Callie sighed, stood up, then looked back at Marty. “I have to go now. Seth and I have something we have to do. Maybe we’ll meet again.”
He stood up and glanced from her to Seth. “Maybe we will. Think about what I said, though. I really meant it.”
She bit down on her lip and nodded. Marty picked up his hat and placed it on his head before he strode toward the door. Seth didn’t speak until he was out of sight.
“What was he asking you when I walked up?”
Callie scooted her chair up under the table and shrugged. “Nothing, really. He said he’d like to take me to dinner.”
“He what?” Seth’s words exploded from his mouth, and two people at a table across the room looked up in surprise.
“Seth,” Callie whispered, “keep your voice down. I said he asked. I didn’t accept. I couldn’t go out with him. There’s something about him that scares me.”
The muscle in Seth’s jaw flexed, and his nostrils flared. After a moment he took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Callie. It’s none of my business who you go out with. I’m sure you can make your own decisions without any help from me. Now let’s go. I’d like to get down to the homeless shelter before they open the doors for the night.”
Callie’s mouth dropped open, and she stared in disbelief as Seth turned and strode from the room. Did he really think she could have any interest in Marty Weaver? The way he was acting she might think he was jealous if she didn’t know better.
Ever since she’d been back, he’d been quick to let her know that his feelings for her had died two years ago. Maybe he didn’t want her anymore, but he didn’t want anyone else to have her, either. That seemed like such a childish attitude to her.
Then she remembered Glenda’s comment earlier that Seth would make a great husband and father and how she’d reacted to it. Neither she nor Seth had moved on since their breakup, and maybe it was time she did something to give them a shove to do so.
She needed something to help her begin to move forward, but it wasn’t going to be a date with Marty Weaver.
* * *
Seth tried to concentrate on the traffic as he drove, but his thoughts kept returning to what had happened in the hospital cafeteria. He couldn’t believe how irrationally he’d acted. What did it matter to him who Callie dated? But Marty Weaver? He’d never liked the man, even though he knew Dan had been friends with him through the youth center. Dan, who always looked for the best in everyone, had often told him he needed to be more accepting of people he didn’t understand, that it was difficult to know a person until you’d walked in their shoes.
He wondered how Dan would feel knowing that Weaver had seemed unconcerned with the death of a man they’d needed to take into custody yesterday. Seth still hadn’t accepted the fact that the officers outside had shot first instead of trying to disarm him. But then he hadn’t been able to do it inside the bar, so maybe he didn’t need to judge those outside so quickly. That was one thing Dan had always cautioned him about—don’t come to a conclusion until you have all the facts.
His throat closed, and he felt tears sting his eyes. He couldn’t stand to think of Dan in that hospital bed, so still and unresponsive. For years he’d been a role model for Seth, and he didn’t know how he could go on without him. And if Dan died, what would happen to Callie?
She’d made it clear two years ago that their future wasn’t together, but he still cared what happened to her. He wanted her to find someone who’d make her happy. Even if he didn’t like Marty Weaver, it wasn’t up to him to make choices for her about her life.