Page 13 of Coming Home for Fall 5
“I’m sure you’re doing just fine with the farm stuff,” she mused. “At least, you’ve always got a lot of people shopping at your booth at the market.”
“I won’t say business has been bad. I could really use a personal assistant. Maybe I’ll put an ad out.”
“You should!” Callie nodded. “Well, thanks again. I seriously owe you. But we’ll get out of your hair now. It sounds like you’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“Technically I carved out a few hours this morning to try and get organized, since all my employees are off until Friday and I won’t be distracted, but I don’t know.” He shook his head in feigned disappointment. “If the alternative is getting to stand around swapping recipe details with you, I can’t say I’m itching to get back to the office.”
Callie flushed and stared down at the top of the box. “That’s nice of you. Unfortunately,Ihave a lot of work I need to do to get ready for tomorrow, and Mallory has a date in town.”
“I never said I had a date!”
Callie smirked. “Yeah, but don’t you? Aren’t you meeting up with James?”
“We might be getting coffee,” Mallory relented. “But it’s not a date.”
“Okay, well the point is, you are meeting someone, so we have to go.” She gave Joshua one last glance, smiled, and then turned to leave the room. “I’ll let you know how the other recipe goes.”
“Please do.”
He walked them out and lingered on the porch as they drove away. When they pulled back onto the main road, Callie could feel Mallory’s eyes on her. “Can I just say something?”
No.
“Sure, honey,” Callie said as casually as she could. “Always.”
“You were so freaked when I made that joke about you having a crush on Joshua,” Mallory said. “But it’s obvious thathehas a crush onyou. He knows you’re married, right?”
“Yes, he knows I’m married,” she said. “And he doesn’t have a crush on me. That’s absurd. He’s just a friendly guy. If he flirts sometimes, it’s because that’s how he gets more sales when he’s at the farmer’s market. I think it just comes naturally to him.”
“I don’t know. It seemed like a little more than that to me.”
Callie rolled her eyes. “Are you just trying to get me back for calling your meet up with James a date?”
“No, I really think he likes you!” Mallory shuffled further down into the passenger seat. “I’m just saying this so you know to be careful. You don’t wanna accidentally lead the poor man on. He seems really sweet.”
“He is sweet. But you don’t have to worry about Joshua. Nobody is leading anyone on.”
“If you say so…” She shifted around in her seat. “But hey, if he’s actually going to put an ad out for a personal assistant, maybe I should think about applying.”
“You want to work for Joshua?” Callie wasn’t sure if she should be excited or worried. “You want to stay in town?”
“I don’t know,” Mallory said. “But it’s not like I’d have to sign a super strict contract right? I’m sure he’d be happy to just have someone come and help him get organized and stuff for a few weeks. Even if he doesn’t have a thing for you, he’s still your friend, so I thought I might have a leg up… though I don’t have a ton of clerical experience.”
Callie didn’t say anything right away. She was torn between wanting to encourage her daughter to get a job and stay close to home while also wanting to keep Mallory and Joshua far, far away from each other.
“He would definitely give you the job,” she said eventually, because she had to say something. “But you should think about whether that’s something you really want to do. It sounds boring, don’t you think?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I like that he’s a local business owner and it’d be a nice change of pace to work for someone who actually seems to care about people, instead of getting another soulless corporate gig.” She looked out the window. “But you’re right. I’ll think about it first.”
“Good. I think that’s best.”
“But only ifyouadmit that Joshua totally likes you.”
“Mallory, stop it,” Callie griped. “Are you trying to push my buttons?”
“A little.” She laughed. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not right.”
“Except that in this case, you’re absolutely and completely wrong. Please, can we just drop it?”
