by Karen Renee
I bit back a chuckle. “Sure did. He said I had a cavern inside of me, and I needed to let a man in to take care of it and get rid of the bats.”
Cal looked confused, “The bats?”
I smiled slightly. “Yeah. It sounds hokey, but at the time it sounded really wise, but he said that a cavern is home to nothing but bats. They keep me full in the daytime, but leave me empty at night. I guess that’s why he didn’t care who I ‘let in there,’ but just that I let some man take care of it. As if.”
Cal finished his last slice of pizza and said, “I don’t see eye-to-eye with Razor about many things, but that might be the one exception to the rule. And, if you repeat this, I’ll deny it to hell and back, but he’s right.”
I wanted to giggle, but my temper still hadn’t settled, so I just smiled. Cal took a bite of Crazy Bread, stood up and pulled a beer from the fridge. He went to the counter where he left the bottle opener, and popped the top. When he returned to the table, he pulled his chair closer to me, and then said, “Now. What’s this ‘as if,’ statement supposed to mean?”
For just two words, it meant a lot of things. But I wasn’t sure exactly how much of that I was going to share with Cal. Initially it meant, ‘as if a man could fix it.’ Thinking on it, though, I realized it was ‘as if I was going to let Cal, Razor or James be the man to try to fix it.’ I wanted it to mean, ‘as if I had a cavern,’ but even I couldn’t bury my head so deep in the sand as to deny the hole in my heart and soul. I gave Cal a look, and thought he would let it slide.
No such luck.
“As if any man can fill up that cavern you have inside you?”
I was frustrated, I had been angry, and finding out that Cal could read me like a book made me sad. All of which meant tears filmed over my eyes and I could feel my nose burning. I pressed my lips together in an effort to fight the tears. I would not let him see me cry, so I turned my head toward the kitchen window. I heard Cal’s chair scrape against the tile floor, and then his fingers gently pulled my face toward him. He was a total blur, and I closed my eyes, which forced two alligator tears down my cheeks. I felt his callused fingers wipe each one away. I took a deep breath through my nose, and Cal tucked my hair behind my right ear.
I opened my eyes and Cal’s face was extremely close to mine. He said, “I can do it, Mallory. I know I can, but you gotta let me do it. Coupla weeks ago, I agreed with you because I didn’t know what to do to get around your fortress. I thought it was more trouble than it was worth. That week was the shittiest week I’d had in a fuckin’ long time. Then when I realized Razor gave you his number and fuckin’ felt you up while doin’ it, I thought my head would explode. Then to add to my misery, I saw that look on your face when you watched him walk away. I don’t know how I didn’t beat his ass to a bloody pulp in the parking lot.”
I opened my mouth to interrupt, but Cal put his index finger on it, “Wait. Then you gave me lip in the parking lot, and I remembered how damn high-maintenance you were and told myself I made the right decision. But, God, seein’ you at that pool hall! I wanted to haul you out by your hair when I saw you holdin’ a cue stick and wigglin’ your hips to that music you uploaded.”
I interrupted, “You were there that long? I didn’t see you.”
Cal nodded slightly. “I walked in and saw James with his head bent to rack ‘em up. Thought he was there alone, and I wasn’t in the mood for company, so I made my way over to the dart boards and watched from afar. Not my normal MO, but then I noticed Prank and Bush eyein’ you at the jukebox. I was keepin’ my shit together by a thread, but when they made their approach, I had to wade in. Your tirade about property and stuff should have sent me for the hills, but something about it made me want to prove your ass wrong.”
Cal ran his hand down my cheek and along my neck. “Your skin might be the softest thing I’ve ever felt, and that’s just the skin on your face, baby. I don’t have to tell you how I feel about that dress you wore last night because my kiss said it all, and you already know what I think about this biker-babe outfit too.”
Cal slid my hair over my shoulder and placed a kiss on my neck just above where his fingers were. His tongue came out to touch my neck and I reflexively tilted my head. He pulled away and asked, “What I need to know is, are you going to open the door to that fortress you got around you?”
His hands and mouth had me so calm, my mouth said, “Isn’t that the 64,000-dollar question?”
