Last Call (24 page)

"Oh really?" I drawled as I looked for a chink in his armor. "I bet I could find your weakness,
sweetheart."

He took a swift intake of breath at that and brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck. "I know you could," he allowed. He took a few more steps backwards towards the safety of his car, but kept me in his sight until he reached his door. "Will you go inside already? I can't leave until I know you're safely locked up."

I decided to surrender to his will tonight and lifted my hand, giving him a small wave goodbye. I entered the house and watched from the window until he pulled slowly down my street. Then I headed straight for a long, cold shower.

Friday - May 10, 2013

Five weeks until "The Wedding"

Seeing Things

The day after our rain dance, Gage got a call from the last bar he worked at in Vegas telling him about some sort of problem they needed him to come back and take care of. He flew out Wednesday morning and wasn't due back until Sunday.

I found myself missing him badly as the days dragged by. In just a couple weeks of knowing each other, he was already someone who was extremely important to me. My heart warred with my head constantly while I tried to puzzle out how it happened. How did this man come into my life and make me want to do anything in my power to be with him?

How had he begun to wipe away the misery that my first love left on my heart after just a couple dates? Those were the things I dwelled on each night at bedtime while I tossed and turned, and the first thing I thought of in the morning when I woke.

I have to admit that while Gage was away, I was actually happy to have some time to spend with Sara and Candace in the evenings. Our summer schedules had been so crammed between all of our work or boys, that we’d barely spent any time together.

When Friday finally came, the term ‘TGIF’ had never meant more to me. I was excited to have Gage back on Sunday, and woke up with the idea of planning a special date for us. A shout outside my room from Candace interrupted my dreamy thoughts.

"Savannah? There's an obnoxiously large bouquet of flowers on the doorstep for you."

I threw my bedroom door open and raced down the hall to find Candace standing there with the front door open. Sitting on the front mat was a huge bouquet of colorful wildflowers.

"Oh my gosh, they’re gorgeous," I exclaimed, nearly jumping up and down with excitement. I searched the top for a note and then looked at the vase, but found nothing.

"Wonder who those are from?" Sara teased, coming up behind me.

I couldn't keep the sappy smile from my face as I pulled the beautiful blooms to my nose and inhaled the fragrance.

"There's no card," I acknowledged, a little concerned. "They have to be from Gage, right? I mean, Brian hasn't called me in several days, and these are way too nice for him to send out of the blue. Right?"

Sara and Candace exchanged looks before Candace spoke up. "I can't imagine they would be from Brian or anyone else."

"Unless you've been holding out on us," inserted Sara.

Rolling her eyes, Candace went on, "I would wait and see if Gage calls or texts you. He’s bound to ask about them. Especially since there wasn't a note."

"Oh, that reminds me," Sara called to me as I started back down the hall. "Your date that I canceled on - R.L. was his name. He keeps sending emails asking if you can reschedule."

"I thought you took my profile down, Sara. I told you I'm not interested in any more dates."

"I
did
take it down. This is coming to the email address I set up for the account. He’s a persistent little bugger to say the least."

I sighed. I felt bad that Sara had set up and then canceled a date for me. I hated lying to someone.

"I told him you were seeing someone at the moment and were sorry you didn't get to meet him. I just wanted you to know. He said he was still hoping things would work out in his favor."

I certainly hoped that things
never
worked out in his favor. Gage was good enough for me.

I found my thoughts constantly drifting to Gage throughout the day while I worked. There was a student helping with the showcase who had an accent that always reminded me of Gage's. His wasn't nearly as compelling, but the musical lilt of it shocked my senses whenever he walked into the room and started to talk. My body tensed like it was waiting expectantly to hear Gage.

It was that moment when I knew I was totally in it, for better or worse, and I needed to call Brian and cut all romantic ties.

Taking an early break, I stepped out into the courtyard by the art gallery to call Brian in private.

"Hi Savannah." His voice sounded pleased as he answered the phone.

Trying to stay upbeat, I answered him as bubbly as possible. "Hey, how was D.C. and the summit?"

Five minutes later my ear was numb with the political nonsense he excitedly explained to me.

"Sorry, I can get carried away. Did you call for a particular reason, or are you just missing me?"

I swallowed hard and forged ahead determinedly with my reason for calling. "Look Brian, I wanted to let you know that I can't see you now."

There was a brief silence before he asked, "Now - as in this week, or not at all?"

"At all," I admitted, feeling like a truly horrible person. I'd never dumped anyone before. While this wasn't exactly ‘dumping’ in the truest sense of the word, I still felt like the worst person ever. "You're a really great guy, and I hope we can stay friends, of course.”

"Ouch. The ‘Can we be friends’ speech," he exclaimed, and then laughed. "Don't feel bad, Savannah. You sound like you're about to cry. It's fine."

"Really? Brian, I'm so sorry."

"Geez, Guthry. Don't be sorry. I mean, I'd like to go out sometime, but there's always another time, right? If now isn't good, maybe later will be. Besides, I'm going to be really busy this summer anyway with student government."

I thanked him for being so understanding and told him I had a new relationship forming that I really wanted to concentrate on. He was so cool with it all, and it made me wish
all
relationships could be that easy.

Feeling relief at closing that chapter, I sat under the tree in the courtyard and stared silently at my phone. Spencer popped into my mind suddenly, and I wondered if I would ever get up the nerve to call him and let him know I’d moved on. Thankfully when my mother had called earlier in the week, she didn't mention Spencer. In fact, we didn't talk about potential dates at all - a pretty clear signal that my father had spoken with her.

