Her Christmas Prince (Love in the Keys) (3 page)

Henry
seemed to sense her anxiety. It might have been her deer in the
headlights look. Probably not the usual reaction when a girl sees
her mother. But there it was.

“
Mom,
please. There's three of us here. Do you
need to shout like a fish wife?”

“
Calista!”

“
And
enough with the Calista. You know I like Callie better. Why can't
you just call me Callie like everyone else does?”

“
I
am the reason you are here and able to sass me, little girl. I named
you Calista and that is what I will call you. It's a beautiful name,
a lady's name. I don't know why you never liked it.”

That,
in a nutshell, was the problem with Callie's mom, Milly. She didn't
see that, in a world of Debbies and Jennifers and Emilys, Calista
made her kind of a freak. Callie was better, marginally, but how do
you explain your mother named you after a constellation? You don't.
Unless you want to be branded a geek.

“
I'm
so glad we ran into you. I've been calling you all day.
W
hy didn't you answer your
phone?”

“
I
was baking, it was a busy day at the cafe, Mom.”

“
So
busy you're off early, I see.” Her mother never missed a
thing.

“
As
it happens, I was in early and didn't even get a lunch break. Erin
took pity on me and let me leave early. I've only just gotten here
myself.” Why was she, a grown woman, still explaining herself
to her mother?

Milly
didn't really look like she believed her, but she seemed to let it
go. “So don't you
want to know why I was calling?”

Callie
sighed. No, she didn't. She pretty much knew what her mother
wanted, inevitably something to do with Brian. How long could she
dodge the inevitable? Apparently, no longer. “Um, yes. Sure.
What did you want?”

“
I
wanted to know if Brian had a favourite dish. Since he'll be with us
for Christmas, I want him to feel like he's at home. Do you know?”

Callie
blanched. This was her moment. Should she take it? It was a public
place with Tom and Henry there, how badly could her mother react?

“
Actually,
mom, he won't be with us for Christmas after all.”

“
What?!
Why? ... What did you do?”

There
it was. Her mother's immediate instinct was to blame Callie. How do
you respond to that? “I didn't do anything. But we've broken
up. So he won't be around for Christmas or anything else in the
future. Can we just drop it, please?”

Callie
watched her mother's face fall. The disappointment was evident.

“
So
what happened? I thought things were going so well.”

“
Mom,
can we please just leave it?” Callie's request was more of a
whisper than anything else.

Henry
had silently been watching the interaction. He was good at reading
people and the atmosphere, and he'd figured out the family dynamic
and where this was heading.

“
I
think I have a right to know what you did. Why don't you want to
tell me?” There it was. Her fault. And she wondered why
Callie didn't want to answer her phone calls.

“
Mom,
it's my private life. I don't want to discuss it with anyone right
now, especially my mother. And thanks for the support. Why do you
assume that I 'did' something? Sometimes relationships just don't
work out.”

Milly
was about to launch into a full out hissy fit;
Callie could see it brewing. And then, she felt an arm around her
waist. And a head on her shoulder. And a light brushing of lips on
her cheek. And then, she took in the most marvellous scent ... a
potent mixture of aftershave, sea salt and muskiness that was amazing
and all man.

“
Callie,
the jig's up. You might as well just tell her the truth.”
Callie felt his statement on her as much as she heard his words. She
wasn't exactly sure what was happening, but she wasn't minding this
last part. Even though every fibre in her being told her Henry was
dangerous, she was intrigued.

“
Tell
me what? Who are you? And why do you have your arm around my
daughter?”

She
felt Henry release her and he stepped forward toward
her mother. “Henry. I'm Henry. Pleased to meet you, ma'am.”
He extended his hand to Milly but she did not take it.

“
The
jury's still out, Henry. You can call me Mrs. Meyers for now. So
why is it exactly that you are snuggling up my daughter?”

Callie
looked from Henry to her mother and froze. What was happening here?
She had a bad feeling about this. What was Henry doing? She felt
her temperature rising in a flush and wasn't sure what to say. So,
she said nothing, and let Henry keep doing the talking.

“
I
told Callie we should tell you, but she wanted to wait. Until we
were sure. Well, until she was sure. I knew the minute I laid eyes
on her.”

“
You
knew what, exactly?”

“
That
it was love at first site
,
and that Callie's the only girl for me.” The only thing that
kept Callie's jaw from dropping was watching her mother's do so
first.

Callie
looked at Henry, who turned around and blew a kiss at her. He was
smiling. And there was laughter in his eyes. Was this a joke to
him? What had he just done? She wasn't sure what he was up to, but
it had certainly thrown her mother for a loop. Milly, for once, was
speechless.

Tom
and her dad, who'd been talking fishing over at the bar, were
suddenly paying attention, too. Callie looked at Tom, who gave her
a wink. Seemed he was willing to play along with whatever Henry had
in mind.

“
Mrs.
Meyers, are you OK? You're very quiet.” Henry looked at her
with concern.

Milly
nodded at Henry. She looked him up and down, every adorable but
slightly rumpled bit of him. But said nothing. This was a first.

“
This
must come as a bit of a shock, but what can I say? When you know,
you just know. And we have Tom to thank for it all, we met right
here at the Happy Clam at this very bar.”

