Educating Callie

by Emma Jayne Mills

  Dana: What’s that got to do with anything?

  Me: Mr Darcy?

  Dana: Yes, Mark Darcy from Bridget Jones.

  Me: Wow Dana!

  Dana: Never mind that, have you acquired the sweatshirt yet?

  Me: Oh Dana, ye of little faith. I acquired the sweatshirt on the first night.

  Dana: You make me so proud.

  Adam picked me up from college on Tuesday and we ate lunch in his office at the police station. I ignored Greg’s wolf whistle and threw the sandwich he’d asked us to pick up for him at his head, when Adam led me straight past the other officers in the station and into his office without saying a word to anyone. Cam was nowhere to be seen so I assumed he was still out on patrol somewhere.

  “So you’re going out with Nate tonight?” Adam asked as we sat at his desk eating the turkey salad sandwiches.

  “Mmm-hmmm” I nodded as I opened up my sandwich and squirted the little packets of mustard and mayonnaise into it before topping it off with salt and vinegar flavoured crisps.

  “That’s disgusting!” he observed, frowning at my food. “Where are you going?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, Nate said it was a surprise.” I paused and looked at him, “You’re ok with this aren’t you? I mean Nate and I are friends, that’s all.”

  “I’m not about to start telling you who you can and can’t spend time with Angel. I just wanted to make sure you won’t be alone at any point, you need to stay with Nate at all times.” He turned his concerned gaze to me and I realised what he had been getting at.

  “I’m sorry. I suppose I’m just used to Jase and his constant questioning.” I shrugged. “He would never have let Nate and I go out together alone.”

  “I’m not him Angel.” he said softly and I knew my words had hurt him.

  “No, no you’re not. But honestly Adam, Jase and I were together for so long, I’m afraid I don’t know how to be with anyone but him.” I sighed.

  “Then let me teach you.” he reached over, smiling, and laced our fingers together on the desk top then joked, “I won’t take kindly to goodnight kisses though.”

  “Ah, I see, you’re doing that territorial thing again.” I grinned.

  “I believe the term is pissing a circle around you.” he teased, “And you like it. All your book boyfriends do it.”

  “Yeah, I kind of do when it’s you.” I admitted and we both laughed.

  *****

  Chapter Twelve

  Adam: Tea in bed. Strong with a splash of milk. A thermal cup with a lid. No spills. Tea stays hot. No food. No crumbs. No music, complete silence. I believe I have everything covered.

  Me: Hmmm...

  Adam: And I’ll allow your latest book boyfriend to share the bed with us.

  Me: There’s a bed this time? An actual bed?

  Adam: There is definitely a bed in our future Angel.

  Me: Beds, tea and book boyfriends, I think you may be onto something there.

  Adam: Of course, the day would have to start earlier to give you that quality time with your book boyfriend.

  Me: You ruined it.

  Cameron lifted the lid on the slow cooker and inhaled deeply, “Chilli?” he asked, his eyes lighting up. I nodded, “Awesome, I knew there was a reason I kept you around.”

  I smacked him in the chest and he looked me up and down.

  “You almost look like a girl there twin.” he teased.

  “I always look like a girl, these things kind of give it away!” I pointed to my chest and he laughed.

  “Could’ve brushed your hair though.” he gestured at my messy pony tail. “And dropped the man boots.”

  “Stop picking on me Cam” I whined.

  “Or what?” he challenged.

  “I’ll tell Mum!” I announced. “You know she’ll come back and haunt your arse if you upset her girl!”

  Cameron laughed and pulled me in for a hug. As we had suspected, nothing more had come of Dad’s files on Aunt Caroline’s murderer or our parent’s deaths. So despite the fact both of us and Adam thought there was more to it, Cam and I had agreed to move on from it until or if any more evidence came to light that could prove it to be true. We still had the books and Jase’s stolen phone to go on maybe they would uncover something.

  “So Adam is ok with you going out on a date with Nate?” Cam asked, releasing me and stepping back to lean a hip against the kitchen counter.

  “It’s not a date and why wouldn’t he be ok with it? Adam and I aren’t together. We’re just seeing how things go.” I rambled.

