by Mary Leo
Callie picked up a dinner roll and tossed it at him. He caught it in his right hand. “Thanks, sis!”
Father Beau leaned over the table and glared at them. “Do I have to tell your parents on you guys?” he goaded.
“No,” both Callie and Carson said in unison, as Carson took a bite of his dinner roll.
“Then put down the bread and let’s give thanks.” Whenever Beau showed up for dinner, he usually said grace.
“I’ll say it tonight, if that’s okay?” Carson interrupted, still wearing that smirk. Callie wondered what this was all about.
“Fine with me,” Father Beau said.
Carson hadn’t said grace in months, and he never took the honors away from Father Beau. Callie instinctively knew something was up.
Everyone bowed their heads, even Emma, who seemed to know exactly what to do. Somehow Callie didn’t think it was Joel who had taught her about praying before a meal, though he looked as though he was familiar with the practice.
“Thank you, Lord, for this food, for this family and for our friends, including a few new friends, Joel, Emma and Miss Polly, who are a blessed addition to this fine Sunday meal. Amen.”
And in that instant, Callie knew Carson had told her everything she needed to know about how he felt about Joel. The thing was, Callie had already begun to trust him. That arrogance he’d carried with him to Briggs seemed to be waning.
Now all she had to do was learn how to accept Emma’s peccadilloes, and she and Joel might actually have a chance.
Chapter Nine
Joel had spent most of his night thinking about Callie, how she looked, how soft her skin had felt, her perfume, the fact that she’d taken the time to ask her brother to teach him to ride and how sweet she’d been to Emma. He knew his daughter could be challenging, but Callie seemed to know exactly what to say and do to avoid any problems.
Emma took after her mom, a free spirit. He had admired that in Sarah, probably why he’d been somewhat attracted to her in the first place. Unfortunately, Sarah didn’t have any limits to guide her. She’d taken that sense of freedom, that rebellious ego, and turned it on the people who cared about her. He’d learned even her aunt Polly had experienced Sarah’s hurtful ways when she wouldn’t show up for a dinner they’d planned or a concert. Sarah would always have an excuse, Polly had shared with him, but it usually came the day after Polly had been stood up in favor of another person or event that Sarah had deemed more important.
Since he’d become a single parent, the most important thing Joel had decided to teach Emma was compassion for others, patience with people who cared about her, kindness toward friends and family, all traits that Sarah never seemed to grasp.
Her daughter seemed to be having the same trouble.
“But Daddy, Frankie likes to let me have his training time with Wheezy and Squeezy. He said so.”
Joel had pulled up to the curb in front of Emma’s school and was just about to get out of the SUV when Emma admitted that she took all of Frankie’s training with the bunnies. Twice a week, the kids would set up a small track to teach the bunnies how to jump over the various hurdles, and lately, Emma got to train twice each time. Joel turned off the engine. Kids ran by, eager to get to their classrooms, as parents either escorted the younger ones inside or sat in their cars and trucks watching to make sure their children went inside the door.
“He may have said so, but I’m sure Frankie would like to take the bunnies through the hurdles himself sometimes. At least you should offer.”
Joel got out, went around to Emma’s side and helped her down. Aunt Polly had packed a scrambled-egg-and-cheese sandwich, Emma’s favorite, a tangerine and a cheese stick along with a small milk. All foods Emma agreed to eat. She carried her lunch inside her yellow backpack. Emma’s curly blond hair had been clipped back with a blue bow that matched her blue tights under her long white sweater. She looked adorable, all courtesy of Aunt Polly’s morning patience. Emma hated to get up early and get dressed for school. Despite her continual protests and delays, somehow Polly always had her ready on time.
“We’re not going inside until you promise to let Frankie train the bunnies when it’s his turn today.”
She looked up at him with that cherub face and those pensive eyes. “But Daddy, we’ll be late and I won’t get a good spot on the rug.”
