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“Yes. No. Sort of,” she fumbled. “He came over and cooked dinner for me.”
“Jax cooked dinner for you? That’s it. Case closed. He’s smitten with you,” Olivia declared.
Callie twirled her hair around her finger while cradling the phone against her ear. “I have a confession to make.”
“Uh oh. What?” Olivia asked. Callie could hear the nervousness in her friend’s voice.
“I think I might be…you know. Falling for him,” Callie said in a hesitant tone. Even admitting it to Olivia felt like a misstep. Should she just sit on these feelings for a while and wait until they passed?
“Oh Callie.” Olivia’s voice was filled with tenderness. “That’s so great. I’m happy for you.”
“Wait a minute. It’s not as if we’re walking down the aisle or anything,” Callie protested. “But these feelings kind of crept up on me.”
“I think it’s wonderful.”
“We’ll see,” Callie said cryptically. She didn’t want to get her hopes up about anything. And she certainly didn’t want Olivia to start planning a bridal shower.
After hanging up with her best friend, Callie started thinking about her new ownership of Savannah House. It was surreal! She wished that she could have shared the stunning news with Jax. It was the first thing she’d thought when Mr. Mayhew had announced the spectacular news at the reading of the will. Her heart was growing and changing by leaps and bounds. Her life was opening up in ways she never could have imagined. And even though it was a little nerve-racking, she couldn’t remember a time when she had felt so hopeful about the future.
“Falling in love is a tricky thing. It’s all fine and dandy until things fall apart. No one ever tells you how to fall out of love with someone.”
Fancy Tolliver
Chapter Eight
The next morning flowers arrived at the cottage for Callie. They weren’t ordinary flowers either, Callie thought as she accepted them from the delivery person from the florist’s shop. Beautiful, exotic purple orchids. She brought them inside the guesthouse and placed them on the living room coffee table. She reached for the card, feeling a little pang as she read the words Jax had composed.
Callie. Woke up thinking of you and the wonderful evening we shared. Hoping there’s more to come real soon. Jax
Callie couldn’t stop smiling as she pulled out a vase and filled it with water. It had been a long time since a man had made her feel special. And Jax was making her feel as if she was the only woman in the world. Beautiful. Interesting. Worthy of being adored. There it was in a nutshell. The thing she didn’t want to face. Her fears were wrapped up in the notion that she was damaged goods. It had been something she had been running from ever since she was a child.
Abuse and neglect made children feel unsafe and unworthy and unloved. Callie shut her eyes tightly. She had been stuffing down those feelings ever since she could remember. Although Mac being back in her life had been the biggest gift God could bestow on her, it had rattled up all these feelings inside her that she could no longer stuff down.
Callie made a light breakfast of green tea, oatmeal and scrambled eggs. She was still in her pajamas as she sat at her kitchen table and ate while watching the morning news. A quick glance at her watch confirmed that she only had an hour until the meeting with Mr. Mayhew at his office in downtown Savannah. The meeting was to be attended by all five women in order to discuss further details of their inheritance. Callie finished up her meal, then placed her dishes in the sink and headed upstairs for a quick shower. Within the hour she was walking into the law offices of Attorney Mayhew, just in the nick of time. Pearl, Olivia, Morgan and Charlotte had beaten her there. Hope had sent her apologies due to a problem with the baby. Callie hoped baby Ella wasn’t sick. That would be alarming for a new mother.
Attorney Mayhew sat at the head of the table in the large conference room. “I asked you ladies here today because there are many things to mull over. Although you have all been apprised of your inheritance, many questions remain. I made a phone call yesterday afternoon to Miss Francine Tolliver. Fancy is what everyone here calls her from what I understand.” He sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I told her about the inheritance and informed her of the certified letter that is on its way to New York City which lays out the specifics.”
“W-What was her response?” Callie asked, her pulse quickening at the thought of Fancy telling the attorney that she wanted nothing to do with any of it.
He cleared his throat. “She says that she’s accepting the inheritance and that she may want the rest of you to buy her out.”
“Buy her out?” Morgan asked, her voice incre
dulous.
“That is not in the spirit of what Hattie wanted,” Pearl said in a fretful tone. She frowned at Mr. Mayhew. “It was important that these girls work together to run Savannah House.”
“And depending on the value of Savannah House, it could be very expensive,” Mr. Mayhew added. “As long as a majority of you run the place, you could buy out her portion.”
“Considering the way she’s been acting toward us,” Charlotte muttered, “it might be for the best.”
Mr. Mayhew placed his file down on his desk. “Why don’t I let you ladies talk amongst yourselves for a little bit? It might help y’all decide which direction you may want to go in. I’m already fielding some calls about whether or not Savannah House is going on the market.” He stood up and quickly left the room.
“So, which direction are you guys leaning toward?” Morgan asked. “I for one think we should keep it and fix her up.”
“That’s what I think,” Callie said. “It’s scary, but exciting at the same time. And I’m out of a job at the moment. This place could be really profitable for us if we play our cards right.”
Charlotte bit her lip. “This is a lot of responsibility. And it would take a huge amount of work and resources to get Savannah House up and running again.”
