Chapter 5
When he finally did pull his phone out and give her a ring, she didn’t recognize his voice and his hopes of her waiting were dashed. “Who is this?”
“This is Henri.” He was now wondering why the hell he had called her at all. She did not even remember him.
“Oh, Henri, hey. I was wondering if you were going to call me or not. I figured I wouldn’t hear from you for a while. Don’t guys have rules on that kind of thing?”
“I don’t. I was wondering what you were doing this weekend?”
“Ah, called me for a date in days. Well I guess I like anticipation. Nothing I suppose. What are we doing?”
“I was hoping you would like to come to this little gathering I got to go to. It would be nice if you were there.” Henri couldn’t muster up a better answer. He was flummoxed by her not recognizing his voice. It was the first time that he cared and that bothered him. Henri had learned that caring could get him in trouble. He wanted her to have been waiting for the call, but it just wasn’t the case and he was having a hard time getting past that.
“What kind of gathering? What do you rich people do?”
He sighed. “It’s just a ceremony thing. Fancy dress. Dinner, dancing, that sort of thing. I understand if you don’t want to go.”
“Of course I would like to go.”
He let go of the air that he didn’t realize he was holding. There had been a fear that she was going to refuse. Henri didn’t mention that it was actually his sister’s wedding, but Henri didn’t want to go alone. If he did, he would be set up with a number of ladies from his mother and sister. Beyond that, Henri really just wanted to see her again. He had been thinking about her since she had walked away and now that she had agreed, he was feeling a bit of elation.
After giving her the address and the time, he hung up before he said something stupid and she decided against seeing him. He didn’t want her to change her mind. When she called back, he was afraid to answer, sure that she was going to tell him that she had done that very thing.
“Yeah?”
“Well I was actually going to see if you wanted to do a photo op?”
“Like before?”
She giggled a little and he really liked the sound of that. There was something magical about the way she sounded to him. “No not like before. One of my clients is a writer and now he is doing one on cowboys. He saw the picture I took of you on the plane and he is convinced that you would be perfect for it. I told him that I doubted you would.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know. I guess because you don’t need the money, but I told him that I would at least ask.” She was nervous and talking faster and faster the longer he stayed silent on the other side. Why couldn’t he just say something, she thought to herself?
“That sounds good, Mary. Why don’t you come here on Friday and we can do it then. There is plenty of room at the ranch if you want to just stay the night.”
His suggestions caught her off guard, but it sounded like a good plan. There was nothing more that Mary would like to do. “Sounds good. I will see you in a couple of days.”
“Okay, see you then.” Henri hung up with hope back in his heart and Scott made a comment about the stupid grin on his face when he went back in.
“What the hell are you grinning like an idiot for?”
Henri just shrugged. His brother was the most unromantic of them all and Henri doubted that his brother would understand it if he tried to tell him. Henri didn’t even know if there was an explanation that he had. She was the type of person that drove him crazy and made him wonder why he hadn’t gone to the next level. With Mary, he could see himself going to a level that he hadn’t thought of before.
“Nothing, Scott. You wouldn’t understand.”
He looked at the back of him a bit bewildered. Scott was starting to wonder if everybody around him was going crazy. He blamed it on all of the love in the air. It seemed to be cutting off the oxygen to their brains and everyone had lost their damn mind. If he was honest with himself, he knew that it was their mother’s fault for putting it all in her heads. Shaking his head, Scott went back inside to the impromptu party calming down. Davina and Marcel had already gone home because she was pregnant and ready. Leanna and Gemma were talking about the next new addition to the family as they left and Henri was already upstairs. Scott sighed to himself and called his girlfriend up to see if she wanted to go out.
“Don’t worry Scott. It will be your turn before you know it.”
Scott tried to hide the grimace behind a smile as Elna smiled back at him. She had the same look that Gemma got sometimes when she was deciding what was best for him. Scott nodded and went up the stairs. Why did it sound like a threat?
***
Mary got off the phone and smiled to the empty apartment around her. She had not expected him to call her so quickly and he had agreed so readily to help her. Mary wondered if he wanted something in return or if he just wanted to see her again. She hoped it was the latter. Pushing the small cat from her lap, Mary got up and sighed at the view she had been missing. Prices were high in the city, but at least she got a view.
After her meeting with the author, Mary had gotten some mail that was being held for her and just relaxed. It was later in the evening when Henri had called. It made her think about him as she went to sleep that night. There was something about the cowboy that she really liked. When she heard the ringtone for her ex, she didn’t even bother to answer. He had been what she had thought of before she had met Henri, but now there was only Henri to think about. No one else would compare. Mary was starting to think that it was time for her to try something new as well.
