Her Christmas Prince (Love in the Keys)

Copyright
©
2012
Caroline A. Godin

First
Kindle edition December 2012

Edited
by Sue
Toth

All
rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be
reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of the author, excepting the use of brief
quotations in articles or reviews.

This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events
and incidents are either the products of the author’s
imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely
coincidental.

This
e-book is licensed to you for your personal enjoyment only and may
not be re-sold or given away for free. If you are reading this book
and did not purchase it, please log on to
www.Amazon.com
and purchase a legal copy. The author thanks you for respecting her
hard work and copyright.

This
book is lovingly dedicated to my father, Kern,

who
introduced me to the Florida Keys and instilled in me

a
love of all things tropical. He wasn't always perfect, but he

truly
believed in the power of love. I miss him every day.

CHAPTER
ONE

December
21
^st

The
phone just kept ringing. There was only one person who would let it
ring 15 times. Her mother. Erin looked at Callie questioningly,
as if to say 'should I get it'? Callie shook her head sternly, no.

“
How
can you just let it ring like that,” asked Erin. “That
song is driving me nuts!”

“
I
have no problem letting it ring. Because there's only one person
with that much determination to talk to me, and it's my mother. And
I'm just not ready to talk to her yet. And how can you hate Blue
Christmas? It's a classic. And it suits my mood.” A mood
that had swung between anger
,
sel
f-
loathing,
and embarrassment
this last
week

Callie
turned her focus back to the pan of magic bars she was garnishing
with a decadent Belgian chocolate drizzle. Erin harrumphed, a
nd
proceeded to bang the cookie trays she was unloading and washing for
emphasis.

“
Are
you telling me you haven't told her yet?!”

Callie's
flushed face confirmed that she had, in fact, not dropped the
bombshell.

“
So,
what are you going to do? I mean, it's only five days ‘til
Christmas, Callie. Do you think she isn't going to notice if you
turn up without Brian in tow?”

“
No!
I know I have to tell her. Before Christmas. It's just ... hard.
This was finally going to be my year, you know? No more nagging
about being single because I was going to have him with me. I don't
know who was more relieved, me or her. I am not looking forward to
the fallout.” And make no mistake, there would be fallout. Her
mother was opinionated and vocal.

“
Waiting
isn't going to make it any easier, you know.”

“
Yes,
I do know. Easy for you to say, Erin. You're so lucky your mom
isn't like mine.” Erin's mom was supportive and loving. She
never criticized her daughters and as long as Callie could recall,
she was a living, breathing June Cleaver.

“
Hey,
my mom has other issues. Trust me, it isn't all a cake walk over
here. But yes, I am lucky she doesn't care if I'm single, so long as
I'm happy. She believes everything comes in God's time.”

Callie
finished plating the magic bars and put them in the glass case behind
the counter at Beach Buzz, the cafe she owned and operated in
Sunnyside Key. She had a loyal clientele of locals and tourists
alike, who came for the coffee but inevitably succumbed to the
delectable homemade treats that had made her little hole in the wall
coffee shop famous in the lower Keys.

As
she stood behind the counter, Callie contemplated her predicament.
Christmas was stressful for everyone. But this year was going to be
more stressful than usual for her. Maybe she should go away? But
where would she go? Who was she kidding, she never went anywhere.

“
She
can hardly blame you for Brian being a jerk,” said Erin,
pulling her out of her inner thoughts.

“
Clearly,
you don't remember my mother. Of course she will. She'll say I
wasn't attentive enough, or didn't dress up enough, or whatever.
She'll find a way to make it my fault. She always does. It's not
like I try to fail at relationships, it just happens.”

Callie
was a bit of a disappointment to her mother. A true beach girl, she
spent as much time in sundresses, swimsuits and sandals and didn't
much care for girly things like manicures and fancy shoes, and she
inevitably looked like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards
because she never took time to brush her hair. She had a natural
prettiness, but didn’t have
a sophisticated look like her mother, who could have given Sophia
Loren a run for her money.

Her
mother had been positively radiant when Callie's then boyfriend,
Brian Fergus, agreed to come to Thanksgiving dinner with the Meyers
clan. It hadn't been exactly a television sitcom event, but it could
certainly have gone worse. Brian's big city ways and faintly
metro-sexual style quickly became the butt of jokes from her uncles
and cousins as they got progressively drunker. And the fact that he
didn't watch football? Well, he might as well have been an alien as
far as they were concerned. He definitely had not fit in with her
very middle class, testosterone laden family.

“
Do
you really think Milly's going to take the news that badly
,”
asked Erin.

“
I'm
afraid so. She was sure that since he came for Thanksgiving, he'd be
puttin' a ring on it sometime soon. “

“
Did
you think so, too?” It was a gently put question, and the
sympathetic undertone was clear. Erin was nothing if not empathetic
and unfailingly kind.

