Chapter 23
23
A sweet gem of a coffee shop right here in Greenhaven! Try this place ASAP. You won’t be disappointed . ~ Friday morning gals
W ith nerves as taut as guitar strings, Ginger walked up to Cal’s front door, careful not to catch a heel in the brick walkway. A potent mixture of anticipation and dread had almost paralyzed her on the drive over.
It’s just Cal.
The whole process of getting ready for tonight—dress alterations, hair appointment, getting her nails done—was a constant reminder of what caused her angst in the first place. She might know no one at the gala, and instead have to make small talk, which sent her anxiety to a whole new level.
Something had happened between her and Cal at the Fall Days Festival, but the week away from him seemed like a mental reset. She fretted about if treading the already blurred line of their relationship was the right choice. Her thoughts brewed together into one perfect, emotional storm.
It’s just Cal . It’d become her mantra throughout the day, to no avail.
Her fist was poised to knock when the door opened.
Cal, looking every bit the ideal guy in her daydreams, stepped aside to let her in. Ridley and Peaches immediately surrounded her, coming from out of nowhere. Despite the four paws and two mouths pushing, licking, and depositing dog drool on her, she couldn’t take her eyes off of Cal.
He wore dark dress slacks that looked like they’d been sewn on him. The berry-hued shirt couldn’t have brought forth the blueness of his eyes any more. And the tie, well, she loved the mosaic pattern, but it skewed a little to the left, like he’d tried pulling it into place. Or maybe she’d interrupted a little tug-of-war between him and Ridley.
“You look?”
The compliment was interrupted by Cal’s dogs, who acted like she’d bathed in beef drippings. And Cal wasn’t any help. He stood frozen, still looking at her like she’d just disembarked from an alien ship.
“Help, please?”
She held Ridley’s paws like they were ready to waltz. Meanwhile, she was pretty sure Peaches was tasting the shaving lotion on her leg and liking it.
Her desperate tone must have registered because Cal took over the dance with Ridley and gently shooed Peaches away with his foot.
“I’m so sorry,” he gushed. “It’s just…you look absolutely stunning . ”
She shook out a tissue from the packet in her purse and dabbed the saliva from her calf. Aside from being coated with dog drool, his compliment set off a rhythmic set of quivers in her chest.
“Thank you.” She stayed focused on wiping her leg, so he couldn’t see her complexion giving a winning representation of a Ruby Red grapefruit.
He held out his hand.
She gasped and straightened, her eyes darting from his hand, to his face, then back to his hand. First the compliment, now…now what ? Would he pull her into an embrace? Did he want to kiss her? The night was moving way too fast. At least that’s what the warning voice in her head told her. But, since when did she heed anything that it advised? She casually slipped her hand into his. The pulsations in her heart tapped out a love melody that?
“I, uh, was going to take your tissue,” Cal said as the skin on his throat rippled.
She jumped like she’d been scalded, pulling her hand away.
Oh, the humiliation .
It was like junior high all over again, full of end-of-the-world mix-ups and embarrassing catastrophes.
His expression was a comical mix of shock, discomfort, and something bordering on what she could only describe as lovesickness. He probably mirrored the emotions playing across her face at the moment.
It was going to be a long night.
T hey finally made it to Cal’s car after the dogs settled into their respective crates and Cal fixed his wonky tie. As they drove, he explained that the historic hotel in downtown Bedden was the site chosen every year to host the Hearts Fur Love annual gala. One of the managers also volunteered at the shelter and was able to get the top floor ballroom at a steep discount for the event. Ginger had visited the restaurant adjacent to the lobby on occasion—an elegantly restored space in itself with dark mahogany paneling, crimson carpets, and stained-glass transoms topping the enormous windows facing the sidewalk. She’d never seen the ballroom, though.
She and Cal stepped into the elevator. He pressed the button for the twenty-eighth floor. They were alone when the doors shut.
“I talked to my new employee about starting her own coffee business.” It was the first topic that popped into her head as she tried to come up with something to fill the silent ride to the top floor.