“I don’t care. This is important. Promise me.”
She tsk-tsked, stuck a fist on her hip and said, “Okay. I promise, but if he doesn’t want to, there’s nothing else I can do.” Then she shrugged.
“At least you tried, and that’s what matters.”
She grinned and ran off toward the front door with Joel following along behind her. He wanted to catch Callie this morning before class started, and he only had a few minutes before the bell rang, so he hustled.
He’d never found another chance to be alone with Callie after Sunday dinner the previous night and had decided what they needed was a real date. No siblings, no kids, aunts or friends, just the two of them on a date, getting to know each other all over again. Not that he was at all sure she’d go. He only knew he had to ask her.
When he arrived at her classroom, ready to pop the question, Callie and all the students were huddled around the back door. Callie’s sister Coco was examining one of the rabbit on a small table next to the hutch. Her stethoscope dangled around her neck, and she wore a serious look on her face.
Callie spotted him and walked right over.
“What’s wrong?” Joel asked as she approached, hoping Coco had been rooked into giving a talk much like Carson had, and there was nothing really wrong with one of the bunnies. Emma would be devastated if something happened to one of those rabbit.
“Little Wheezy’s been lethargic the last few days. Bunnies like to hide their misery, so I thought I’d ask my sister to come in and give the little guy a physical just to make sure he’s okay. She thinks he has a cold, but she’ll take some blood and run a few tests to make sure.”
“I hope the little guy’s all right. I’m sure the kids would be upset if it’s maybe more serious. Especially Emma. He’s all she ever talks about.”
“He’ll be fine. I’m sure it’s nothing.” She smiled and Joel’s mood brightened. “I hope my family didn’t scare you off last night. Sunday dinners at the Grant house can be intimidating.”
“Not at all. I thought they were great, and I was wondering if you’d like to do it again sometime...dinner. I mean dinner, alone...not alone...with me.” He took a breath, let it out and crossed his arms over his chest. “Would you like to have dinner with me tonight? Or maybe we could catch a movie? Or we could stop in at Belly Up for a drink? Whatever you want.”
Her forehead furrowed. Not a good sign. “I think...”
The bell rang, cutting her off. All the kids came running inside, taking their places on the blue rug. Joel had no choice but to move out of the way and head for the door as she gathered all her little chicks in a circle.
He turned back around before he exited the classroom to see if maybe, by some miracle, she was looking his way.
Not only was she looking his way, but she wore a big smile, nodded and motioned for him to call her.
A powerful swell of joy engulfed him as a grin slowly stretched across his lips, then he turned and walked out of the room feeling triumphant.
* * *
AS IT TURNED OUT, Polly had come down with a cold, so for their first date, instead of a late-night dinner in a cozy restaurant where Joel and Callie could talk, they stopped in at Pia’s Pizza Parlor, which was always busy with kids, parents and deafening video games. The noise factor alone prohibited them from merely talking and getting to know each other again.
“I think we’re going to have to put off any conversation for another time,” Callie had shouted across the table as the
y shared a cheese pizza.
Joel grinned, nodded. “Are you free next Friday night?”
Callie bobbed her head as she folded the slice in half and took a big bite. Emma had already gone off to play with a few other kids from school, and Joel was anxious to get up and supervise. He didn’t like to let Emma wander too far from his sight, and before Callie could finish her first slice, Joel had disappeared into the swarm of kids, leaving her to speculate if they would ever get time alone again.
For their next date they caught a movie, a kids’ movie complete with singing dragons and talking bears. Emma had begged her dad to come along, and Joel hadn’t been able to say no.
“Can we see it again, Daddy?” Emma had asked as Callie and Joel each held one of her hands and picked her up every few feet, swinging her in the air. Emma loved it.
“Maybe,” Joel told her.
“Can we see it now?”
“I think it’s time to go home now.”
“But I want to see it again. Please, oh, please, Daddy. I don’t even need popcorn or a drink this time.”
