My brother snickers at this, but lets it pass without comment.
“You’ll probably be the only man there,” she warns.
I shrug. “I’m used to that.”
“We need to be there in half an hour.”
“I’ll be right back with coffee.”
Though she doesn’t know it, Callie is doing us a favor, and I’d be getting coffee for anyone in her position. I’m not doing it because I find her attractive and want to win favor with her. At least, that’s what I tell myself.
When I reach the lobby, I find out this errand has other benefits.
“He’s in line for coffee,” I text Max.
His response comes immediately. “Keep him busy.”
And I do.
“I’m so sorry about my aunt last night.” Callie and I are on the way down to the lawn for yoga. I’m carrying two mats she brought from home, and she’s carrying two towels.
“It was fine.”
“I had no idea she had a side like that to her.”
“Alcohol has a strange effect on some people.”
“I wonder if she’ll even remember any of it.” The look on Callie’s face tells me exactly what she’s remembering, though I get the sense that, like me, she’s trying not to remember. She felt it too; I know she did—and that makes things worse.
I change the subject. “It’s a shame you have to work while you’re here enjoying time off.”
“You mean lead the yoga session?” When I nod, she says, “I don’t consider this work. Getting up at the crack of dawn to go to the health club isn’t my favorite thing, and three classes in a row can be a lot, depending on how much I demonstrate, but I’d be doing yoga even if it wasn’t my job.”
“That’s good. That’s the best kind of job to have.”
“What about you?” I prepare for questions about my job, but instead she asks, “What has you so devoted to yoga?”
My primary answer has everything to do with how her ass looks in those yoga pants, so I give her the secondary reason. “I’m working on my flexibility.”
“I’ve seen some improvement, but you have a long road ahead of you,” she teases.
“That’s only because all this muscle makes it harder to stretch.”
I’m anticipating a smartass comeback, the kind I often hear from her when Max says boastful things like this, but instead, her cheeks turn pink, and she makes a show of resituating the towels she’s carrying.
“Are you expecting many people this morning?”
She doesn’t meet my eyes as she responds. “Probably not many. Sadie, for sure, and her other bridesmaids. Maybe a few cousins.”
“Not too many people to embarrass myself in front of, if I happen to fall over.”
This finally pulls a smile out of her, and my chest swells at the accomplishment.
We’re the first to arrive, and after setting Callie’s mats down, I offer to go to the resort’s health club to bring out more mats. Callie said they told her she could use them for her class.
When I return to the lawn, Sadie’s there, along with three or four other women. To my surprise, Callie’s Aunt Iris is also there.
“Can you believe it?” Callie whispers when I deliver the mats. “She said she has a headache, but otherwise feels fine.”
