Her Christmas Prince (Love in the Keys) (8 page)

“
Such
a gentleman. Nice. I'm Erin. And I'm guessing you're Henry?”
He bowed grandly before her before resuming his spot at the other
side of the table, beside Callie.

“
The
pleasure is all mine. Yes, I'm Henry. So nice to meet you.
Callie's told me what a wonderful friend you are. We're counting on
you to keep our little secret.” He gave her his devastating
little smile and she smiled right back.

“
Sugar,
of course I will. I know full well what Milly is like and Callie
needs all the help she can get with that Mama Drama, especially over
Christmas. Anything I can do, you just need to ask.” Erin
took a sip of her coffee.

Callie
felt a swift kick under the table. She looked up at Erin, who was
smiling sweetly at her. She gave her a look as if
to say “what did you do that for?” And she got one back
that she could not interpret.

“
So,
Henry. Tell me more about you. Where you from? And do I understand
you're a friend of Tom's?”

Henry
picked up his coffee cup and took a leisurely sip. He'd managed to
sidestep the where are you from question and had deliberately not
mentioned any of his family members' names to keep it vague. But
this was the second time he was being asked and he'd better answer.

“
Europe.
And yes, Tom is like a brother. We got through some tough times
together in Kabul. He's a top guy in my book, no one quite like
him.” He finished and polished off the rest of the shortbread
cookie. “Funny thing, this cookie brings back memories.
Callie, before I'd met you, I think I loved you. You used to send
Tom those amazing care packages and he was nice enough to share the
baked goods. And if I'm not mistaken, you sent this shortbread. We
all loved it.”

Callie
was surprised that Henry remembered it so vividly. She had been
worried about her friend while he was in active duty and away in a
foreign place and had sent him regular letters and occasional
packages from home so he'd remember that he was thought of and that
people appreciated him and his service. She should have known Tom
would share his treats from home with others. H
e
had a giving and selfless nature.

“
Wow.
That's so touching. Thank you. Yes, I did send Tom treats from
home from time to time. I hope it helped break up the monotony of
your rations.”

“
That
it did.”

“
It
was good of Tom to share with you guys.”

“
He
didn't have much choice. There was a severe shortage of baked goods
in Afghanistan. Truth be told, he did it gladly. You know what
he's like.” Henry and Callie smiled at each other. She
noticed his plate was empty but for a few lonely crumbs. So much for
the doggie bag!

Erin
was taking it all in, but saying nothing. They were enjoying an
amiable silence, sipping coffee and watching the passers
by
out on the street. Finally, Erin spoke. “Seems that the worst
of today's crowd is done. Callie, do you want to head out? I don't
mind locking up, since tomorrow's prep is all done.”

“
Two
days in a row? I feel bad about sticking you with the work. And I
don't really have any plans.” Henry cleared his throat quite
loudly.

“
You
could have plans if you wanted to. With me. We should pick up where
we left off yesterday on Christmas details. And the rest of my day
is clear. What do you fancy?” He looked hopeful.

“
Now
that you mention it, I haven't gotten up Key Largo to see the new
community tree yet, I hear it's pretty. How would you feel about
going over there?”

“
Sounds
good. I drove through on my way here but didn't stop, so you can
play tour guide. If you want, I can cook dinner later. On the
boat. Tom and I went fishing this morning and I've got a fresh
grouper in the fridge.” Callie nodded her approval.

“
Erin,
are you sure you don't mind?” Callie gave her friend one last
chance.

“
Not
at all, go have fun. Heaven knows it's you who's usually doing the
heavy lifting around here on working. I don't mind at all.”
Callie gave Erin a little squeeze on the arm to say thanks. She
excused herself, got rid of her apron, gave herself a quick once over
and headed back out front with her purse, ready to go.

“
Shall
we, milady?” Henry
extended his arm and she took it and smiled. She waved goodbye to
Erin as they left the Beach Buzz and walked over to Henry's SUV. As
he'd done the day before, Henry escorted Callie to the passenger side
and made sure she was comfortable before closing her door and taking
his own seat on the driver's side.

The
short drive to Key Largo was pleasant. It was a beautiful day and
Henry opened the windows and the sunroof and let the air cool them
down along the way. They made the trip in great time because traffic
on the A1A was light and moving. This was not always the case.

When
they arrived in Key Largo, they wandered around and did a little
window shopping . One of the nice things about the Keys was that it
seemed to draw the creatively inclined, and there were plenty of
local artisans who had shops and stands to sell their unique wares.
Callie's Christmas shopping was all done, except for Henry. She
tried to see if he expressed interest or admiration for anything in
particular but he seemed equally enthusiastic everywhere they
stopped. It was quite frustrating.

Callie
insisted that Henry stop and see the African Queen. One of the boats
used in filming the legendary movie by the same name starring
Humphrey Bogart had a permanent home in Key Largo and it was a
popular tourist attraction. Callie was a big movie buff and
especially loved classic movies.

Henry
was a good sport, vogue-ing for the camera and enjoying himself. She
took pictures of him, he of her and they even tried a couple
together. The last one, a hungry pelican let out a loud shriek and
startled them. They both jumped forward, then started to laugh.
The last photo, in particular, did them no justice, but the rest were
actually quite OK, a
nd Callie
generally wasn't fond of pictures of herself. “Hey, you aren't
going to post those online anywhere, are you?” Henry sounded a
little worried.

