Page 34 of The Trouble With Spells
Stunned silence filled the small space of the car, and the look of horror that washed over Callum’s pale face made me chuckle.
“It’s not that big of a deal.” He mimicked my words. “No wonder your mom acted the way she did. You’ve not introduced them to anyone since high school! She’s probably picking out our wedding china or something already. Gah, no pressure or anything!”
Grabbing his hand in mine, I squeezed his fingers lightly. “Callum, I promise you, it’s going to be fine. We’ll eat, make some idle chit-chat, my dad will harp at me for my life choices of becoming a lowly prosecutor and not working at his firm. Mom will tell him to hush and give him a look that he knows means to leave her baby alone, and then we’ll go home.”
Callum shook his head, “Michael, taking someone to meet your parents is a huge step in the dating process. At least according to my sister. I have no actual first-hand experience with meeting anyone’s parents, and really I’m fine with that. Absolutely fine. We should just leave now.”
“Well, we wouldn’t even be here if you hadn’t fallen under the spell that is Jessica Endicott,” I reminded him, my tone teasing.
He gasped loudly, “I don’t even know what happened! It was like I couldn’t stop myself and words just fell out of my mouth. I had no control whatsoever.”
“She does that. You aren’t the first person to succumb to her charms, and you won’t be the last.”
“We need to have some kind of plan for when they ask us the normal questions parents ask when their child brings home a significant other. Especially when it’s the first time they have ever brought anyone home.”
“We went to school together, but because you are younger, we didn’t really know each other. We reconnected on Facebook. Started talking, got to know each other, and started dating. The end.”
Callum pursed his lips at me, running a hand through his dark hair. Reaching over, I smoothed the ruffled locks back into submission. “How long have we been dating?”
“Six months.”
He narrowed his green eyes at me, pushing his glasses up. “Do you have an entire backstory for us thought up?”
Holding my thumb and finger together, I smirked, “Little bit.”
He shook his head, not convinced. “We need more.”
“Okay, quick, cats or dogs?”
Callum tilted his head to the side and gave me an incredulous look. “Really? Cats, duh. Though I like dogs too. All animals really. What about you?”
I pretended to think about it for a minute, before replying. “I used to think dogs, but now cats.”
“Is this because Hex is the coolest cat in town?”
“Absolutely, because he is. Favorite color?”
“Purple.” Yeah, I should have guessed that one.
“Red, but I’m starting to lean towards green.” Giving him a heated look, I stared into his pretty green eyes, loving when his cheeks pinked. “Favorite movie?”
“Hocus Pocus.”
Rolling my eyes, I muttered, “Why am I not surprised? Callum, we know the basics. Anything else we can fudge or chalk up to having only dated a few months and basically on the weekends, when one of us could get away. Which also explains why I decided to spend time with you, in Salem, on my time off. Please just don’t mention anything about this being forced time off or all my cases being handed off while I’m gone.”
Callum nodded, understanding evident in his eyes, “Of course, I won’t.”
“Now, come on, let’s get this over with.”
We exited my car and Callum hurried over to my side, his eyes peering up and down the street, for the first time noticing where we were. “Michael, this is Chestnut Street.”
Grabbing his hand and loving the tingling feelings I got each time his fingers tangled with mine, I smiled. “Yes, it is.”
Looking both ways for traffic, because we were parked on the opposite side of the street, I pulled him along with me, very aware that Callum was rubbernecking like a damn tourist. When we stood on the sidewalk in front ofthe three-story, white colonial that had been in my mom’s family since before the witch trials, I paused. “This is it. Ready?”
Callum looked up with wide eyes. “This is your house?”
“No,” I said slowly, “this is my parents’ house. I have a condo in Boston, remember?”
