Page 43 of Investigate Away
“You tricked me.” Callie hip checked Ziggy.
“You would have told me anyway.”
“True.” If Callie told Kara, she’d get a lecture. Now all Callie had to do was brace herself for Ziggy and the rest of his siblings to push back hard for them to get back together.
It wouldn’t happen.
It couldn’t.
They were oil and water.
Ziggy paused and turned toward the sound. “Jag told me you plan on leaving in a couple of weeks.”
“As soon as his chapter is done. He gave me an interview. Now all I have to do is write it and get him to approve it.”
“Don’t leave again.” Ziggy turned. “He loves you, and I know you love him.”
“Sometimes love isn’t enough.”
“It’s always enough,” Ziggy said.
Callie took her hands. “Your brother and I spent a year using and lying to each other all while falling madly in love. That has Greek tragedy written all over it. We’re lucky one of us isn’t dead.”
“That’s a cop-out. Do you want to know what I think?”
“Does it matter? Because I think you’re going to tell me anyway.” Callie turned and headed back toward the dock and the best fried clam roll on the West Coast.
“The two of you got together during a high-profile case where he couldn’t give you, the press, the information you wanted, and you had to sneak around to get it. That made you adversaries.”
“Why don’t you tell me something I don’t know,” Callie said. There were times it took Ziggy way too long to get to a point. Normally, it was an endearing quality but not this afternoon.
“The two of you always supported each other. You bent over backwards not to step on each other’s toes. And damn it, Callie, you love my stupid brother, and don’t tell me you don’t.”
“Okay, I won’t. But that’s not the point. Our ship has sailed.” The wind kicked up as she hiked the steps. She’d put in their order for the clam rolls when she’d gotten there, and they should be ready by now.
Along with hot cider.
Life didn’t get any better than that.
Unless she was eating half-naked in bed with Jag.
“I disagree. I just think your sails are all tangled up and just need some straightening out. I wish you would stay a few months and give him a shot. He’s a changed man. He’s lost that chip on his shoulder, and he’s mellowed a lot. He’s certainly not half as cocky as he used to be. I really think losing you fundamentally changed him and on some levels for the best. But he’s a broken man without you.”
“I think he’s a better man since I left.” Callie approached the take-out window. “I have an order for Dixon.”
The girl in the seaside restaurant handed Callie a big bag along with a credit card slip to sign. Callie tucked a five-dollar bill into the tip jar. She found a picnic table and pulled out what smelled like a little piece of salty heaven.
“That’s bullshit. And I know it because I’ve been here for the last year. You haven’t.” Ziggy lifted her roll into the air and took a huge bite before her eyes rolled to the back of her head. “Damn. These are the freaking best.”
“Better than even in Boston,” Callie said.
“I’ll take your word for it.” Ziggy lifted a clam strip that had fallen from her sandwich and plopped it into her mouth. “But in all seriousness. I know he was really glad to see you.”
“Yeah. Did he say that? Because when he first saw me, he couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”
“Because his heart is still raw.”
“Not raw enough. He took Bailey out on a date.”
