Chapter 24 #2
“Me too. I’m glad you told everyone about the festival. It’s good not to have to hide that anymore.”
“We’re still hiding the rest, though.”
“We are, but we can talk about that later.”
Caleb started to reach for his hand, then pulled back. Rhys could feel the tension rolling off him. He almost reached for Caleb himself, but he didn’t have the nerve.
Jonah’s face was bright red by the time everyone finished singing Happy Birthday. His mom served him the first slice of cake, and he scurried away. Rhys and Caleb made their way over to speak to him again. They were about to leave when Agnes cornered them.
“Look at you two! I didn’t know you were coming together.”
“Oh, we’re not. We didn’t,” Rhys said. “We just happened to be leaving at the same time.”
“Don’t try to fool me. I’ve seen how you two look at each other, and I hear you’re working together on your drink after all. I knew that was the best idea. I’m glad you came around to it.”
“Really, we’re not. We’re just working together. We…” The room swam in front of him. Rhys couldn’t seem to find any more words.
Caleb placed a hand on his back, and Rhys leaned into the touch. “Thank you for suggesting we work together.”
Agnes beamed. “I knew it was the right thing.”
Rhys was able to breathe now. Caleb was handling things. It was just Agnes. She was always like this.
“It’s been great,” Caleb said. “I admire how precise Rhys is, and his knowledge of coffee varieties is extensive. We’re working with a couple of ideas. It’s going to be hard to choose between them.”
“Oooh, tell me all about them.”
“Nope, that’s a secret. We’ll reveal our drink at the festival.”
Rhys fought the urge to kiss Caleb for knowing exactly what to say.
Agnes patted each of them on the arm. “You boys go have a good evening.” She winked as they walked off through the crowd.
Rhys thought they were safe, but then Mrs. Murphy, his second-grade teacher, spotted them. “Oh, don’t you two look good together,” she said.
“Oh, we’re not—”
“It’s okay, dear. You don’t have to explain anything to me.” She hurried off, calling to one of her knitting club friends.
“Let’s get out of here quick,” Caleb said.
Rhys nodded, but at the door, they were stopped by one of his regulars, Sylvia Rattray, the best real estate agent in town and Jonah’s aunt. “I’m so excited for both of you. I know the drink you create will be a winner, and Caleb, you couldn’t find anyone better than our Rhys.”
Rhys grabbed Caleb’s arm to steady himself.
At that point, he was praying he could make it out of there without throwing up.
His stomach was churning, and his throat felt like it was closing up.
Was everyone going to assume they were in a relationship just because they were working on a drink together?
He might as well have just told the whole town he was sleeping with Caleb.
They were going to assume it anyway if he didn’t stop seeing Caleb so much.
“That’s great,” Caleb said. “We’re just working together for the festival, but I admire Rhys’s work. Frost + Foam is a fantastic shop.”
“It sure is. You’re both geniuses.”
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.