Chapter 10 Callum
TEN
Callum
Holding our bags of groceries, I waited on the porch while Zandra knocked loudly on the door. “Jimmy? Hello? Anyone home?”
The house was a cheerful yellow craftsman with white trim and a wraparound porch. Cute. Even the mailbox had hand-painted daisies on it. I shifted the bags to one arm and braced them against my hip.
“I guess Jimmy isn’t home.” Zandra took out a key and unlocked the door. Then cracked it open and peered slowly inside like the bogeyman might jump out.
“Everything okay?” I asked with a grin. She was being pretty adorable.
“Just checking. I didn’t know if he was doing naked tai chi or something.”
“He’s doing what?”
“Never mind.” Zandra opened the door wider. “Any chance you could take the groceries inside while I go get Chloe? I parked close, and she’s in her cat carrier with all the windows open, but…”
“No worries. Do your thing. I’ve got this.”
Zandra looked at me skeptically, like she wasn’t sure she could trust me yet. But then she nodded gratefully. “Thanks, Callum. I’ll be right back. I, um, I appreciate it.”
She dashed off, and I felt a surge of satisfaction.
Ha. See, Ashford? I thought. No need to get rid of her. I’d won her over, and I’d done it in style. It was clear Zandra didn’t let people in easily, which just made me want to open her up all the more. All puns intended.
Yeah, there was the fact that I was attracted to her and couldn’t help flirting shamelessly, but it wasn’t just about that. Wasn’t just about our two-month trial period either.
Zandra was complicated, and I liked that about her. Plus she clearly had some unresolved issues about our high school days, and I found myself wanting to smooth those rough edges.
Maybe it was the firefighter side of me. When I saw someone hurting, it was impossible not to charge in.
I headed inside the house, pausing immediately in the entryway.
Ceramic gnomes were perched on every available surface. Fishing gnomes on the mantelpiece, gardening gnomes clustered around potted indoor plants, reading gnomes propped against books on shelves. I blinked hard, wondering if I was having some kind of hallucination.
Nope. Still there. A hundred of them, grinning their creepy ceramic grins.
Shaking off my shock, I headed in and found the kitchen. More gnomes. Rosie was really committed to the theme. A few of them did look like Jimmy, though. Might explain some things.
I opened the fridge and started unloading the groceries from the bags, doing a bit of rearranging to get things to fit.
Zandra returned a couple minutes later. “Hey, could you give me a hand?”
I jogged to the front door and fount her rolling two suitcases with one hand and carrying a cat carrier in the other. She looked like she was about to fall over. “I’ll take the luggage.” Reaching forward, I snagged the two suitcases and hauled them inside.
Zandra knelt on the tiled entryway and opened the carrier door. A blur of orange fur shot out like a fuzzy missile, disappearing around the corner in a desperate bid for freedom.
“I’m sorry, baby girl,” Zandra cooed in a soft, sing-song voice that was completely different from her usual tone. “You’re safe now, sweet Chloe. Mama’s gonna get you all settled in your new place.”
My grin just kept growing. “So there really is a cat.”
Zandra stood, giving me a wry look. “She’s mad right now, but she’ll come around later.”
“That sounds familiar. Does that kind of sweet talk work with you too?”
Zandra actually laughed, and the sound sent warmth shooting through my chest. “Don’t try it,” she warned.
I just shrugged, committing all this to my memory for later.
Zandra looked around like she was just noticing the decorating theme in the living room. “Is it just me, or are there about a million eyes on us right now?”
“This is what happens when you do all your decorating at Ye Olde Gift Shoppe on Main Street. One day you’re buying a cute lawn ornament, and the next thing you know, you’re living in Santa’s workshop.”
She glanced into the kitchen next. “Thanks for putting the groceries away. It all fit?”
“It did. After a little organizing. I am a man of many talents.” I leaned casually against the kitchen counter and watched as Zandra walked around, peering into different doorways. Like many houses in Silver Ridge, especially historic ones near Main Street, the place wasn’t that big.
“I guess this is the guestroom. Rosie did say it was small.”
I followed close behind, looking over her shoulder through the doorway. “Yikes. Looks like one of those rooms where a serial killer keeps his victims.”
She glanced back at me. “What is the deal with you and serial killers?”
“I like true crime stuff. The darker, the better.”
“Should I be worried?”
I was standing less than an inch behind her, close enough that I got a whiff of her powdery scent. My pulse kicked up a notch. “I’d be more worried about those gnomes watching you while you sleep all night.”
