Part 25 (2/2)
”I know. But I don't have much energy for it.”
”You never have a hard time attracting people, so use some of that charm and start going on dates. They don't have to be life-changing. Just go out.”
The more Callie thought about it, the more Terri's advice made sense. She needed to get a few dates under her belt to start feeling like herself. Regan had knocked her self-esteem into a pit, and she was going to have to dig her way out of it.
The first date was hard. Callie actually felt sorry for the poor woman, a friend of one of the women on her pool team. Melody seemed like a perfectly nice person, but Callie felt no spark, no excitement. She looked at her watch much more than was polite while they were having dinner, but she honestly just wanted it to be over. She was actually relieved when Melody pulled up to her apartment, didn't bother getting out of the car, and ended the date with a rather unenthusiastic ”I guess I'll see you around,”
She watched the car pull away, feeling empty. The loss of an evening wasn't important, but it seemed like so much work to find a lover. And there was no guarantee she'd ever find one much better than Marina. And that thought was seriously depressing.
She wouldn't have predicted it, but Callie got past the first few dates and then started enjoying herself. There was something appealing about being free to have just what you wanted. A woman shows bad manners at a restaurant? Dump her. She tries to keep you out late on a Sat.u.r.day night and thinks training for a marathon is silly? Don't return her calls. She thinks an evening at the symphony and discussing poetry is the peak of perfection? Lose her number. She might not find love, but she didn't have to waste more than one date with someone who didn't appeal to her in every way that was important. That was a small victory, but it had to be enough. It simply had to.
Chapter Twenty-two.
In early November, Regan called Callie to arrange where to meet for the Sunday run. ”Hey, while I have you on the phone, I wanted to ask about your Thanksgiving plans.”
”I don't think I have any. I'm going to go to Phoenix for Christmas, but Thanksgiving is always kind of a downer. My dad's got a new girlfriend and they're going on a cruise, so Dallas is out. Gretchen goes to her husband's family and now that Emily has a boyfriend she might be going with his.”
”What about your mom?”
”Eww. That's the bad part. I hate to leave my mom alone, but she can spend it with her sister's family. I know I'm being selfish but I hate to spend the holiday feeling like I want to jump off a bridge.”
”You shouldn't have to. We want you to come spend it with us. The restaurant's open, but we close really early. As soon as we get rid of the customers, we have our own celebration. It's always fun, and it would be even better if you were there.”
Callie could feel herself choking up, but she managed to keep her voice level when she said, ”I'd love to.”
As Regan had promised most of the customers vacated the Scituate Inn by 5:00 on Thanksgiving day. The few stragglers were loyal customers who were on a first name basis with everybody. It was an odd way to celebrate a holiday, but Callie decided she really liked it. They moved tables around until they had three long ones. All of the Mannings were there and most of the servers and cooks brought their families. There must have been close to sixty people and with everyone making full use of the bar, it was a rowdy time.
Alana had finished cooking and came out to make herself a drink right when Callie was getting a beer. ”How do you like our Thanksgiving?”
”I love it. I really love it. It's more like a party, and I love parties.”
Alana leaned over and said softly, ”So who are you dating? I can't get any information out of Regan.”
Without thinking, Callie automatically said, ”No one special. I'm just shopping.”
Alana looked surprised. ”I a.s.sumed you were seeing somebody seriously since you're not here on the weekends anymore.”
”No, no one special. I'm just saying yes to any single woman in the greater Boston area.”
Alana took a quick look at her sister across the room. ”You guys are getting along, aren't you?”
”Yeah. Sure. We're getting along great.”
Looking puzzled, Alana said, ”Then come down more often. We all love having you here.”
”Thanks. I feel very much at home here.” That was true. Even with both of them dating other people, there was no one she felt more at home with than Regan. She was a fantastic friend, and the fact that she'd also be a fantastic partner if she would wise up couldn't negate that. She was who she was and that was enough.
The Friday after Thanksgiving was one of the slowest days of the year at The Scituate Inn. Very few deliveries were scheduled, since they expected a slow weekend too. Regan was trying to use the day to catch up, but she wasn't being very productive. She'd been in the kitchen a couple of times, looking for a snack that she didn't seem able to find, then she wandered around behind the bar, idly examining their liquor supply.
She'd been back in her office for a half hour when Delaney came in and caught her shopping for running shoes. ”Ha!” she said when Regan tried to close the window. ”I've finally caught you goofing off!” She stood behind Regan's chair and put her hands on her shoulders. ”When are you going to talk to one of us about what's going on with Callie?”
Wanting to escape her sister's questions, Regan tried to push her chair backwards, but Delaney blocked the casters with her foot, effectively trapping her. ”I have to go to the bathroom,” she lied.
”You could have gone one of the twenty times you've been wandering around. Now tell me what's going on.”
”Nothing.” She said this with such finality that Delaney moved around to the front of the desk and sat down so she could see Regan's face.
”Mom and Alana and I talked about you last night and it's obvious to us that things aren't the same between you two. Add that to the fact that she doesn't come down on the weekends anymore and something's up. Did you fight?”
”No.” She paused. ”Well, yes, but not recently.”
”More details, please.”
Sighing dramatically, Regan said, ”You know I don't like to talk about my love life.”
”I know that. We all know that. But you've been in a funk for weeks. Tell me what's got you so down.”
Regan picked up her stapler and started to examine it like she was going to build a scale model as soon as Delaney left the room. ”I'm not really down. I'm...I guess I'm resolved.”
”Resolved to be grouchy and moody?”
She shot her sister a glare. ”No, finally resolved that Callie isn't right for me.”
”I'm perplexed. Didn't we have this discussion before?”
”Yes, we did. But I'm still stuck on her.”
”Weird. Mom and I think you're just not over Angela yet.”
Regan put the stapler down and lazily flipped her hand in the air. ”She's barely crossed my mind. Other than to use her as a reminder to never get into a situation where I could hook up with another cheater.”
”And you think Callie's a cheater?”
With her head rapidly shaking, Regan said, ”No, she's not. There's other stuff. Stuff I don't want to talk about.”
”Well, Mom and I both know you pretty well, and we think you're just gun-shy. It didn't dawn on me that you'd crossed Callie off your list. Especially when she stares at you like you're a circus act when you move around the room.”
”She does not. I finally got up the nerve to tell her we don't have a future. It's over between us.”
Delaney stood up and moved over to the doorway. ”Well, at least you were honest. I'm glad you got it over with.”
”Yeah.” She felt like she'd eaten something very acidic, the way her stomach felt much of the time recently. ”At least I did that.”
”Well, did our little talk help?”
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