Page 12 of A Merry Little Christmas
I’d already decided that when I saw Caleb later, I was going to tell him I was taking him out for dinner that night and I wasn’t taking no for an answer!
Tonight, I was going to make my feelings for him crystal clear.
I’d leave Caleb in no doubt that our relationship meant the world to me, and that as far as I was concerned, a future without him in it wasn’t an option...
*****
As it happened, Caleb hadn’t appeared by the time I was ready to pack up at the market and move on to Primrose Wood, the next stop on my regular route.
It was probably just as well. I’d have been too busy serving the constant stream of customers to have had any spare time to chat to him.
He phoned me just as I was getting ready to drive away and I pounced on my mobile. ‘Hi! Where are you? You usually come over and annoy me for a while,’ I joked.
‘Hey, you. Sorry, I’ve got a mouthful of curry.’
I chuckled. ‘You’ve been at Rosie’s stall again.’
‘Banged to rights, officer.’
I chuckled. ‘I don’t blame you. Her food is utterly delicious.’
Rosie worked part-time at the Little Duck Pond Café, but she also ran a stall at the weekly farmers’ market selling her delicious Asian-inspired food.
‘I wish I was there right now and I could steal a taste,’ I confessed, feeling a bit hurt that he hadn’t come by the van when he was at the market. ‘I presume you’re in the site office?’
‘Um... yes. Yes, I am. But I’ve got a boring meeting in about five minutes so it’s probably just as well you’re where you are. So where are you? Getting ready to head off to Primrose Wood?’
‘That’s right. Mind you, people have been so keen here today that I’ve almost sold out of cupcakes and pastries already. So what happened with the meeting yesterday? I gather it was cancelled?’
‘Meeting?’
‘Yes, you had an urgent meeting in Guildford?’
‘Oh, yes.’ There was a minuscule pause. Then he laughed but it sounded a little forced. ‘Sorry, I’d forget my head... just as well I have Amanda to keep me right. Yes, that meeting had been in the diary for weeks.’
‘Right. I must have got the wrong end of the stick somehow.’ Strange, I’d been almost sure it was Caleb parked on Sunnybrook High Street the previous night. But I was obviously wrong.
‘Sorry, I’m going to have to dash just now,’ Caleb was saying. ‘My one-thirty meeting just pulled up in his car and I’m keen tomake a good impression. He’s thinking of investing in my next big project, and I need to get him on side.’
‘In that case, you should take him to the café over the road and buy him the poshest coffee they serve, with all the bells and whistles. Sorry, but that instant coffee in the site office tastes like... well, nothing I’veevertasted!’
‘Noted.’
I thought he sounded a bit down – not like his normal cheery, laid-back self at all.
‘Listen, before you go, I’d like to treat you to dinner. How about tonight?’
‘Tonight? Um . . .’
‘Or Saturday night? You sound stressed, Caleb... like you’re working too hard. A night out might do you good.’
I heard him sigh. ‘Yes. Yes, you’re probably right.’
‘Well, I generally am. I thought you’d know that by now,’ I joked, waiting for him to banter back.
‘Okay. Let’s do it,’ he said. ‘Saturday night.’
‘Great. Can’t wait.’ I’d thought he might suggest we go out on Friday night instead to celebrate my birthday, but maybe he had other plans for me? He couldn’t have forgotten the date, could he? My special day was the same as his nephew Will’s birthday and we’d laughed about that, and he’d confessed he always went way overboard with gifts for Will...
