Page 23 of Wicked Love

Her eyes are shining and I can’t tell if she wants to laugh or knee me in the nuts.

“Not a scoff. I just haven't heard ‘wicked’ used that way in a long time,” I say.

She lifts her shoulder, the tension in her face relaxing. “I grew up in Boston, what can I say? My parents still say it all the time, even though we’ve lived in Colorado for years now.”

Becca runs off, chasing after Dolly as she runs around. It's too funny to not laugh.

“She loves animals, doesn't she?” Poppy says.

“She really does.”

“Do you have any animals?”

“No,” I say firmly.

“Too bad,” she says, walking away. She looks back at me and takes a step toward me. “By the way, you don't have to make it weird about last night,” she says under her breath.

“I didn't mean to make it weird,” I admit. “Becca was sick in the night and then it just…” I lift both shoulders, suddenly at a loss for words.

Her expression is tense again, the walls back up. “Yeah. Got it,” she says. “No worries. I'm not gonna…well, never mind.”

She looks past me and smiles, and I turn to see Callum standing there. She walks away to join the girls. They laugh as Becca and Dolly run around the yard.

“Let me turn on the music,” Ruby calls. “You'll get to see her dance, Becca.” She turns on the music and it's hilarious watching Dolly zooming around the yard. Becca starts dancing too and laughs harder than I’ve ever seen her laugh. Despite the less-than-stellar way I just handled that conversation with Poppy, now I can’t stop laughing.

“Hey, Callum,” I say.

“Hey,” he says. “Sorry, I interrupted a…moment there.”

“Oh, you picked up on that.”

“Hard to miss, he says, chuckling under his breath.

Callum is the second oldest in the Landmark family. And he's a good guy. They all are. I've been around him some from Weston's wedding activities, the bachelor party, etc. I like the guy. He might be the only person who typically has less to say than me. But he's talking now. Weston's brother-in-law, Sutton, says that Ruby brought all that out in Callum when he fell in love with her.

“You know, it's not the worst thing you can do to fall in love with a woman.” He looks at me out of the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, so I keep hearing,” I say, grumbling under my breath, “Not you too.”

Callum laughs. “Yeah, I was opposed to the idea myself until Ruby pulled into town.”

“Pulled in?” I ask.

He points at the RV across the yard. “Broke down in that thing right in front of my property. She was in a wedding dress. Kind of hard to miss.”

Now I'm laughing and intrigued. “That's quite a story. How did you get her to marry you?”

“Well, she was stuck here for a few days. The part needed to repair it wasn't around for the old thing, which is nicer than a house inside, by the way. But it gave us time to get to know each other. She's the best thing that ever happened to me.” He looks at Ruby, a small smile playing on his lips, the sorry sucker. “Love, I wouldn't knock it,” he says in his gruff voice. “And the way that woman just looked at you, I see potential there.”

I groan. “All you guys, once you get married, want to pass off love to everybody else. Some of us just aren't cut out for it.”

Callum turns and gives me an assessing look. “We're all cut out for love, Bowie. Every single one of us. If you think you don't deserve it, it's probably because you deserve it more than anyone.”

He tilts his head up and walks away, leaving me to think about that.

My phone buzzes and the timing is ironic after what I’ve just heard.

Mom

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