When We Found Home by Susan Mallery

Author:Susan Mallery [Mallery, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2018-04-19T19:18:21+00:00

chapter seventeen

By the time they reached the restaurant for dinner, Callie still hadn’t thrown up. She considered that a good sign and hoped the trend would continue.

Santiago had shown up right on time, looking handsome and just a little dangerous in black jeans and a black shirt. He’d escorted her to a sleek dark blue Mercedes convertible and they’d driven to a quiet neighborhood Italian restaurant. The decor was simple, the menu limited but he’d promised everything was delicious.

They’d each ordered a glass of wine and put the menus aside to peruse later. Callie looked around at the other patrons, all normal-looking people, laughing and talking.

“This is nice,” she said, trying to remember the last time she’d eaten in a restaurant where one sat down to order, then telling herself no good came from going there.

“The food is great. Malcolm and I discovered it when we were in college. We’re about three miles from the U.”

“The U?”

He grinned. “University of Washington. We call it the U, or U Dub. As in W. The area around the university is the U District.”

“I’m still finding my way around. You stayed here after college. You didn’t go back to where you grew up?”

“No. While I was in college, my mom lost her job. Malcolm helped her find work at his company. Luis, my youngest brother came with her. Paulo, the middle one, stayed in Yakima to finish high school.” He made a face. “Unsupervised, he got his girlfriend pregnant and they both showed up here in June of that year.”

“Yikes. That must have been a shock, but it worked out, didn’t it? She’s the one who’s about to graduate as a registered nurse, isn’t she?”

“That’s her. Have you met Paulo yet?”

“I don’t think so.” She smiled. “I’ve told you before—I don’t hang out with you management types.”

He reached across the table and took one of her hands in his. “Yet here we are.”

His touch was gentle and warm. When he moved his fingers across the back of her hand, she felt little jolts moving up her arm.

“I’m still not sure how I got here,” she admitted.

He leaned close and lowered his voice. “We drove.”

She laughed. “Thank you for clarifying.”

“Anytime.”

“Does your mom still work for the company?”

He shook his head. “She went to college herself and now manages a doctor’s office.”

Callie heard the pride in his voice. And the love. “Your family sounds wonderful.”

“I like ’em. Now what about you? You never met your father, right?”

“No. I knew nothing about him at all. My mom said they went out for a while and when she told him she was pregnant, he disappeared. Every now and then he sent money, but not often.” She thought about how her mother had worked so hard for the two of them.

“She never dated much that I knew about and never married. I don’t know if that’s because he broke her heart or she thought men weren’t worth the trouble. We always had each other.”

“What were you like as a kid?”

“Pretty normal.

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