Page 47 of 4 Hints You Love Your Best Friend

She definitely did. “He said stuff about me, Lark.”

“Define stuff.”

“Really nice stuff. And he did this thing for me when we were kids—”

“Let me stop you there, Jo. Remember when I turned off a great action movie in exchange for juicy gossip? Descriptions likestuffandthingdon’t cut it.”

I muffle an unhinged laugh. I glance back at Cal’s door. It’s still closed. My pulse is punching faster than the bullet spray in her movie.

I lower my voice and press my hand over my vibrating chest. “He pulled a mooning prank on a kid when we first met. Apparently, he orchestrated that scene to avenge my honor. I asked if he’d done other things like that for me over the years. He said no, but I know Cal. I’m pretty sure he was lying.”

Shehmmmms for a few beats. “I’d have to agree. He seems like the sneaky type.”

“He does?”

“No one’s that nice all the time. Guys that hot and sweet usually have a dark side.”

Jaded—that’s the best way to describe Larkin when guys come up. She’s ignored my prodding to date. She barely goes out at all, except for today—the Mondays she can’t work. Tuesdays, she always seems super down, kind of like how she sounded when she answered the phone. I feel badly for making this call all about me. “How was your day today?”

She sighs. “Long and hard.”

“I’m here if you want to talk about it.”

“It’s just family stuff.”

Larkin continues to be a tough nut to crack, but I don’t push. Eventually, I hope she’ll open up to me about Mondays and her past when she’s ready.

“Back to Cal,” she says, “what else did his fine self say?”

“He seems to be keeping tabs on me at work,” I whisper as I walk a few paces farther from his closed door. “Like, he knows about my routine when customers need to be cut off and that biker incident the other day. Or maybe that’s just Windfall’s gossip river flowing in his direction.”

“Or he’s keeping tabs on you because he can’t stop thinking about you.”

The soft spots on my heart contract. Those tender places have been there for twelve years, never fully healed from Cal’s disappearance. They’ve worsened lately. Unbearable pressure when we’re close and I imagine us as more and realize it will never happen. But:You’re the type of woman men look at and think,I’m not good enough for her.

“Lark,” I whisper hesitantly.

“Yeah?”

“He called megorgeous. Said I was funny and strong and insinuated I’m too good for him.”

Her gusty breath fills our silence. “I take back what I said. Cal is clearly the exception to the rule. He’s hot and sweetanddoesn’t have a dark side. That man has it bad for you.”

“Or he was just being kind. I was frustrated when he said it. He could’ve been trying to lift my mood.”

“Sure, but you two have been doling out some serious foreplay this week.”

“I haven’t seen him all week.”

“The food, Jo. The cute notes. That’s Seduction 101.”

Flutters spiral through my belly at the reminder. Chocolate-covered strawberries. Rice Krispies squares. Sweet treats a boyfriend might leave, but our provocative notes were plain fun. “The food stuff wasn’t seduction. That was just us being us.”

“If you say so, but what he said tonight—is that the kind of thing he’s said in the past? Calling you gorgeousand the other sweet compliments? Because that sounds like crushing territory. But you know Cal better than anyone. Did itfeellike he was humoring you?”

For better or for worse, I do know the ins and outs of Callahan Bower. His fear of ants is adorably hilarious.They’re just so tiny, he used to say.They can crawl in anywhere.He hates the sound of cutlery scraping a dinner plate. He failed his driver’s license test the first time he took it and didn’t tell anyone but me. He overheats easily, even when the temperature’s not swelteringly hot. He has a sexy birthmark on his lower back, just above his underwear line.

I have a catalogue of Callahan Knowledge, filed and saved and listed in categories.

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