“
No,
I was just going to email them to you, as a souvenir. I'm not much
for putting my life up on the internet. Or anyone else's, for that
matter.” She smiled. Her answer seemed to relieve him. He
seemed shy about having his photo taken, which seemed odd for someone
so good looking, and who worked in public relations. Maybe he was
used to being behind the camera.

They
passed a couple of hours amiably, just walking around Key Largo.
When twilight set in, they made their way over to the tree. It was
indeed beautiful, a 40 footer. The top was so high, the electric
company had had to volunteer one of their repair trucks to get the
star on top and the highest decorations on the tree. It has been a
real community effort, and it was definitely worth it. All lit up
with white twinkle lights, it gave an angel glow.

A
young man with a clipboard approached them. “Can I interest you
folks in the trolley tour of the lights? We'll show you all the
best light displays in Key Largo this year.” Callie looked at
Henry and he nodded. They paid the man with the clipboard and
boarded the trolley.

The
first house had a “Christmas in the Tropics” theme. The
palm trees in the front yard were decorated with lights, and they had
strung a hammock made of lights between the two trees. The scene
was complimented by Santa-hat wearing flamingos. It was about a step
away from being tacky, but it had stayed just over the line and was
just fun and tropical.

“
So,
is this your style of Christmas decorating
,
“ asked Henry, gesturing to the scene.

“
No.
I tend to go for a more traditional look. And much plainer. My
tree at home is quite small. And I have a green and gold theme.
Nothing crazy. What about you?”

Henry
thought for a moment. “Well, I don't decorate much myself per
say. But as part of the business, my parents tend to go all out.
Tasteful, mind you, understated even, but over the top in terms of
volume.”

The
trolley guide was true to his word and the residents of Key Largo had
truly outdone themselves this year. While they drove around town,
marvelling at the creativity and effort that had gone into many of
the displays, they enjoyed complimentary fruit punch and cookies.
It was a lovely way to end their outing to Key Largo, not much
talking, but just enjoying the festive spirit and the Christmas
carols. In fact, they ate so many cookies, neither of them felt much
like dinner.

As
they made their final approach back to the starting point of the
tour, they passed by the Murray Nelson Center. As very bad luck
would have it, Jimmy Stone, a freelance paparazzi photographer was
there,. He was off duty, enjoying a few days' fishing in Key Largo
instead of being on the South Beach beat in Miami. He had celebrity
radar;
it was something he'd
developed covering the rich and famous for so many years. As the
trolley went by, it vaguely registered with him. It was only a
minute later, after it was well out of eye view, that he realized he
may just have seen Prince Henry of Laurenia. In Key Largo. His eyes
might have deceived him, but usually his gut was right. Could it be?

Jimmy
took out his iPhone and hit speed dial. “Hey, Linda, it's me.”
Before his assistant could even respond, he continued. “I
need you to do some research for me. Stat. I wanna know where
Prince Henry from Laurenia is at these days. Call me back asap.”
He ended the call as quickly as he started it.

If
Jimmy was right, this could make his year. Especially if he was the
only one onto him. It looked like he'd been with a girl. Pictures
of him with anyone female always sold. The fact that he hadn't known
Prince Henry was in Florida was suspicious. It meant he was on
personal time, not official. And none of his usual tipsters had
called him, so he must be avoiding the fancy hotels and hot spots.
This could be very interesting. He looked at his phone, willing it
to ring.

Jimmy
packed up his fishing gear and loaded it in the back of his truck.
And pulled out his camera bag. Even when he wasn't officially
working, he kept a high end camera with him at all times. Just in
case. Looked like he was going to have to cut his vacation short
and see what the prince was up to. If it was what he thought, it
might just buy him the new car he'd been wanting.

CHAPTER
EIGHT

December
23
^rd

Callie
loved Sundays. Not just because it was her only day off and she got
to sleep in a little, but because she enjoyed going to Sunday
service. Sunnyside Key Community Church was a small but vibrant
congregation. Her family had been attending there since she was a
little girl. It was nice to take a break from life to reflect on the
week, herself, God, and to worship and give thanks for the blessings
in her life. It filled the well for the week. And today was going
to be especially interesting, because Henry was going to accompany
her to church.

Their
date night in Key Largo had been pretty much perfect. They had an
easy and effortless connection that kept conversation going but also
felt comfortable in the silences. The seemed to share the same sense
of humour, and some of the same passions ... for good food, for
volunteerism, and for spending time outside in nature.

They
were also both voracious readers, and compared notes on what was on
their individual e-readers. For Henry, a lot of books about
economics, history and biographies. For Callie, lots of cooking,
crafts, and romance novels. But they met in the middle with
mysteries and humorous essays by people like Dave Barry and Stephen
Colbert.

In
fact, their date had ended relatively early, giving Callie time to
read a few chapters of the novel she was reading before heading to
bed. She loved reading Christmas books at Christmas time.

She
was also contemplating what to do about Henry for Christmas. It was
only two days away. And with all he was doing for her, she wanted to
make him a gift. But she was stumped about what she could do in such
a short time that would be something memorable and that he'd actually
like. Though he hadn't actually said so, she had the impression that
Henry's family was pretty well off. His clothes were expensive, as
was the minimal jewelry that he wore. She hoped she could think of
something. S
he only had two
days left before Christmas. Where had the time gone?