Page 67 of Harvest Heat

Caleb smiled just thinking about it. “I’m so excited about making holiday drinks.”

“I’m excited to see what you come up with,” Tessa said as she glanced around at the crowd. “Have you seen Rhys?”

Caleb tensed at his name, then hoped she didn’t notice. “No, I haven’t seen him. I’m surprised he’s not here yet.”

“He’ll be here,” Finn said. “He probably had something come up at the store.”

“It’s not like him to be late,” Tessa said. “He better not be avoiding us. He hates crowds, but I know he wants to come for Jonah.”

“Have they known each other a long time?” Caleb asked.

“We were all in the same grade, so he’s known Jonah as long as he’s known Finn and me.”

“I guess there aren’t a lot of different school districts around here.”

“That’s right,” Finn said. “We all went to the same schools all the way through high school.”

Tessa focused back on Caleb. “How are things going with your fall drink? I know you were worried about it last time we talked.”

This was exactly why he’d wanted Rhys to tell everyone before the party. What could he say that wasn’t an outright lie? “It’s going better. I’ve got some more ideas.”

“Are you going to tell us about it?”

Caleb shook his head. He wished he could say more, but he wasn’t going to.

Tessa narrowed her eyes. “I’m eventually going to get details out of you.”

“You’ll see the drink at the festival.”

She huffed. “I haven’t gotten anything out of Rhys about what he’s doing either. Why are you both so secretive? He’s never been like this before.”

Caleb shrugged as his stomach flip-flopped. He really didn’t want to talk about this anymore.

“I saw Rhys heading down to Cloud Nine the other evening,” Finn said. “Were you comparing notes?”

How many other people had noticed? Rhys thought he had been discreet, but how discreet could you be walking up and down Front Street? “He just tried out some of my equipment.” That was true, though misleading.

Tessa giggled. “Did he now?”

Caleb realized how he’d phrased that, and heat rose in his face. If only she knew both meanings were true.

Finn lightly slapped her arm. “Behave. Is Rhys thinking about getting something new for the shop?”

“I’m not really sure.” He couldn’t say anything else without fully making something up. Tessa was studying him. He didn’t think she was buying it. It did sound lame, but he wasn’t any good at coming up with shit like this. He’d always been incredibly honest. Too bad that quality had been wasted on Adrian.

“I’m glad you’re getting to know each other at least a little bit,” Finn said.

Tessa nodded. “Right? We need to get you together more.”

Caleb almost choked on his beer.

“Are you all right?” Marianne asked as she slid into the seat next to him and patted him on the back.

“I think I’ll survive,” he said once he’d recovered enough.

How much of the conversation had Marianne heard before he’d noticed her?

At this point, Caleb wasn’t sure he was going to survive this party. Where the hell was Rhys?