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I was going to experience so much.
Yet something niggled me deep down.
Caleb’s eyebrows pulled in ever so slightly, but his smile remained in place. “Well, if that’s what’s taken the spark out of those pretty eyes of yours, don’t give it another thought. I’m leaving tomorrow too, so the burden is mine to share.”
“Oh? Where are you going?”
His gaze held mine, but a shadow fell across his face. “You first.”
I laughed. “I don’t think you’re ready for this conversation.”
“Try me.”
I pulled out my notepad from my apron and placed it on the counter between us. Excitement bubbled in me. “I’m going to see the world,” I said excitedly. “I’m starting in Europe—Paris specifically—and then heading over to China and then Japan, before swinging by Australia to see some kangaroos, before dropping in on Africa. And then finally a quick pass through Namibia and then on to Brazil before heading home. I’m planning on being gone a year, but who knows,” I said, “I may never come back.”
It was there again.
The excitement.
The readiness for it all.
The desire for adventure.
“You better come back,” Katie said as she sidled up to the bar.
I smiled fondly at her. “You know I’m going to miss you the most, right?”
“You bet your sweet ass you will. But I’ll still be here when you get back.” She turned to Caleb and held out a hand to him. “And you are?”
He took it and gave it a quick shake, his gaze moving over her like every man’s did whenever they looked at her.
“Caleb, ma’am,” he replied politely before turning his attention back to me. My body felt warm when he looked at me, and I cleared my throat nervously. “And that, Arla, sounds like the most amazing trip. I wish I could come with you. I’ve always wanted to see a kangaroo up close. I always swore that one day I was going to visit the Machu Picchu ruins in Peru. Life gets in the way though, I guess.”
I stared at him in wonder. I’d never met anyone who wanted to see anywhere else in the world. All my family had been born, lived, and died in this town, with no desire to reach beyond the borders. Same old, same old, I’d always been told about the world. But I knew that wasn’t true. I knew in my heart there was more out there.
“Sweetie, you should close that mouth before you catch flies,” Katie teased, and headed off to take an order.
I continued to stare at him. “I’ll add that to my list,” I replied softly.
He chuckled and downed the last of his beer. “Another, please?”
I took his glass and refilled it before sliding it back over to him. He tried to hand me some money but I shook my head. “Bobby said your beer was on the house, remember?”
“When I get back,” he replied.
“Then let me get this one,” I said.
Caleb shook his head. “No, let me get this.” He pulled a wad of bills from his pocket and handed them over to me, and I frowned. “Add that to your trip fund,” he said, jerking his head over to the jar at the back of the bar that Bobby had been filling all year for me.
“Won’t you need it for your trip?” I asked.
Caleb’s expression softened and he shook his head, his smile disappearing. “No, I won’t need it. But I tell you what, make sure to buy yourself a wine in Paris, a beer in Australia, and a green fucking tea or some shit in China, and when you do, think of me. Deal?”
I stared at him, my heart thumping heavily against my ribcage, and I nodded.
“You got a pen?” he asked.
I nodded again, not trusting myself to speak right then. I pulled a pen from my apron and handed it to him, and on each twenty-dollar bill he wrote a different country before handing them back to me.
