Chapter 8
“It’s just a cut,” Callie insisted. “There’s no reason to freak out.”
“Who’s freaking out? I’m not freaking out.
” Joshua held the paper towel tightly around Callie’s finger as the color slowly returned to his face.
He seemed far more upset about her cutting the top of her knuckle than she was.
“I’m just saying, there’s a lot of blood.
I think you might need stitches. Shouldn’t we at least go to urgent care to double check that you’re alright? ”
“No. That will only make us late for the BBQ. Besides, all they’re going to do there is put a bigger bandage on me and call it a day.” Callie smiled at him and brushed his hand away, peeling the towel from her skin. “See. It’s already bleeding less.”
“I’m not sure. Just look at how much is on the paper towel.”
She glanced at the towel and stifled a laugh. She found Joshua’s concern endearing, if not a little over the top. “I’m telling you, honey, this is no big deal. Raising three kids and then having grandkids, I’ve seen my fair share of cuts. I know when they are serious and when they just look bad.”
Joshua glanced at the cut and sucked air through his teeth, turning away. “You’re right about it looking bad, that’s for sure.”
“You know, for someone who works on a farm, you’re awfully squeamish. Haven’t you ever cut yourself with one of the tools you use?”
“Yeah,” he said. “And I went to the hospital. Like a normal person.”
“Mm.” Callie pressed her uninjured hand to his chest and stretched onto her toes, placing a soft kiss on his lips.
“Well, nobody will ever accuse you of not being cautious, but really, I’m okay.
I’ll just put a band-aid on it and then we have to go.
Will you finish cutting up the veggies and I’ll finish getting ready? ”
“Yeah, alright,” he said begrudgingly. “But what should I do with the carrot that has your blood all over it?”
“Uh… throw it away? Is that not what you were going to do?”
“But it’s evidence,” he said. “When we get to the party and everyone asks what happened, I want to be able to say, ‘Callie, my amazing, beautiful, and totally irresponsible girlfriend cut herself while chopping carrots, and then refused to go to the doctor.’ That way, if your finger falls off, no one will blame me.”
Callie chuckled and shook her head. “Fine. Then bag the carrot and put it in the fridge before all the evidence gets contaminated.” They’d been watching a lot of detective shows recently, so she knew the lingo.
“Maybe while you’re at it you should pull the footage from the security cameras too. Just to be safe.”
“Maybe I will.” He stole one last kiss and then threw away the carrot in question.
Callie lingered for a moment in the kitchen, just appreciating what a lovely morning it had been.
Joshua had showed up at the house early with all the fixings to make her and Sasha a delicious breakfast. Later, she and Joshua took Dot for a walk through the park before coming home and getting their contributions to the BBQ ready — a veggie platter and punch.
He glanced up at her and grinned. “I thought you were worried about being late.”
“I’m going, I’m going. Just enjoying the view. I can’t wait for you to move in, then I’ll get to watch you cook whenever I want.”
“I can’t wait to have this much space to cook in,” he said. “It’s a huge step up from that little kitchen on the farm, and my place at the reservation is nice, but sharing a kitchen with six other people isn’t always ideal.”
“Yeah, but you can’t beat the smell of that place,” Callie said, her mouth watering as she recalled the time Joshua took her to dinner on the reservation.
His mother and one of his brothers were amazing cooks, and they always had something going on the stove that smelled delicious.
“By the way, any time one of your family members wants to come over and cook here, make sure they know they’re invited, as long as I get to have a taste. ”
“Sounds like a fair deal to me.”
She nodded and then headed down the hall to check on Sasha before going to get changed.
When she approached the door to David’s old office, she heard Sasha repeating a handful of words in a singsong voice.
They’d been trying to get Dot to say more than just “mama,” “Callie,” and “no,” but as of right then, those were her three favorite words.
She could say other things, but in general she had been slow to talk.
The pediatrician said it wasn’t anything to be worried about and that some kids are just quieter than others, but that they should do their best to talk to her as often as they could.
Sasha had taken this instruction very seriously, even making recordings of herself saying various words so Callie could play them for Dot while Sasha was working.
“What about doggy,” Sasha said as Callie gingerly opened the door. “Can you say doggy? You know, the dog goes ruff, ruff!”
“How’s it going?”
