Trail of Secrets(57)
Callie shook her head. “That’s all right. I feel like I’ve monopolized your time since I’ve been here, and you haven’t gotten to do anything with your friends. If you want to go out tonight, don’t worry about me. I have a lot of work to do, and I can find something to eat. Your mother keeps a well-stocked refrigerator.”
He tilted his head to one side and stared down into his cup. “There is something I’d like to do with my friends tonight, but they’ve asked you to come along, too.”
Her eyebrows arched. “Really? What is it?”
“Brad called. He and Laura are having a few friends in for a cookout, and he’s asked us to come.”
“That’s so nice of him. He told me the other day he’d like for us to get together, but I thought he was just being polite.”
“Where did you see him?”
“He stopped and talked to me when I was waiting for you outside Abby Dalton’s office. He said his wife has been checking on my uncle.”
Seth nodded. “Laura works at the hospital counseling families who have experienced violent crimes. They have a little boy who’s the cutest kid I’ve ever seen. Alex and Grace Crowne are going to be there, too.”
Callie’s brow wrinkled. “So these are your partners in the Cold Case Unit?”
“Yeah, and the two best friends I’ve ever had. They’re great guys, and I think you’d really like their wives. Alex’s wife, Grace, is the anchor on the news for WKIZ-TV.”
“Oh, I’ve seen her on TV several times since I’ve been here, but I didn’t realize that she was your partner’s wife.”
He put his spoon down and leaned closer. “So how about it? Would you go to a cookout with my friends?”
She’d promised herself she wouldn’t involve herself in Seth’s life any more than she already had. So the smart thing to do would be to say no.
She opened her mouth to say so, but the hopeful look on his face pierced her heart. He had done everything he could to help her and her uncle since she’d arrived in Memphis. The least she could do was go to a cookout with his friends. After all, it was only this once. She probably would never see any of them again.
She smiled. “All right. I’ll go.”
He exhaled and grinned. “Good. I’ll call Brad and tell him we’ll be there. They said come about seven. Is that okay with you?”
“Seven is fine.” She pushed back from the table and rose. “I think I’ll go upstairs and pick out an outfit. Then I need to do some work on my fall classes. What time do we need to leave?”
“It takes about thirty minutes to drive to Brad and Laura’s. Six-thirty okay with you?”
“It is. I’ll see you then.”
Callie turned and headed out of the kitchen. As she climbed the stairs to her bedroom, she shook her head in despair. If she had accepted Seth’s proposal two years ago, she might very well be friends with both Laura and Grace. But she hadn’t, and now she was going to spend the evening with them with the stigma of being the woman who’d broke Seth’s heart hanging over her.
She shouldn’t have accepted this invitation. The last thing she needed was to be around two couples who she imagined were very much in love and who blamed her for Seth not getting on with his life. Then there was Brad and Laura’s child. Seth said he was the cutest kid he’d ever seen, and Brad had said the little boy adored Seth.