Page 10 of Flights and Sights

“Why would she think it’s a good idea to date Jacob, of all people?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know the whole story. I wish I did. I just didn’t want you to be blindsided in front of the family.”

I nodded slowly. “Thanks for telling me.”

We kept walking, silently for a while, before Charlie spoke again. “You going to be okay?”

I nodded, uninterested in continuing to talk about Jacob and Angie and the panic rising inside of me. Instead, I changed the subject.

“Have you been to that mead place just outside of town? Celestial Cask?”

“No, why?”

Because I can’t stop thinking about the owner. I chose not to say that part out loud. “Just curious. I stopped by there on my way in.”

“Today?”

I nodded and hummed. “I was kind of dragging my feet on getting here, so I swung by and took some notes for the next piece I’m working on.”

“Was it any good? I don’t think I’ve ever had mead, come to think of it.”

“Yeah. It was… charming. The owner showed me around a little. I’ll definitely go back.”

Charlie glanced at his phone briefly. “Speaking of going back, we should probably head back to the house. It’s almost dinnertime and they’ll all be texting us soon to make sure we’re not dead in a ditch or something.”

I laughed uneasily, knowing exactly how true it was, but also reluctant to head back. I needed to process the whole Jacob thing. Instead, as we turned around and headed back to my parents’ rental, my mind wandered back to Paxton. His calming voice and warm hand on the plane, his easy smile, the scent of honey and wood smoke on his skin, the way my heart had leaped into my throat as he’d leaned in to kiss me.

Had it been a fluke or was he really interested? There was only one way to find out, and I promised myself I’d head back to the meadery just as soon as I had the chance to see if I could get some answers.

Chapter 5 - Paxton

“What the hell was that about?” Tommy asked as he locked up after the last customer left later that night.

I frowned as I closed out the day on the register. “What was what about?”

“You know what. That guy. What was his name?”

That guy. My stomach did a somersault. Callum. “What guy?” I asked innocently. Tommy narrowed his eyes at me and I held up my hands. “Fine, fine. Callum. Cal. I told you, he was here to get a tour. He’s writing something for Connection Monthly and wanted to interview me for the piece.”

“Right.” His tone was thick with skepticism.

“What?”

“All I’m saying is it seemed like you weren’t just showing him around when I walked in.”

“Nothing happened. He’s just interviewing me.”

“Whatever you say. He’s kind of hot. You should go for it.”

“Tommy…”

“Just saying.” He shrugged and headed into the back, returning with a mop and bucket.

His words rolled around in my mind the rest of the night as we cleaned up. You should go for it, he’d said. He’s kind of hot. He wasn’t wrong. And there had been an undeniable spark between us. Cal had said he was okay with it when I’d almost kissed him. It occurred to me belatedly that I should have confirmed he was at least bisexual before I’d tried, but he hadn’t protested, had seemed into it. I sighed softly.

It had been a long time—too long—since I’d dated anyone. Celestial Cask took up most of my time and between working and traveling, I didn’t have much time for dating. But Cal was going to be in town for a whole month. It didn’t need to be anything serious. Maybe just a little summer fling or something. A month.

I went home that night still thinking about Callum, and when I got up the next morning, my first thoughts were wondering when he’d stop by the meadery again. By the time I got back to the shop that day, I’d run through damn near every scenario in my mind—seeing Callum today, every day, not at all, not until he was about to leave. I’d parsed through all the possibilities and realized I deeply regretted not getting his number. I’d given him mine and I could only hope he’d reach out.