Cal smiled at me. “You’re gonna let me in.”
I withdrew from his hold, and stood up with my plate, mumbling, “Cocky, much?”
As I tried to step by him to throw away my plate, he hooked me at the waist, looked up at me, and said, “Wanna find out just how cocky?”
A zing shot up from my belly to my nipples as I remembered our make-out session a couple of weeks back. I really wasn’t sure if I wanted to find out how cocky he really was. His fingers pressed into my side, and he let me go saying, “Gotta work on that poker face, Mal. Though, I like being able to read your thoughts on your face.”
I threw away my plate and put my beer bottle in the recycle bin. I pulled down a glass and filled it with water at the fridge. I took a sip, and had just swallowed when Cal was standing behind me and he turned me around. He firmly tilted my head back and started kissing me. It was a gentle, but thorough kiss ‒with tongue. Cal tasted like beer, garlicky Crazy Bread, and Cal. It was scrumptious. His hands wandered from my neck down to my ass. I was at a distinct disadvantage because I had a glass of water in one hand. He moved me out of the kitchen to the living room while still kissing me. When the back of my legs hit the arm of a couch, I pulled away enough to put my water on the coffee table.
I straightened and Cal pushed me backwards over the arm of the couch. My ass was settled into the base of the arm of the couch and my legs were draped over the arm. Cal was standing between my legs and his eyes were roaming my body.
He growled, “Fuck. This couch has a lot of potential, woman.”
“Well, that wasn’t a selling point from the saleslady at Haverty’s.”
Cal shrugged out of his cut and folded it up, placing it on the coffee table near my water. Then he lifted up my pant leg and started taking off my boots. Once he had both boots off of my feet, he practically pounced on me on the couch. His fingers went into my hair, and he took my upper lip in between his teeth. Just as quickly as he did this, he let my lip go and kissed me deep and wet. His hands started pulling at my sweater, and I started pulling at his green long-sleeve. My right leg hooked around his hips ‒and I thought I heard my doorbell ring.
Cal started to pull away, but I managed to pull him back to me. I had a hand up inside his shirt and was trying to wriggle my other hand into his jeans, when I knew the doorbell rang. Then I pulled back saying, “What the fuck?”
Cal’s eyes glittered at me and he said, “Took the words right out of my mouth.”
Cal pushed himself up to standing, which made his biceps noticeably bulge, even in long sleeves. Nice. He adjusted himself in his jeans which I noticed were also bulging. Very nice. I rolled off the couch and went to the door in my socked feet. I checked the peephole and saw my mother and father standing at the door holding overnight bags. I jerked back and bumped into Cal behind me. I whirled on him and whispered, “Hide.”
His lips were tipped up, but his eyes were squinting at me and his eyebrows were encroaching on his eyelids in a big way. He did not whisper when he replied, “I don’t hide, Mal.”
That was when my father’s muffled voice said, “Who’s there? Mallory, open this door. Kathy, call Mallory. Now.”
I took a deep breath and opened the door, trying to hide Cal in the process. Unfortunately, those sexy biceps of his allowed him to pry the door from me and pull it wide open. Shit. His shirt was untucked and messy-looking, and I could only imagine what my hair looked like after he ran his fingers through it so much. I was guessing my cheeks were pink, and not from embarrassment, but from Cal’s five
-o’clock stubble. After ten years of marriage and a child, obviously my parents knew I had been sexually active, but they didn’t know I was getting back in the proverbial saddle again. This was not how I wanted them to find out.
My mother closed her eyes for a beat or two, looked down to her feet, then looked up at me, tilting her head slightly to the side. This was her nonverbal indicator that I was going to get it from my father, and she was in no position to stop it, but she felt bad about it nevertheless. I mentioned that I’m thirty-one, right? As far as my father is concerned, I’ll always be seventeen, at best. I chanced a glance at my father and saw his lips were thin in an anger-stifling move. He was looking hard and long at Cal. I nudged Cal back and stepped back myself while taking hold of the door again and said, “Well, this is a surprise. Come on in.”
