Wishing Star

Chapter 7

The following two weeks went by much the same as the first one. Instead of dusting and straightening up around the cabin, she was dusting the coffee shop, cleaning the tables, and taking orders. It didn't take Max more than twenty minutes to get the hang of the register, thanks to her previous experience, and she could tell Sarah was impressed despite her subdued demeanor. Regardless of Max's attempts at conversation, Sarah was resolved not to speak to Max anymore than was necessary. Sarah would stay in her office for the most part unless it were Max's break time or they were unreasonably busy.

While Max didn't mind the solitude, the cafe didn't stay busy enough to keep her mind off other looming issues that refused to abate despite her insistence to herself that she was being an idiot. That was why, at lunchtime on a Wednesday, she was nervously anticipating Caelum's arrival at the cafe.

After another late night porch swing session, she had broached the subject of him stopping by for a coffee while he was in town picking up additional supplies for the dining room. She didn't know what made her do it since she had been making a conscious effort to keep their friendship superficial. Max blamed it on the loneliness, or maybe even the recent loss of consistent sex, but regardless of what had caused her to lose her mind temporarily, he had agreed to stop by after some convincing on her part. She knew he was hesitant to run into Sarah, so she was sure to tell him that Sarah was running errands with her mom all day in a neighboring town and wouldn't be back until closing. After that, he readily agreed, and now here she was, again cursing her diarrhea of the mouth. She didn't want to get closer to Caelum, but he made it hard to keep him at arm's length. He was always making a point to seek her out, asking her opinion about something regarding the design of the dining room or sitting with her at the kitchen table with a late-night mug of hot cocoa, coming up with new recipes. When they weren't discussing the restaurant, they enjoyed nightly talks out on the porch swing.

The past three weeks had been surprisingly blissful. She felt she had gotten to know Caelum pretty well and had begun to trust him more than she currently trusted anyone else in her life, which wasn't saying much since she didn't have anyone else. But his easygoing manner and trusting nature allowed him to fill that spot quickly. Even Clark, after the past three weeks, had warmed up to her. Yes, they still tended to bicker over every little thing, but she could tell he enjoyed their fights because of the twinkle in his eye anytime he tried to rile her up.

Caelum told her one night that he hadn't seen Clark this relaxed in a long time. He told her it was because of her presence in their lives, but she refused to believe that. She joked that it was most likely her cooking. He shook his head and laughed, not bothering to argue with her. His arm had come around her then, pulling her close to his side. Which made her think thoughts she wasn't willing to think about.

His presence surrounded her, but in an unfortunately good way, and even though work was the only time she got a break from him, she had invited him into that world as well.

As she had said, she had temporarily lost her mind. She couldn't help it. She lost all train of thought when he threw a friendly arm around her shoulder or when she got a whiff of his scent. His own blend of citrus and masculinity. It was intoxicating.

Despite losing her mind, she couldn't deny that a perk of her budding friendship with Caelum was that she had begun to think of Liam less and less.

She felt a pang of guilt then that all it took was three weeks and the attentions of another man, platonic or not, to make her feel less heartbroken over Liam. A two-year relationship with a grieving period of three weeks? It made her feel superficial. But maybe it was less about being superficial and more about being stupid. After all, if she could get over someone that quickly, she must not have ever loved him in the first place.