18. Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Calista
I roped Kaylee into coming with me to meet Emelie and the other girls. They seemed nice in the few short minutes I’ve known them, but you just never know. When you get people into a group like this, their personalities can change quickly.
With Dad hanging out with Evan, I don’t even have the excuse to duck out early if it goes south. So I didn’t give her a choice, especially since I knew she was off work today. My plans are to go to my apartment an hour before we were to meet the girls at the bakery, as I wanted to fill Kaylee in on the new developments.
“You know,” Kaylee says, with Skye at a sleepover tonight, I think it’s the perfect time for you to figure out if this is going anywhere.”
“I don’t think so,” I say. But in reality, my gut was telling me exactly what I should do: find out if there’s magic between us.
“Think about it. No Skye busting in and disrupting anything or overhearing anything. This way you can figure out if this is something you two want to pursue. If not, then you can go back to normal when Skye gets home. If it is, then you go from there,” she says, pulling her hair up in some fancy twist.
I hate to admit she makes sense because that means I have to act like an adult instead of burying my head in the sand and ignoring my problems, hoping they will go away.
“Well, for now, I can put that aside and worry about it later after meeting the girls. What do you know about them?” I ask.
“What little times I’ve run into them, they are super sweet. They mostly keep to themselves with their men on the mountain. But they have brought Jack and Evan into their circle, though the guys spend more time in town than the women. From what I can tell, loyalty means everything to them,” she says. “Oh, before I forget to tell you, do not pass up the huckleberry bear claws at the bakery. They are extremely yummy.”
I am a sucker for sweets, as my thicker thighs, and not-so-flat tummy can attest. So there isn’t a chance in hell that I will be giving them up any time soon.
“Well, I guess we can’t stall any longer,” I look at the clock.
“Since all we have to do is walk across the street, I don’t think we can,” Kaylee smiles. Then, looping her arm in mine, she pulls me toward the door.
As we cross the street to the bakery, we take our time. My nerves are jangling and I’m nervous. This is why I turned down drinks with coworkers all the time back in Chicago. Getting a group of people together just isn’t my idea of fun.
“Deep breath. I have an emergency plan in place if we need it, but I think we are going to have fun,” Kaylee says.
Then she opens the door and we walk into the bakery.
Emelie waves to me from a large table in the back and then bounces over to greet us.
“Get some coffee, some snacks and come join us. A few of the girls are waiting in line.” She waves at a woman who just paid for her order.
“I hope you don’t mind. I brought my friend Kaylee with me. She was off work today, and I didn’t want to leave her out.”
A bright smile lights up her face and her eyes twinkle. “The more the better. We will save you two seats together,” Emelie says, going back to the table, leaving us in line.
Kaylee and I don’t say much as we place our orders to get coffee and a huckleberry bear claw before heading to the table where Emelie and the other girls are.
“I’m so excited you are here!” Emelie says. “I know there are quite a few faces, and we don’t expect you to remember who everyone is. But I’m going to do a quick introduction. I’m Emelie, who you know. These wonderful women are Jenna, River, Sage, Hope, Jana, and Willow. Guys, this is Cody’s sister, Calista and her friend, Kaylee.” She points around the table as everyone greets us warmly. They seem really nice.
“First, how is Evan doing?” Hope asks.
“He’s finally getting out of bed and spending time on the couch each day, so I can tell he’s feeling better. His wound is healing nicely. From the looks of it, I don’t think he will have much of a scar. He has a long road ahead with PT, though,” I tell them honestly.
“Give him a gentle hug from me. He was one of the guys who helped me when my mom…” Hope trails off, choked up.
“When her mom kidnapped both of us,” the woman next to her says, wrapping an arm around Hope. I think her name was Jana.
“He helped me with my uncle, too,” Willow says.
I always knew Evan helped people with his job. Really, it was kind of in the job description, but to see that he’s helped people right in front of me makes it hit home.
After that, the conversation flows with them getting to know Kaylee and me and letting us get to know them. Apparently, all their husbands are watching the kids down the road at Jack’s shop. Even though the girls are having a good time, someone is constantly reading a text and sharing something funny that is going on down there.