“
I
didn't really think about it, ‘til my mother kept going on
about it. I should never have listened to her. It was too soon. We
really hadn't been dating that long. I just got caught up in her
fantasy.”

And
she had. Callie had been happy to live in the moment and it wasn't
‘til her mother kept going on about an engagement that Callie
had dared hope it was true.

Regardless
of the atmosphere of Thanksgiving, her mother had been thrilled. The
fact that Brian had spent a national holiday with them was a sign,
her mother said. He must be serious, she said. He was making an
effort, and that could only mean one thing, said Milly. There had to
be a proposal coming, she was sure of it!

And
despite herself, Callie had let herself get carried away with her
mother's enthusiasm. Could Brian really be the one? Was he
considering a proposal? It seemed very quick, but it felt good. In
her heart of hearts, she had hoped her mother was correct. But she
couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that something wasn't quite right.

“
So,
what do you think really happened? Why did he just call it all off
so abruptly and ditch to whatever rock he climbed back under?”
Harsh, but loyal. Erin was a friend like no other.

“
I
have no idea. I've been wracking my brains trying to figure it out.
I don't think I did anything wrong. Maybe he just didn't wasn't that
into me. I really don't know. I don't suppose I'll ever know.”
She was putting on a brave face, but deep in herself, Callie
couldn't help feel there was something wrong with her.

Secretly,
Callie couldn't help but wonder if Thanksgiving hadn't been the
beginning of the end. Before that, he'd been talking kids and
holidays and houses and futures. Never actually rings and
engagement, but all the stuff that went along with it. But then,
right after Thanksgiving,
Brian pulled the plug. He was going back to Miami but would be
travelling a lot. Alone. And even though it was only a few hour
drive down A1A to Sunnyside Key, he wasn't interested in a long
distance relationship, now or ever.

And
with that, all Callie's hopes and dreams for their future together
were gone. It couldn't be a coincidence. Had her kooky family run
him off? Or was he using them as an excuse to
shut
her out for some other reason?

“
Hey,
why don't you take off? Worst of the day's done. Go hide out and
figure out how you're gonna get yourself out of this fix. I can lock
up and get things ready for the morning.”

“
Are
you sure, Erin? That would be great. What would I do without you?”

Callie
didn't need to be asked twice. She knew things were in good hands
with Erin, who was not only her second in command at the cafe, but
one of her oldest friends and best friends.

“
If
you're sure, I'll take you up on that. I could use some air to clear
my head. You're a saint, thanks, girl. See you
mañana.
”
Callie picked her tote bag and keys up from behind the kitchen
doorway and left Beach Buzz by the front door.

CHAPTER
TWO

Callie
left the Beach Buzz and headed for her car parked beside the cafe,
but then stopped and instead, turned and crossed the street. Maybe
a walk along the beach was just what the doctor ordered. It usually
cured what ailed her and cleared her mind.

Crossing
the road over to the beach, Callie headed south, away from the
Sunnyside Resort and it
s
hustle and bustle. It was a beautiful sunny day in the Keys. Even
in December, the weather was almost always lovely. It was a balmy
day, the wind was perfect and there were several boats out catching
the last of the wind before sunset hit. As she walked along the sand,
feeling the soft crunch of it between her toes, Callie began to
relax. The sound of the waves and the soothing scent of the ocean
began to ease her as she continued making her way along the beach,
but still, she couldn't help thinking.

Instead
of looking forward to her favourite holiday and the holy season,
Callie was dreading the whole darned thing. Because Brian had, in
the meanest way possible, broken up with her. He had said painful
things to her that she hadn't shared with anyone. It wasn't going to
work, he said. He needed more and was heading back to Miami and the
high life. She just wasn't exciting to him anymore.

Had
she ever been, she wondered? Callie knew she was many things, but
exciting probably was not one of them.

Callie
was the same small town beach girl she'd been when Brian rolled in to
Sunnyside Key and swept her off her feet. Aside from her two years
studying at culinary college in Miami, Callie was born and raised in
the Florida Keys. And she couldn't imagine wanting to live anywhere
else. To her, it was the most beautiful place on earth, and the only
place she truly felt at home.

When
Brian had come into Callie's cafe and started talking to her, it just
seemed so natural and easy. They were pretty much inseparable after
that first day. He'd stayed past
closing time and helped her clean up, and then they went for a sunset
walk on the beach. It had been a perfect first date. He showed her
a kind of attention that she'd never experienced before. And she'd
succumbed to it.

Not
that Callie hadn't grown up with lots of friends, and she'd dated
some, too. But when you lived in a relatively small coastal town,
and you knew most everyone from when you were a baby, the dating pool
was limited.