Kate Hoffmann - Paris or Bust!

She wished a herd of cattle would stampede through the living room and sweep her away. She’d never considered how her friends would react if they read what she’d written. “I was using poetic license,” she said. “I just wanted to go to Paris with the kids. I’m sorry, Bo.”

“From what Jody tells me, you’ve been a good friend,” Callum said diplomatically.

“He stood up for me when some of the townspeople said the school ought to fire me because I was a single mother,” she said.

To her relief, Bo smiled. “I understood what you were doing, Jody.”

“Who’s Penelope?” Freddy asked. “Don’t tell me they’ve got a new waitress at the Downtown Café! I was just getting used to Evelyn. In fact, she’s kind of pretty.”

“She sure is.” Frank looked at Callum. “Her folks moved to town a year or so ago.” Already, Jody gathered, the brothers were turning their attentions elsewhere.

“Why did you really want to meet us?” Bo asked. “I don’t mean any offense, but some people might say you were meddling in Jody’s personal business.”

“Those people would be right,” Callum answered honestly. “I intend to interfere as much as I can because, no matter how things look, I really care about her and I’m hoping she’ll forgive me. As for what else I’m hoping, I think I’ve shot my mouth off enough for one afternoon.”

“You can say that again,” Jody muttered.

“Fair enough,” Bo said. “At least we know where we stand.” The other two men nodded reluctantly.

“It strikes me that it’s time for dessert. Does anybody like apple pie?” Callum said.

As it turned out, everybody did.

He fetched the dessert from a sideboard, doling out five pieces with enough left for the boys. It was delicious, of course. Jody had stocked her freezer with her favorite brand of pies from a sale two weeks earlier.

“Tell me about publishing a magazine,” Bo said. “I’ll get started researching my own article, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure.” Callum stood at the mantel, radiating confidence. “I got the idea of starting Family Voyager six years ago. People said I’d never make any money at it, but I figured the key was to make it entertaining and adventuresome and original.”

He regaled them with stories of how he’d stumbled and brazened his way to success. Callum made them all laugh, even the Fallon brothers, with anecdotes at his own expense. His sparkle eclipsed the modest living room.

Jody felt herself yielding to his charm. She wasn’t sure what, if anything, he’d accomplished by confronting her friends, but he’d succeeded in a different way.

Until today, she had almost convinced herself that liking could grow into love if she gave Bo a chance. After seeing him in Callum’s company, however, she knew it was hopeless. Maybe she couldn’t have the man she wanted, but she could never love anyone else, either.

Now she had to decide what to do about that.

F OR THE SPACEof several minutes as he cleaned the kitchen, Callum allowed himself to wonder how he dared try to take over Jody’s life. It was true, as Freddy had said, that he hadn’t been here when she needed him. It was also true that he couldn’t move back to Texas and she refused to consider California.

Nevertheless, if there was anything his experience with the magazine had taught Callum, it was to keep his eye on the goal and not worry too much about obstacles. They had a way of disappearing when he forged ahead. At the very least, he intended to play an active role in raising his sons and at best he intended to play an even more active role in Jody’s future.

“Bo’s a nice guy.” In her denim skirt and a blouse that made no secret of her curves, Jody radiated appeal. “He’s not as flashy as you but he lives nearby.”

Her words reminded Callum uncomfortably of what Ben had said about needing a daddy who lived in the area. Since he didn’t think Jody was in the mood for a serious discussion at the moment, he answered lightly, “I’ll bet he can’t play the trumpet. You and I used to be pretty good together. Do you still play?”

“Mostly I play piano these days.” She indicated an upright in the living room. “How about you?”

“As a matter of fact, I joined a quartet. We jam at a jazz club once a month,” he said.

Jody regarded him with interest. Callum doubted she had any idea how cute she looked. He nearly forgot what they’d been discussing until she said, “Want to jam with me?”

“Now? Sure!”

She left and returned with a trumpet case. “I give it a whirl every now and then, so it’s in good condition.”

Callum unsnapped the case and hefted the instrument, admiring its silvery sheen. “Didn’t you used to play the clarinet, too?”

“I gave it up,” she said.

“Why? The band needed clarinets.” He recalled the bandleader complaining about the dearth.

Jody shot him a sideways glance. “You idiot.”

“Excuse me?”

“I started in the marching band on clarinet and switched to trumpet so I could be in your section.”

That was news to him. “You did? Why?”

“So you’d notice me.” She bit her lip, apparently embarrassed by the admission.

“Wow, I’m flattered.” Callum had figured it was just great luck when Jody started marching alongside him. “How did you happen to notice me? ”

“How could I help it?” she said. “You were the golden boy of Everett County Regional High. I shouldn’t tell you this since you’ve got a big enough ego already.”

“Golden boy?” Callum refused to take offense at the comment about his ego. “I was simply one of the guys.”

“That was your greatest asset,” she said. “You weren’t stuck on yourself.”

“You just said I have an ego!”

“That isn’t precisely right.” She took a seat on the piano bench. “What you have is a self-assurance that I envy. I’ve always been more of a shrinking violet.”

“Is that anything like a wallflower?” Callum deadpanned. “In any case, you’re neither. You could teach assertiveness classes in your sleep.” He stopped talking while adjusting the trumpet mouthpiece.

“Only when I’m defending someone or something I care about,” Jody said. “Now are we going to jam or not?”

“You’re calling the shots,” he said.

After a couple of false starts, they launched into some old favorites. “Tijuana Taxi” and “The Lonely Bull” segued into “Hello, Dolly” and “Mack the Knife.” They were completely in synch by the time they tackled, and more or less conquered, “The Flight of the Bumblebee.”

When they were finished, Callum set down the trumpet. “My lips are going numb.”

“We can’t have that.” Jody gazed up at him from the piano bench, the angle of her face and neck alluring. He cupped her chin with one hand.

“Care to help them heal?” Without waiting for an answer, he brushed a kiss across her full mouth and couldn’t resist its sweetness. Sinking onto the seat beside her, Callum caught Jody’s shoulders. She leaned toward him.

He kissed her again, lingeringly, his eyes drifting shut as the contact linked them in a hundred ways.

It came as a shock when Jody drew away. “What’s wrong?” Callum asked.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said. “I just got an idea.”

SHE KNEW that if she gave herself time to think, she would change her mind or lose her courage. It was an outrageous idea, worthy of some stunt Callum himself might pull. But she had to take action before the kiss dissolved the last of her willpower.

As they jammed, Jody’s spirits had soared with every note. She could never return to the way things had been before he arrived, she realized. He’d stirred up too many emotions.