  “Got your wet suit on under there twin?” he motioned to my clothes.

  “Huh?” I frowned, looking down at myself.

  “Because you are surfing the sea of denial and are about to take a dive off your board dude!” he grinned.

  “Wow, where did that come from?” I teased with a grin.

  “Quite the deep and sensitive thinker, me.” he said.

  “Yeah, if it involves holding a beer in one hand and the TV remote in the other.” I joked as I gathered my purse and phone together. I made a show of waving my phone in Cameron’s face to prove that I had it with me before shoving it in my pocket.

  “Profound is my middle name.” he winked. “Just don’t go giving Nate the wrong impression.”

  “Why would I do that? We’re friends. He knows that.”

  “Does he?” Cam asked sceptically.

  “What are you talking about Cam?” I demanded.

  “Well, you were each other’s first kiss and if it weren’t for Jase... you know.” he said with a shrug.

  “We were kids!” I gaped at him.

  “Come on Cal, you know Nate and Jase fought over you for months after Nate kissed you. Jase made him promise to stay away from you. They had that stupid agreement that neither of them would ask you out. Then Jase got sneaky and asked you out anyway.” he told me as he reached into the fridge for a carton of orange juice.

  “I didn’t know that.” I said quietly.

  “Of course you did. Everyone knows.” he opened the juice carton and drank straight from it.

  “Not me.” I snapped, crossing my arms. “After Nate and I kissed we barely spoke again for months, I didn’t know Jase had anything to do with it.”

  “Incoming!” Nate called, entering the house.

  “Nate.” Cam greeted him, looking over my head at him. Stupid, tall men!

  “Babe.” I could hear the grin in his voice as he greeted Cam, who laughed in response.

  “Hi,” I turned to face him and he smiled and winked at me.

  “Well you kids have fun. Watch out for sharks sis! Maybe I’ll give Adam a bell and see if he wants to help me out with that chilli you made.” Cam began to walk, backwards, towards his bathroom and I had no doubt Adam would be there when I got home.

  “Sharks?” Nate asked.

  “Don’t ask.” I shook my head, “He’s an idiot!”

  “Fair enough. Ready to go babe?” Nate asked me.

  “Yep!” I smiled and told myself it was fine, I’ve got this.

  Nate knows we’re just friends. And then I felt his arm wrap around my lower back and his hand rest on my hip as we descended the porch steps and I wasn’t so sure.

  Nate, it turned out, had found out about a drag racing event at a track not far from Frost Ford and had managed to get tickets at the last minute. There were a lot of vintage American cars competing and he knew I shared his love of muscle cars. We watched race after race and cheered loudly when our favourites won, while feasting on nachos and cheese fries. And I was glad I’d worn my trusty boots since we were standing in a muddy field.

  As we made our way back to the car park after the final race, Nate tossed me his car keys. I grinned at him and climbed into the driver’s seat whispering “I love this car.”

  “We should go to an auction, see if we can get you one. I can help you fix it up.” he offered.

  “Really? You’d do that?” I glanced at him. “That would be amazi
ng!”

  “Of course, I’ll keep an eye on the lots and let you know if anything comes up.” He nodded.

  We sat, side by side, on the porch steps talking in hushed voices after we arrived back at my house.

  “I had a really great time tonight Nate, thanks.” I told him.

  “Me too. It’s nice to be able to spend time with you at last and not have Jase breathing down my neck.” he said.

  “Did he do that a lot?” I asked, recalling my earlier conversation with Cameron.

  “Constantly. I’ve wanted to take you drag racing for years because I knew you’d love it, but he’d never let it happen. Any time I mentioned doing something with you he would make damn sure it either didn’t happen or he would be there too.” Nate explained and then he looked at me and sighed. “You really have no idea do you?”

  “About what?”

  “Mine and Jase’s history over you?”

  “Actually, Cam mentioned something before you got here tonight. I never knew back then though.” I said, looking down at my boots.

