AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We’d settled into something of a routine, with the two of us getting together at least two or three evenings a week. Most of the time, I cooked because I enjoyed it — and enjoyed even more Calvin’s appreciation of anything I set in front of him — but we also went out to eat several times a month, sometimes accompanied by my friend Hazel and her boyfriend Chuck Langdon.
In fact, it all felt so refreshingly normal that sometimes I couldn’t quite believe my life had settled down into such an easygoing pace.
At the beginning of October, partly as an early celebration of his birthday, Calvin and I had taken a few precious days off — well, precious to him, since I could close down the store pretty much any time I wanted, whereas the San Ramon tribal police couldn’t spare him for much more than four or five days at the very most — and we’d gone up to see Sedona and the Verde Valley. We rented an Airbnb in Jerome, wandered around and took in all the sights, did way too much wine tasting and eating…and spent a series of lovely mornings where we stayed in bed and amused ourselves until we got hungry enough to go out in search of food.
All in all, the experience had been pretty much perfect. When we returned to Globe, it felt almost strange to settle back into my apartment after spending so much time in Calvin’s company. Any worries I might have had that we’d start to get on each other’s nerves after being in the other person’s presence literally day and night had evaporated after that experience, and got me wondering what would happen if we decided to take the next — some might say logical — step in our relationship.
What if Calvin wanted me to move in with him?
My main worry was for Archie, the cursed cat who’d been my constant companion from almost the moment I moved into my apartment back in March. True, Archie had spent literally decades on Globe’s streets, ever since a witch hexed him into cat form back in the early 1950s after he’d spurned her advances, but it wasn’t as though I could kick him out. I’d promised him that I’d find a way to turn him back into a man — not that I’d had any luck on that front so far — and so I looked on him as my responsibility. However, I still hadn’t told Calvin the truth about Archie, and I somehow doubted he’d be too thrilled if I brought a cat to his house who wasn’t really a cat. It would be like bringing a male roommate with me when I moved in.
But since Calvin so far hadn’t brought up the topic of living together, I had a feeling I was getting ahead of myself.
Probably a good thing,I thought as I went back to the box of calendars I’d been unpacking when Josie appeared.Archie was in enough of a snit when you had Hazel watch him while you were in Jerome. I can only imagine his reaction if you announced you were moving in with Calvin.
Still, I had to wonder what Calvin was waiting for. He’d assured me he didn’t plan on going anywhere, and every time we were together, I was more convinced of the strong connection between us, the utter truth that we were meant to be together, but….
But nothing,I told myself.You’ve only been together for a little over three months. You need to give it time.
This all sounded very rational. However, I knew that underneath those logical arguments was a continuing source of irritation, one I’d kept to myself for a variety of reasons.
Calvin had met my mother and her husband Tom — and they’d all gotten along great — but I had yet to meet any of Calvin’s family, unless you counted someone like his cousin Janelle, who was the hostess at the fine dining restaurant in the Gold Dust Casino outside town. Janelle had been nothing but nice to me, but she also wasn’t Calvin’s mother.
I’d done my best to avoid bringing up the topic of meeting his parents, mostly because I knew that Calvin, while easygoing and mellow most of the time, still had a prickly side when it came to his family. The San Ramon Apache had been hiding the secret of their coyote-shifter nature from the outside world for generations, and so I could understand why they might not be too thrilled that one of their own had broken with tradition and custom, and had started seeing someone who wasn’t part of their world.
Because Calvin didn’t like to talk about it, I honestly didn’t know how much of a hard time he might have been getting from his fellow tribe members…and his parents in particular…about dating me, which was why I’d had to step on my tongue on a number of occasions. We got along so well that the last thing I wanted was to start a fight over something so minor.
Or at least, it felt minor to me. The San Ramon Apache probably had an entirely different opinion on the situation, however.
Anyway, it wasn’t as though he’d done anything to hide our relationship. We regularly went out to eat at local restaurants, and he’d spent the night at my apartment many times, leaving his official-issue Dodge Durango parked out back behind the building that housed my apartment and the store. Everyone in town knew what was going on between us.
However, letting Globe know we were an item wasn’t the same thing as being invited to have dinner at his parents’ house. And although I told myself over and over again that we were both grown-ups and didn’t need permission from Calvin’s parents — or anyone else — to carry on with our relationship, I also couldn’t ignore the cold, hard fact that the omission seemed to speak volumes about his family’s opinion about our relationship.
Well, whatever would happen, would happen. I could let the universe know about my intentions and feelings, but I couldn’t make Calvin’s parents like me. In a way, it would have been better if they’d actually met me and decided based on the experience that I just wasn’t their cuppa. At least then it would be a personal judgment and not a blanket condemnation simply because I wasn’t a member of the San Ramon tribe.
Since I was alone in the shop, I allowed myself a sigh.
And that was all I would do. Calvin was coming over, and I wouldn’t allow my bad mood to cast a pall on the evening. It wasn’t that I needed everything to be perfect — we’d been dating too long for me to worry about making a good first impression — but at the same time, I knew he worked hard and didn’t need me guilting him about something he had absolutely no control over.
All the same, I was glad it was closing time. On quiet days like this, I had way too much time to think…and past experience had shown me that sort of thing could be very dangerous.
* * *
As usual, Archie decamped as soon as Calvin knocked on the door to my apartment. It wasn’t jealousy that prompted his departure, however. I knew better than to flatter myself like that.
No, it was more that Archie knew chances were good Calvin and I would end up in the bedroom after our meal, and he didn’t want to be anywhere around when that happened. Most times, my cursed cat didn’t reappear until a good hour or so after Calvin departed the scene. And on the nights when my beau remained all evening and didn’t leave until after I’d fed him breakfast and sent him off to work, Archie remained scarce the entire time.
Since I’d already expressed my worries about him staying out all night — worries that Archie had brushed off immediately — I’d long since decided to let the whole thing go. Archie was a grown man…cat…whatever…and had proved he could take care of himself. What he planned to do once winter set in and it wasn’t really feasible to go roaming around Globe’s empty streets in sub-freezing temperatures, I didn’t know.
Maybe I could set up an extra spot for him down in the storeroom. That way, he’d still be safely inside, with a bed and food and water, but he’d also be far enough away from the apartment that there would be absolutely no chance of him overhearing something which might scar him for life.
The more I thought about it, the better the plan sounded.
That was probably why I was smiling as I opened the door for Calvin. He bent down and kissed me before he came inside the apartment, his expression almost amused.
“Good day at the shop?” he asked.
“Not particularly,” I replied, still cheerful. “But that’s pretty much par for the course for a Tuesday.” Since I didn’t want to go into the whole Archie thing, I said instead, “No, I’m just happy that our costumes turned out so well. They were delivered this morning, so you can take yours home with you.”