“Oh, fine,” Sasha said, sighing a little. “I swear she said doggy earlier today, so I’m trying to get her to do it again, but she’s stubborn. Maybe we need to walk next door and pet the neighbor’s dog again, so she has a visual.”
“Not a bad idea. Or we could just adopt a dog ourselves.”
“What?”
“It’s just an idea,” Callie went on. “When we were at the park earlier, she seemed to get really excited every time someone walked a dog past us, and if she likes the neighbor’s dog too, maybe that’s a sign we should get one. Could be fun, don’t you think?”
Sasha’s face lit up. “Wait—are you serious?”
Callie shrugged. She hadn’t realized this comment would warrant such a reaction. “Sure, if you like dogs.”
“I love dogs!”
“Okay, then why not? I love them too and Joshua finally seems ready to have another pet after having to put down his farm dog last year.”
Sasha grinned and scooped her baby girl up into her arms. “You hear that, Dot? We’re gonna get you a puppy! Isn’t that so exciting?”
Dot beamed, but most likely because her mom was smiling and not because she understood.
“I’m glad you like the idea.”
“I love it.” She looked at Callie. “We were never able to have a dog growing up since we moved so much. But I think it would be good for Dot, and it’ll give me an excuse to keep up with my daily walks even as it gets colder.”
“Great. Then we can go to the shelter whenever you want.”
Sasha grinned. “Wow. That was so… easy. I would’ve thought this was the kind of thing we’d have to talk about for a while, or plan for.”
“I don’t need to think about it all that much.
I’m all about just doing what makes you happy these days,” Callie said.
“After everything that happened last year, I think we all deserve to focus on that for a while. And it’s not like I haven’t been thinking about it.
I know getting a dog is a big decision, but it’d be nice to have a little creature to take care of when you and Joshua are working and Dot’s sleeping the day away. ”
“Count me in!” Sasha said excitedly. “But anyway, are we leaving for the BBQ soon?”
“Yeah, I just need to go change and Joshua is finishing up with the food.”
“I’ll go help him.” Sasha paused on her way out the door, looking at Callie’s wrapped finger. “You okay?”
“Oh, yeah, just a little cut. I’ve got band-aids upstairs, although even if I put a dozen of them on, it won’t be enough to calm Joshua’s nerves.”
“I believe that. When Dot had a cough last week, he kept insisting that we take her to the doctor.” She laughed. “It was sweet, but who knew he was such a worrier?”
“He just cares a lot.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” She smiled up at Callie. “Just like you.”
Over the past year, Callie and Sasha had grown close.
She may not have been her biological daughter but they truly had a special bond.
Plus, she was thrilled with her role as Dot’s caregiver.
Sasha still worked at the bookstore, but now she was also enrolled in classes at the community college, which kept her quite busy.
Callie taught one class a semester, which was plenty these days.
She thought about retiring every now and then, but for the time being, she enjoyed going to campus once or twice a week and having an excuse to pick up some of her favorite classic books.
Callie told Sasha that she’d be ready in five minutes and then hurried upstairs. Shortly after, just as she was finishing loading up the car, she got a text from her daughter.
Mallory: Are you on your way?
Callie: We were just about to leave.
Mallory: Can you pick up a bag of ice on your way? I totally forgot. James and I have been cleaning and getting the house ready all day today and, of course, it slipped my mind to run to the gas station.
Callie: No problem. We’ll grab some.
Mallory sent back a thumbs up and Joshua turned the key in the ignition. “Everyone buckled up?” he asked, looking over his shoulder to confirm that Sasha nodded. “Alright, then let’s hit it.” He pulled out of the driveway and took a right, heading towards town.
*
Hannah answered the door, and the first thing Callie noticed was that the girl had black rings around each of her eyes.
“Have you been getting into your aunt’s makeup again?” Callie asked as she bent down to kiss her eldest granddaughter on the head.
“No.”
“Oh, really? Then is that magic marker you’ve got around your eyes? And maybe raspberry juice on your lips?”
Hannah winced. “Shoot. Is it that noticeable?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“I was just having some fun,” Hannah whined, even though Callie wasn’t going to scold her. “And I didn’t use that much, I swear. I was really careful.”
Callie laughed. “I don’t think that’s what your mom is worried about, sweetie.”