Page 47 of Sunsets & Slow Dances

“Thanks.” I smiled, ignoring the fact she’d referred to us as lovebirds and that she was practically trying to breastfeed Callum.

“I just can’t get over how good it is to see the two of you back together again!” She clapped.

“Oh no, we’re not…” My eyes darted over to Callum for backup, but he was sitting there totally unfazed, cool as a cucumber, without a worry in the world. “I’m just here…we’re just friends.”

“Right.” Sandy winked at me, then motioned as if she was zipping up her lips and throwing away the key. “Got it.”

“No. I’m serious. We are.”

“I know.” She nodded in an over exaggerated way. “Just friends.”

I turned to Callum once again, only to find him leaning back, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Forget it; if he wasn’t going to try and pull the emergency brake on the runaway gossip train, then there was no point in me doing it. I wasn’t the one with an “it’s complicated” relationship status.

“Speaking of friends, you just missed Zoe and Miles. I’m so happy for her. I never thought she’d find anyone after losing Austin.”

The bell dinged, indicating an order was up, and Sandy and her double Ds scurried off behind the counter. She passed the kids who were heading over.

Before they made it to the table, Callum asked, “Did you guys wash your hands?”

They both turned on their heels and headed to the hallway where the restrooms were located. It was so strange seeing Callum as a dad. Strange and really, really, really sexy.

“Zoe got married again?”

I forgot that he wasn’t up to date on all the Firefly Island news. Callum had been really good friends with Zoe’s late husband, Austin, who died when he was twenty. He was a marine who was deployed, and Zoe had a two-year-old at the time. They were truly soulmates, and I wasn’t sure if she’d ever find love again.

“Yeah, did you hear about the movie that got made about Austin?”

“Oh, uh, maybe. I don’t really go online that often. And the only TV I watch is Disney Plus.”

“Right, well, she fell in love with the actor and producer who optioned the rights to his life story.”

“She did?”

“Yep, Miles Ford. They’re getting married on Valentine’s Day.”

“Miles Ford.”

“It’s crazy? Right? He’s nominated for an Oscar for the movie.”

“I know him.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. He played an MMA fighter in Caged and came to live with me for six months for research when he was eighteen.”

“Dad!” Matty called out when he was still about five feet away from the table. “Chloe is so good at air hockey, and when we were racing, she got the high score. She got to put her name in the computer.”

“Cool!” Callum gave two thumbs up as Matty took a seat on the booth next to his dad. With his thumbs still in the air, Callum asked Chloe, “Do kids still say cool? Or should I say totally awesome?”

Chloe’s eyes widened in embarrassment as her lips pursed in a grin and she slid into the booth next to me.

“Is that what the kids say?” he directed the question to me, and I knew he was trying to break the ice by being a dork.

“No.” I shook my head. “That’s not what the kids say, boomer.”

“You’re as old as I am,” he shot back.

---