Page 26 of Maybe This Christmas
She laughed.“Oh, no.He’s not coming back.We’re done.I wish he would’ve told me that before he abandoned me on the other side of the state, but it’s fine.”
“He won’t return to get you when your reservation ends?”
She paused to take a bite of her steak.While she chewed, he wiped his sweaty palms on his napkin.
“No.He may send a car for me or something if he’s feeling generous.He essentially informed me that I must vacate his DC condo by the end of next month.There is no coming back from that.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
She shrugged.“I don’t know, maybe open a stationery store in Falling Leaves?Move back to DC and get another government affairs job?It’s terrifying but also kind of not.I can do whatever I want.”
Caleb mulled over her words while he cut into his salmon.“Do you have any family in DC?”
Her gaze lowered.“Oh, I’m going to lower the mood with the answer to that question.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up a bad memory or anything.”
“You didn’t.My grandmother raised me until she died when I was thirteen.Mom died long before that—an overdose, if you were curious.Dad, I never knew.When Grandma died, I was put into foster care.”
As a reflex, his hand shot out to grab hers.“Oh wow, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not a totally terrible story.I did have a couple of iffy placements, but I stayed with Olga and Ben Henderson from the time I was fifteen until I aged out of the system.They were wonderful people.I met my foster sister Aniyah there.We’ve been best friends since.”
Feeling weird for holding her hand for so long, Caleb attempted to release her.Her fingers slipped out and snagged his wrist, holding him in place.“Thank you for your concern.This time of year is hard for me since Ma and Pa Henderson passed.I always wanted one of those big, crazy families, you know?”
He chuckled.“I have one of those.As you can tell, they’re kind of overrated.”
She moved her hands away.Caleb missed her closeness immediately.
“Do you have other siblings?”Emma asked.
They fell into an easy conversation where Caleb told her about Sebastian, his kids, and how Brandon and Sabrina reconnected.Although this wasn’t a date, he felt it was probably time to tell her of his own past.
“I already told you about my ex and daughters.”
Dating since the divorce had been tricky.Women were usually split on whether they were interested in dating a man with kids.Some were thrilled at the idea.Others were skeptical, wondering if he was looking for a nanny instead of a girlfriend.
“You did.And now it seems that we’re both kind of lonely this Christmas, right?”
It wasn’t hard to determine that her thoughts were like his own.This didn’t feel like a random dinner to him.But he would let her lead.After all, his divorce had been final for over a year now.Emma’s breakup was less than twelve hours old.
“Yeah.We’re just two people who’ve found ourselves solo at Christmas.”
They shared a smile.“So, tell me more about your kids.”
The awkwardness vanished as Caleb launched into his favorite subject, Emerson and Poppy.
An hour and a half later, Caleb pushed his half-eaten dessert away from him.
“I’m so full I don’t think I can move.If we knew each other better, I’d be popping the top button off my jeans open.”He grimaced.“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make it weird.I’m a little tipsy.”
Despite the rather filthy image that flashed across her mind, Emma laughed.“I should’ve packed some sweatpants for this trip.I’ll probably gain ten pounds before I go back to DC.”
“Well, we can arrange for you to go into Roanoke to get some if you need it.That’s the sort of thing that falls under the umbrella of my job.I think.Anything to keep the guests having a magical mountain experience!”He put on his best fake smile.
“So, I take it you won’t be keeping this job after the holidays?”
“No.Winter is always slow for construction, but we have some jobs lined up in town.There’s a new bar opening around Valentine’s day that we need to do some finishing work on.Then I’m debating applying for a part-time teaching position if one becomes available in the spring.”