  “We fought over you for so long.” he said, a regretful smile on his face.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about the agreement you made? After you kissed me and then wouldn’t speak to me I thought you regretted it or that I was a horrible kisser. Thirteen year old girls don’t need to be thinking they can’t kiss Nate, it was traumatic!” I said, attempting to joke.

  “I never regretted it for a second! Best decision I ever made was losing my kissing cherry to you Cal. And believe me, you can kiss. I’ve compared every girl I’ve ever kissed to you, none of them match up.” We both laughed. “Luke and the girls tried to get me to tell you I liked you. But then Jase asked you out and you seemed so happy. I assumed it was because you obviously liked him more than me. So I asked them all to keep it quiet. As long as you were still my friend I was happy. But Jase never allowed us to get too close. You’ll always be my one that got away Callie.”

  As I thought back I began to realise that Nate and I, when he finally started talking to me again had never really been left alone together. Nick and I had done so much alone together, despite Jase’s protests and I’d spent time with Luke too, but never Nate. Jase was always there if Nate was. And there was me thinking he only ever had a problem with Nick.

  “You have to know I wouldn’t have put up with that if I’d known?” I looked up at him, suddenly mournful of the friendship we hadn’t been allowed to have. Nate and I had a lot in common and we had missed out because of my controlling boyfriend.

  “Of course I do Cal. But it’s ok, really. Jase made you happy for a lot of years, there are people out there who never get to feel that. I’m glad that you did.” he put his arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder. “Would it have made a difference?”

  Oh shit moment pending...

  “I would have been majorly pissed off.” I said carefully.

  “I know that. But would it have made a difference to us if I had told you? What if I’d asked you out first?” he probed.

  “It’s in the past Nate, not like it can be changed.” I blurted quickly, not looking at him; the truth was if Nate had asked me out before Jase, I knew I would have said yes. I might have been crazy about Jase for most of my life, but I had the biggest crush on Nate after that kiss. He had been so gentle and sweet; he made sure it was every girl’s perfect first kiss. I couldn’t tell him that now. I adored Nate, but we would only ever be friends and I didn’t really think he felt any differently than that towards me either, he was just caught up in the memory in the same way I was.

  He squeezed my shoulder, “No, I suppose not.” he murmured.

  “Well, Jase isn’t an issue anymore and we’re still friends right?” I asked.

  “Always.” He agreed.

  “So, we can do those things together now. Just us, or with the others, whatever way we chose.” I concluded, looking up at him finally with a smile.

  “You’re right. All those bands we wanted to see that only you and I liked? Back on the list babe, we’ve got some catching up to do.” he smiled down at me, a glint in his eye and suddenly his lips were sealed to mine and I couldn’t move. I was temporarily shocked into motionlessness. Finally, I got my wits about me and gently but firmly pushed my hands to his chest. He drew back, still smiling at me.

  “Nate I didn’t mean...” I began.

  “It’s ok babe, I know you didn’t.” his smile turned cheeky. “I just wanted to be able to say I kissed you before and after Jase!”

  “Nate!” I screeched and he laughed, I joined in, leaning against him.

  “Still a great kisser, by the way!” He joked.

  We were still laughing when the front door flew open and Cam and Adam came charging out, both looking ready to kill. Nate and I stood up quickly and I stumbled, almost falling backwards down the steps. Nate caught me, pulling me into his body and holding me steady, causing us both to laugh even harder.

  “Okay?” Adam looked at me, his eyes scanning me up and down for anything out of place.

  “Okay.” I nodded, as I extracted myself from Nate’s hold, wiping the tears of laughter away from my eyes.

  “What’s going on? We heard you scream Callie.” Cam gave me the same once over Adam had. Crap! They had heard my scream and thought the worst.

  “No, no, it was nothing.” I said hastily, reaching out and allowing Adam to take my hand and lead me up the rest of the steps. He was eyeing Nate suspiciously and I could tell he wanted me away from him.

  “It was just a joke.” Nate said, apologetically.

  “What kind of joke has my sister screaming Nate?” Cam snarled.

  “Cameron! Calm down. I didn’t scream. Well, not the way you think anyway.” I scolded.

  “I kissed her.” Nate confessed.

