Her Christmas Prince (Love in the Keys) (7 page)

“
And?”

“
And
at first I thought this guy was trying to pick me up and I was a
little annoyed. But he was so charming. And Tom said he was a good
guy, they served together in Afghanistan. So we were talking. And
then ...”

“
Then
what? Oh my goodness, it's so exciting! Don't stop!” Callie
smiled at her friend.

“
My
mother walked in with my dad in tow.” Erin gasped. “Yup.
She's like a hound, she always knows how to find me. So, she
started giving me a hard time about not calling her back and Henry
and ...”

“
So
you told her?”

“
Well,
she was told. But not by me. Henry, the guy, Tom's friend, he kind
of told her.”

“
He
told her you broke up with Brian? Wow, you
must
have really had a heart-
to-
heart
conversation.”

“
No,
he actually told her that he was in love with me and that I'd thrown
Brian over for him.”

“
What?!
What did you just say? That is crazy. Totally crazy. What did
your mom say? I wish I'd been there to see Milly's face!”

“
Funny
enough, at first, she didn't say a thing. He totally knocked the
wind out of her sails. Can't remember the last time I saw
my
mother speechless. It was kind of funny. And my dad sure thought
so.”

“
So
then what? I can't believe you didn't call me last night! This is
huge. Major.” Erin gave her a disapproving look.

“
I
thought about it, but I didn't want to wake you up. And why have two
of us with insomnia?”

“
Hmmmm.
Next time, call. I could have dealt with less sleep. Go on.”

“
So,
she starts giving out about
how I must have done something to run him off and that she will be
one short for Christmas now. But then Henry said he'd like to come
for Christmas.”

“
Jeepers!
Where did that come from?”

“
I
dunno. He said he just couldn't resist coming to my defence. He
was my knight in shining armour. And I think my mother was going to
say no. But then daddy said yes.”

“
Your
dad spoke? Seriously. And said he could come to Christmas?”
Erin shook her head in disbelief.

“
Yup,
he said if he was OK in Tom's book, he was OK with him and he looked
forward to getting to know him better. I don't think my dad has
said that much in the last month. I think he was really taking
advantage of my mother being gobsmacked.”

“
Wow.
I don't know what to say. I am still processing ...”

“
So
am I, to be honest.
I never
saw yesterday coming, that's for sure.”

“
And
what about dinner?”

“
Well,
I figured we'd better get out of the Clam while the getting was still
good and my mother was still in shocked mode so we beat a retreat,
and ended up going for dinner at the Grill House to talk.”

“
And?”

“
And,
it was nice. It was nice to finally let everything out, and to get a
guy's perspective. He basically said Brian was a jerk. Which I know
you've been saying, too, but you have to, you're my best friend!
Tom even said he never liked him, which was kind of interesting. He
never said anything before.”

Callie
had thought a lot about what Henry had had to say over dinner, and
the more she did, the more she agreed with him. And liked him. He
was honourable. And in her corner, after knowing her for only an
hour.

Erin
let out a sigh. “Well, you could just about knock me over with
a feather. I thought you'd come back today with a fresh
perspective, not a new boyfriend!”

“
Very
funny. He's not really my boyfriend, he's just helping me out.”

“
But
how are you going to explain the second breakup
in two weeks when he's not at your house for Christmas?”

“
He
is coming for Christmas. He said he didn't have firm plans to go
home yet so he didn't mind staying.”

“
Where's
home?”

“
Not
sure, Europe, I think. He's got this accent which is hard to make
out.” An accent which was delightful. What was it about guys
with accents? They could make anything sound good, even the menu.
Henry certainly had last night.

“
Europe?
I thought you said he served with Tom?” Erin looked confused.

“
He
did. But it wasn't just Americans in Afghanistan, he served with
soldiers from several countries.”

“
Is
he still in the military?”

“
Nope,
family business, he said. Public relations and events. Sounds kind
of interesting. And he seems very connected to his family, which is
nice. He was talking about his new baby nephew and it was really
sweet.”

It
was obvious by his comments about his little nephew that he was happy
to be an uncle and enjoyed children, something Brian clearly hadn't.
On the one occasion she'd managed to drag him with her to church, he
was quite hostile to the kids that she sometimes taught Sunday school
to. She had put it down to not being used to kids, but now she
wondered. Not that it mattered.

“
Seems
like a trained chef could easily fit into that kind of business.”
Callie looked at Erin and rolled her eyes. “Well, I'm just
saying. It's very .... simpatico.”

“
Erin,
this is not a real romance. It's just a nice guy, a gentleman,
helping a friend of a friend out of a jam. That's it.”

“
Sure
it is. So when do I get to meet this guy?”

“
Probably
later, he said he was going to stop by for a snack. He seems to have
a sweet tooth.”

“
He
barely knows you and he's already mooching dessert,
”
Erin asked in a disapproving tone.

“
Hey,
I offered! He bought dinner, it is the least I can do.”
Despite Callie's repeated offering to cover the cost of the meal,
Henry was insisted it was his treat and he was happy to have her.

