Софи Келли - Final Catcall

Andrew’s face flushed.

“You saw Kathleen when she was back in Boston this summer,” Roma said.

He exhaled slowly before he answered. “Yes.”

“When?” I asked.

He ducked his head. “You were playing football in the park with Ethan and Sara. Your mother and father were there, too.”

And my best friend in Boston, Lise.

I remembered that day. Lise had taken a photo of the five of us and surprised me with it, in a small frame, the day I’d flown back to Mayville Heights. I kept it on my desk at the library. It was one of my favorite photographs of my crazy family.

“Why didn’t you come say hello?” I asked, adding more sugar to my coffee.

He made a face. “Oh yeah, that would have been a good idea. Walk over and say, how the heck have you been, after a year and a half, with your whole family standing there.”

I nodded and smiled, picturing in my mind what might have happened if he’d just walked up to us in the park that day. “He’s right about that.”

Heaven knows what the twins would have done, not to mention my mother. She’d always thought Andrew was good for me, but when it came to taking sides she was one hundred percent on mine.

He leaned back in the chair so he was facing all three of us. “Short version of a long story—when I saw Kathleen in the park it showed me just how much I’d screwed up, and just how much I’d lost. So I moved my schedule around and decided I’d come here in person and try to win her back.”

“What if she doesn’t want you back?” Maggie asked. She looked around for Claire and when she caught the waitress’s eye pointed at the little stainless-steel water pot.

“I have two weeks before I have to deal with that,” Andrew said. “I plan to spend those two weeks trying to show Kathleen that I’ve changed.”

Maggie looked at me.

“I already told Andrew to go back to Boston.”

He folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere. Not yet.”

Claire appeared at the table with a carafe of hot water for Maggie’s tea. As she stirred the tea, Maggie began asking Andrew about his life in Boston. Roma took the opportunity to lean over to me. “He’s determined,” she said softly.

“That he is,” I whispered. “I’m not sure what to do.”

She gave a small shrug. “Why do you have to do anything?”

I thought about it for a moment. Maybe I didn’t. I hadn’t led Andrew on or given him any reason to think he could win me back like I was a big plush dog at the county fair. I couldn’t stop him from trying, though. Marcus had told me once that I liked to control things. Maybe this time I needed to take my hands off the steering wheel and see what happened.

Thinking about Marcus, I automatically looked out the window, hoping I’d see him headed up the sidewalk for a cup of take-out coffee and one of Eric’s famous cinnamon rolls. All I saw was Burtis Chapman driving by in his truck.

Seeing Burtis made me think about Lita. I’d seen Everett’s secretary and Burtis in the library parking lot a few days ago, and I now had a suspicion that the two of them might be a couple. I wasn’t sure if they’d seen me because I’d done a swan dive onto the front seat of my truck when I caught sight of them standing close together in what looked like a very private moment. I felt a little embarrassed about that. Burtis and Lita were adults, and there was no reason for them not to see each other. If they were a couple, though, how had they managed to keep it from the entire town? Again, none of my business. I had library business with Lita. That was all.

Roma was studying my face. “Have you talked to Marcus yet?” she asked. There was concern in her dark brown eyes.

“Maggie told you what happened.” I shifted again in my chair and rubbed my shoulder.

“Last night.” She paused as though she was weighing her words before she committed to them. “Kathleen, Marcus is an intense man and being a police officer isn’t just what he does; it’s part of who he is. But he does care about you. I’m certain about that. You’ll work it out.”

I thought about the rocking chair that Marcus had to have spent hours fixing for me. I thought about the one and only time we’d kissed. “I hope so,” I said.

I reached for my mug, drank the last of my coffee and glanced at my watch. It was time to head to the library.

Roma had seen me check the time. “I have to get going as well,” she said. Across the table Maggie and Andrew were still deep in conversation.

“Thank you for coming,” I said, turning sideways in my chair so I was facing her. The meeting wasn’t just by chance. I’d called Roma and Maggie and asked them to meet us at the café.

“You’re welcome. You’d do the same for me.” She smiled and put her napkin on the table. “Andrew isn’t what I expected.”

“What did you expect?”

“I don’t know, exactly. Someone a little . . . cockier, maybe.” She folded her napkin and set it next to her plate. “He seems genuinely sorry.”

I turned to look at Andrew for a moment. As if he could somehow feel my eyes on him, his gaze flicked in my direction and he smiled at me before giving Maggie all his attention again.

“Yes, he does,” I said. I pushed back from the table and got to my feet.

Andrew stood up as well and gave Roma and Maggie his killer smile. “It was good to meet you both,” he said. “Breakfast is on me.”

That got him three “no’s” in response.

He looked at me. “Yes. I invited you.”

Roma nodded. “You invited Kathleen. Not Maggie and me.”

“Kathleen invited you,” he said with a slight shrug. He looked at me. “I’ll be right back and I’ll walk you to the library.” He was on his way to the cash register before I had a chance to object to that, too.

Maggie came around the table and hugged me, careful not to squeeze my left arm. “How are you?” she asked, concern making tiny lines around her eyes.

“I’m okay.”

“I don’t just mean your arm.”

“I know,” I said.

She pointed at Andrew, who was at the counter talking to Eric. “He’s nice. I tried to dislike him, but I couldn’t.”

“It’s all right. He is nice.” I reached for my sweater. “And he’s wasting his time. Things were over between us a long time ago.” I slid my right arm into the sleeve and Roma draped the other side over my sling.

“Don’t overdo it, Kathleen,” she warned.

“I won’t,” I promised. “If I need extra help Abigail already offered to come in for a few hours.”

She still looked skeptical.

I held up three fingers. “Librarian’s honor.”

Roma laughed then. “Oh well, that puts my mind at ease.” She turned to Maggie. “Would you like a ride over to River Arts?”

Maggie shook her head, making her blond curls jiggle. “Thanks, but I’ll walk. I need to stop at the co-op store. You’re coming to the tasting this afternoon?”

Roma nodded. “Absolutely. I have to go out to the Kings’ after lunch to check on Taylor’s horse and the rest of my afternoon is clear, assuming there are no emergencies.”

They both looked at me. Roma had had to use her medical skills on me more than once. “I’m not going to do anything risky,” I said solemnly. Then I held up the three fingers again.

“I better get going,” Roma said. She squeezed my good arm. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Maggie wrapped her in a hug. “Call me if anything changes,” she said.

Roma nodded and threaded her way through the tables to go say good-bye to Andrew.

“Have you spoken to Marcus?” Maggie asked.

I shook my head.

“It’ll work out.”

“I don’t know, Mags,” I said. “Marcus and I have some pretty big differences. Maybe there isn’t any way to work them out.”