Real Love
Copyright© 2025 by DB86
Chapter 7
“We could stop at the mall for food,” Callie suggested, her tone now wheedling. “There is a KFC on the way home. It would only take a couple of minutes and we can eat it out on the veranda. I’m sure Grace would enjoy that almost as much.”
“You are impossible,” Anderson muttered, under his breath with frustration.
He usually had no problem saying no. But Callie was a different matter. She saw ‘no’ as a challenge, and when she put her mind to it, she could be a real pain.
Rather than say no, he tried to reason. “Are you sure you want junk food, Callie? Your sister-in-law is pregnant, and she should be eating healthier. She has the baby to think of.”
“Chicken is relatively healthy, certainly healthier than a burger, and that way Grace won’t have to cook.”
“My sister has a point there,” Landon opined.
The last part was the nail in the coffin of Anderson’s resistance. Callie was injured and still recovering, and Grace was pregnant and had been complaining of swollen feet.
Neither woman should be on her feet working in a kitchen. As for him, he didn’t know a damned thing about cooking. It made stopping for dinner the logical solution.
Anderson liked logic.
“Very well. We’ll stop for takeout at KFC,” he said, and was rewarded with a smile from Callie. She winked at his brother.
When she smiled, he felt his own lips crack into a crooked smile in response, and then he quickly turned forward again.
“The food smells good,” Grace said, as Callie set the bags of food on the kitchen table.
“I thought we could eat on the veranda,” Callie suggested, cheerfully.
“Oh, that sounds nice.” Grace clapped and followed Callie toward the back of the house with the Scout and Peaches trailing her.
Anderson and Landon followed both women. While they headed out onto the veranda, Landon stopped in the kitchen to fill one of the dogs’ dishes with water and the other with food before joining them.
“Oh, that was nice of you. Thank you,” Grace said. Grimacing, she added, “I should have thought of it myself.”
“You were carrying the human food,” Landon said, kissing his wife as he set the dishes on the edge of the covered veranda.
Straightening, he glanced at Grace, who was setting out the containers on the patio table. “I’ll get drinks. What would you ladies like?”
“Orange juice for me,” Grace said, picking up the second bag of food containing the two meals she hadn’t set out. “Just a glass or I’ll pee all night.”
“We should invite Dylan,” Callie suggested. “Where is he?”
“He is probably inside the RV checking the pictures he took at Panoramic Point,” Grace explained. “We had a great time. He is a very nice guy.”
“I’ll do that,” Callie offered, and hurried to the RV.
She knocked on the door and asked, “Dylan, may I come in?”
“Sure, it’s open,” a voice answered from inside.
Dylan was reviewing the pictures he had taken, on his laptop. Callie placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned down to take a closer look.
“Wow! These pictures are great. I’ve been at Panoramic Point many times and it never looked so beautiful. You are a very talented photographer, Dylan.”
“Thank you, Callie, you flatter me. Panoramic Point is a breathtaking place, I just had to point and click. Having a great camera helps, of course. If I manage to sell my photos it will put Middletown on the map.” He turned his head and looked into her beautiful green eyes. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Callie?”
“I came to invite you to have dinner with us: Landon, Grace, and Anderson.”
“Anderson eats? I thought cyborgs didn’t need food,” Dylan joked.
Callie didn’t laugh. For some reason, she wanted to defend the FBI man. “He takes his job seriously, but he isn’t a bad guy once you get to know him. He is actually caring and concerned.”
“Excuse me?” Dylan asked, sounding surprised. “Caring and concerned, did you say? Are we talking about the same person?”
“He can be caring and concerned in his own way,” Callie said firmly, crossing her arms. “He tends toward grumpiness, but I suspect it is just a shield, a way to keep others from getting too close. He is risking his life to keep me safe. I’m not making his job easy, but he doesn’t complain.”
She made a pause to gather her thoughts and then continued.
“He always has his guard up, and to keep people at arm’s length. It makes me wonder why he feels he needs a shield to keep people at a distance.”
