Caleb didn’t like the idea of bombarding Sophia with calls and texts, but he figured it was better than showing up unannounced at her doorstep. And hashing things out at work wouldn’t be professional. The last thing he wanted was for his colleagues to start talking about them having a falling-out. He let out a ragged sigh. Hattie wouldn’t approve of any workplace drama at Yukon Cider. Maybe he was just being paranoid. For all he knew, Sophia had been tied up with Lily and other responsibilities. Her world didn’t revolve around him.
A last-minute decision to head downtown to pick up lunch turned out to be a wise one. He was able to enjoy the gorgeous scenery along the way. The melting snow hadgiven way to verdant green grass and budding plants and flowers. Signs of spring in Alaska were everywhere. The sun was shining in a perfectly blue sky. When the weather got a bit warmer, he wanted to take Sophia to the falls for a romantic picnic. It had been a special place in his childhood, and the memories were some of the strongest ones he’d held on to from the past.
The downtown area was charming, resembling a quaint Alaskan postcard. All of the shops were brightly colored with decorative signs and awnings. Tea shops, a bookstore, restaurants, and clothing stores. The movie theater was nestled between the library and a candy store. Moose Falls emitted a heartwarming, quaint vibe, the kind of place people sought to settle down in. He stopped in his tracks on the sidewalk, feeling a bit dazed.
What had made him randomly think about settling down in Moose Falls? It wasn’t something that had been on his bucket list before. All he’d ever really aspired to was to pursue an acting career. But his heart was shifting him in a new direction. Who ever said one couldn’t have it all? He didn’t have to limit himself to just being one thing, he realized. Like Hattie always said, the world was his oyster. He was happier than he’d been in years doing the print ads for Yukon Cider and making commercials.
Craving a sandwich, Caleb headed to Sam’s, a shop that had been in Moose Falls since the 1950s. The owner, Sam Parks, had opened the establishment at the tender age of eighteen. With pluck and grit, Sam had turned the sandwich shop into a go-to spot for residents and tourists alike. Sam’s boasted a wide range of offerings, but he specialized in all kinds of salmon sandwiches.
He parked his car out front and made his way inside, taking his place in the line. He wasn’t surprised that the placewas busy, but his heart leaped at the sight of Sophia standing at the front of the line. Caleb would recognize the gentle slope of her neck and the tilt of her head as she studied the menu anywhere. When she turned around and spotted him, her eyes widened in surprise.
She slowly walked over to him, her expression shuttered. Sophia held up her hand and waved at him. “Hi, Caleb. Fancy meeting you here.” She folded her arms across her chest.
He would have greeted her with a kiss, but her body language wasn’t encouraging him to be affectionate. Her shoulders looked rigid with tension. For all intents and purposes, she was putting up a wall.
“Hey, Sophia. I’ve been blowing up your phone. Why haven’t you called me back? Everything okay?” he asked in a low voice. He didn’t need the other customers to overhear their conversation. Before they knew it, their names would be on blast all over town. That’s how small towns worked. This one was no different.
She shrugged. “I had some stuff going on with Lily and my ex that I needed to wade through.” He could see the evidence of strain on her face. Slight shadows rested under her eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked, reaching out and running his thumb across her cheek.
“I’m fine,” she murmured, not making eye contact with him.
He removed his thumb from her cheek, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
“You’re upset with me. I can feel it. This is about the other night, isn’t it?” he asked, gently grabbing her by the hand and pulling her outside.
The temperature outside was a bit brisk, but havingprivacy was worth the chill in the air. Caleb didn’t want anything standing between him and Sophia. He needed to fix the situation right away before things took a turn for the worse. If life had taught him anything at all, it was not to allow issues to fester.
“I apologize for making you feel as if you didn’t matter when Abby and her crew showed up,” Caleb said. “I should have just taken your hand and gotten us out of there. Forgive me. I’m an idiot for not doing that.”
She shoved her hands in her pockets. “Just being there with you and Abby made me feel confused about where things stand between the two of you. It didn’t seem finished.” She shrugged. “Just a feeling I had.” The defeated tone of her voice gutted him.
Caleb vehemently shook his head. “It’s dead and buried. There’s nothing between us,” Caleb answered. “That ended a long time ago.”
“So you’re not still in love with Abby? There’s not some little part of you that wants to be back with her?” He could hear the stress in her voice. Emotion vibrated in every syllable.
“Absolutely not!” Caleb said vehemently. “That’s the furthest thing from the truth.”
“I watched the two of you talking, and it seemed like there was a lot of emotion between you.” She bit her lip. “And feelings. Things got so intense between you that I was an afterthought. You seemed to forget I was even standing there watching the whole thing go down. You have no idea how that made me feel.”
“I’m sorry if our encounter made you feel bad, but I had no idea she was going to travel all the way to Alaska to find me,” he told her. Frankly, he never imagined that he would lay eyes on her again. Nor had he wanted to.
“Did you know she’s still here in Moose Falls?” Sophiaasked. There had been several sightings of Abby and her film crew all over town, a fact that infuriated Caleb. Abby was still an opportunist chasing reality show fame. And now she was messing up his love life.
“I heard that, but it really doesn’t concern me. Abby and I are over. Her coming to Moose Falls wasn’t about me. This was her last-ditch effort to use me for her reality show. There’s no way I’m riding that train again.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” she muttered.
Had Sophia thought for a single second that he’d be down for that type of nonsense? She knew all about his abysmal experience on reality television. Why would he ever agree to put himself through that again? Trying to be patient, Caleb slowly counted to ten in his head.
“Yes, I’ll admit that things got a bit chaotic, especially with the TV crew there, but I never once forgot you were right there with me. Until you did a disappearing act on me.”
“That wasn’t my best moment, Caleb, but… I was uncomfortable. The whole situation made me realize that I have no idea where we stand, the two of us. I don’t even know if you’ll be around six months from now. And whether you are or aren’t is your decision, but I have to protect myself too.”
“Protect yourself?” he asked. “Against me?”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” Sophia said. “It’s not on you, but I need to focus on Lily and not on a relationship that may not be going anywhere.”