Apparently the movie was very popular. Reluctantly, Callie mentioned that it was running in three of the six theaters.
“I think we can catch the second half in theater four,” Callie said, wanting to avoid Emma’s alligator tears. Joel agreed to slip into the next theater and for the next two hours they watched parts of the dragon movie over and over again.
For their third try at dating, Callie set up a “real” dinner date. Polly had agreed to take Emma to the library for a book signing and reading by a local children’s author. Callie had bought a new cocktail dress for the event, which was billed as a quiet dinner for two at Hot Tomato. She even stepped into a pair of black heels for the occasion and wore her hair up, with long, dangling earrings.
At the last minute, a potential boarder for two young mares wanted a tour of the stables, and Polly didn’t want to pass up the opportunity. Joel couldn’t disappoint his daughter, and Callie didn’t want him to, so off the little trio went to the book signing where Emma had to have three different books signed, and a picture taken with the author. Afterward, Emma didn’t want to go home. Instead it was burgers and shakes at Moo’s Creamery, with the life-size plaster cow greeting them at the front door that Emma had to sit on for at least fifteen minutes. Needless to say, by the time Joel in his gray suit and Callie in her black cocktail dress were seated, the entire place buzzed about the best-dressed couple who had ever dined at Moo’s. Even the owner had to take a picture to hang on the wall.
The strange thing with all of these threesome dates stacking up, and it looking as if they were going to be the norm rather than the exception, Callie couldn’t seem to say no whenever Joel asked her out. Even though she had to share him with a sometimes ornery Emma, she truly enjoyed being with him, which explained why she was now standing in front of a monster blue-and-red inflated jumpy room watching mostly her students, as they celebrated Wade Porter’s four-year-old nephew’s birthday on the Double S Ranch.
“This is so much fun,” Emma told her as she peeled off her shoes and socks in order to crawl inside the massive bouncy room. “My daddy is the best daddy in the whole world.”
“He sure is,” Callie had to agree. Not only had Joel been the doting and attentive father, but he was slowly turning himself into a cowboy in the truest sense of the word. This party was a testament to his recently acquired neighborliness and his willingness to help someone out whenever he could.
Emma stopped before she slid inside. “Aren’t you coming in, Miss Callie?”
The last thing Callie wanted to do was fall on her face with her students watching her. “Maybe later, Emma. You go on ahead and have fun.”
Callie knew if she crawled inside that room with Emma that eventually Emma would do or say something that Callie would have to react to, and it probably wouldn’t be too pleasant. Callie had acquired a lot of patience when dealing with Emma during the past couple weeks of threesome dates, but she didn’t want to press her luck.
Emma crawled inside and joined the other squealing children as they jumped and tried to stay out of each other’s way. Joel sat in the corner, supervising as best he could, and from what Callie could see, he was doing a darn good job of it.
He played a version of Simon Says, only it was Joel Says, and all the kids played along, laughing and giggling when he yelled, “Stop.” There weren’t any winners or losers, just a lot of silly fun.
Joel reminded her of her own dad sitting in the corner, laughing right along with the children. She had so many fond memories of her dad gathering all her siblings together, their cousins and friends out on the back lawn of the ranch, playing the same game. Of course, there wasn’t a bouncy house then. Everyone jumped and rolled on the grass. Sometimes they’d play the water balloon toss game. That had always been Callie’s favorite, specifically when she could toss the balloon to Carson and it would explode in his hands. She’d squeal with laughter when the balloon would drench his shoes and pants. Much like Emma was squealing with laughter every time her dad yelled, “Stop,” and she’d fall into someone and knock them down.
Joel would ask her not to do that, but each time she’d repeat the same behavior, almost as if she were challenging him. Emma needed to learn to respect Joel, but it seemed as though he wasn’t willing to take the necessary steps. Instead, he’d try to appease her, and Callie did the same when they were together.