If
looks could kill, Tom would have been at the bottom of the Atlantic
after Milly's deathly stare. Someone to blame had emerged, she could
see it in her mother's eyes. Her mother needed a bad guy.

Milly
looked directly at Callie. “Just so I'm clear. What this man
...”

“
Henry,”
he interjected, trying to be helpful.

“
...
what this Henry is saying is that you met him here, at the Happy
Clam. And despite the fact that you were dating a perfectly decent
young man with real prospects, you broke it off with Brian to date
him? A bar fly? Is that about right, Calista?”

Callie
wished the deck would collapse and swallow her into the ocean. She
had two choices here. Come clean. Or roll with the scenario that
Henry had just conjured up.

“
Well,
sort of. Yes, that about sums it up.”

Tom
interjected. “Ma'am, he's not actually a bar fly. He's a
friend of mine. From my military service.” This new
information did not seem to change Milly's expression.

“
And
when were you planning to tell us we were going to be one guest short
for Christmas? The day of?”

“
You
aren't short one at all. Mrs. Meyers, it would mean the world to me
if I could spend the holiday with my Callie and her family. If
that's agreeable to you, of course.” The question hung in the
air like a challenge. He had thrown the gauntlet. Would she say yes
and live up to the graciousness a southern lady should show? Or slap
him down
? Callie wouldn't
have bet on it in that moment, it could have gone either way.

Surprisingly,
it was Jackson, Callie's dad, that answered. Jackson never said much
of anything. Probably because he never got much of a chance. He was
a quiet sort of fellow, and it was likely the reason he and Milly had
stayed married so long. They were, in many ways, total opposites.

“
That
would be fine, son. Just fine. We look forward to having you. And
to getting to know you a little better. If Tom says you're all
right, that's good enough for me.” He stepped forward and
shook Henry's hand enthusiastically. “Isn't that right, Milly?”

Callie
turned towards her dad and he
looked at her, his face totally neutral. Almost. The only thing
that gave him away was the little twitch in his cheek. He was
enjoying this. It wasn't often that Milly didn't have much to say.
And her husband was loving it.

Milly,
on the other hand, was not. She had looked Henry up and down, and
from his mop of blonde streaked hair to the bottom of his tanned flip
flopped feet, and she did not seem to like what she saw.

After
a long silence, Milly put on a forced smile and acquiesced.
“Certainly, dear. We look forward to hosting you, Henry. Any
friend of Calista's is certainly welcome in our home at Christmas if
they've no place else to go.”

Interesting
point. Why didn't he have somewhere else to be at
Christmas? Callie realized she knew absolutely nothing about this
charmer and she'd better get some intel and fast. Tom seemed to know
and like him, she'd start there when she could get him alone. And
she certainly had plenty of questions she planned to ask him herself.
Like what in the sam hill he'd been playing at?

Henry
definitely gave off a bit of a waster vibe. He had the look of way
too many of the lost souls who came to south Florida, and the Keys in
particular, looking for a solution to an unhappy life and hoping to
find the fun and fortune of a Jimmy Buffett tune. They were
inevitably running from something, and got easily sucked into the
unhealthy tiki bar lifestyle. The locals saw a lot of good people
who just partied themselves out and ended up with no relationships
and no ambition. No doubt the Keys were a fun place to live, but
moderation was essential.

And
yet, he didn't seem like that, judging by the brief conversation
they'd had. Despite the adorably shaggy appearance, which she
suspected was on purpose, Henry was articulate, smart and very zen.
Callie had also noticed that he wasn't actually drinking alcohol at
4pm in the afternoon, unlike herself!

Something
didn't quite fit with Henry. She was very curious and, if she was
honest with herself, quite attracted to him. Yet uneasy at the same
time. After the Brian fiasco, her radar was clearly way off and she
couldn't trust her own judgement right now. But how could she resist
a knight in shining armour who jumped to her defence against her own
mother?

Callie
decided the best course of action was to make a hasty retreat, before
anything else got said that anyone, especially her, might regret.

“
OK,
well, glad that's all sorted then. Sorry to dash, but Henry and I
have plans and we have to go.” To his credit, Henry took the
cue and came over to her side.

“
What
plans,
”
asked Milly.

“
Just
dinner and a little Christmas planning, but we should get a move on
before it gets too late. I am opening tomorrow so I need to turn in
early.” Callie put on her biggest, brightest smile, picked up
her bag, and turned to Henry. “Ready to go, sweetie?”

“
Sure
am. It was great to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Meyers. Look forward to
seeing you at Christmas, if not before. It isn't long now.”
He turned to wave goodbye to their bartender friend. “Tom,
just put the drinks on my tab and I'll pop over tomorrow for lunch
and settle up, if that's OK.”

“
Absolutely
no problem, dude. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

After
a quick wave at her parents, Henry took Callie's hand firmly and led
her down the dock and up towards the road. And, they were out.

CHAPTER
FOUR

When
Henry and Callie reached the main path up at the boardwalk, he turned
left, but Callie stopped.

“
My
car's way back there, at the cafe,” said Callie, pointing
right.

“
Yes,
but my truck is just over here in the marina lot. And since you were
drinking and I wasn't, I thought I'd drive if that's OK. But you
will have to navigate, I'm still getting my bearings.” Henry
kept her hand in his and led her to his SUV. When they arrived, he
released her long enough to open the passenger side door and help her
inside before closing the door gently.