When Dylan spoke, he did it in a very quiet voice. “Callie ... Anderson is not a character from one of the love stories you read. I think you might be idealizing him.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You are projecting on him what you want him to be. You have pinned all of the attributes you want in a man onto him,” Dylan explained. “You barely know him.”
“I think you’re just jealous that I might be interested in him and not you.”
Dylan showed her his palms. “I’m just pointing out that you can’t love someone you don’t know. You don’t even know his first name unless it’s ‘agent’.”
Callie didn’t find Dylan’s joke amusing. She opened her mouth as if to continue the argument, but then let out a sigh and shook her head wearily.
“Well, you know nothing about me if you think I’m a dreamer living in fantasy land. Dreaming about love it’s not an escape from reality, it’s comforting. No matter how shitty your situation is, love can change your life for the best.”
Dylan ran his hands through his hair as if his head hurt, before muttering, “In the real world, half of those relationships will end in divorce, and seventy percent will cheat on their partners. How does love win in the end?”
Callie wagged a finger at Dylan. “I’m not naïve. I’m aware relationships are complicated, for sure. I give you that. But love? Love is a fragile bud that needs constant care.”
“Sounds like a Hallmark card,” Dylan scoffed.
“Maybe,” Callie countered, “but it’s true. Love takes work. Even more work to keep it alive. People get caught up in careers, success, chasing that next big thing ... They forget what truly matters. A fancy house is just bricks and mortar without love. It’s the love that fills it, that makes it a home. We weren’t rich growing up, not by a long shot, but our house overflowed with love. I saw it between my parents every day, the kind of love that endures. That’s what I’ve always wanted.”
Dylan stared out the window, a flicker of longing crossing his features. “Maybe...” he trailed off, his voice laced with uncertainty, “maybe you’re right. You know,” he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “I had that kind of love with my fiancée. I’m not sure I’ll ever find it again.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not a millionaire or a prince,” he said, with a sad smile.
Callie looked at him wondering what Dylan meant.
“Or an FBI agent, for the matter,” he added in a whisper. “Thanks for the invitation, Callie, but I’ll pass on the dinner. I still must edit these pictures and see if I can sell them.”
“Sorry for disturbing you,” she said and rushed to the RV door.
As soon as Callie left the vehicle, Dylan closed the window with the photos he had taken revealing the desktop.
The wallpaper was a picture of Billie and Dylan. She was bald, but even so, she was smiling bravely to the camera.
“Or maybe, because true love is something that happens just once in a lifetime,” he muttered, caressing the screen with the tip of his fingers. “Maybe, she is not the one, Billie.”
Almost immediately, Dylan heard the voice of his fiancée in his mind.
“Promise me, Dylan.”
“You know I can’t promise you anything like this! We’re going to beat this! You’re going to get well.”
The expression on Billie’s face was serious. “We both know that’s not true, love. I don’t want you to live the rest of your life alone. Promise me you’ll open yourself to a new love when it comes knocking at your door.”
Dylan was already shaking his head. “No, I won’t because it means I’m giving up on you, and I’ll never do that.”
Billie’s voice was now soft, “Promise me you’ll try, at least.”
“Why, Billie?”
“Because I love you, silly man. I want you to be happy and live that life I’ll never get to live,” Billie was openly crying now.
Dylan’s vision blurred as tears filled his eyes. He touched the screen again, and whispered, “I promise, Billie.”
“Is Dylan joining us?” Grace asked Callie, when she returned.
Callie stared at her and shook his head. “I don’t think so. He is busy editing the photos he took.”
Grace frowned, but said nothing.
“Come. We should best eat before the food cools,” Landon said.
Scout ran into the woods followed by Peaches.
“Will the dogs be all right out there?” Anderson asked, with concern.
.
“Yes. Scout won’t run off or anything. He stays close. He’ll probably come looking for me after a while,” Landon assured him. “Peaches always follow Scout.”
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