.” I laughed and gave him my best smile. I was not going to let Brianna ruin my date. And I didn't want to stoop to her level.
"Would you like to go for a walk?"
"I'd love to.” Anything to get off the subject of Brianna. Plus, a walk around town would be terribly romantic.
Callahan had a twinkle in his eyes and it was hard for me to say no to anything he asked.
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Chapter 7
Our date was turning out just as I'd hoped it would. Again Callahan helped me with my chair when I stood. I could definitely get used to that.
As we reached the door he said, with an extended hand, “Ladies first."
We stepped out onto the sidewalk and I pulled my jacket up a little closer around my neck. It was a brisk evening, crisp and, in fact, a perfect time for a walk. Not a cloud in the sky, and the stars twinkled softly in the indigo twilight. Another couple had the same idea as they strolled by arm and arm. The faint sound of them whispering sweet nothings into each others’ ears floated our way as they walked by.
The silence had returned to linger between us, but again it wasn't uncomfortable. Most first dates that I'd had, if any silence were present, would self-destruct after the main course, well before dessert.
"So where are we headed?” I looked over at Callahan, and noticed he was watching me. Giving me a sexy-yet-a-little-bit-bashful grin.
"I thought we could just take a stroll around town."
"Sounds perfect.” As the words slipped off my tongue, his arm slipped around my shoulders. I took in a deep breath. God, he smelled delicious. Like sandalwood and mus
k. Being that close to him felt right and oh-so-good.
"Tell me, how do you like your new hometown?"
"I like it much better now.” Callahan stopped abruptly and gently pulled me closer to him, spinning me around to face him. In that moment, we were staring into each other's eyes. He leaned in closer and our lips slowly moved toward each other. The next thing I knew, his lips were firmly on mine. They were soft, full, and so delicious. I felt my knees turn to rubber as his lips lingered over mine, and I savored every moment of his touch. Finally, he eased away from my lips and flashed that amazing smile of his. My stomach dipped. I'd never had a kiss quite like that before. Not even from Michael Taylor.
"Wow, you're amazing, do you know that?” Callahan said looking into my eyes.
I giggled nervously and glanced down at my feet. “I don't know about amazing. Fantastic, maybe."
Callahan leaned back and laughed a hearty laugh. He obviously liked my joke.
We'd continued our walk around half the town, chatting about books, coffee and, of course, sweets. We passed an art and antique gallery, gourmet food shop, as well as the county's history museum. I'd been so mesmerized by the evening that I'd barely paid attention to where we were headed. Suddenly, I realized where we were.
In a panic, I looked up at the funeral home, its brick façade and stately white columns situated in front of me. I'd never been able to walk past funeral homes, for obvious reasons. I'd made that mistake early in life, and learned my lesson rather quickly. If any spirits were hanging around watching their funeral, they'd sense me and somehow latch on. And of all nights, tonight I certainly didn't need that.
How would I explain that to Callahan? Sorry I can't walk past funeral homes because the deceased will come out and talk to me. That would be a surefire way for him to think I was nuts. I needed to get us out of here as soon as possible so, swiftly I grabbed Callahan's arm.
"Let's turn around and head back,” I said trying to steer him in the opposite direction.
"Don't you want to make the complete circle around town?” He made a circle with his hand.
"Um. Actually my feet are really hurting,” I said as I glanced over my shoulder.
Okay, I lied to him, but that was better than the alternative. I hoped I wasn't going to make a habit of lying to him. Thankfully, so far, no spirits had appeared. If I could just slip out of there before they did, I'd be as happy as a clam at high tide.
Callahan looked down at my strappy heels.
"I'm so sorry I didn't think about that. Of course you're tired. You worked all day. Let's get you back to your car."
He spun me around, careful to keep his arm around me the entire time. Then I heard faint footsteps behind us. I prayed it wasn't what I thought it was. Slowly, I glanced over at Callahan, and he gave me an adorable smile. Obviously he didn't hear the steps following closely behind us like I did. Carefully, I glanced over my shoulder again, trying not to be too noticeable. I didn't want Mr. Delicious-Kisser to think I was paranoid.
It was just as I'd suspected—someone was behind us. I could sense, by their missing aura and transparency, that our guest had just followed us from the funeral home. It had only been a minute, but that's all it had taken. The short old man was walking directly behind us.
I wondered if we ran that maybe we could lose him. Being that old, he could never keep up, but clearly running wasn't an option. Besides, he would just float over to my car and find me anyway; spirits didn't need to run. The old guy had a smile on his face and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. I turned around, hoping to ignore him and not make Callahan suspicious with my jittery behavior.
"I know you can see me, dear,” the old guy's voice said from behind my ear.
La la la. I was not going to listen to him. But as he spoke, I recognized the little fellow's voice. It was Mr. Haynes. He'd come into the Book Nook for years, when my grandparents owned it and then after I took it over as well. He really was a sweet man. I hadn't even realized he had died. I'd wondered why I hadn't seen him for quite some time. I felt a pang of guilt that I was ignoring him, but what else was I supposed to do?
"I'm glad to see you've finally got yourself a fine young man,” Mr. Haynes said.
