The coffee scalded my tongue. I welcomed it.
Sharon set the folders on the counter with deliberate precision. “Want to tell me what's going on?”
“Nothing's going on.”
“Callum.”
I stared into my mug. The coffee reflected back at me, dark and murky.
“Rosie got a job offer.” The words tasted worse than the coffee.
Sharon's expression shifted from concern to understanding. “Back in Seattle?”
“Yeah.” I set the mug down, gripping the counter's edge. “Art Director position. For a music festival. It's... it's what she used to do before she moved here.”
“And she's thinking about taking it?”
“She asked what I thought.”
“What did you tell her?”
That it wasn't my call to make. That I wouldn't weigh in on her life decisions. That I wouldn't be like her ex, telling her what to do with her life.
“That whatever she decides will be the right choice.”
Sharon's silence stretched between us.
“She's good at it,” I continued, staring at my mug on the counter. “I've seen her sketches, her branding work. The stuff she designed for the farm products—it's professional. Way beyond what you'd need for a farmers’ market.”
“So you think she should take it.”
“I think...” I exhaled. “I think she's too talented to stay here. She could make a difference in Seattle, working on projects that light her up. Not just?—”
“Not just what?”
Not just waste her time on a failing farm and a workaholic vet who can barely keep his own life together.
“The farm's struggling,” I said instead. “She's working herself to exhaustion trying to make ends meet. In Seattle, she'd have stability. A career. Opportunities.”
“Two peas in a pod.” She shook her head.
I frowned. “What?”
“You heard me.” Sharon crossed her arms. “Both of you running yourselves ragged trying to prove something.”
“That's not?—”
“You could have more stability in Denver. But you decided to move here. In a town where you work yourself half to death and fund a rescue operation out of your own pocket.”
My jaw tightened.
“So who's to say Rosie's going to leave?” Sharon's sharp blue eyes pinned me in place. “Maybe she sees what you see. Maybe she's found something here worth staying for.”
I picked up my mug, her words settling over me.
Maybe Sharon had a point. I'd turned down better opportunities to stay in Alder Creek. Here, I knew every animal, every family. The work mattered in ways a corporate clinic never could.
And Rosie... she'd been just as stubborn about the farm. Refused to quit even when everything went sideways. Found joy in the chaos, built something beautiful out of hard work and determination.
