Wishing Star

Chapter 10

The rest of the weekend passed in a haze of sawdust and baking, partly because they were so busy working on the dining room but also because Max couldn't stop thinking about what had happened with Caelum. And when she was especially troubled over something, she baked.

To her confusion and relief, Caelum didn't try anything else all weekend. He hadn't even teased her. As a matter of fact, he had acted like nothing happened. She knew he was giving her time to process what had happened, and she was grateful for that.

She honestly didn't know what she wanted anymore. She was over Liam, but she wasn't over what he had done to her. She didn't know if she would ever be over it. But Caelum had made his intentions perfectly clear, and she wasn't sure if she even wanted to resist his advances anymore. She just didn't think she could do a serious relationship again. She was so tired.

She was getting ahead of herself though because she didn't know if he even wanted something serious. She knew he was physically attracted to her, and he wasn't scared to show her that. But was that all it was? She hated how she had to overthink everything. She tried so hard to keep him at arm's length, and now, after what happened, she was completely fixated on him. She was pathetic.

She sighed to herself as the bell above the door of the coffee shop jangled, alerting her to the arrival of a new customer. Sarah came from her office at the same time and patted Max on the shoulder. "I've got it. You can take an early lunch."

She nodded her head in acceptance and grabbed her purse before walking out of the door into the bright sunlight. She pulled her coat closer, the cold air getting crisper as October turned into November. She smiled to herself as she walked down the quiet streets. Ever since Sarah had gotten back from her most recent vacation with her mom, she had been a lot friendlier. They had established a friendship of sorts over the past couple of weeks, and Max was surprised to find she enjoyed Sarah's company. Sometimes hours would go by where they would talk about anything and everything without a single customer coming in. She didn't know what had changed, but she made sure she didn't bring up Caelum, and Sarah was more than happy to do the same.

She made her way across the street, making a beeline for the only cafe in town. She had been there a couple of times, and she loved the pimento cheese sandwiches with the fried green tomatoes. Her culinary friends in the city would kill her if they knew.

Waiting in line, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around with what she called her customer service smile already in place. It fell from her face as soon as she saw who had touched her.

"Beck," she acknowledged before turning back around.

"Still here, huh?" he asked, chuckling. "I figured you would have been on the first bus back to wherever you came from."

She turned back around to face him and noticed that his eyes had been glued to her ass. She scowled at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not leaving anytime soon," she growled, not caring that she was being rude.

"Why, though?" he questioned. "A girl like you could go anywhere, and you're just...choosing to stay here?"

"I happen to like it here."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "It's not because of Caelum, is it?" he prodded. "Or maybe Clark?" His eyebrows rose, and a smirk twisted his lips. Unlike Caelum's, his wasn't playful. It was calculating.

Refusing to be baited into talking to him any longer, she turned back around in line, grateful that it was her turn.

Unfortunately, Beck sat at the table right next to her, staring at her as she ate her sandwich. She pulled out her phone, looking for something to distract herself from Beck's stare. She turned it on for the first time since Liam had begged her to come home. She carried it with her to work just in case something happened, but she had never had a reason to turn it on until now.