Talking with them is easy, and I am included in many conversations. I’m smiling and laughing more than I thought I would. Before I know it, everyone is wrapping up their discussions and getting ready to head back to their families.
“We do this on a regular basis, and we’d love to have you both join us,” Emelie says. “When I got here, there weren’t many women on the mountain and I didn’t have a lot of friends. As the guys started falling in love, I made more friends, and it meant the world to me. This is my family, same with many of the other girls. This is their family, too, since we don’t have one outside of Whiskey River.” Slightly teary, Emelie comes over to hug both me and Kaylee.
“I can’t wait to join you guys again. This was lots of fun and I enjoyed meeting you all. I have to admit I was nervous about coming.”
“Me too. I didn’t even have to think about using my emergency escape plan,” Kaylee says, making everyone laugh.
I walk with Kaylee back to my apartment, but I don’t go up.
“I’m going to go home and let my dad leave before dinnertime,” I say, but Kaylee sees right through me.
“You mean you want to kick your dad out so you can see where things go with Evan. Whatever happens, you better at least text me and let me know!” she says, hugging me.
“I will try.” Then, getting into my car, I watch to make sure she makes it up the stairs into the apartment safely before pulling out of the parking lot and driving toward the mountain.
When I get to Evan’s and walk in, I find my dad and Evan in the living room, talking and laughing while watching TV.
“How was your coffee meeting?” Dad asks as he stands up.
“It went a lot better than I expected. The girls are really fun, and I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much,” I say.
“He is due for his next round of pain meds in two hours if he needs it. Though he seems to be doing pretty good,” Dad whispers in my ear.
“Evan, thanks for hanging out with me. I’ll be back around later next week to get a few things done outside and get the garden ready for spring. Don’t want you getting behind with such a short growing season,” Dad says, shaking Evan's hand and then leaving.
“So, your get together went well?” Evan asks as I go into the kitchen to start dinner.
“Yeah, they are really nice, and they had such great things to say about you. Each one of them wanted me to give you a hug for them and tell you to rest up.”
After pulling out the extra taco meat I put in the freezer earlier this week, I turn to him. “Taco salad sound okay for dinner? I know we just had tacos, but with it being just the two of us tonight…” I trail off to find Evan standing in the kitchen doorway.
“It sounds perfect. What can I do to help?” “Nothing. Just rest. Don’t overdo it,” I tell him.
Nodding, he goes to a stool at the kitchen island to sit down.
While I make dinner, we chat about what the girls and I talked about and what he and my dad discussed. Scooping up the taco salad, I serve him and me, and then sit beside him at the kitchen island. All throughout dinner there are small accidental touches that I want to think mean something, but my brain says I’m overreacting. Like when his thigh brushes against me, or when his arm brushes mine. It just means we are sitting too close.
“Want to watch a movie after dinner?” he asks as we finish eating.
“Yes. Let me clean up. You go pick something to watch.”
When we both stand, I go to move around him and grab the plates to take into the kitchen. But his hand on my hip stops me. He doesn’t say anything until my eyes meet his.
“Thank you for dinner.” He whispers as his thumb runs circles on my hip over my shirt.
After staring at each other for an endless minute, we both move and break the spell.
While I’m doing dishes and putting food away, I take a few extra minutes to calm my heart. I swear when he was looking at me, he looked right into my soul. He saw how much I wanted him and I was relieved at the look of longing which was written all over his face.
Once I can’t stall anymore, I slowly make my way to the living room and find him sitting on one end of the couch with a blanket over his legs. When he sees me, he smiles and holds up the end of the blanket, inviting me to join him. Taking him up on his offer, I sit on the side with his good arm, so I don’t knock or bump his injury.
“This movie, okay?” he asks. The movie he’s asking me about is a romcom I used to watch almost on repeat when I was in high school.
“I can’t believe you remember,” I say.
“I remember a lot more than you might think,” he says, starting the movie.