Callahan was talking about where he'd gone to college, and I was trying to listen and not be distracted. I hoped he wouldn't ask me a question while I wasn't really paying attention to what he said.
As we crossed the street toward my car, I noticed the clear-cut sound of additional footsteps approaching us. I recognized them immediately. The heavy clomp of those old boots that I'd listened to so many times. Mr. Lincoln was back from his little pop-in visit with Brianna. There was no telling what he'd done to her, but I bet it was funny. Too bad I'd missed it. One thing was unequivocal: it looked as if the two of them (my spirit friends), were not going anywhere anytime soon and my date was ruined. Thank heavens Mrs. Williams hadn't shown up. Frankly, that really surprised me. I'd have thought she'd like nothing better than to humiliate me in public.
I knew one thing for sure; it was going to be extremely hard to kiss my date in front of Abraham Lincoln and sweet old Mr. Haynes. I was seriously going to have to have a discussion with those two, and some ground rules for hanging around were going to have to be set. So I figured, at that point, the only thing left for me to do was fake being ill.
Thanks to the ghosts, I was going to have to end the first real date I'd had in ages. And, not only the first date in ages, but a first date with the most gorgeous guy I had ever met.
"You know, I'm all of a sudden very tired.” I brushed my forehead in true southern belle style, as if I'd suddenly gotten a case of the vapors.
Callahan flashed me a concerned look.
I felt so bad for lying to him that I almost considered coming clean, but then I thought better of it.
"Plus, I have to get up really early in the morning. I have to go to Greensburg tomorrow. I had a fantastic time, though.” I wanted to cry. It probably sounded like I was giving him the brush off.
In true gentlemanly style Callahan said, “I am so sorry. I didn't think about how late it was getting. I understand completely, I hope you really did have a nice time, though.” He paused while searching my eyes. “You're not just telling me that you did, are you?” He flashed me a huge smile.
"I absolutely had a wonderful time. I wouldn't lie to you. If I had a terrible time I would tell you right away. I'd say, Callahan I had a horrible time!” I chimed, trying to let him know I really did have feelings for him.
We walked the rest of the way to my car with the two spirits trailing right behind us. Callahan was going to kiss me goodnight and I completely wanted him to, but it was going to feel strange kissing in front of those two. Especially since I wouldn't be able to tell them to turn around and not watch us. Clumsily, I retrieved my keys out of the confines of my purse and leaned up against my car.
Callahan presented his dazzling smile to me again; I could never get tired of that.
I smiled back, hardly able to contain the butterflies that floated joyously in my stomach.
He leaned in close to me and I waved my hand behind his back to encourage the audience to turn their heads.
I felt his sweet breath near my lips. Yum, chocolate cake.
He gently placed his lips against mine. Somehow, that time was even better than the first, something I didn't think at all possible. He opened my mouth wider with the gentle caress of his tongue.
My stomach wasn't the only thing flip-flopping on my body. His lips slipped from mine and met my gaze. I inhaled and caught a whiff of his manly scent.
After the most delicious kiss I'd ever had, Callahan leaned back and immediately began to blush. He turned a pale shade of red, I could tell from the street light that glowed softly over us.
"Is it all right if I call you soon?"
"Absolutely,” I whispered. “I'm leaving at six a.m. to reach Greensburg in time, but I'll be back Sunday evening. And, of course, I'll be running my shop Mon
day morning. My best friend, Mindy, will be working in my store this weekend while I'm gone."
"I'll call you then."
He didn't say when he would call, but I hoped it would be sooner rather than later.
I pushed the key fob to open my car doors. “I'll talk to you soon."
"Drive carefully.” Callahan waved as he stepped backward along the sidewalk to his car.
"Thanks for dinner,” I said, as I slipped in my car.
The President and Mr. Haynes were already sitting in the back seat. They didn't waste any time settling in for the ride home. Somehow, I'd become the chauffeur to the dead. The bad part was I couldn't even charge them a fare. They never share the cost of gas with me, and with gas prices like they are, that would help me a bunch. When I'd pulled away, and was confident no one could see me talking to myself alone in my car, I spoke.
"Mr. President, are you going to tell me what you did to Brianna?"
"Brianna? Who's Brianna, my dear?"
"You know who she is. Don't play coy, now. Tell me what you did.” I smiled.
He placed his hand on his chin. “Oh yes, of course, Brianna. I merely made sure she arrived home safely. You can never be too careful in this day and age."
"Uh huh, you chased her home didn't you? Go ahead and admit it. I know you did.” I stared at him in my rear view mirror, and then I glanced over to look at Mr. Haynes, who was tight-lipped.
"I'll take the silence as a yes. I can't believe you. You certainly are becoming very mischievous lately."
"I'm merely trying to help you find love,” Abe said in a dramatic voice.
Wow, I didn't expect to hear that response.
"It was obvious to me she had her eyes set on your suitor. She'd be all wrong for him."
"I'm not sure who she'd be right for.” I laughed. I still couldn't believe I was getting dating advice from Abe Lincoln.
I turned onto my street; thankfully, I didn't live very far away. It had been a long week and I really was becoming quite tired.
