Her Christmas Prince (Love in the Keys)

by Godin, Caroline A.

  “True enough.” Henry had turned his attention to the shortbread cookie and was demolishing it with lightning speed.

  “Haven't you eaten today?”

  “I have, actually. I know, I'm inhaling your desserts but they're really quite good. A guy could get used to this, you know.” He winked at her and carried on with munching.

  Erin came out of the kitchen, wiping her floury hands on her apron. She looked at Callie and Henry sitting at the table and asked “Mind if I join you?”

  Without prompting, Henry got up and brought another chair over to the table, and waited ‘til Erin sat down with her cup of coffee before gently easing her chair closer to the table.

  “Such a gentleman. Nice. I'm Erin. And I'm guessing you're Henry?” He bowed grandly before her before resuming his spot at the other side of the table, beside Callie.

  “The pleasure is all mine. Yes, I'm Henry. So nice to meet you. Callie's told me what a wonderful friend you are. We're counting on you to keep our little secret.” He gave her his devastating little smile and she smiled right back.

  “Sugar, of course I will. I know full well what Milly is like and Callie needs all the help she can get with that Mama Drama, especially over Christmas. Anything I can do, you just need to ask.” Erin took a sip of her coffee.

  Callie felt a swift kick under the table. She looked up at Erin, who was smiling sweetly at her. She gave her a look as if to say “what did you do that for?” And she got one back that she could not interpret.

  “So, Henry. Tell me more about you. Where you from? And do I understand you're a friend of Tom's?”

  Henry picked up his coffee cup and took a leisurely sip. He'd managed to sidestep the where are you from question and had deliberately not mentioned any of his family members' names to keep it vague. But this was the second time he was being asked and he'd better answer.

  “Europe. And yes, Tom is like a brother. We got through some tough times together in Kabul. He's a top guy in my book, no one quite like him.” He finished and polished off the rest of the shortbread cookie. “Funny thing, this cookie brings back memories. Callie, before I'd met you, I think I loved you. You used to send Tom those amazing care packages and he was nice enough to share the baked goods. And if I'm not mistaken, you sent this shortbread. We all loved it.”

  Callie was surprised that Henry remembered it so vividly. She had been worried about her friend while he was in active duty and away in a foreign place and had sent him regular letters and occasional packages from home so he'd remember that he was thought of and that people appreciated him and his service. She should have known Tom would share his treats from home with others. He had a giving and selfless nature.

  “Wow. That's so touching. Thank you. Yes, I did send Tom treats from home from time to time. I hope it helped break up the monotony of your rations.”

  “That it did.”

  “It was good of Tom to share with you guys.”

  “He didn't have much choice. There was a severe shortage of baked goods in Afghanistan. Truth be told, he did it gladly. You know what he's like.” Henry and Callie smiled at each other. She noticed his plate was empty but for a few lonely crumbs. So much for the doggie bag!

  Erin was taking it all in, but saying nothing. They were enjoying an amiable silence, sipping coffee and watching the passersby out on the street. Finally, Erin spoke. “Seems that the worst of today's crowd is done. Callie, do you want to head out? I don't mind locking up, since tomorrow's prep is all done.”

  “Two days in a row? I feel bad about sticking you with the work. And I don't really have any plans.” Henry cleared his throat quite loudly.

  “You could have plans if you wanted to. With me. We should pick up where we left off yesterday on Christmas details. And the rest of my day is clear. What do you fancy?” He looked hopeful.

  “Now that you mention it, I haven't gotten up Key Largo to see the new community tree yet, I hear it's pretty. How would you feel about going over there?”

  “Sounds good. I drove through on my way here but didn't stop, so you can play tour guide. If you want, I can cook dinner later. On the boat. Tom and I went fishing this morning and I've got a fresh grouper in the fridge.” Callie nodded her approval.

  “Erin, are you sure you don't mind?” Callie gave her friend one last chance.

  “Not at all, go have fun. Heaven knows it's you who's usually doing the heavy lifting around here on working. I don't mind at all.” Callie gave Erin a little squeeze on the arm to say thanks. She excused herself, got rid of her apron, gave herself a quick once over and headed back out front with her purse, ready to go.

  “Shall we, milady?” Henry extended his arm and she took it and smiled. She waved goodbye to Erin as they left the Beach Buzz and walked over to Henry's SUV. As he'd done the day before, Henry escorted Callie to the passenger side and made sure she was comfortable before closing her door and taking his own seat on the driver's side.

  The short drive to Key Largo was pleasant. It was a beautiful day and Henry opened the windows and the sunroof and let the air cool them down along the way. They made the trip in great time because traffic on the A1A was light and moving. This was not always the case.

