20. Chapter 20 - Callum
One thing I was grateful for about this trip to visit the Carson Group investors was that it was a road trip, as opposed to a flight.
We took my rental rather than Paxton’s pickup truck, and it wasn’t long until we’d made ourselves comfortable and were heading southwest to Santa Clara.
The drive was only a couple of hours if traffic was on our side, and once we were in my car and on the road, time seemed to pass quickly.
“What are you thinking? I mean, about the investment opportunity,” I asked, glancing at Paxton as I drove.
He shrugged and shook his head once, eyes widening. “I don’t know. I’m worried, you know? I love Celestial Cask and I’m not sure I’m ready to let someone make changes.”
“What if the changes are great? You might love their plans.”
“That’s true,” he said, nodding slowly. “But it still won’t be just mine anymore. I’ll have to rely on someone else, check before I make decisions, get permission to run my own business.”
“Okay, fair. Those all make it sound like cons. Are there any pros?”
He turned to face me. “Yeah, definitely. I still want to hear them out. Buying the property and expanding the meadery has been a dream of mine. It was Paul’s dream, too. I want to make it happen, and if that means giving up a little control, so be it. It’ll be worth seeing a dream come true.”
“So you are going to accept the money?” I wasn’t sure he’d made up his mind, but I wanted to know where his mind was as we went into it, so I could support him either way.
“I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet. I’m just trying to go into it with an open mind.”
I nodded slowly. “Understood.”
We were quiet for a few moments before he fiddled with the radio, turning it on a pop station. Another couple of moments passed before Paxton took a breath. “Do you like being a travel writer?”
I chuckled, surprised by the question. My knee-jerk reaction was to say that of course I did, but instead, I thought about it carefully before speaking. Did I still like it? I used to love it. Now, I wasn’t sure. “I don’t know anymore.”
“What are the pros?” He smirked.
Another quiet chuckle escaped me. “Well, I get to travel. I get paid to visit some pretty cool places. I get to see the country. Maybe eventually, the world.” That reminded me of the new assignment proposal I was staring down.
I didn’t say anything, not wanting to ruin the light, easy tone of the conversation.
“How about cons?”
“I have to be on the road nonstop. I fly a lot. I don’t get to see my family very often.”
“I know the flying part is hard for you.”
I scoffed and nodded. “Very.”
He hummed quietly. “How long have you been a travel writer?”
I was embarrassed to admit it. “Since the breakup. I didn’t take the job because of Jacob, but it wasn’t not because of him, either, if that makes sense.”
“We’ve all done things to get away from bad exes.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Have we? Have you?”
He tipped his head to the side briefly. “Well, maybe not all of us.”
“What, no terrible exes in your past?”
Paxton was quiet for a moment. “Not really. I’ve been too focused on work my whole life.”
“You’re not… I mean, have ever…” I trailed off, cheeks burning with heat, not sure how to ask what I was thinking without sounding inappropriate. It certainly wasn’t a casual question you asked a business associate. My heart pounded as I waited for his answer.
Paxton let out a bubble of laughter and shook his head. “If you’re asking if I’m a virgin, I’m not. I’ve had relationships, just nothing serious. Sometimes a hookup here or there, some casual dating, but… I’ve never been in love.”
At the idea of him being with other people, jealousy flared in my chest. I knew I had no right to feel that way—we’d hooked up once for God’s sake.
A couple of dates, some kissing, and… the things we did on Family Field Day.
I didn’t have any claim over him. I was leaving in a week, anyway. It was just a casual thing.
“Have you ever had your heart broken?” I asked carefully
He shrugged. “Not really. It’s usually a mutual decision to go our separate ways. Tommy on the other hand… he gets serious about people fast. I don’t know how he does it. It seems like he’s always working on the next heartbreak.”
I accepted the pivot in conversation gracefully. “Is he seeing anyone now?”
Paxton smirked again. “Why, you want me to see if he’s into you?”
“What? No.” The words tumbled out of me in a rush. “That’s not what I meant.” When I glanced at Pax, he was laughing hard.
“Good. I wouldn’t—” He stopped and didn’t finish his sentence, pivoting again. “Have you ever been to Santa Clara?”
I blinked a few times, trying to mentally catch up. “Not in years. You?”
“Same. What’s the best destination you’ve ever been to?”
“Believe it or not, I haven’t really traveled outside the US.
But the West is my favorite. I know it probably sounds silly, since we’re from the West, but…
Arizona, Utah, Wyoming. The Grand Canyon, Zion, Grand Teton—all the national parks.
They’re amazing. Don’t get me wrong, the East Coast is beautiful, too, in its own way, but there’s something special about the topography out here. It’s just… bigger.”
“You know, the Appalachian mountains are old old. Older than bones.”
“Wait, what?”
He nodded again and put his hand on my knee gently. “That’s what I’ve read. They’re more than a billion years old. That’s why they don’t look as impressive and craggy as the Rockies. They’ve eroded over time.”
I shook my head incredulously, impressed by his seemingly random stash of information on East Coast topography. “What other hidden knowledge do you have in there?”
He laughed and shrugged. “You’ll just have to stick around to find out,” he said teasingly. It made my chest ache and my shoulders tighten, though, immediately reminding me that I was leaving sooner than later. “Tell me about the Grand Canyon and everything you were mentioning.”
I glanced at him and smiled, Paxton watching me with his curious brown eyes.
He seemed genuinely interested, so I let myself start talking.
We chatted about our favorite national parks and places to visit, and gradually that drifted into things we’d seen or done while traveling before going way off course.
We talked about everything. For the whole two hours, we chatted, and when we arrived in Santa Clara, my heart was full.
I parked us in front of the hotel the investment group had arranged for us for the two nights and as we headed inside, my whole body was warm and fuzzy.
We grabbed our overnight bags and headed inside, where there were college kids milling around, lounging on the furniture and laughing loudly.
I frowned, confused, but turned my attention to the desk clerk.
“How can I help you?”
I smiled at the desk clerk and pulled out my ID. Pax did the same. “I’m Callum Sinclair and this is Paxton Lowell. We have a reservation for two nights.”
She nodded and started typing into her computer, taking both of our IDs and nodding as she entered whatever information she needed. “Okay. Here are your keycards. Room number and Wi-Fi password are written on the folder. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Sounds great.” I gave her a little wave as we made our way to the elevators. Our room was only on the fifth floor, and it was right by the elevators—easy to find. I swiped the card in front of the reader, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.
Behind me, Paxton flipped on a light switch, which illuminated the room. There in the middle was exactly one king-size bed.
My stomach fluttered with excitement over the possibilities, but I kept my tone neutral and I turned to Paxton. “It looks like there’s been a mix-up.”
He sighed softly and rubbed his fingertips on the spot between his eyebrows. “Do you think we should go back down and see if we can get it straightened out?”
I thought about it for a second and shook my head. “I think it’ll be okay, if you do.”
“It’ll be fine,” Paxton reassured me.
“Fine,” I agreed. I wasn’t afraid of sharing a bed with Pax. If anything, I was afraid of just how excited I was to share a bed with him.