Read Online A Dime a Dozen by Mindy Starns Clark - Free Book Online Page B

to a meeting with a power broker who happened to be a night owl. Either way, I felt bad I had missed his call—for his sake and for mine. I wanted to tell him about what had happened here last night. I needed to share it with him, needed the comfort of his soothing voice.
    The call went through, but when he first answered, I thought perhaps I had the wrong number. Instead of the calm quiet I had been expecting, a cacophony of noise and music greeted my ears.
    “Hello?” I said loudly.
    “Hello?” he replied.
    “No phones tonight!” I heard a sultry female voice say. “You promised.”
    “Tom?” I asked.
    “Callie? I’m sorry. I can hardly hear you.”
    “Where are you?”
    “It’s a dinner party. Just a little celebration.”
    “C’mon, Tom,” the woman said. “Let’s get some laksa.”
    “It’s probably not the best time for me to talk,” he said. “Was there anything specific?”
    “Uh, no,” I said, biting my lip. I wished I could see through the phone right then, to see him and the woman to whom the velvet voice belonged. “What’s laksa?” I asked.
    “Coconut soup. They’re just bringing it out now.”
    “If you don’t hang up, I’m hanging up for you,” the woman said. “Come on, it’s time for Nonya, not work.”
    “Look, why don’t you call me when you get home?” I said, trying not to sound irritated.
    “I’ll try,” he replied. “But I think it’s going to be a long night.”
    “Who’s Nonya?”
    “Nonya?”
    “The woman.”
    He laughed.
    “Nonya is a type of food, Callie. Like Szeshzuan or Creole. Nonya’s a mix of Chinese and Malay food. It’s pretty good.”
    “Oh.”
    Despite the culinary information, I was acutely aware he hadn’t answered the real question, which was who is that woman?
    “I have to run. I’ll call you later.”
    With the woman’s giggle as the final note, Tom’s phone was turned off. I sat, stumped, replaying the conversation in my mind.
    I wasn’t really a jealous person by nature, but right now my heart was pounding. I stood and paced in the bedroom, confused and upset.
    I needed some air. Without pausing to think, I walked quickly up the hall and through the living room so as not to go directly past the Webbers.
    “Callie?” Natalie called.
    “I have to get something out of my car,” I replied. Then I let myself out the front door and closed it softly behind me.
    My heart was still hammering as I walked to my car. I opened the passenger door, sat in the seat, and closed my eyes. I forced my breathing back to normal and told myself to calm down. Tom was thousands of miles away. There was nothing I could do here to change the situation—whatever it was—over there. And what was it, anyway? Probably something completely innocent.
    Eventually, the pounding in my heart subsided. I realized that my reaction was exaggerated, that I was just worked up from all that had been happening here. If only he weren’t quite so far away .
    If only I didn’t care quite so much .
    That was it, really, I told myself as I finally stood and closed the car door. Leaning back against it, I looked out at the lake, sparkling in the early morning sun. Here I was at the home of my late husband’s parents, in the very place where Bryan and I had first fallen in love—and yet I was consumed with thoughts of Tom. That, more than anything, told me my heart and mind were turned fully toward the future and no longer just dwelling in the past. That was a good thing, I reminded myself. Growth is good. Even when it hurts, growth is good.
    I walked back toward the house, telling myself that there was a logical explanation. And even if there wasn’t, I realized, neither one of us had ever made any promises.
    When I got back to the kitchen, neither Dean nor Natalie seemed to sense that anything was amiss. I was determined to put Tom out of my mind until such time as he decided to call me back and explain what had been going on. For now, I would focus on the