  “You did what?” Adam demanded icily and stepped in front of me.

  “Adam.” I warned as I moved to stand beside him again, hooking my fingers into his back pocket and pulling slightly until he stepped back.

  Nate held both hands in the air defensively, “I kissed her and she pushed me away and then we laughed about it. It wasn’t serious. Just a history repeating itself kind of thing. You’ve got nothing to worry about Adam, I know she’s with you. Callie and I are just friends, no blurred lines here.”

  I put a hand on Adam’s arm and he exhaled, turning to me, “Is that what happened?”

  “Yes, that’s what happened. You can trust him Adam.” I said and he nodded once.

  “Don’t kiss her again.” Adam looked at Nate and I rolled my eyes.

  “Understood.” Nate nodded, but I saw the twitch of his lips at my eye roll. “Ok, so I’m gonna go.”

  “No, come inside, have a drink with us.” Adam relented.

  “Yeah, come in buddy. Sorry about that. We’re all a bit on edge at the minute.” Cam held his hand out and Nate shook it.

  “My apologies.” Adam then held his hand out towards Nate and they shook hands too.

  “No worries, I get that you were just protecting your girl. But you should know, there are a lot of us that care about her.” Nate told him, making it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere and I was glad he stood his ground.

  “I see that. And I’m glad she’s got so many good friends around her.” Adam smiled.

  “Well, I’m glad she’s found herself a decent bloke.” Nate replied and they walked into the house. So was this going to be a three way bromance now?

  “That’s fine, you just carry on, talk about me like I’m not here. Not like I can hear you or anything.” I mumbled.

  “Rambling Cal.” Cam put his arm around me as we walked towards the front door, “You’re going to be explaining that kiss to me later.”

  “Nope.” I laughed.

  *****

  Adam: Morning foot rubs?

  Me: I can tell you’re trying desperately to remain a gentleman with these ideas. It must be killing you. Let the bad boy out Adam.

  Adam: Angel
, you aren’t ready for him yet. If I let him out neither of us would be wearing clothes and I would be inside you...

  Me: So foot rubs? In our bed?

  Adam: OUR bed? I think I might be getting to you Angel.

  Me: Will there be book boyfriends? I like it when there are book boyfriends.

  Adam: I’ll dress up as your book boyfriend of choice during said foot rub.

  Me: Role-play in bed? You never told me you were kinky Adam. This could swing things in your favour. I’m on werewolves this week.

  Adam: Can I fall in love with you yet?

  Me: Wouldn’t want you peaking too soon wolf man.

  *****

  “Nothing at all?” I asked, looking at Cam in the mirror. He was sitting on the end of my bed while I stood in front of my mirrored wardrobe brushing my hair. He’d just told me the books had brought back nothing that could be used to identify the person who had left them. This killer was evading them at every turn, they literally had nothing. The bodies were clean of any trace of him, there were no witnesses that had seen him take any of the women, the gifts he left me were clean. Our Dad’s files had told them he thought it was someone who lived in Frost Ford, but that was five years ago so not really helpful because there was no way of knowing if he still lived here. And unless they were prepared to investigate every single person in town there really wasn’t much they could do with that information. They just couldn’t find anything that might even hint at his identity.

  “Nada. Not even a partial fingerprint. Nothing at all to identify him, they’re completely clean.” Cam explained.

  “And the phone?” I asked.

  “They tried to use Jase’s old number to trace the phone but we haven’t heard anything about the results. If they’d been successful we’d know by now.” He told me. “They searched Jase’s flat too, to see if it was there. Obviously they found nothing. Whoever this is, he’s careful, like OCD careful.”

  “Well, I suppose if he’s got OCD at least that proves it can’t be Jase. He’s the messiest person I know. I doubt he could have been bothered with the effort of getting the gloves out to make sure he didn’t leave fingerprints on them or anything like that.” I attempted to laugh it off. Ignoring the fact that there was no longer any doubt in my mind that the killer was the same man who taken me before and that he was coming back for me. Truth be told, there hadn’t been any doubt in my mind for some time now. Especially since Adam and I had talked about it.