Her Christmas Prince (Love in the Keys) Read Online Free

first.

    “ This
must come as a bit of a shock, but what can I say? When you know,
you just know. And we have Tom to thank for it all, we met right
here at the Happy Clam at this very bar.”

    If
looks could kill, Tom would have been at the bottom of the Atlantic
after Milly's deathly stare. Someone to blame had emerged, she could
see it in her mother's eyes. Her mother needed a bad guy.

    Milly
looked directly at Callie. “Just so I'm clear. What this man
...”

    “ Henry,”
he interjected, trying to be helpful.

    “ ...
what this Henry is saying is that you met him here, at the Happy
Clam. And despite the fact that you were dating a perfectly decent
young man with real prospects, you broke it off with Brian to date
him? A bar fly? Is that about right, Calista?”

    Callie
wished the deck would collapse and swallow her into the ocean. She
had two choices here. Come clean. Or roll with the scenario that
Henry had just conjured up.

    “ Well,
sort of. Yes, that about sums it up.”

    Tom
interjected. “Ma'am, he's not actually a bar fly. He's a
friend of mine. From my military service.” This new
information did not seem to change Milly's expression.

    “ And
when were you planning to tell us we were going to be one guest short
for Christmas? The day of?”

    “ You
aren't short one at all. Mrs. Meyers, it would mean the world to me
if I could spend the holiday with my Callie and her family. If
that's agreeable to you, of course.” The question hung in the
air like a challenge. He had thrown the gauntlet. Would she say yes
and live up to the graciousness a southern lady should show? Or slap
him down ? Callie wouldn't
have bet on it in that moment, it could have gone either way.

    Surprisingly,
it was Jackson, Callie's dad, that answered. Jackson never said much
of anything. Probably because he never got much of a chance. He was
a quiet sort of fellow, and it was likely the reason he and Milly had
stayed married so long. They were, in many ways, total opposites.

    “ That
would be fine, son. Just fine. We look forward to having you. And
to getting to know you a little better. If Tom says you're all
right, that's good enough for me.” He stepped forward and
shook Henry's hand enthusiastically. “Isn't that right, Milly?”

    Callie
turned towards her dad and he looked at her, his face totally neutral. Almost. The only thing
that gave him away was the little twitch in his cheek. He was
enjoying this. It wasn't often that Milly didn't have much to say.
And her husband was loving it.

    Milly,
on the other hand, was not. She had looked Henry up and down, and
from his mop of blonde streaked hair to the bottom of his tanned flip
flopped feet, and she did not seem to like what she saw.

    After
a long silence, Milly put on a forced smile and acquiesced.
“Certainly, dear. We look forward to hosting you, Henry. Any
friend of Calista's is certainly welcome in our home at Christmas if
they've no place else to go.”

    Interesting
point. Why didn't he have somewhere else to be at Christmas? Callie realized she knew absolutely nothing about this
charmer and she'd better get some intel and fast. Tom seemed to know
and like him, she'd start there when she could get him alone. And
she certainly had plenty of questions she planned to ask him herself.
Like what in the sam hill he'd been playing at?

    Henry
definitely gave off a bit of a waster vibe. He had the look of way
too many of the lost souls who came to south Florida, and the Keys in
particular, looking for a solution to an unhappy life and hoping to
find the fun and fortune of a Jimmy Buffett tune. They were
inevitably running from something, and got easily sucked into the
unhealthy tiki bar lifestyle. The locals saw a lot of good people
who just partied themselves out and ended up with no relationships
and no ambition. No doubt the Keys were a fun place to live, but
moderation was essential.

    And
yet, he didn't seem like that, judging by the brief conversation
they'd