“Hey, bud.”
He tried to jump up and lick her face, tongue flopping everywhere, and she ducked, still smiling.
“Mia.”
Caleb held up his hand. “Heel.” Ranger paused, then grudgingly obeyed.
Caleb stopped a few feet away. “I’m sorry. I was in a no-cell zone and just got your messages.”
Relief hit first. Then guilt rushed in behind it.
“I wanted to apologize,” Mia said quickly. “For Saturday. I was abrupt. Everything was going wrong, and I took it out on you.”
Caleb studied her for a long second, like he was deciding something. Then nodded. “I figured you were under a lot of pressure.”
She swallowed hard. “That doesn’t make it okay.”
“No,” he said gently. “But it makes it understandable.”
That almost undid her.
Ranger sat between them, tail thumping, watching them as if he were tracking a tennis match.
Mia reached down and rested her hand on his head. “I should’ve made time,” she said. “I didn’t, and I’m sorry.”
Caleb nodded slowly. “Thank you for saying that.”
They stood in silence for a few seconds, then Caleb cleared his throat. “This isn’t just about the barn.” He took a deep breath. “We’ve been skirting around each other for a while. I don’t mind waiting. I just need to know if I’m misreading things.”
Her breath caught. Was he saying what she thought he was? “You aren’t.”
The space between them teemed with an energy she couldn’t name. Like a line had been crossed and going forward, there was no pretending otherwise.
“I should let you get back to work,” he said after a beat. “But I was hoping we could talk later this afternoon.”
“I’d like that,” she said without hesitation.
He nodded once more, then stepped back. No rush. No pressure.
But as he turned away, their eyes held just a second longer than necessary.
The kind of pause that promised more. Just not yet.
Caleb madeit about five steps before he felt it. The pull. The urge to turn back, close the distance, see if she’d meet him halfway.
He didn’t.
Not because he didn’t want to. Because he did.
Too much so.
He wanted her when she was steady. Not wrung out over decisions or apologies. He wanted her to choose him clear-eyed and present in the moment.
So he kept walking.
Behind him, Ranger gave a little huff. Caleb glanced back. Mia stood where he’d left her, hand resting on the dog’s head, watching him go.
Good.
