“So?”
Callie pressed her lips together, but she couldn’t hold back a giggle.
Amanda smirked at her. “I knew it.”
Callie punched her on the arm when she walked by with a bottled water, and it turned into a water fight until Hadley got involved with Nicole and Justin and they all started throwing handfuls of potato chips.
After Amanda rescued the food, Callie and Mark crowded with Todd and Amanda’s friends around the table and ate lunch. They spent the rest of the afternoon throwing Frisbees and playing volleyball while the kids ate Popsicles and waded in the lake shallows.
There didn’t seem to be anything Mark couldn’t do, and he laughed at Callie’s futile attempts to return a volleyball. “I didn’t get it over the net once,” she moaned as he walked with her to the water fountain.
“It’s not a big deal. You’re good at other things.”
Callie rolled her eyes and took a long drink of tepid water. “I want to see what’s new down here these days. They have a Frisbee golf course across the street.” She pointed across the park but could already see the course was overcrowded.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Mark suggested.
Callie craned her neck for Hadley.
“She’s okay. Amanda said she’d watch her if we wanted to go do something.”
Callie felt her face flush. Her sister was encouraging things a little too much. There were things to talk about, she knew, if this was going to be something real—and lasting—between them this time. She looked toward the tree line past the grainy swimmers’ beach and saw a walking path. “That must go around to the place we walked to last month,” she mused, and Mark nodded.
He grabbed her hand, and her heart quickened.
“It does if you wanted to walk about a mile that way to the boat ramp. It’s shadier than here, though.” He motioned back toward Amanda’s picnic area in the sun.
He looked hot, and Callie felt overheated, too. A light breeze rippled through the trees. “I’ll take it, let’s go.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t bring a swimsuit now,” Mark admitted as they strolled into the trees. “I didn’t bring life jackets, sunscreen, nothing.”
Callie chuckled. “You’ve been distracted.”
She meant the Market and the parade, but Mark whispered, “I’ll say,” and she blushed.
They walked hand in hand. The air smelled woodier, and old leaves and pine needles littered the ground. Large ferns sprouted up from wherever the earth stayed damp.
Callie could still see the road through the trees on one side. The lake was barely visible in the other direction. “They probably have camping around here somewhere still, don’t they?”
Mark nodded and told her about summers camping out with his dad and later with the guys when they were in high school. Eventually, the walking trail broke out of the trees and ended beside a new playground. Across the flat lawn in the distance was a different picnic shelter. He led her by the hand to a wooden bench that overlooked the lake.
They took a seat, and Callie sighed with contentment. Even with the shouts of children and the buzz of the occasional Jet Ski roaring by, she felt like it’d been one of the most relaxing Fourth of Julys she’d had in a long time, and it’d only get better. “Fireworks will be going off soon,” she said, although it was still a while before dark.
She felt him watching her and looked back into his gray-blue eyes. They crinkled when he smiled. “Fireworks,” he repeated in a husky tone. Mark leaned close. “Happy Fourth,” he said, and she felt her concerns evaporate.
“Happy Fourth,” she whispered, and her eyes drifted shut. When their lips touched, she thought she’d never been happier.
Loud laughter made Callie start. She pulled back in surprise at little voices. “They’re kissing!”
Mark grimaced and looked over his shoulder, and Callie followed his gaze. Three boys were standing several feet away, pointing and laughing. A woman in the distance crossed the grass toward them.
“Hi, Logan,” Mark said in a flustered tone. The boys giggled again. He glanced at Callie and motioned with his chin. “That’s Logan in the red T-shirt. He goes to school with Hadley.”
“Oh,” Callie said, watching who she assumed to be their mother approach.
The short, dark-haired woman took Logan by the arm. She shook her head in apology. “Hi, Mark. I’m sorry. I didn’t know my boys were bothering you.”
“They’re not,” Mark reassured her.
Callie looked sideways at him and hoped he’d minded a little bit.
He stood up. “Darla, this is Callie, my—” He trailed off. Callie stood slowly, feeling her cheeks get hot again, for completely different reasons. He didn’t say my girlfriend, and it was true, she wasn’t.
“Hi, Callie. I’m Darla Perez.”
Callie reached out to shake her hand, unsure of what else to say.
“You’re new in town?”
“No.” Callie gave her a faint smile. “I just moved back. I grew up here, but I’m just back for the summer. I’m heading to Nashville soon.”
She sensed rather than saw Mark look at her in surprise.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you.” Darla looked back and forth between Callie and Mark and a knowing look crossed her face. “Sorry again about the boys.”
“It’s no problem,” Mark assured her.
Darla corralled the rowdy bunch and gave a brisk wave. “Oh, Mark, did you hear? We open on Labor Day.”
Mark smiled. “Congratulations, and good luck.”
“Thanks!” Darla waved and dragged her brood back toward one of the distant picnic shelters.
He waved back, and Callie raised a hand, then sat down with a thudding heart. Mark took a hold of her fingers. “So you’re going back to Nashville for sure?”
“I don’t know what to do. The store space I was looking into fell through, I don’t have any inventory yet and I certainly can’t put down a couple months’ rent.”