  When they arrived in Key Largo, they wandered around and did a little window shopping . One of the nice things about the Keys was that it seemed to draw the creatively inclined, and there were plenty of local artisans who had shops and stands to sell their unique wares. Callie's Christmas shopping was all done, except for Henry. She tried to see if he expressed interest or admiration for anything in particular but he seemed equally enthusiastic everywhere they stopped. It was quite frustrating.

  Callie insisted that Henry stop and see the African Queen. One of the boats used in filming the legendary movie by the same name starring Humphrey Bogart had a permanent home in Key Largo and it was a popular tourist attraction. Callie was a big movie buff and especially loved classic movies.

  Henry was a good sport, vogue-ing for the camera and enjoying himself. She took pictures of him, he of her and they even tried a couple together. The last one, a hungry pelican let out a loud shriek and startled them. They both jumped forward, then started to laugh. The last photo, in particular, did them no justice, but the rest were actually quite OK, and Callie generally wasn't fond of pictures of herself. “Hey, you aren't going to post those online anywhere, are you?” Henry sounded a little worried.

  “No, I was just going to email them to you, as a souvenir. I'm not much for putting my life up on the internet. Or anyone else's, for that matter.” She smiled. Her answer seemed to relieve him. He seemed shy about having his photo taken, which seemed odd for someone so good looking, and who worked in public relations. Maybe he was used to being behind the camera.

  They passed a couple of hours amiably, just walking around Key Largo. When twilight set in, they made their way over to the tree. It was indeed beautiful, a 40 footer. The top was so high, the electric company had had to volunteer one of their repair trucks to get the star on top and the highest decorations on the tree. It has been a real community effort, and it was definitely worth it. All lit up with white twinkle lights, it gave an angel glow.

  A young man with a clipboard approached them. “Can I interest you folks in the trolley tour of the lights? We'll show you all the best light displays in Key Largo this year.” Callie looked at Henry and he nodded. They paid the man with the clipboard and boarded the trolley.

  The first house had a “Christmas in the Tropics” theme. The palm trees in the front yard were decorated with lights, and they had strung a hammock made of lights between the two trees. The scene was complimented by Santa-hat wearing flamingos. It was about a step away from being tacky, but it had stayed just over the line and was just fun and tropical.

  “So, is this your style of Christmas decorating, “ asked Henry, gesturing to the scene.

  “No. I tend to go for a more traditional look. And much plainer. My tree at home is quite small. And I hav
e a green and gold theme. Nothing crazy. What about you?”

  Henry thought for a moment. “Well, I don't decorate much myself per say. But as part of the business, my parents tend to go all out. Tasteful, mind you, understated even, but over the top in terms of volume.”

  The trolley guide was true to his word and the residents of Key Largo had truly outdone themselves this year. While they drove around town, marvelling at the creativity and effort that had gone into many of the displays, they enjoyed complimentary fruit punch and cookies. It was a lovely way to end their outing to Key Largo, not much talking, but just enjoying the festive spirit and the Christmas carols. In fact, they ate so many cookies, neither of them felt much like dinner.

  As they made their final approach back to the starting point of the tour, they passed by the Murray Nelson Center. As very bad luck would have it, Jimmy Stone, a freelance paparazzi photographer was there,. He was off duty, enjoying a few days' fishing in Key Largo instead of being on the South Beach beat in Miami. He had celebrity radar; it was something he'd developed covering the rich and famous for so many years. As the trolley went by, it vaguely registered with him. It was only a minute later, after it was well out of eye view, that he realized he may just have seen Prince Henry of Laurenia. In Key Largo. His eyes might have deceived him, but usually his gut was right. Could it be?

  Jimmy took out his iPhone and hit speed dial. “Hey, Linda, it's me.” Before his assistant could even respond, he continued. “I need you to do some research for me. Stat. I wanna know where Prince Henry from Laurenia is at these days. Call me back asap.” He ended the call as quickly as he started it.

  If Jimmy was right, this could make his year. Especially if he was the only one onto him. It looked like he'd been with a girl. Pictures of him with anyone female always sold. The fact that he hadn't known Prince Henry was in Florida was suspicious. It meant he was on personal time, not official. And none of his usual tipsters had called him, so he must be avoiding the fancy hotels and hot spots. This could be very interesting. He looked at his phone, willing it to ring.

  Jimmy packed up his fishing gear and loaded it in the back of his truck. And pulled out his camera bag. Even when he wasn't officially working, he kept a high end camera with him at all times. Just in case. Looked like he was going to have to cut his vacation short and see what the prince was up to. If it was what he thought, it might just buy him the new car he'd been wanting.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  December 23rd

  Callie loved Sundays. Not just because it was her only day off and she got to sleep in a little, but because she enjoyed going to Sunday service. Sunnyside Key Community Church was a small but vibrant congregation. Her family had been attending there since she was a little girl. It was nice to take a break from life to reflect on the week, herself, God, and to worship and give thanks for the blessings in her life. It filled the well for the week. And today was going to be especially interesting, because Henry was going to accompany her to church.

