Page 24 of Love on the Run

“Yes. Deal with it.”

“Chauvinist,” she muttered.

He didn’t crack a smile, no matter how much he wanted to. Army discipline came in handy sometimes.

“Everything all right today?” Susan asked Jake as she tallied up the bill.

“Why do you even bother asking when you already know the answer?”

“Same reason I give everyone menus when I already know what they’ll order,” Susan shrugged, handing him change.“Have a good day with your young lady there.”

“She’s not my young lady,” Jake said, exasperated into admitting something. “And I don’t need you piling on, too.” These people! As if being single was a plague.

“Well, if she’s not yours, whose is she? And why is she here?” Susan asked archly, not discouraged in the slightest. “She is a very pretty young lady, you know.”

“I’m going now,” Jake said, rolling his eyes. “Try not to say anything ever again, please.” The one thing he did not need was people reminding him of how pretty Callie was. But Susan merely chuckled.

Jake retrieved Callie from the booth and led her out.Susan waved as they left, calling out, “See you soon, hon.Butter pecan tomorrow!”

“Bye,” Callie smiled her dazzling smile again, and no one in the restaurant missed it. This time, she allowed Jake to help her into the truck, knowing that people were going to be watching them, trying to assess exactly how the sheriff was acting toward the strange girl, and if it could be gossip-worthy.

“Have you decided?” he asked, once they were driving away from the diner.

“Decided what?”

“Where you want me to take you?”The question was so simple.

Callie looked down at her hands, fidgeting.“I don’t know.”

“Why not?” He seemed genuinely interested.

“Because I don’t know what to do.”

“Thought you were so self-reliant.”

“I used to be.Maybe I lost the knack. I haven’t really made too many decisions lately,” she said quietly, thinking of how Malcolm had run her life.

“Well, you don’t have to decide right now,” he assured her.“You can tell me when you’re ready.”

“I don’t want to be a hassle.” Callie wondered why she was not taking this chance to leave. She could go anywhere.

“I don’t think of you as a hassle,” he said.

So what did he think of her as?A puzzle?Callie remembered that he said he couldn’t figure her out.The longer she stayed near him, the greater the chance that he would figure her out. And that would be dangerous.Callie held still for a moment, listening for any inner voice that might tell her what to do.In LA, it had clamored for her to run, to drive, to get away.But now, she heard nothing.

Jake took Callie’s silence as a cue to head back home. He was conflicted about the wisdom of it, in the full light of day. When Callie had been in trouble, and needed to be in a safe place, he naturally offered to take her. Now that she was essentially a normal woman—maybe with some slight damage, but nothing that wouldn’t heal—Jake wondered if his offer of protection would be seen as something else. He couldn’t deny that she was beautiful, and the people in town would talk no matter what, but he didn’t want Callie to think he was taking advantage of her.

Whatever Callie did think, she kept secret. Jake sneaked a glance at her as he pulled up to the house, but couldn’t discern anything. He helped her out of the truck, and she laughed unexpectedly. “Guess I should appreciate this kind of behavior while I can,” she said.

“You won’t see it on the coasts,” Jake admitted.

“No way.” She bit her lip. “It’s nice, though.”

Jake hoped that meant she no longer saw him as an antagonist. Noticing that she looked a bit tired still, he settled her on the couch and left her alone as much as he could for the rest of the day. Jake figured that pressuring her into talking hadn’t worked, so now he would try it the other way. For the most part, Callie appeared content to watch old movies on the TV. If she was dying to tell him anything, she hid it well.

It wasn’t until nearly seven o’clock, after he’d made some simple dinner for them both, that he ventured to sit down in the living room with her. Callie had another movie on the screen, but he could tell she wasn’t paying attention to it.

“You feeling okay?” he asked. “Did you take the antibiotics that Murphy gave you?”

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