Mark frowned. “What will moving to Nashville solve?”
“I have contacts there and could get a new job fast.”
“So why don’t you wait and see if some other location opens up? Darla runs the salon next door, and they needed that space for their spa.”
Callie pulled back in surprise. “You mean she’s the one that got the dry cleaner’s space?”
Mark nodded.
“Did you know she was looking at it?”
He shrugged. “I mean, I guess. She mentioned it.”
“But I told you I was checking into that.” Callie’s heart sank.
Mark looked sheepish. “I guess I didn’t think to mention it. You were busy with the Pierce farmhouse and seemed to like working for Brett Martin.”
Callie put her hands on her hips. “You knew that was only temporary.”
Mark reached out to squeeze her hands, but she couldn’t look at him. “Callie,” he said in a low tone. “To be honest, I didn’t really think you were that serious about staying here.”
“Or maybe you unconsciously wanted me to go. Because you can’t run away this time, but you know I can’t stay if I don’t have a business opportunity.”
He looked surprised. “Is that all you care about?” His tone sounded quiet, but it felt like a stab to the heart.
Callie jerked away. “What do you mean? What am I supposed to care about? I have to make a living. You have the Market,” she said through eyes brimmed with tears. “You have Hadley. I have...” She choked back a sob and said, “I have nothing.”
Mark tried to take her in his arms again. But she pushed him away. “You did what you wanted, Mark. You wanted to leave Ragland, and you did it. You left me, you did what you wanted to do and got what you wanted. I’m still where I was when I graduated night school.” She began to cry as the truth spilled out. “It didn’t work out.
It’s probably never going to, so yes, I’m going back to Nashville.”
“You could change your dreams.”
“What?” She couldn’t believe her ears. Didn’t he understand what she’d always wanted?
“You did do what you wanted, Callie.”
Callie froze.
Mark threw her a terse look. “You wanted to move to Nashville. You earned your design degree. Can’t that be enough?”
“It wasn’t enough for you.”
“Seriously?” Mark let out a sarcastic laugh. “I’m sorry I didn’t move to Nashville with you. I really am. I’m sorry I didn’t talk you into coming to Florida. I was confused about my future, about you, and I had to get away.”
Callie blinked in surprise.
“Do you think I was really happy down there all by myself? And then Dad died and Mom got sick, and I couldn’t come home. Not until I finished my coast guard service contract.” He shook his head. “I fell into a relationship with Lisa because I was lonely, and it was a mistake. After we eloped, she completely changed her mind about being in a committed relationship and went back to the party scene. Pregnant with my baby.”
Sympathy pierced through Callie’s pain. His eyes looked wet, and it melted her heart.
“I’ve never been more sorry,” he insisted. “I never forgot about you. Never!”
He stepped back and took a deep breath. A stiff breeze brushed past them, and Callie turned to look out across the lake. She’d made a mistake coming home. As much as she loved it, and seeing Amanda and the kids, it was just too painful. She’d never gotten over Mark, and he was everywhere here.
“I should have never moved back,” she whispered. She felt him shift beside her but didn’t look. “You’re right, Mark. I should give up on my stupid boutique dream and just get back to work.”
“Callie, I never said that.” His tone sounded serious and demanding at the same time. She couldn’t bear to rehash it all over again.
Callie wiped the tears streaming down her face and ran off for the footpath in the trees. What a disaster. She gritted her teeth to keep from sobbing.
What had she been thinking? That she could turn things around and have her own business in three or four months? Did she really think Mark would support her this time when he hadn’t years ago? What did he want from her? A summer fling?
The sound of pounding footfalls came up to her, but Callie didn’t slow down or look back. She winced when Mark swept up beside her. Panting lightly, he took her wrist and tried to slow her down.
“Callie, wait.”
“Stop.” She jerked away and kept walking. Mark hurried to catch back up and walk alongside her. Callie’s leg muscles and hips screamed for her to stop. She’d get shin splints even if it killed her.
“It’s not what you think,” he said.
She shook her head. She hoped he’d trip over a tree root for not paying attention to where he was going.
“I didn’t intentionally not tell you about the store space,” he went on. “And yes, I did like the business you were sending me from the other Realtors, but it was something more.”
Callie locked her jaw but kept moving.
“Please stop.” Mark’s voice sounded hoarse and upset. It was enough to slow her down.
Her heart ached to hear an explanation. Something. She slowed her walk, breathing hard and breaking out in a sweat.
“I wasn’t trying to undermine you. I did want things to work out for you here—why wouldn’t I have wanted you to stay? It’s just—I wanted things to work with us, too. I wanted to try again. I just didn’t know how to ask.”
“Don’t you realize me moving back to Nashville would have ruined that?” she asked in a biting tone.
He nodded. “Maybe I knew that in the back of my mind, but it was never intentional. I guess I was curious to see what you’d think of Hadley, and if...” he hesitated “...if you’d grown up.”
Callie’s resolve snapped. She came to an abrupt stop, and he skidded into her. She put her hands behind her back when she turned to face him so he wouldn’t see her wringing them. “It would have been nice to know you thought I was too immature to handle a man with a child before you came to this picnic with me.”
