Free The Widow's Friend by Dave Stone, Callii Wilson Page A

woman certainly was attractive. I filtered through the crowd and pretended
to peruse Callii’s merchandise, but the merchandise I was interested in was not
a little doll on the shelf in front of me, but a living doll—the one that was
standing within ten feet of me.
    Yikes, her only customer had just wandered away. Now it was
just the two of us. I pretended to shop. She walked towards me.
    “Are you who I think you are?” she asked quietly.
    “I think I’m who you think I am,” I said, finally looking up
at her. She smiled, and then she reached out a hand. She gripped my shoulder
and gave me half a hug. I drew her in and hugged her fully. This mild show of
affection surprised even me, but I was glad to embrace this old friend who had
been so fun to talk to over these last few months.
    “I wasn’t sure it was you,” I said. “It could have been your
sister.”
    “Oh yes, my older sister,” she said with a laugh, and her
humor was genuine.
    And then we talked. It was awkward at first, but after a few
minutes we loosened up and the words flowed freely. She laughed several times
during the course of the conversation, and her laughter was a song to my ears.
Her conversation was as clever and funny as it was in her e-mails. I was glad
that I’d come, and I wanted to stay and visit awhile.
    I put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. I
gazed over her head.
    “See there,” I said. “I am taller than you. I can see over
the top to the other side.”
    She didn’t answer but I could feel the softness of her
shoulder and I could smell the perfume of her hair. And then I let her go.
    A customer interrupted us, so I stood back and watched from
a ways away. Callii was lovely, just like the picture on my laptop. Her attire
was a little on the wild side, with leather boots and jangly jewelry and such.
It showed that she had a tinge of free spirit in her, and that seemed about
right too.
    The customer finally bought something and wandered off, so I
migrated over to the counter and we talked again. I made some off the cuff
comment and she giggled, then she reached out her hand and touched my arm. This
minor gesture sent a thrill through my entire being, because I knew that it
meant something. It was a positive signal and I would think of it all the way
home.
    “You look great,” I said flatly. She gazed at me with vacant
eyes. I didn’t flinch. She smiled faintly.
    We talked a little longer and then we said goodbye. I backed
off and then turned and walked away, but then I turned back and looked one more
time. She was with a customer and too busy to notice. I gazed a little longer
before stepping back and turning away again. I had to get home but I was glad
that I’d come, and I hoped that she’d been glad too. It was obvious now that
Callii was everything that I’d hoped she would be, but I was nervous of how she
might have perceived me.
    She was lovely. I had hugged her, and she had reached out
and touched me. I thought about her all the way home, but I was nervous this
would make things just that much more evocative. Be careful grandpa, I thought
to myself. After all, it was all too very true that I was still a married man.

Chapter 18

 
    “Expo”

 
 
    I was exhausted. I had been making baby dolls for the last
several weeks, and now here I was at the craft fair—finally. The dolls were
selling briskly, that was the good part, but I was worried about my sister and
I was worried about the new baby. I was also worried about my son and his
marital problems. All these things were coming at me from every which
direction, and sometimes I didn’t know which way to turn.
    It was late in the day, maybe five o’clock, and I was
waiting for this one to be over. I could use a good night’s rest.
    Kaching! One more customer had been waited on. Kaching, and
then another. My stomach growled. In all the turmoil I’d forgotten to eat
lunch, and that made getting through the day even all that much harder.
    And