Page 70 of Goode Tidings

"Unbelievably weird." He comes out from behind the table and walks over to us. His flattened palm hovers an inch above her back, but he doesn't lower it.

"You can touch her. You won't hurt her."

Gently, he lowers his hand. His arm moves with my motion, while the rest of him remains stationary. "Most of my palm covers her back." He sounds amazed, and it's the sweetest thing. "She has ruffles on her bottom."

I peek down, and sure enough, there are rows of ruffles on the bulky diapered behind of her maroon leggings.

"She's awfully cute," I say. "Too bad her name is Essex."

Callum barks out a laugh, and the baby startles. "I've always felt bad for people with the last name Sexton, but this is worse. Did they not realize their daughter's first name has the word 'sex' in it?"

"I'm not sure how it escaped attention." Essex kicks and rocks in my arms, suddenly more interested in her surroundings than the pain in her mouth.

"Excuse me?"

Callum and I turn. It's the older women who've been playing with the puppies while Callum navigates what has to be one of the most awkward run-ins of all time.

"I think this one needs to come home with me." The woman with pumpkin pie dangling from her ears has the yellow puppy curled on her pillowy chest.

"Sounds great." I nod. The puppy looks so peaceful with its eyes closed. "We'll get Marie Claire down here to take care of everything. These are her puppies. We're just her minions for the day."

Callum steps away to call Marie Claire.

"Good thing you showed up when you did," the woman says. "My sister was trying to play matchmaker with her daughter and your boyfriend."

"I'm a lucky woman," I say with a wink. Poor Callum. No More Sad Man Hermit has turned into Throw Callum Into The Deep End. Today has been a lot for him.

Callum comes back, Marie Claire in tow. "She was on her way to check on us," he explains. He introduces the women, and Marie Claire asks him to help her get a kennel from her truck.

Hailey and Todd return while Callum is still gone, and I hand Essex over to her dad. He looks comfortable holding her, so that's good.

Hailey applies the medicine to Essex's mouth, then drops a kiss on her daughter's cheek.

She straightens. Gives me an odd look. Kind of like an appraisal.

"Do I measure up?" I ask, and she blinks in surprise. I mean, come on. We both know that's what she was doing.

"I'm sorry. My manners are with my lost hours of sleep." Her cheeks are the slightest pink. "I'm surprised, that's all. You're not his type. But that's not a bad thing," she rushes to say.

Ok, so Hailey doesn't like seeing Callum with someone else. Even though she did something awful to him (with his best friend, no less), she doesn't want to see that he's moved on. It's not the first time a woman has done what she's done, or felt the way she's feeling. Doesn't mean I have to be ok with it.

"Perhaps Callum thought it was time to date someone different, on the off chance his 'type' has a predilection for making horrible and hurtful choices." I say it nicely. I even smile. But it lands. Her eyes fill with tears. I wasn't intending to make her cry; the guilt she obviously feels over what she and Todd did is what's calling up her tears.

"Hey," Callum says, picking either the worst or the best time to rejoin us. He clocks Hailey's glassy eyes and looks at me. I shrug.

Todd finally does something worthwhile. He steps up to Callum, offers a hand, and says, "We're going to the pumpkin patch to get pictures of Essex while we drink cider in the cool air like we drove all this way to do. It was good to see you, Cal. You look happy. Sometime, if you're up for it, we can talk. Or not. Your call. My number hasn't changed." He turns to me. "Eden, it was nice to meet you. I'm thankful Callum has you." He glances at Hailey before looking at me again. "My wife and I aren't bad people, but we did a bad thing."

And then they're gone, offering final waves. Todd holds Essex, and Hailey pushes the empty stroller.

I turn to Callum, the question of are you ok? poised on my tongue, but I don't get to ask it. He pulls me in, tenderly folding his arms around me. His big hand holds the back of my head, cradling it. My surprise wears off quickly, and I wrap my arms around his body. Snuggle my face into the front of his shirt. He is warm and cozy, and he smells like a wood cabin and a roaring fire. I want to keep my nose here forever.

"Thank you," he says, his deep voice trickling over me. He releases me, stepping back. He doesn't go far. I don't think he wants to.

"It was nothing," I assure him. Certainly not a hardship, pretending Callum and I were together. The words, the touches, they appeared effortlessly. It gave me an excuse to touch him. It gave him an opportunity to be touched.

Callum doesn’t answer right away. He looks at me for a second too long, like he’s deciding something, then steps closer.

His hand comes up slowly, giving me every chance to pull away, but I don’t. Two fingers slip under my chin.