She shuddered. “Don’t even start with that.”
“Okay, we’ll talk about something else instead. Come on. Follow me.”
“Where are you going?” Zandra asked.
“You’ll see.” I headed back into the kitchen, opening the freezer and taking out the pint of oat milk ice cream Zandra had bought at the grocery store.
“You’re stealing my dessert? I was saving that for later, when I’m all depressed and hiding out in my serial killer room.”
I barked a laugh. “It’s a taste test. Introduce me to the world of dairy-free dessert. We might want to carry it at Hearthstone. Besides, we’ll need a snack to share while we talk.” I searched around in the kitchen drawers until I found two spoons.
“We talked enough.”
“Nope. We didn’t.”
“Have I told you I hate you? I really do.”
“Not anymore. You like me now.”
“I can’t tell if we’re hanging out,” she muttered, “or if this is a hostage situation. What is even happening?”
“Just go with it.”
Zandra followed me outside onto the back deck. Probably because I linked my pinky around hers and tugged her through the doorway. But she let me. That was key.
I sat on the top of the picnic table, resting my feet on the bench, and pulled Zandra up to sit beside me. Tugging the lid off the ice cream, I handed Zandra a spoon, then dug mine in.
The salted caramel was rich and creamy, with just enough salt to balance the sweetness. “Not bad. Really good, actually. I thought it was going to taste like oatmeal or something. I mean, I like oatmeal, but it’s not exactly indulgent.”
Zandra scooped some of the dessert onto her spoon and took a bite. I watched her pink tongue flick out to catch a drop that clung to the spoon, and heat pooled low in my stomach.
I dug my spoon in again. “Sounds like senior year was really rough for you after Jessa died.”
“Callum,” she whispered. “Please, can we not.”
This time, I didn’t push. Didn’t say a word. Just took another bite of ice cream and waited.
A good two minutes later, Zandra started talking.
“She was my best friend. I can’t describe how awful it was when she died. Then people started talking.” Zandra blinked, looking away.
“The rumors?”
“People said I’d gotten into a fight with Jessa over a guy, and she was trying to get away from me, and I pushed her into the creek. None of that was true.”
“Shit.” I’d heard some of that, contradictory stuff about Zandra and Jessa being careless or inviting guys to meet them at the creek, but I hadn’t put much stock in it either way. It was just a tragic accident. “And you thought I was behind the rumors. Because of what Tommy said.”
She nodded. “Maybe that was naive of me. The rumors could’ve come from anywhere.”
“Could’ve been Tommy himself. He was enough of an ass that I’d believe it. I was an idiot for ever being friends with him.”
Zandra had said she wanted to let it go because it was in the past. But the next time I saw Tommy, he was going to have some questions to answer. It made me furious to think that anyone would try to hurt her intentionally. Especially after what she’d already gone through.
Maybe I should’ve been more cynical by now about how much people sucked. But they always found new ways to disappoint me.
“The thing was, Jessa really had planned to meet a boy she liked at the creek that night. Someone from the Silver Ridge football team.”
“Huh. You didn’t know who?”
She shook her head. “Jessa wouldn’t tell me.
At the creek, I was away from her for a few minutes, and I heard someone else’s voice.
” Z’s gaze moved to the distance. “Thought I did. But the police said I was wrong. There was no evidence anyone else had been there. No football players suspiciously missing from the bonfire party. That anyone admitted, anyway.”
I did remember the police asking around about the party and who was there. “Do you think you were wrong?”
“I don’t know. But regardless of those stupid rumors, it really did feel like my fault.
I’d brought the beer. I’d left Jessa alone by the creek.
” Z stuck her spoon vigorously into the pint while I held it steady.
“When people started talking about me, saying I pushed her or something, it just made it all worse.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
After Jessa had died, I’d felt guilty already for keeping Zandra from the bonfire that night. Because if she and Jessa had come to that party, things might’ve turned out differently. They wouldn’t have been at the creek.
But there’d been a lot of stuff going on for me as well. My home life as a kid had never been easy. But I wasn’t going to bring that up and make this conversation about me. Wasn’t going to make excuses for myself either.
“I noticed how you withdrew from everyone,” I added. “I should’ve said something.” Even if I’d been an idiot teenager myself and hadn’t known how to handle my own experiences with grief, much less Zandra’s. Even now, I still wasn’t all that great with the heavy stuff.
“It’s okay, Callum. You and I weren’t friends.”
