Ollie:Peanut and Butter wanted to say hi.
She clicked on the attached video clip and laughed out loud at the sight of the two dogs waving their paws at the camera.Butter barked and Peanut came to sniff the phone before Ollie said, "Hey, she doesn't need to see up your snoot."
His face appeared briefly, and he grinned."I won't keep you.We just wanted to say hi."
With that, the clip ended.She tapped out a reply.
Callie:Say hi back to them for me.It's good to see you — all three of you.Sorry it's taken me a while to answer.I've been out in the cabin working.Are you flying tomorrow?
She hesitated, then added:
Callie:I'll give you a call tomorrow evening, if you like.
She hit send, not expecting to hear back from him, but he replied almost immediately.
Ollie:Hope you enjoyed yourself.I want to say don't work too late, but I know part of the beauty of it is that you can make your own hours and do as you please.So I'll just say hope you enjoyed yourself.And yeah, we're flying Bentley to a meeting in Phoenix tomorrow, but we should be back by six or seven at the latest.Want me to call you or text when I'm done?
Callie: Sure, let me know when you're free and I'll give you a call.How are you doing?
Ollie:Counting down the days until our date.
Callie:Only a couple more to go.I keep watching the weather.I'm hoping it'll be nice.
Ollie:We'll have a great day no matter what the weather does.
She smiled at that.
Callie:I should let you go if you're flying in the morning.
Ollie:Yeah, I should sleep.Not sure if I should admit that I'm already in bed and had my phone under the pillow in case you answered.
She grinned.
Callie:Are you the sweetest guy ever, or are you teasing me?
Ollie:Neither.Just being honest.Even if I do make a fool of myself, I figure that's the best way to go.
Callie:Well, I appreciate it.I'll talk to you tomorrow.Get some sleep.Good night.
Ollie:Good night, Lady Sunshine.
She closed up the cabin and walked back to the cottage.Moonlight filtered down through the trees, and the ferns seemed to sparkle.She chuckled.Then again, they probablyweresparkling — Zia had sprinkled enough glitter around out here.
She planned to get in touch with Alara tomorrow and see how they were doing.She'd texted a couple of times to say that they were okay, but Callie wanted to talk to her.
Back inside the cottage, she flopped down on the sofa and pulled up Becca's message.
Becca:How are you doing?I wanted to let you know that Jacob's meetings next week are on Wednesday and Thursday.Do you want to come visit?Or I could come to you if that's better.
Callie made a face.Wednesday was the day she and Ollie had their date planned.She'd never been the kind of girl who dropped her girlfriends for a guy, but...
She stared at the screen.If she were to ask Ollie to bring her back with him, she could go to Becca's and spend Wednesday evening and Thursday with her.
She worried at her bottom lip, undecided.If she did that, she'd either have to ask him to bring her home again or make her own way.
She set her phone back down.Becca wouldn't be expecting a reply at this time of night anyway.
~ ~ ~