She’d actually called to ask how the gallery set up was going, and wanted to know what color I was planning on wearing to the wedding. It'd been a while since a conversation between us had been so…normal. She seemed genuinely proud of the work I was doing in the art showcase.

As for my dress color, I hung up with her after hearing a long list of dress colors she said I
couldn't
wear. I pretended to write them all down and agreed with her so I could get off the phone.

Right when I thought I might have the guts to call Spencer, a shadow across the courtyard caught my attention. Chills ran down my spine when I saw someone slink around the back corner of the building.

Shaking my head, I returned back inside the art gallery quickly. Walking to the window and looking back over the courtyard, I searched for any sign of someone hanging around.

"Something wrong?" Mr. Harrison questioned, carrying a large crate with him.

Seeing nothing in the courtyard out of the ordinary, I offered to help him. "Nah, I just got the creeps all of a sudden. Like someone was watching me. I'm sure it was nothing but my overactive imagination."

"Lock the door if it’ll make you feel better. It's just us today anyway. If someone wants in, they can ring us."

Holding half of the crate to alleviate the weight, I assured him I was fine.

We worked all afternoon and into the early evening. We were finally getting to the fun part of the exhibit - pulling out the art and looking at the pieces, and then trying to decide where to hang each object. The room flow had been set and there were partial walls placed throughout the large gallery to direct traffic and give each piece its most advantageous showing.

At six o’clock Mr. Harrison finally shooed me out, telling me we would regroup in the morning and try to finish up most of the diagramming.

"We’re on track for the open house, Ms. Guthry, and you've done a wonderful job getting this all together. I'm very impressed," Mr. Harrison declared; locking the door and walking with me towards the parking lot. "I’ll see you around nine tomorrow."

"I'll be here," I assured him. I was absurdly proud from his praise.

It wasn't until I was settled in my car that I saw all my missed calls and texts from Gage. Immediately on cloud nine, I pressed the return call button.

"I was worried you changed your mind," his voice confessed when he answered.

"No way. You called dibs, remember?" I hinted. "Today has been ridiculously crazy at the gallery. I barely had time to breathe."

"Yeah? Tell me all about it."

"About the gallery? What do you want to know? It's pretty boring," I admitted as I pulled out of the parking lot. A tall, solitary figure walked by, and something familiar pricked my mind. Something about the gait of his steps reminded me of the shadow I’d seen earlier in the day.

"Wow, I must be tired because I think I'm getting paranoid," I mumbled.

"Paranoid?" The tone of his voice went up a notch as he spoke. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a crazy feeling I’m being watched. Like I said, I'm tired."

Not taking my feelings lightly, Gage started to shoot out rapid fire questions, "Where are you? Are you in your car? Are your doors locked?" Worry was evident in his tone.

"Hey - calm down, I'm fine. Yes, I'm heading off campus, in my car, and my doors are positively locked."

"You sure you're okay?"

I looked out my rearview mirror to be sure no one was following me, and then went about reassuring Gage I was fine.

"Alright then, humor me. Tell me about your day."

"You're trying to keep me on the phone until I get home safely, aren't you?"

"Don't change the subject," he chided. When I didn't answer him he admitted, "Okay, yes. Now spill the beans."

Loving his interest, I began to explain the details of setting up the displays and picking spots for each piece.

"We have over one hundred pieces to place by this Friday in order to be ready for next Saturday. It's a lot of work but I'm loving it."

"So what's next Saturday?"

"Oh, that's an open house viewing. It's sort of like a test opening for us to see what people think. We can change things up afterward based on people’s feedback.”

I thought for just a moment and then took a leap. "Would you like to come?"

"To the showing?"

"Yeah…it's not open to the public - it's a special invitation only event and I can invite anyone I want. But I know you usually have to work."

"Savannah," he jumped in; stopping my rambling. "Of course I'll come."

"Are you sure? I mean, don't feel obligated just because I'm asking you…"

"I'm obligated because it's important to you sweetheart, not because you asked. I would love to be there to support you."

"You're too good to be true, you know that?" I blurted as my heart melted at his words. "Thank you for wanting to be there."

"Thank you for inviting me," he returned, his voice soft; intimate.

The tenderness in his tone made my stomach flip. Damn kryptonite voice of his.

A commotion sounded in the background and I realized Gage must be at the bar. He muttered something away from his phone. "Listen, I'm at the bar but I'm not planning on staying much longer. What's your plan?"

I yawned loudly. "I really want to take a long bath, eat a bite and snuggle down in my bed."

"Are you home yet?"

"Oh yeah. Remember I only live like, three blocks from campus. I'm just sitting in my car."

"Go inside and get yourself all comfy, sweet thing. I’ll call you later when I get back to my hotel room. If you're still awake, we can have a date by phone."

"I thought guys hated talking on the phone?" I badgered playfully.

"I'm not like other guys, Savannah, remember that," he said seriously.

"I've noticed," I admitted. "Thankfully."

"Okay, I need to run for this meeting. Don't wait up for my call if you're too tired, okay?"

"Yes sir."

"Talk to you soon."

I said goodbye and hung up. It wasn't until I saw the flowers on the dining table when I entered the house that I remembered about asking him if he’d sent them. He hadn’t asked about them, which led me to believe that maybe he hadn't.

Friday - May 10, 2013

Long conversations and other things