“That doesn’t matter. I should’ve tried to help. Made sure you were okay.”
“There was no way I could’ve been okay after losing her.” She smiled ruefully, then announced, “I need more ice cream.”
“Rest is yours.” I handed her the carton, which had about a quarter left.
“So generous of you. Considering it was mine in the first place.”
My grin was dazzling. “I’m just that kind of guy.”
She took a huge bite, then winced. “Ouch,” she said, mouth full. “Shouldn’t have done that.”
“Ice cream headache?”
“Oh yeah.”
“My mom had a trick for that when I was a kid.” I gently massaged the top of her head with my fingers. Zandra tensed, and I pulled back. “Sorry. Should’ve asked first.”
She was still holding herself tightly, but her shoulders lowered a bit. “It’s okay. Go ahead. It was…nice.”
My fingers trailed down to her neck to work into the tightness there. Zandra moaned softly, and the sound shot straight through me to my dick.
I imagined my hands exploring other places, finding all the spots that would make her moan again. All the pleasure I could give her. With my mouth. My cock.
“He had a thing for you,” I blurted.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Tommy Pickering. That’s why he wanted you to come to the bonfire that night. Why he brought it up in our English class. He was into you. Tommy didn’t deserve you. That’s why I put a stop to it.”
“You stopped me from becoming Mrs. Pickering? I’ll never forgive you.”
I snickered. “Look at you, making jokes.”
“I make plenty of jokes.” Her arm brushed against me as she shifted. “Besides, if Tommy had tried anything back then, I would’ve kicked his genitals so hard he’d be coughing them up.”
“Ouch. Vivid image.”
“I didn’t need you to defend my honor.”
“Trust me, my reasons would’ve been more selfish than that.” I still had my hand on the back of her neck. Something possessive and ugly twisted in my chest, which was weird. I’d never been jealous over another girl. Nobody but Z. “I might’ve had a little crush on you.”
She gaped at me. “Liar,” she scoffed. “You had cheerleaders and popular girls falling all over you.”
“The one has nothing to do with the other.”
“You barely ever said anything nice to me.”
“I said hi to you all the time.”
“In a smarmy, borderline harassment kind of way.”
“Come on, now. I was being cute and flirty! I’m never smarmy. I’m adorable.”
Zandra laughed. “You’re ridiculous is what you are.”
“Look, you were one of the prettiest girls in our class. One of the smartest too. It was only natural I’d respond to that. And I do plenty of stupid things, but I don’t lie.”
Her dark eyes studied me, and then she swallowed. “I get that. Um, I’m better now.”
“Better?”
“The ice cream headache. Thanks.”
“Ah.” I lowered my hand, resting it on the table behind her and angling my body toward her. “What about you? Were you into me in high school?”
She snorted. “Absolutely not.”
“Who’s the liar now?”
“I wasn’t into you,” she insisted.
“Then how do you explain all the tension between us every day in English class?”
We’d been leaning closer as we talked, and in the sunlight, the details of her stood out. The way her dark lashes cast shadows on her cheeks, the tiny freckle beside her lips.
We were just centimeters apart. All I had to do was inch forward slightly, and I could taste her. My heart hammered against my ribs as I imagined how soft her lips would be. How she might sigh against my mouth.
“Callum,” she whispered, eyes wide. “What are you doing?”
Shit. Just like that, the moment was over, and I sat back.
It would’ve been foolish to kiss her, and not just because she didn’t want me to. We were competing for the same manager position. We were supposed to work closely together for the next couple months.
Worse yet, it could get back to her grandfather if we messed around and it didn’t end well. Bad idea.
But sometimes the bad ideas were the most fun…
I stood up, brushing off my sweats. “Guess I should take off. Thanks for the ice cream. Gotta get home and change before my shift at the bar. See you at Hearthstone in a bit?”
“Yeah. I’m ready for you to teach me everything you know.”
“Only if you teach me all the numbers shit.”
“Yep. Numbers shit. My favorite course in business school.”
Grinning, I headed back inside, putting our dirty spoons in the sink and the carton in the trash, and then went for the door.
“Don’t forget your groceries.”
When I turned around, Zandra was holding out the bag with my cereal, the weird yogurt, and the pancake mix.
“Right. My super important groceries that I was very eager to get.” I took them from her.
Her dark lashes fluttered, and she tugged her lower lip with her fingers. Damn, she was pretty. “See you later, Callum.”
“Bye, Z. See you later.”
I’d called her Z. And she didn’t even complain about it.