Page 52 of Flights and Sights

His unspoken words hung in the air. Other assignments will come, but there’s only one Paxton.

My stomach began to ache and I swallowed hard. “I think I’m going to go lie down again. Not feeling well.”

“Do you need to take some ibuprofen?” Mom reached for the medicine cabinet immediately.

I waved her offer away. “I’m good. Thanks, Mom. Thank you both for the talk. I have a lot to think about.”

The cookout was scheduled to start by one, so around noon, Charlie showed up, wearing all black as usual, with his casual grin and his easy laugh working overtime. I was sitting on the couch in the living room, near the front door, when he came in.

“Hey,” he said.

I nodded and waved from my laptop.

“What’s up?”

It took me a few seconds to tap the last few words into my grant application and hit send before I looked back to Charlie. “Sorry. Finishing up some projects for Pax.”

“Nice,” he said, flopping on the couch near me. “How is that boyfriend of yours?”

I rolled my eyes. “Good. He turned down the investor’s money the other day.”

“Oh?” His eyes widened. “Tell me more.” I recapped the story for him, Charlie nodding along in approval. “That’s great. Honestly. I’m glad he stood up for himself.”

“Me too.”

“And I guess you told your boss no on the travel assignment, right?”

I frowned and looked sharply at Charlie. “No. Why would I do that?”

“Sorry, I just assumed you’d want to stick around and see where things go with Paxton. Are you two…”

“We’re trying long-distance,” I said, my stomach clenching. I really didn’t want to be away from him for three months, but what choice did I have?

Charlie furrowed his brow. “That sounds rough, especially at this point in your relationship.”

“It will be.”

“Have you considered your options?”

I scowled at him. “What options?”

He rolled his eyes as if it were obvious. “Maybe he can hire you to work at the meadery. Or you could apply for a job locally, at the newspaper, maybe. We’re not far from Sacramento. I’m sure there are publications there.”

“I’m not quitting my job to stick around for a boy,” I protested. As I said it, though, lightness filled me. It sounded like the solution I’d wanted to give voice to. “Besides, you know my history with this place.”

Charlie rolled his eyes again. “Do not tell me you can’t stay because of Jacob. We both know that you’ve moved on. Way on. Onward and upward and all that. Paxton is leagues better than Jacob in every way, and he’s obsessed with you. In a healthy way, not in the boiling bunnies way.”

He wasn’t wrong. I had hated living in Foggy Basin for so long because of Jacob, but I had barely thought of him since the field day incident. In fact, I hadn't thought of him once until this morning.

I nodded slowly. “Maybe.”

“Just think about it.”

I shoved his shoulder playfully. “Fine. Now will you stop pestering me?”

He flipped me off casually as he stood up. “See you at the cookout.”

Paxton arrived at one on the dot, my heart skipping a beat as I answered the door to find him on the other side. In his hands was a big, plastic crate filled with individual serving-sized bottles of mead. He beamed when I opened the door.