Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
She jumped on his lap and then onto the table to see if she could also get some of his food.
He felt a little better with each bite, and he found himself starting to tell his whole sad story to the kitten. When he’d told her he thought he was in love with Rhys, but he didn’t know if they had any chance of being together, she rubbed her little face against his arm like she was trying to comfort him. Then she fell asleep right there next to his plate.
He watched her for several minutes before cleaning up. Before he went back down to the shop, he made sure his chair was positioned where Mallow could jump to it and then to the floor. She wasn’t quite ready for the full table-to-floor jump yet, but he knew she would be before long.
Caleb returned to the shop for the rest of the afternoon, needing to distract himself with work. But once all his closing chores were done and he headed back upstairs, his mantra of “Everything is going to be okay” had long since stopped working.
Nothing about the situation with Rhys was okay, and he had no idea if it ever would be. He’d was rehashing everything he and Rhys had said the night before while pretending to watch a show when he got a request for a video call with his sister.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as soon as he’d said hello.
He wanted to tell her everything was fine. He didn’t want to worry her, but he couldn’t hold up his easygoing front, not after the night he’d had. “I’m fucking miserable.”
“Oh my God, what happened? Is Mallow okay?” He’d texted Kate as soon as he’d taken Mallow to the vet because he knew she’d understand how much it meant to him to find a stray that he could keep.
“Yes, she’s fine. She’s right here.” He turned the phone to show Kate that Mallow was curled up and sleeping at the end of the bed.
“She’s so adorable. I can’t wait for a chance to pet her, but back to you. What’s going on?”
He sighed. Where did he even begin? “So… um… things have developed between me and Rhys.”
“Developed like you’re working on a drink or like you’re sleeping together?”
“Both, actually.”
“And?”
He didn’t want to talk about either one, but Kate deserved to know what was going on, and she usually gave good advice. “So you know I was hesitant because this is such a small town, and we both own businesses.”
“Yes, but I told you to take the risk anyway.”
“So I did. Rhys changed his mind about working together, and after a few nights, things happened.”
“You jumped him?”
He glared at her. “He kissed me.”
“So where does that leave things, and why are you miserable?”
“He wanted us to keep things secret, even the fact that we’re working together, so we wouldn’t be the center of town gossip.”
Kate narrowed her eyes. “I don’t like that. Is he ashamed of being with you?”
Caleb shook his head. “No, it’s not like that. Everyone here knows him, and anything that happens between us is going to be under a microscope. It’s not like dating in Boston.”
“I still don’t like it.”
Caleb both loved and hated how defensive Kate was of him. “He was scared, and so was I.”
“All right. Keep talking.”
“I really like him. I… I think I’m in love with him.”
“But you haven’t told him that?”
Caleb reached out to pet Mallow. “No, we’ve only talked a little about where this is going.”
“So everything is still a secret?”
“Not completely. He told our friends we were working together on our drink last night. We were at a birthday party for Jonah. He’s the one who owns the bookstore.”
She nodded. “I remember.”
“About half the town was there, so that information spread fast, and a few people said things to us insinuating we were closer than business partners.”
“Just because you’re working together?”
Caleb sighed. “This town will gossip about anything.”
“Who are these people?”
“The mayor’s assistant, Rhys’s second-grade teacher, and one of the regulars at Frost + Foam.”
“Tell me you’re joking.”
He laughed, even though it didn’t really feel funny. “I wish I was.”
“I told you to stay in the city.”
“Kate, I love it here.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know, and I’m happy for you, as long as the people there are treating you right.”
“No one’s done anything wrong, but Rhys was freaked-out by the things they said, so we took a break from working together. I missed him, so I went to his shop last night. We worked on our drinks, and things were going really well. We were both really excited about finally having a truly viable entry, and he kissed me and—”
“Oh my God, right there in the shop?”
“Yes, but we did move into the back, so I thought we were fine, but Tessa came in. Rhys forgot to lock the door, so she caught us. It really shouldn’t be a big deal. I’m pretty sure she knew anyway or strongly suspected, but Rhys ran out of there, and I haven’t talked to him since then. He told me to just enter our drink as my own, but I can’t do that.”