He held up his hands. “It’s not like that...” He looked overhead, and she could imagine his mind racing. “She’s a handful. I’ve never tried to have a long-term relationship with anyone since she’s been born.”
“You know what I mean,” she said.
He stared, and his face seemed to lose color.
“I care about your daughter.”
“That’s all I needed to know.”
“Before what? Letting me move back to Nashville?” Her eyes watered.
Mark’s face flushed. “I want to have a relationship with you again, Callie. I just needed to make sure you were ready. That I was...”
She choked back a sob. “We were never meant to be, Mark. You should have kept it business.” She marched toward Amanda’s picnic tables with his footsteps behind her.
A loud scream from the lakeshore grabbed her attention and then she heard Amanda cry, “Hadley!”
Callie’s legs took off at a run.
She couldn’t see Hadley, but she saw flailing arms in the water out by the safety buoys, and then Amanda leaped into the water from the shore.
Mark sped past Callie, and then she hit the lake at full velocity, a sloppy dive that morphed into clumsy strokes. Amanda had stopped shoulders-deep in the water, and Mark stroked past her like an Olympic swimmer.
Callie saw Hadley’s arms sink down below the surface, and a shriek echoed in her ears. It was her own. She swam out to the buoys and reached Mark just as he came up with his sputtering, gagging daughter. Callie treaded water beside them, and she shouted for him to flip Hadley over. “She’s still choking!”
He tossed Hadley over his shoulder and beat her on the back until she cried.
Callie sobbed right along with her.
The crowd on the shore circled around them after Mark reached the shore. He collapsed into the muddy sand and held his daughter while she cried and coughed. Callie put her hand on his shoulder and crouched beside him. She embraced Hadley, too, her eyes streaming with tears of gratitude.
“I’m okay, I’m okay, Daddy,” Hadley chanted between sobs.
“You are okay,” Callie reassured her. Hadley reached out a hand for her, and Callie grabbed it. “You’re going to be fine, baby.”
The little girl raised her head off of her daddy’s shoulder. “I got in over my head,” she sniffled.
“I know, honey,” Callie whispered, patting her on the back over Mark’s hand. Their fingers touched. She glanced down at the man she still loved. He was frozen in horror at the near accident.
Callie choked back another sob. “I got in over my head, too.”
Chapter Thirteen
Mark sat beside Hadley while she slept until moonlight lit up the bedroom, and he knew it was near midnight. He’d taken her straight home without a word to Callie, who’d stood near the truck quietly sobbing. It was almost like the scene he’d experienced before—her crying and him leaving.
He swallowed bitterly and looked down at Hadley sleeping like an angel. Of course, he’d been the one to leave the first time, but now it was Callie. She could stay if she really wanted, if she loved him. Why didn’t she tell him she was waiting for him to ask?
Hadley shifted in her sleep, and Mark put a hand on her back to feel her heartbeat. Lisa had died of a rare aneurysm during labor and delivery, but Hadley was in perfect health. But he’d nearly lost her today.
He slumped over from the weight of carrying his parenting load alone. Maybe Callie was right. Maybe he never really believed she’d stay in Ragland. Maybe he was too afraid to ask her, to beg her, like she had him once upon a time. He knew he wanted her t
o, though. He wanted lots of things, he admitted. He wanted her in their lives.
His eyes watered and spilled over as he recalled Hadley’s bedtime prayer. She had sobbed through being sorry for not listening to Amanda. She’d prayed she could still have a cat. She’d thanked God she hadn’t “drown-ded,” and then she’d glanced up at Mark for a second before bowing her head and saying, “And can I still have a mommy like Callie?”
It tore at his heart that his daughter was in love with Callie Hargrove, too.
Mark leaned down and listened to make sure Hadley was breathing. Satisfied, he sat up. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he decided he needed to start praying again, too. He was too thankful to still have his daughter not to express his gratitude, and if he was honest, there were things he hoped for and needed.
Later that morning, he dropped Hadley off at Lois’s house and drove past the Market to the bank. Today was the day. The clock on top of the courthouse said it was eight thirty. He was early, but he’d called Wednesday afternoon just before closing and left McIntyre a message to expect him.
Mark drove into the lot with his mind swirling over Callie’s disappointment in him and saw McIntyre’s sports car in the reserved parking spot. If he was ten years younger, he would have pulled in right behind it to block it in, but this wasn’t child’s play.
He took a deep breath and exhaled before he climbed out. He couldn’t outdrive or even outdress the man, so he’d just put on his usual khakis and work shirt. At least he’d worn a belt. Balancing the jumble of papers in his arms, Mark walked to the front doors.
Two tellers stood at the counter chatting when he breezed in, and they both stopped talking at the same time. The bank opened at eight thirty, and he was the first customer of the day. One of them glanced sideways toward McIntyre’s office.
Mark didn’t walk all the way up to the counter, just said, “Hi, Miss Julie. Is the boss in?”
Both tellers nodded at the same time and Julie, a longtime friend of his parents, pointed. “He’s waiting for you.” She gave him a look that seemed to say good luck, and he pressed his lips together in a small smile. She probably knew what was going on, which meant the whole town did, too.
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