“
Well,
I guess we'd better get cracking, then.” Erin got up, cleared
the remnants of their morning snack from the table and headed for the
kitchen.

“
What
do you mean?”

“
We'd
best get to the baking ... you're going to want to leave early with
Romeo when he gets here, so let's get as much done as we can.”
Callie followed her into the kitchen and swatted her with a tea
towel.

“
You
are such a brat! He's just coming by for a snack. We don't have
any plans. Just behave yourself, and for heaven's sake, don't
embarrass me. My mother does that just fine.”

The
two friends laughed and started to work on the chores that needed to
be done to prep for tomorrow. In many ways, having a cafe was a bit
like the movie
Groundhog
Day
. There were small
variations ... chocolate chip muffins, or pumpkin? And what would
the special coffee blend of the day be? But the routine of the
preparation was the same, and very much a rhythm that was almost
automatic to both of them now.

Erin
reached over and turned on the local radio station, which was playing
all Christmas Carols all the time. An upbeat version of a classic
re-done by Lady Antebellum came on, and they began humming, then
singing, and eventually full out dancing as they worked making batter
and filling pans. And having a ball doing it.

This
was the scene Henry walked in on.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

The
Christmas bells hanging over the door of the Beach Buzz sounded. But
the commotion in the kitchen drowned them out. Through the pass
through window, Henry could see Callie and another woman. They were
singing, laughing and dancing around the island in the kitchen, all
the while preparing things to go in the oven. It was multitasking at
its finest, and perhaps the first case Henry had actually seen of
people dancing like no one else was watching. They were clearly
having fun, and enjoying the Christmas carol blaring from the radio.
Yes, the festive spirit was definitely alive and
well
at this cafe.

Henry
smiled as he watched them, thinking how long it had been since he'd
been out dancing. He quite liked dancing. Not formal waltz type
dancing, which was all right, but cut loose, cut up the rug dancing.
It may have been since homeward bound party the night before they
shipped home from Afghanistan. Two years ago. Too long. He would
try to do something to remedy that before going home.

Just
as he was about to make his presence known, Callie caught sight of
him. At first she looked embarrassed, and her colour began to rise,
and then she just grinned, as if thinking better of it and carrying
on ‘til the end of the song. When it was over, she motioned
to Erin that they had a guest. Erin didn't seem to mind the
intrusion, she just waved.

Callie
came out of the kitchen and met Henry at the counter.

“
Beach
Buzz dance party? Did I miss my invitation?” Callie laughed
at the joke.

“
Sometimes,
you just have to dance. It was one of those days for us.”

“
So
I see. Good for you. The world would be a far better place if more
people danced like that every day.” Henry sounded quite
philosophical. And he wasn't wrong.

“
Have
you come to claim your dessert and coffee?” She began to pour
him a mug of Christmas blend, their special of the day. “How
do you take it?”

“
Black
is fine. And what are my options on the sweet side?”

“
Shortbread
cookies, date squares, or pumpkin spice muffins ... that's all that's
left at this point, and we're just getting tomorrow's stuff partially
ready.” Henry looked at the display case intently and didn't
speak.

“
Nothing
appealing?”

Henry
looked shocked at such a suggestion. “Quite the opposite ... I
was wondering if it would be rude to have more than one thing ...”

“
Why
don't you try one of each, and whatever you can't finish, I'll give
you a doggie bag for.” Henry nodded agreement to her plan and
watched her serve out one of each very delectable looking treat
on a brightly coloured plate. She gestured him over to the table
closest to the counter.

“
Do
you have time to sit with me and chat?” Henry looked hopeful.

“
Sure,
til a customer comes in. Erin is a bit tied up but she'll be out
shortly and she's dying to meet you.” Henry raised his eyebrow
quizzically, but couldn't speak, because his mouth was full of
pumpkin spice muffin.

“
Mmmmmm.
So good. So very good.” He took a sip of coffee and
delicately wiped his mouth on a napkin. “She is, is she? So
you spilled all the details?” Callie had mentioned Erin was
her best friend so it was natural she'd tell her everything about the
events of yesterday.

“
I
sort of had to ... apparently it is out there on the coconut
telegraph that I was out for dinner with a handsome stranger last
night.”

“
The
coconut telegraph?”

“
It's
the island version of the gossip grapevine.” Ah. Henry
nodded in understanding.

“
So
we were spotted, were we?”

“
Apparently
so. Which isn't a bad thing. I guess it lends credence to the fact
that we are supposedly dating.”

“
True
enough.” Henry had turned his attention to the shortbread
cookie and was demolishing it with lightning speed.

“
Haven't
you eaten today?”

“
I
have, actually. I know, I'm inhaling your desserts but they're
really quite good. A guy could get used to this, you know.”
He winked at her and carried on with munching.

Erin
came out of the kitchen, wiping her floury hands on her apron. She
looked at Callie and Henry sitting at the table and asked “Mind
if I join you?”

Without
prompting, Henry got up and brought another chair over to the table,
and waited ‘til Erin sat down with her cup of coffee before
gently easing her chair closer to the table.