Prince Charming Wears A Badge

“So why are you here? To make sure I’m working?” She tried to make it sound like she was kidding, but she knew there was an edge to her voice.

“No, I figure Aunt Poppy will tell me if you’ve gone AWOL. She’s here frequently to help out.” He smiled and it softened his words and made her heart flutter erratically. “I usually try to come by and lend a hand when I can. It’s not easy with the girls.”

“Where are they? Did someone else pick them up from the bus?” Callie realized Poppy had been at the community center all day.

Tyler nodded. “They’re having dinner at a friend’s house tonight. The friend’s mother brought the three girls home from the bus. I just talked to her on my way here. They were playing in the sprinkler and planning to watch a princess movie after dinner.”

She nodded. “That’s good. I’m glad they’ve made friends in town.”

“Five minutes, everyone!” Poppy made the announcement and then looked over the table to make sure everything was in order. She’d given out assignments and Callie was to serve her potatoes.

“I better wash up.” Tyler disappeared into the restroom and Callie went into the kitchen to put on clean gloves. By the time she came out, Tyler was standing at the station next to hers, ready to serve green beans, with an apron covering his uniform and latex gloves that matched hers.

She wondered if Poppy had purposely put them beside each other and then decided probably not.

Poppy had more sense than to play matchmaker where Callie and Tyler were concerned. Or so she hoped.

* * *

TYLER WAS PRETTY sure Aunt Poppy had put him next to Callie on purpose. Since he’d been back in town, she’d made no secret of the fact that she thought his daughters needed a mother and he needed a wife.

He disagreed, at least with the wife part. He’d done that once and it had turned out poorly to say the least. Disastrous was a closer description.

He glanced at Callie next to him. She was certainly attractive. With her hair in some kind of knot on the back of her head and a minimum of makeup, she still touched something inside him that had been dormant for years. Even the apron she had on over her jeans and fitted, light blue T-shirt didn’t detract from her beauty. Neither did the cheap sneakers and latex gloves she wore.

She had a way of making him feel the same way he had when they were teenagers. He’d glimpse her in the school hallway and his hormones would go into overdrive, just like now.

“Hey, Chief, how’s it going?” Tyler’s thoughts were interrupted by the man on the other side of him serving ham.

He turned in his direction. “Not too bad, Jim. How’s the furniture business going?” Jim was the oldest son of the Pratt family, probably in his late forties, who’d taken over his dad’s furniture business and had expanded it into Tyler’s dad’s old hardware space on Main Street.

The two men exchanged pleasantries for a minute or two before diners began entering the building. Business was steady as people moved down the line for nearly an hour before it slowed.

“Looks like stragglers now that the initial rush is over,” Jim commented to Tyler.

Tyler nodded and scooped up green beans to serve to the next person in line. “Green beans?” The words had barely come out of his mouth when he realized Wendy Carter, Callie’s stepsister, was holding a plate of food and waiting for him to put beans on it. “Oh, sorry.” While he emptied the spoonful of beans onto her plate, he said, “Is that you, Wendy?”

She nodded.

He hadn’t seen her since he’d been back in town. She’d certainly changed since high school, and not for the better. Her hair was clumpy, as if it hadn’t been washed or even brushed in days. She was slightly hunched and didn’t meet his gaze, as if embarrassed to be seen getting a free meal.

He didn’t know what else to say and she remained mute until she reached Callie and her potatoes. Tyler watched the exchange between the two women. At first Callie didn’t notice Wendy and Wendy hadn’t looked up to see that it was Callie serving her.

“Wendy?” Callie mimicked his surprise at seeing Wendy.

Wendy raised her head and as soon as she saw Callie, the expression on her face turned to anger and something else. Hatred was the only word he could come up with.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Wendy’s vitriolic question was barely loud enough for him to hear. She didn’t let Callie speak before going on in an angry whisper. “You always thought you were so much better than us. I guess there’s no denying that now.”

“Wendy—” He shut his mouth when Callie put a hand on his upper arm. She met his gaze with eyes pleading for him to let her handle it. He barely nodded and she turned to face Wendy.

“Would you like potatoes?” Callie held a spoonful of potatoes out to Wendy as if nothing had happened. Wendy accepted the potatoes and moved down the line.

When she was out of hearing range, Tyler asked Callie, “Why is she so angry at you?”

Callie shrugged. “Who knows? She’s been angry at me since she and her mother moved in when I was three and she was two.”

“Really?” He had a hard time computing that information. Wendy had always been nice to him, especially when they were teenagers. In fact, he’d always thought Wendy might have had a crush on him, but he hadn’t been interested. At the time, Callie was the only one who’d interested him.

And now he was finding that interest in her renewed.

* * *

THE KITCHEN AND dining areas were nearly cleaned up a few hours later when Riva came up behind Callie. “Some of us are going to Abbott’s when we’re done here. You want to join us? You’re welcome, too, Tyler.” He’d been drying the large catering dishes that Callie had washed.

“I don’t know—” Callie was still pretty shaken up after her run-in with Wendy and didn’t feel like going to a pub.

“Come on, we haven’t seen each other in years,” Riva reminded her. “Just come for one drink so I can hear what you’ve been up to. It’s Friday night, for heaven’s sake.”

“We’ll be there,” Tyler answered for her.

“Great. See you there!”

As soon as Riva stepped away, Callie turned on Tyler and spoke more calmly than she felt. “What was all that about? Saying I’d be there? You have no right—”

He held up a hand, palm out. “Hold on. You obviously need to unwind. All work and no play will put you in the hospital with a nervous breakdown.”

She tilted her head and scowled at him. “Not likely.”

“Then what if I say that for every hour you spend having fun, I’ll count it toward your community service?”

Her eyes widened. “You can do that?”

“I can do whatever I want. I was given authority over you and your service hours. I just need to sign off to say you completed them.”

Callie quickly looked around to see if there was anything else to be washed. She pulled the plug to drain the water from the sink, rinsed and dried her hands, and untied her apron. “Then, let’s go.”

The clock in the nearly empty dining room said almost nine, which meant she’d worked a twelve-hour day. No wonder she was tired.

But she was also anxious to catch up with Riva, so she headed out the door ahead of Tyler.

“We can drop your car off at the house and take my truck if you want. No need for two cars.”

Abbott’s was a few miles from Poppy’s and his suggestion made sense. So why was she hesitating? “Sure. Thanks.” Probably because she’d noticed that being close to him brought back all the old feelings she’d had for him when they were teenagers. The feelings she’d been forced to keep hidden or face the wrath of her stepsister who’d thought Tyler belonged to her. But Wendy no longer had any power over Callie and any feelings she might have for Tyler were grown-up feelings that had grown-up consequences.

She had nothing to worry about as long as she kept her thoughts to herself. Which shouldn’t be too difficult since she was pretty sure he considered her a nuisance that he was saddled with for the next few weeks.

When they reached the house, they each went to their own bedroom. Callie would have liked a shower, but didn’t want him to wait for her. She merely washed her face and put on fresh makeup. At least she hadn’t been doing manual labor today, just cooking and cleaning up afterward. She released her hair from the bun she’d worn all day and fluffed it enough to make her reasonably happy with it. She donned fresh skinny jeans with a white tank top and canvas wedge sandals before heading to the front door.