  Their date night in Key Largo had been pretty much perfect. They had an easy and effortless connection that kept conversation going but also felt comfortable in the silences. The seemed to share the same sense of humour, and some of the same passions ... for good food, for volunteerism, and for spending time outside in nature.

  They were also both voracious readers, and compared notes on what was on their individual e-readers. For Henry, a lot of books about economics, history and biographies. For Callie, lots of cooking, crafts, and romance novels. But they met in the middle with mysteries and humorous essays by people like Dave Barry and Stephen Colbert.

  In fact, their date had ended relatively early, giving Callie time to read a few chapters of the novel she was reading before heading to bed. She loved reading Christmas books at Christmas time.

  She was also contemplating what to do about Henry for Christmas. It was only two days away. And with all he was doing for her, she wanted to make him a gift. But she was stumped about what she could do in such a short time that would be something memorable and that he'd actually like. Though he hadn't actually said so, she had the impression that Henry's family was pretty well off. His clothes were expensive, as was the minimal jewelry that he wore. She hoped she could think of something. She only had two days left before Christmas. Where had the time gone?

  The phone rang, and Callie picked it up.

  “Good morning, Calista.” Her mother. She'd wondered when she was going to call.

  “Hi, Mom. How are you?” Callie tried to sound particularly cheerful and happy to hear from her mother, but she wasn't sure she pulled it off entirely.

  “I'm fine, thank you. I was just calling to see if we'd be seeing you at church today.” An odd question, unless she was sick or working, Callie never missed Sunday service.

  “Of course, why wouldn't you?”

  “Well, I didn't know. I thought maybe Henry wasn't a church goer.”

  “As a matter of fact, he is coming with me to church today.” Silence. “Is that OK?” As a matter of fact, it was one of the things that she hadn't liked about Brian, he never wanted to go to church and was somewhat dismissive of it.

  “Why wouldn't it be? The Lord's house is open to everyone.” Her mother didn't seem too enthusiastic.

  “Was there something else you wanted, Mom?”

  “Well, I was just checking that your guest ...”

  “Henry.”

  “Yes, Henry. I was just making sure you're still planning to bring him for Christmas. Are you?” Her mother sounded like she hoped it had been a bad dream.

  “I am. And I guess we should talk about the gift exchange. Because Brian had daddy's name but Henry said he's happy to make a gift for daddy. I'm not sure who had Brian's name ...”

  “I did.”

  “You did? OK. Well, I guess you'll be making something for Henry, then. Are you all right with that?” Callie hoped the last minute swap wasn't going to stress her mom out.

  “Well, I don't know him very well. I was going to give Brian a water colour painting I had done of the pier out by the Clam. Do you think Henry would like it?”

  “Mom, I'm sure he would. That's a lovely gift. And it will be a great souvenir for him, of his first trip to the Keys. I think it's lovely.”

  Callie hadn't realized her mother had taken up painting again. When she was young and in college, her mother had been an art major, and by all accounts was quite talented, but she'd given it up. Callie never knew why, and her mother never talked about it. This was an interested development.

  “What is he going to do for your fathe?,” Milly asked.

  “I have absolutely no idea. I had offered to help him figure it out and he said he had it covered. I was quite surprised, actually. He's full of surprises, Henry is.”

  “So it would seem. Well, I won't keep you. I'm sure you have to get ready for church. We'll see you there.”

  “OK, mom. Thanks for calling. I'll see you soon.” Callie hung up the phone and thought about the conversation. It may have been the most civil one she and her mother had had in months. She hoped it was the start of a new era for their relationship. In fact, she'd pray about in in church this morning. But she'd better hurry up and get ready, or she'd be late.

  Callie had offered to pick up Henry and he was ready and waiting in the marina parking lot, looking every bit the native Floridian in freshly pressed cargo shorts, Tom's shoes and a tropical print camp shirt. He smiled when he saw her, and got into the passenger side.

  “Hi, how are you? Henry gave her a big smile and took in Callie's freshly scrubbed beauty. She favoured minimal make up, and today only had on some lip gloss. Her floral print sundress showed off her light tan and she was radiant. And she had no clue. That was one thing he'd noticed about her in the time they'd spent together, she wasn't vain, and she had no idea just how pretty she really was. She wasn't what you'd call a classic beauty, but she had a natural glow that matched the Keys.