My mother stepped past me with a sympathetic smile that was gone as fast as it appeared. She was wearing jeans and a baby-blue cable-knit sweater. She was carrying an overnight bag and there was a small soft-sided cooler hanging from her arm along with her purse. My father stepped in, took the door from me, closed it, and bolted it. He was also carrying an overnight bag. Once inside, he looked to the left and right walls of the foyer. He looked at me and said, “Where’s the alarm system?”
No “Hi, how are you?” No “Nice to see you after two months, and who is your friend?” Nope. That's my dad, straight to the reason for his visit. Where’s the alarm system? Deep down, I knew this was an exceptional sign of parental love and protectiveness; but honestly I hadn’t been kissed on the regular in nearly eighteen months which meant I hadn’t been laid in a year and a half either. To say their timing sucked was the understatement of the century.
“Dad, I had an appointment for last Friday, but the company you wanted me to use had to cancel –”
“That was a week ago, Mallory Jane. What is the hold up? Your home was broken into. Your mother and I are worried sick.”
I was appalled to hear Cal say, “I’m sorry, sir, but the SafeNow system isn’t going to be installed here.”
Not only was it the wrong thing to say to my father, it was the wrong thing to say to me as well. I spoke before my father, “What do you mean, it isn’t going to be installed here? How do you even know SafeNow was the company I had an appointment with?”
Cal looked at me carefully and actually answered some of my questions for once. “My brother has a security-system company. His is the crème de la crème. Your girlfriend Jackie mentioned to him that you had an appointment with SafeNow, and she wanted him to take care of your security system instead.”
I had had a niggling feeling last Friday that the sudden cancellation had something to do with Jackie. Dammit! These people were relentless, even the “old ladies.”
My father’s face was almost contorted in a sneer at Cal, “Then where is this ‘crème de la crème?’ My daughter’s safety is at risk here, and who are you and your brother?”
There was a segue to introductions if ever there was one. That in mind, I said, “Dad, this is Cal. Cal this is my father John Thompson, and my mother Kathy Thompson.”
Cal held out his hand to my father, and he reluctantly shook it while Cal said, “Cal Robertson, sir.” Then he gently shook my mother’s hand and said the same thing, replacing the “sir” with “ma’am.”
I tried to take the conversational reins again, saying, “Let me get your bags, and let’s discuss this sitting down in the living room.”
My father looked like he was about to say something, but my mother jumped in (finally!). “John, honey. We’ve been on the road for almost five hours. Let’s use the bathroom, and sit down with Mallory and her friend.”
My father caught her drift and nodded grudgingly. She went toward the bathroom while I took their bags to the guest room, and Cal went to the living room with my father trailing him like a bloodhound on the hunt for a killer.
Hermithood was looking better and better.
Chapter 13
Cal was sitting in the very spot I earlier had my ass and torso planted. I wasn’t sure if he thought there was a scent that he didn’t want my dad catching wind of, or if it was just a new-found fondness of my couch. My father was sitting on the loveseat with his arm resting along the back of it.
As I entered the living room, I asked, “So, Dad, have you and Mom eaten yet? There’s plenty of pizza. It might still be warm, if you want some.”
My mother came up behind me, saying, “Oh, no, dear. We stopped in Middleburg on our way into town.”
I nodded and asked, “Okay, well, do either of you want a beer? We have Sam Adams. Or I have red wine.”
Mom squeezed my arm and said, “That’s okay, honey. Actually, I brought a couple of Bud Lights with us in the cooler. I left the cooler in the hallway when I came in. I’ll go grab them.”
I went to the kitchen and found some koozies for their beers. My mother sat down next to my father on the loveseat and handed my father his beer. I was standing next to the loveseat after I handed them each a koozie. That was when my mother said, “So, you’re Mallory’s new friend, Cal. I understand she met you through Gavin, is that right.”
Cal smiled at my mother and nodded, but then he looked at me and said, “Mallory, hon, come sit down.”
I shook my head at Cal and said, “In a minute. I’m going to pour a glass of Pinot. Do you need anything?”
