Page 37 of The Best Little Christmas Shop
‘That is true.’
‘And I still think they were idiots.’
I chuckled and took a pull on my straw. Cal smiled and took a sip of his drink. Replacing it on the table, his long fingers then stretched out to snag a spare cardboard coaster. Turning it around on its edge, he let it slide between his fingers before turning it onto the next edge and repeating the motion.
‘I meant what I said. I really do appreciate you coming today. It was very kind of you.’
I nodded, confused at the expression in his eyes. If I didn’t know better, I’d have said it was surprise. Also, if I had known better, I’d have kept quiet at this point.
‘You seem surprised.’ Clearly, I really didn’t know better.
Cal kept his focus on the beer mat. ‘Not entirely. I …’ He flicked a glance up and then went back to the beer mat. ‘Like I said at the shop the first time I met you,it’s just different here. It’s taken some getting used to.’
‘People in the village just want to help. We don’t mean to be nosy or butt in. And most people will back off if you refuse nicely.’
I’d had my own experience of this when I’d returned home for a few weeks after my last relationship had ended badly, painfully, and very publicly. It wasn’t always easy and, of course, although they werebeing nosy, for the most part, people did actually care. In today’s world, that wasn’t always an easy concept for people to grasp. Especially outsiders, so I could see how Cal might struggle with this aspect of village life.
‘It’s nice that people want to help, and although I really made the move down here for George, I think it’s been good for both of us.’
‘All that fresh air!’
He laughed.‘Something like that. So, you were born in the village, Xander said, right?’
I met his gaze and held it for a moment. He’d deftly moved the subject away from himself and he knew I’d caught it. I smiled and let it go. It was up to Cal what he did and didn’t share with me. And like I’d said, it wasn’t a date. We weren’t there to discover how much we did or didn’t have in common. It didn’t evenmatter. So, why did the knowledge that he’d just shut me out bother me?
I pushed away the feeling and kept the smile. ‘Born and bred, as they say.’
‘A lot of people seem to have stayed, from what I see, even if they work in London. It’s nice that it’s kept that community feeling. Very few of the places I looked at had that feel.’
‘So what made you choose our little village?’
Cal spread hishands on the table. Large and strong, the right one had a scar running across the back of it, silvery and faded as though it had been there a long time. ‘It just felt right,’ he replied eventually. Looking up from his hands, Cal pulled his mouth to the side – an action I’d seen George doing when he was thinking. When George did it, it was so cute it made me want to squeeze him. When Cal did it, Iwanted to do a whole lot more than squeeze him. I rubbed a hand over my face and cleared my throat unnecessarily.
‘You think that’s daft?’ he asked.
‘No. No, I don’t,’ I replied, meeting his eyes in reassurance. ‘I think sometimes the universe has a way of telling us what we need to do.’
The corner of that delicious mouth quirked. ‘The universe told me to do it? Is that what you’re saying?’
‘Maybe. Or whoever, or whatever you believe in.’
‘OK.’ Cal was nodding.
‘If I even begin to think that you’re mocking me, I’m leaving you here. You know that, don’t you?’
He laughed. ‘I’m fully recovered now. I can drive myself.’
I dangled the keys to the side of me, making sure they were just out of reach. ‘Not without these.’
Cal rubbed a hand across the darkening stubble on his jaw. ‘Sothe rumours about you being smart as well as pretty weren’t unfounded then?’ He laughed.
‘I think that depends on the lighting but yeah, we can go with that.’
Cal shook his head and I was prevented from having to deal with any comeback by the arrival of the waitress.
‘Two lasagnes?’ the waitress asked us.
‘Yep, that’s us. Thanks.’