It just seemed easier.
Callie headed back to the group of adults sitting and standing under the white canopy. She grabbed a root beer out of a cooler, popped off the cap, took a long cool drink, then sat on one of the folding chairs directly in the sun. Everyone else gathered in the shade, but Callie delighted in the heat of pure sunshine.
It was a cool, crisp October afternoon. The sun made everything sparkle with its golden warmth. It was a perfect day for an outdoor birthday party. Callie wore a light sweater over her gray Western shirt, and loose-fitting jeans and her favorite cowgirl boots. She thought the land would be more parched than it was and had anticipated a lot of dust, but the Double S was slowly making a comeback. Despite the fact that fall had arrived, more grass grew out of the once-dry earth than she’d ever seen before. It was almost as though the land itself was happy to be part of a family again.
“Aren’t you coming inside the bouncy house?” Joel asked as he approached, holding a longneck bottle of beer. Callie loved to watch him walk. His swagger had always caused her to go weak in the knees, and today was no exception. There was something about the sway of his hips, the way his shoulders turned slightly with each step, and the self-assured look on his face. Her thoughts drifted to when they were first in love, how his mouth had felt on hers, on her skin, on her breasts. The way he’d looked at her when they made love, the scent of his skin when he was lying on top of her, when he was...
“I think I’ll pass on the opportunity,” she replied, cutting off her memories.
Emma yelled for her daddy to watch as she jumped and twirled. He spun around to watch her for a moment. “You’re the best,” he yelled. Emma giggled and kept jumping. “She really seems to be adjusting to this place. It’s been somewhat of a miracle. I was concerned when we first moved, but it’s turned out good for all three of us.”
He took the seat next to Callie, facing the bouncy room.
Emma yelled for him to watch her again. She did the same thing and Joel clapped. “That’s really good, kitten.”
He turned to Callie. “Let’s find a quiet place to talk while Emma’s occupied.”
“I don’t know if she’ll let you go.” Callie felt certain Emma wanted all of his attention.
“She’ll be fine if I disappear for a bit. Wade’s inside monitoring and she loves Wade. Let’s walk on over to the porch. I think we can get some privacy there.”
Emma seemed
okay with his leaving, she was too busy tormenting one of the kids to pay much more attention to her dad. Callie decided now was as good a time as any to have that conversation with Joel that they’d been trying to have ever since Sunday dinner.
When they were finally off walking by themselves, away from the many guests who milled around tossing horseshoes or playing badminton or any number of games that were scattered on the front lawn, the back of Callie’s neck suddenly felt tight.
“It’s a great party,” she said, trying her best to start the conversation with small talk in order to take a few minutes to relax.
“Yeah, glad to do it for Wade. He’s been such a help to us. I can’t thank him enough. But Wade isn’t what we need to talk about.”
Callie’s stomach clenched as he guided her to the side porch, instead of the front, where no one could see them. As soon as they stopped walking he took her in his arms and kissed her, a hard, passionate kiss that sent a shiver through her body. She couldn’t help herself. She fell into him and went along for the tantalizing ride. His kiss was everything she remembered it to be, and then some. Her body ached for more when he abruptly pulled away.
“I’ve been wanting to do that every time we’ve gone out,” he said in a whisper.
“Was it worth the wait?” she teased, then she kissed him again, with the same amount of passion as before, melting into him, allowing herself to drift into her desire for him, despite her apprehensions of losing her heart.
Again he pulled away. “Sure, but I don’t want to wait anymore, and from that kiss, I’m thinking you don’t, either. There’s only one thing standing in our way, and we both know what that is...our past. We have to come to terms.” He ran his thumb over her now puffy lips. “I’ve always loved how your mouth looks after I kiss you, all pink and swollen.”
“No one has ever kissed me like you do, Joel. I can’t help but react to it. That doesn’t change anything. I’m still not comfortable with the desire I feel whenever we’re together.”
