Page 70 of Harvest Heat

Rhys’s vision was growing dark around the edges. He had to get out of there.

Caleb must have realized how bad the situation was. “I’m sorry to cut this short,” he said, “but we do need to be going. We both have an early start tomorrow.”

“Of course. See you later.”

Caleb held the door for Rhys. He was as pale as a ghost. Caleb took his arm, but Rhys shook him off, so he walked beside him to Frost + Foam. Neither of them spoke until they were inside.

Rhys sank into a chair immediately. “That was… worse than I thought. We can’t…”

Caleb knelt down beside him. “I know it was a lot, but it will be fine. Now that people know we’re working together, some of them, like Agnes, want to make more of it, but most people won’t. It’s not a big deal.”

Rhys glared at him, a mixture of anger and confusion in his eyes. “What do you mean it’s not a big deal? It’s exactly what I told you would happen. I should never have said anything.”

“We couldn’t go to the festival with one drink and people not know we’ve worked on it together.”

“But then it would be over. It would be done, and we…”

The horror on his face told Caleb what he was going to say. He stood up, needing some distance. “We wouldn’t see each other anymore?”

“No.” Rhys shook his head.

“Really? That’s not what you were thinking?” Caleb immediately knew that was the wrong thing to say and wished he could take the words back, but he was tired of pretending he and Rhys weren’t anything to each other.

“I… I was…”

“What do you want to do?”

“I think we should not see each other for a few days.”

That was what Caleb was afraid of. Rhys was going to hide so no one would see them and have any more reason to think they were interested in each other. “Everyone knows we’re working together. There’s a clear reason for us to see each other. And you’re the one who’s worried about how much time we have left.”

“I know, but⁠—”

“Fine. Let me know if you want to work together again.”

“Caleb.” There were tears in Rhys’s eyes, and Caleb wanted to kiss them away, but he couldn’t let himself. His heart was already breaking.

“I just want to wait a few days. That’s all, so people settle down about it.”

“Okay.” Caleb was fighting tears of his own, but he forced some more words out. “I guess I’ll see you in a few days.”

Rhys started to speak, but Caleb held up his hand. “I don’t think we should say anything else right now.”

He hated seeing pain in Rhys’s eyes. Caleb knew Rhys was panicking. He knew this was hard for him, but it was hard for Caleb too. He made himself walk away, and it was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

CHAPTER 25

Caleb was thankful he didn’t have to talk to anyone on his way to Cloud Nine. He was desperate to keep himself from crying in the middle of town, and his mind was full of fog. He doubted he could form a coherent sentence. He walked around to the back door of the shop to avoid anyone passing by.

As he reached for his keys, he saw a flash of white in the corner of his vision. When he turned, he saw the kitten he’d caught glimpses of before. He stayed still, hoping the kitten wouldn’t run. “Hello there.”

The kitten meowed loudly.

“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.” He crouched down and held out his hand. The little ball of fluff skittered back but didn’t run off.

He moved closer, and the kitten hissed. “It’s okay. I want you to come in with me so I can get you some food.”

The kitty watched him. He moved a little closer. It started to run, but Caleb managed to scoop it up. The kitten hissed and gave his finger a sharp bite, but he held on as he unlocked the door and got them inside.