Sophia shivered. “When I was a kid, my stepfather locked me in our small attic and forgot I was in there. Or so he said.”
Caleb didn’t react at first. He wasn’t sure if she was kidding, although that would be one messed up joke. One look at her face and he knew she spoke the truth.
“Th-that’s awful,” Caleb said, shocked at her admission. No matter how traumatic his childhood had been due to his parents’ divorce, he had never experienced anything likewhat she’d gone through. He had been well loved and taken care of.
“Sadly, my mother didn’t find me for hours.” She wrinkled her nose. “It was quite traumatic for an eight-year-old, who became afraid of the dark and small spaces as a result.”
Bam!Now his insides were oozing soft, gooey stuff. A few minutes ago he had been certain that this woman was a sharp-tongued ice queen, but now his heart was breaking for the pint-size Sophia. He had the feeling she talked a good game but wasn’t half as tough as she pretended.
Caleb swallowed past the huge lump in his throat. “That would do it,” he said. “Why don’t you try to focus on something other than your past experience? What did you come up here for anyway?”
“An old camera Hattie’s been wanting to give me. It’s around here somewhere. I think she said by the door,” she explained. “I almost forgot about it, what with being locked in and all.”
“Why don’t we poke around a little bit and see if we can find it?” Caleb figured looking for the camera would be a great distraction from her fear of being locked in the attic.
He stood up and began rummaging through some boxes by the door. After a few minutes Sophia joined him. Thankfully, there wasn’t a whole lot of dust up here, and everything seemed to be well organized. He pulled out a few photo albums and tucked them under his arm.
Suddenly, Sophia let out a gasp. “I hit pay dirt. Look at this beauty.”
Her face lit up like sunshine as she took the camera out of its case and held it in her hands. She turned it all around, upside down and sideways, her gaze full of admiration. Her movements were almost sensual as she caressed the camera.
“That definitely looks old-school,” Caleb said, noticing that it was in pristine condition.
Sophia’s eyes were sparkling in a way that made her look even more beautiful than before. He wished he’d been the one to make her glow instead of an old camera in Hattie’s attic.
“It’s a Leica thirty-five-millimeter rangefinder.” She let out a low whistle. “These are hard to find and pretty pricey.” She chewed her lip. “She said it belonged to your grandfather.”
“She must think a lot of you to part with it.” Caleb knew his grandmother had shared a grand love affair with Jack Stone, who had tragically died while mountain climbing. His own father, Red, had witnessed his father’s deadly fall. Being back in Moose Falls had revealed a lot of family secrets he’d never known about. So far, Alaska had been eye opening.
“I-I can’t believe she would give me something so precious.” Sophia ran her hand lovingly over the camera. “And to be honest, I’m not sure I should accept it.”
“Have you met my grandmother?” he asked with a snort. “She’s not the type who handles hearing the word ‘no’ very well.” It was one of the reasons he and his brothers had relocated to Moose Falls. Hattie had sold them on their inheritance, Yukon Cider, and wanting her dying wishes to be upheld. “When I turned eight, Hattie ordered a snow-making machine for my party. My birthday is in June!”
Sophia began to chuckle. He liked seeing her this way, carefree and light. The graceful slope of her neck made her look even more visually appealing. She was one beautiful and complex woman. He had the feeling that if he scratched her surface, there would be so many more facets to Sophia. But the truth was, he wasn’t looking for a relationship, andhe didn’t even know how long he would last in Moose Falls. Four months down and eight more to go in order to comply with the contract they’d signed with their grandmother.
“You’ve got that right,” Sophia said. “Hattie is no joke.”
“If she wants you to have the camera, it’s yours,” Caleb said. “That’s how it works with Hattie. You’re going to have a fight on your hands if you resist.” Caleb chuckled just thinking about Hattie’s feisty nature, and he was grateful she hadn’t lost her lively temperament with her terminal diagnosis. Despite being in renal failure from kidney disease, Hattie was a firecracker.
She shrugged. “I just figured that your dad might want it for sentimental reasons.”
Caleb scoffed. “Doubtful. Red’s not the nostalgic type. Honestly, I wouldn’t know. He was pretty much a ghost in our childhoods.” He let out a brittle laugh. “Not exactly father of the year if you know what I mean.”
“I’m sorry,” Sophia murmured.
“At this point it is what it is,” Caleb said. He wasn’t looking for pity.
Sophia lifted the camera to her lips and placed a kiss on it. “I’m going to treasure it always. I can’t wait to test it out.”
Caleb’s gaze was trained on Sophia’s lush, beautiful lips. It had been a long time since he’d been tempted to kiss a woman. Being burned by Abby and Gillian had done a number on him and his desire to get close to anyone, and this was the longest he’d ever gone without female companionship. He wasn’t here in Moose Falls to establish a romantic connection. Being here was purely a business move to enable him to truly pursue a career in acting. If they sold Yukon Cider, he could use his share to bankroll his life as an aspiring actor in Los Angeles.
He tried to distract himself with something else otherthan Sophia’s lips, but there was nothing up here but boxes and boxes of stuff. A light floral aroma rose to his nostrils. His chest tightened at the feminine scent that hovered in the air.
Was it getting hot in here or what? Or was it Sophia’s close proximity that was heating up the room? Caleb loosened the top few buttons of his long-sleeved dress shirt, then rolled up the sleeves.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Sophia asked with wide eyes.
Caleb smirked. “Don’t worry. I’m not taking my clothes off.” He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “It’s getting a little stuffy in here, isn’t it? I figured that I might as well get comfortable.” He sat down on one of the sturdy containers.