He backed up against the wall and gave her a sidelong glance.
“Oh, yeah? Does she have what it takes to run her own shop?”
“Well, her goal is a little more unconventional. She wants a mobile coffee business.”
Cal eyed the floor number as it ticked upward. “Those trucks are pretty popular if you park them in the right place.”
She laughed at Cal’s simplified version.
“I told her it’s a lot more complicated than ‘parking it in the right place.’”
Cal shot her his movie star grin. “You know what I mean. You’ve mentioned acquiring a truck before if I’m remembering right.”
“It’s been on my mind for a while. Anyway, I’m mulling over the possibilities. I really want to help her.”
“You’re turning into a full-time philanthropist.”
She looked at him to gauge if he was poking fun at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Inviting dogs for sleepovers, collecting donations for the shelter, and now taking Alice under your wing. It’s pretty awesome.”
“I just want to do my part.”
He turned toward her so that his shoulder pressed against the back wall. His face was inches away. “And you’re appreciated. Has anyone told you that lately?” he said in a soft voice.
“Yes, but I don’t mind hearing it again.”
She brushed his hand. His finger hooked hers, and they rode the rest of the way like that until the elevator lurched to a stop. Reluctantly, she let go of his finger as the music’s tempo that greeted them as the doors slid open matched the thudding of her heart.
They stepped into a large, mirrored foyer. From there, the double staircase in front of them ascended to the ballroom. Three chandeliers the size of small, economy cars hung from the soaring ceiling, and she found herself marveling with an open mouth at the opulence of the room .
Charleen stood at the welcome table, handing them their name tags as they approached.
“Ginger, thanks so much for coming tonight.” She gave Cal an astonished look. “Has anyone seen my friend Cal Donner?”
“You know I’d rather have come in jeans and a tee. Don’t rub it in,” he answered with a laugh.
They moved away from the table and toward the stairs, stopping to put on their name tags. She pressed it onto her dress, then did the same for Cal. Her hand lingered on his chest as she smoothed the tag onto his dress shirt. She looked up at him, and his lips were so close .
“Thank you,” he murmured as his gaze caressed her
She nodded, taking a small gulp of air. “You’re welcome.”
“You have a lot of people to meet tonight. We’d better get started,” he said.
“I’m not so good at this.”
“I’ll be right next to you.” His sympathetic smile almost chased away her anxiety.
Cal’s hand on the small of her back was like a balm as he guided her throughout the room, introducing her to a dizzying number of people. It stayed there as a constant comfort as she made polite conversation. Its warmth penetrated the fabric to soothe her frayed nerves. To her surprise, most people at least knew her as the face of Coffee Loft, but many also knew her by name. Cal stood silently at her side with a knowing smile as these new acquaintances gushed on about her shop.
The string quintet played throughout the cocktail hour as people filled out the silent auction cards, mingled, and sampled the platters of beef Wellington, crab rangoon, and stuffed mushroom appetizers that circulated the room. At one point, the musicians stopped for a brief break. When they started up again, Cal clasped her hand.
“Will you dance with me?” he asked.
She nodded. All she thought about as he led her across the room to the dance floor was how impossible it would be to speak with her body pressed against his for a song or two.
Cal turned back to her when they found an empty spot amongst the other couples. Folding his arm around her back as he took her other hand in his, she felt like she was floating.
“I’m going to apologize in advance for stepping on your toes since there’s a high probability that it might happen,” he said in her ear as the strains of the violin rose against the hum of conversation around them. His eyes blazed as he pulled back to look at her when she didn’t answer right away.
“And I’ll accept your apology if I can offer one of my own.”
“Which is?”
“I wore the highest, most uncomfortable heels in my closet so I’d have an excuse not to dance tonight.”
“How’s that working out?” His one-sided grin couldn’t make him any more irresistible.
“Completely failed.”
“Lucky me,” he whispered, as a shiver rippled the skin on her bare arms when his lip accidentally brushed her ear lobe.
If the night stretched on forever, she wouldn’t mind at all.