Page 29 of Caleb's Salvation
“Sure thing, Cal,” Ty answered with smile.
Caleb left and Ty took his seat.
“Uh, I wonder what’s got his panties in a bunch?” Ty asked in a low voice.
“I wouldn’t know.” It was true. Because I really had no clue what he was thinking.
“Well, anyway, here is to our first date.” Ty held his beer bottle out and I clinked it with mine.
8
Cal
“Cal? Cal?”
I blinked and turned my head away from Ty and Vivienne.
“I asked if you wanted some food,” Jackson said. Obviously repeating himself. I had no appetite, but I didn’t want to make that obvious.
“Yeah. Sure. Whatever the special is.”
“It’s fried cod and chips,” Kate said holding up the printed sheet to me. “Vivienne’s been printing out the specials. Isn’t that cute? Next thing you know Bud’s will have tablecloths.”
Again, I looked over to where she sat. With Ty.
There was no question now about what I was feeling. I could have denied it, but hardly saw the point in lying to myself. I was jealous. Jealous of a kid almost twenty years younger than I was.
I should have booked that trip to Anchorage. Should have found a way to make mindless, nameless, faceless sex happen. At the very least, my guilt might have distracted me.
Except it was too late and I knew it. I would only look for redheads. Redheads with hair that looked like it was a slow burning fire rippling over their shoulders. Redheads with plump little lips and hot little bodies.
Redheads who looked like Vivienne.
With her hair down and her lip gloss, she looked more mature, I thought.
Fuck that, she looked hot as shit.
For Ty.
They were a couple tables away, far enough that I couldn’t make out their conversation. I only caught her laugh, or his, occasionally. They didn’t seem to be laughing too much or too hard. Did that mean they were having a lousy time?
And why the switch from being friends to dating? Had it taken Rodgers this long to simply work up the courage?
Probably.
Did he have any clue about what being in a relationship with a woman who had a child was about? No. He’d probably decided he might have a shot at getting laid.
Over my dead body!
“Everything okay, Cal?” Kate asked me.
I looked at her. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know, you just keep looking over at Ty and Vivienne’s table with a pretty severe scowl on your face. I was just wondering if it bothered you that she was on a date with someone else. After all, she came to Alaska to have a date with you.”
“Not sure if you’re aware of this, Kate, but I didn’t want anything to do with Eli’s stupid contest.”
“You know,” Eli said, leaning back in his chair. “I don’t think you can slam the contest by calling it stupid. After all, we are four for four with women who chose to stay.”
