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I texted Jessie to confirm the time they were all going to be there. She replied and mentioned how excited Elsie was to see Callie there. I hadn’t even mentioned it to her, but I didn’t have any reason not to. If she went, that wouldn’t be the distraction I was hoping for, but it wasn’t like it’d be just us all day.
“Aw, you didn’t have to wait,” Callie said as she stepped into the kitchen.
“I didn’t mind.” Now that she was there, I plated my breakfast and tore into it like I was starving. “I’m going to the farmer’s market this morning. I usually stop by to check out Mom’s booth, show of support and all that. And stock up on veggies for the week.”
As I shoved food in, I realized I’d announced that I was going without asking her along. “Want to come along?”
“I do. Sounds like fun,” she said as she ate damn near as fast as me.
“Hungry?” I asked, forgetting myself for a minute.
She glanced at me, her grin wicked before it disappeared. “Guess so,” she said. And I swore she’d almost said what I’d been thinking, about working up an appetite the night before.
We didn’t talk much through the rest of breakfast, then we showered, changed, and headed back to town. The silence wasn’t exactly awkward, but it was strange. Callie seemed to be keeping to herself intentionally. Usually, I couldn’t stop her from talking. Or flirting.
After we’d had sex, I’d honestly expected more flirting, not less. I guess it was possible she had more regrets than I did.
That was disappointing, but not entirely unexpected.
It was a relief to reach the huge parking lot that served as the Elm Grove Farmer’s Market and to spot my family in the still sparse crowd. Elsie greeted me with a hug and then grabbed Callie in a similar way.
Callie clasped hands with my mom and Jessie. I snagged a bear claw from the basket full and winked at my mom. “Put it on my tab?”
“You can’t afford the tab you already have,” she said with a laugh. Then she motioned to her table full of scrumptious wares. “Callie, have anything you like, on the house.”
Callie shook her head and selected a blueberry muffin. “You can put it on his tab,” she said, pointing at me.
In no time, Callie and Elsie were talking about Elsie’s upcoming dance audition. Mom and Jessie were talking to me about it, too. Elsie wanted to go look at the other booths to get some homemade apricot preserves and some new potatoes and chives for her mom to make for dinner.
“Can Callie come with me?” she asked, already pulling Callie’s hand.
“Not without—”
“Blake,” Callie interrupted, gesturing around her at the booths, all of which were in plain sight of me where I stood in front of Mom’s booth. “Surely I’m safe here. There’s nowhere I can go that you can’t see me and reach me in less than a dozen steps.”
She had a point. It wasn’t like the farmer's market was vast. It was more of a large ring of tables with a mostly open space in the center. And I figured she’d be careful to stay in my sight the entire time. I thought of the social media threats but also the unlikelihood that the people making them had any idea she was in Elm Grove.
“Okay,” I begrudgingly agreed. “Just stay in sight.”
“Aye, aye,” Callie said with a salute before letting Elsie pull her away.
As soon as they were far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to hear us, Jessie moved next to me and nudged me with her elbow. “So, Bro. Spill it.”
“What?”
“Don’t play dumb with me.”
“Jessie,” Mom said. “Don’t pry. Because that’s a mother’s job. Spill, Blake.”
I gasped and eyed both of them. “Ganging up on me, are you?”
“What’s going on between you two?” Jessie asked.
I crossed my arms and watched Callie and Elsie as they stood in front of a table laden with potatoes. “Ellis hired me to protect her. You know that.”
“Bullshit,” she whispered, drawing another gasp from me. “I see the way you look at her.”
“I look at her like someone who’s trying to keep her safe.”