The look Cal gave me seemed calculating, then he said, “I need you to sit down. I’ll go pour you a glass of vino and I’ll grab a brew. C’mon, babe, take a load off.”
I reluctantly sat myself down on the middle cushion of the couch. I felt terribly awkward, listening to Cal puttering around in my kitchen, opening a beer and pouring wine.
I looked at my parents to see my father was staring hard at the new French doors that were installed. He looked at me and said, “Your door opens only on the left side now instead of the middle. Why’s that, Mal?”
Before I could answer, Cal walked back in and said, “Safety first, sir. We took out the dual-hinge option and replaced it with a single-hinge door with the deadbolt inserting into the frame so any possible intruders are forced to focus on the door on the right. Both doors have shatterproof glass, so moving to the single-hinge might have been overkill, but a woman living alone can never be too careful.”
Cal had fully seated himself by the time he uttered his last sentence. A pleased look was on my dad’s face, but he hid it quickly. My dad asked, “That’s all well and good, but what about the security system that is currently M-I-A?”
I took a healthy slug of wine in a feeble attempt to stall. Cal hooked his left arm around my neck and dragged me to his side, saying, “She’s got an appointment on Monday with my brother. If for any reason she can’t make it, I’ll be by to make sure the boys can get in and have her hooked up and online by dusk. Full boat: motion sensors, two-way communicator, video options, and smartphone access.”
My head was tipped up at Cal and my jaw was wide open. I was trying to control it because I wanted to keep up this farce for my parents’ peace of mind, but I couldn’t do it. Not one iota of this had been relayed to me. “When was this appointment set up, hmm?”
Cal squeezed my shoulders, looked down at me and said, “It was set up yesterday, late. Meant to tell you over pizza, but you had other stuff on your mind.”
My father was either impervious to this by-play or Cal had managed to charm him with his security talk, but he said, “So, Cal, what do you do for a living?”
I caught my mother practically beaming at me. This had gone from awkward to bizarre-o at warp speed. I was just managing to keep my temper under control since my parents had shown up unannounced. It was part of being the only child, even though I was an adult. I drank some more of my wine while I listened to Cal explain running the window-and-door company.
* * * * *
About an hour or so later, my parents finally decided to call it a night. I wasn’t sure what brought me more relief, the fact that I co
uld finally go to bed or the fact that Cal would finally be leaving. I figured I could show Cal the door, and put on an old t-shirt, and lights out. I gave my mom a hug, wished her good-night, and then turned to my father. He was busy shaking Cal’s hand and clapping him on the opposite arm. I couldn’t remember him ever doing that to Greg. Maybe I had never been so freaked out to pay attention to each nuance of every visit.
My father gave me a hug and a peck on my cheek, and then he whispered in my ear, “Your mother and I know you’re an adult. I know you don’t think we do, but we do. If your friend is staying over, it’s none of our business.”
Could a woman’s head explode from sheer embarrassment? My face had to be the shade of a tomato. I mean, I had been embarrassed when I opened a box of lingerie at my bridal shower only to be told my father helped my mother pick it out at the hoity-toity department store. But this, this took the ever lovin’ cake! I cleared my throat and whispered back, “I don’t think that’s happening, but I’m glad you guys know I’m a big girl.”
I backed away from my father only to see my mother giving Cal an awkward hug. She wasn’t whispering at Cal, but she had her voice pitched low and I knew whatever she was saying, she didn’t want me to hear.
My mother was leading my father out of the living room when my dad asked, “Okay, Kath. You using the bathroom first, or me?”
I turned to Cal and said, “Okay, well, I’m sorry and embarrassed that my parents showed up unannounced. I’m also sorry the evening took a sharp left turn because of that, but on the plus side it seems they like you. Um, I guess I’ll call you Sunday or something after they leave.”
Cal moved two steps to me, put his hands on my waist and said, “Your mother said she’s looking forward to getting to know me. Your parents are here because they’re worried about your security, and that’s a blessing. In life, you take all the blessings you can get, big and small. Your father may not have said it, but he indicated he liked me the minute I said ‘smartphone access.’ It’s nine o’clock. They’re hittin’ the sack; are you so exhausted you need to do the same?”
