Page 49 of Flights and Sights

Pax released me then and stepped away. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“Right?” I frowned.

“Maybe we should just drive home tonight.” He raised his eyebrows playfully.

“Oh, absolutely not.” I closed the gap between us one more time, my hands making their way to his shirt buttons and beginning to work them open. “We’re definitely staying tonight.”

Chapter 25 - Paxton

Despite the confident way I’d turned down the investors, I was panicking inside. What if I’d given up the only opportunity I’d ever have to expand? What if I’d just walked away from the money that would make all the difference in helping my dreams come true? I was panicking so hard that the next morning, I asked Callum to review any pending grant applications we had and to see if he could find any others. I’d meant what I said about the Carson Group’s vision being too far from mine for a relationship to be viable, but I also wasn’t ready to give up on the dream of expanding the meadery just yet.

The drive home wasn’t going to be too long, only a couple of hours, but Callum seemed anxious and unsettled, even as he searched for more grant money. He kept glancing at me as I drove, giving me an up-and-down look and taking a shaky breath, before going back to his work.

“Hey,” I said about halfway home.

Cal looked up at me from his phone. “Yeah?”

“Are you okay? You seem… worried.”

He nodded without hesitation. “Yeah, of course. I’m great. Everything’s great.”

“If this is about us fooling around the last two nights, I get it.” I swallowed hard. “I know you’re leaving soon. Maybe we should’ve kept our hands to ourselves. It would’ve made this whole thing easier.”

“No,” he blurted. “It’s not that.”

“Okay… Then… What's going on? You can tell me, you know.”

Cal glanced at his phone once more before clicking the screen off and setting it in his lap. For a second, he looked out the window at the highway passing by. “We’re really going to do this now,” he murmured, so quietly I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to hear it. Eventually, he turned back to me, his hazel eyes damp.

I swallowed again, nerves bubbling up inside me. “Did I do something wrong?”

His expression softened. “Not at all.” A second passed before he reached out and took my right hand in his. “I really like you.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “I like you too.” My chest ached with the truth of it.

“I don’t know what’s going on between us, but I’m not ready for it to end.”

“Me either,” I said quietly.

Cal squeezed my hand in his. “I’m supposed to leave in a few days.”

“I know.” I fought to keep my voice even and not bitter.

“I don’t want to go.”

My heart skipped. “You don’t?”

“Not really. But…”

At that point, tears began to sting my eyes. “Yeah. But.”

Cal nodded once. “I was offered a new assignment. They’re calling it the Fermentation Trail. I’d be going from country to country for three months, learning about different types of culturally significant fermented drinks. Scandinavia for mead. Japan for sake. Nigeria for palm wine. Maybe parts of the Middle East to learn about the history of beer.”

I frowned. “Beer is from the Middle East?”

He chuckled and nodded again. “That’s what you took from that?”

My cheeks heated and I shrugged. “Sorry.” I paused for a second to take it all in. “So when do you leave?”