The next morning she got up with the sun and took a couple pictures of the sunrise. It was something that she had done most of the days when she was in town. There was an idea in the back of her head to make it a time lapsed video, but she was still working on the prints. After a shower and breakfast, Mary had an appointment down at the Herald. They had a couple of assignments and Mary was always in need of just one more job. She was always waiting for the moment people realized that photographs were easy to do and she would be out of work for good. It hadn’t happened yet, but Mary still found it hard to turn down a job.
When she finally made it to the paper, she was running a little late from traffic and was feeling a little like just turning around and rescheduling. Mary persisted though, knowing she needed the money. She left her name with Belinda’s secretary that was new and waited to be called back to the office of the person she had always coordinated with. “She will see you now Miss.”
Mary thanked her and followed her back down the familiar hallway. It had been a couple of years that she had first started to freelance for the paper when she was fresh out of college. Mary had seen the Herald as a starting to point, but it had instead become her plateau. Mary was sure that she just needed one big break and she would be flooded with orders. The time just hadn’t come yet.
“Good to see you, Mary.”
Mary nodded at the tall Russian woman that nodded her towards a seat. Belinda was intimidating by any stretch of the imagination. She had a no nonsense way about her and as she looked back at Mary, she swallowed hard. She felt like she was in the Principal’s office and she didn’t know what she was there for. Even when the woman was being nice to her, it didn’t feel that warm.
“Good to see you too, Belinda. I was surprised to hear from you guys so soon.”
“Well we have gotten a lot of good reviews on your pictures and we were hoping that you would like to come on for a more permanent position.”
Mary was a bit stunned. She had not seen it coming and though it would solve a lot of her problems with money, she didn’t like the idea of having a boss again. It had been years since she had had to answer to anyone with her time and effort and her head was shaking no before her brain could really process the question.
Her eye brow shot up. “You don’t want a job with us?”
“It’s not that Belinda. I just have freelanced for a while and though I love the assignments, I don’t want to be weighed down with the obligation.”
She rolled her eyes and muttered something about millennials. Mary didn’t comment either way, but she was sure that the rest of the conversation was not going to go well. “I just have other clients that I couldn’t let go of. I always appreciate the work.”
Mary was trying to smooth things over and it seemed like Belinda was taking it for all it was worth. Belinda smiled back at her, the first time she had seen it in person and she wondered if the woman’s face was going to crack. “Well I wasn’t expecting that answer, but I can see your point. What else are you working on right now?”
She was hesitant to tell her more, but she did tell her about her author client and his new job.
“That sounds like fun. Who are you photographing for the cowboy set –up?”
Mary told her and the older woman’s eyes started to widen. “Henri Callahan? Is that so?”
Belinda’s mind was working and it wouldn’t have been the first time she was trying to get the inside scoop on the Callahan family. They were like royalty in Texas and Belinda had been hearing rumors. “How do you feel about doing an assignment on him for me as well? You should go down there and see what is going on at that ranch. A lot of strange things have been happening there, but no one knows the truth. You could get the truth and help one of our reporters write the story.”
She shook her head as if she had gotten a better idea. “Even better, why don’t I send Carl down to you as like an assistant and he can write the article, all you have to do is bring him with you and he will take care of the rest?”
Mary was a bit thrown off with the idea of spying on anyone, especially a nice guy like Henri. She knew that there were a lot of people that were interested because he made a lot of money, but it had been clear to her how much he just wanted to be left alone. Her mind couldn’t wrap itself around the idea. “No I am sorry, but he is a very private person. I couldn’t do that to him.”
Belinda nodded her head like she understood, but she was already making a plan as to how she was going to get what she wanted. Mary would get her the scoop whether she knew it or not, even if she didn’t want to help her. “You’re right. Don’t worry about it Mary. It was just a thought. When are you going down there?”
Mary gave her the dates and the two women talked about another couple of jobs that were less traitorous. Belinda had a look in her eyes when she had found out who Mary was supposed to be photographing that weekend. Mary didn’t know what it was that she wanted from him, but her eyes had widened with glee. It gave her a bad feeling, but Mary still needed the job and the extra money. Her client list was looking bare and the loss of the Herald would be painful.
She left the woman’s office a little perplexed and wondering what it was that Belinda or the paper was so eager to get out of the Callahan family. There was always a need for new information and scoops that would sell papers. The family didn’t like the spotlight and that just made everyone else want to know more. Henri was the most reclusive of them all, being out of the country for so long. Mary walked towards her car with a bad feeling in her stomach. There was no reason for it. It didn’t make sense, but it was there.