by Natalie Ann
“Sparky,” he yelled, wondering where the dog was. Normally he was right by Caleb’s side, but Caleb realized he hadn’t seen Sparky in hours.
Walking down from his loft, he made his way toward the glass doors in the living room where Sparky’s other bed was and noticed it was empty. The glass doors were open enough for Sparky to go out when he wanted air, just like always.
When Caleb opened the door some more and walked out, expecting to see Sparky in his normal spot sunning himself, and didn’t, that was when the panic started to set in.
“Sparky!”
He looked around the grass some more. There were woods everywhere, but he never worried the dog would wander off. Normally Sparky barely left his side.
After another ten minutes, Caleb realized the dog was nowhere to be seen and grabbed his keys and decided to drive around.
He’d been going at a snail’s pace down the road calling the big shepherd’s name again and again, hoping he wasn’t lost or hurt. But the further away he got from the house, the more he worried.
“Are you kidding me?” Caleb said as he closed in on Celeste’s B&B a little over a mile down the road.
Pulling into the driveway, he shut his truck off, got out and scowled at his dog sitting happy-as-a-pig-in-muck sunning himself, watching guard in front of the whimsical figure that could only be Celeste in a big white floppy hat weeding a flower bed.
“I see you found your dog,” she said, turning and giving him a bright smile.
The hat was huge on her head, shading her face, neck and shoulders. It should have looked ridiculous, but instead it looked fashionable.
“I did. After he shaved a few years off my life disappearing like that. How long has he been here?”
“You don’t know the last time you saw him?” she asked, tilting her head. How the heck did that hat stay in place?
“I was working and thought he was sleeping like normal.” Who was she to judge him?
“Plausible,” she said, smiling and walking toward him. “He’s been keeping me company. I would have called you, or returned him if he had a collar and tag on.”
He tried not to flush. He had those things…at the house. Sparky detested wearing the collar and always tried to kick and paw it off. He hated to torture the dog by making him wear it when he never left Caleb’s side anyway.
“He doesn’t like the one he has.”
“What color is it?”
She asked some weird questions. “Red.”
“Maybe he’d wear one in a different color.”
Okay, he had enough of the silly chatter. Dogs didn’t care what color their collars were.
“Sorry if he was an inconvenience. Come on, Sparky, let’s go.”
Of course, his dog only looked at him, his eyes pleading, just like they did when Caleb first found him all alone and abandoned as a pup.
Sparky turned his eyes to Celeste, who was softer than him, and she said, “Oh, look at that face.” She knelt down in front of the dog, grabbed his chin and gave him a brisk rub.
Sparky’s tail started to thump a mile a minute. There’d be no getting him home now, not without some serious bribery, but he tried anyway. “Come on, boy. I’ve got dinner at home.”
The dog’s ears did perk up, but not enough to move him away from the woman currently nuzzling his face. Damn lucky dog, he thought, then was shocked to realize his brain went there.
“Are you hungry?” she asked him. “I baked some apple bars earlier for my guests, and there are plenty. Why don’t you come in and have one with a drink? Maybe if Sparky thinks he isn’t going to get in trouble he’ll be more likely to go with you.”
“He’s not in trouble,” Caleb said, not knowing why Celeste would even think that.
“Has he ever run away before?”
“He didn’t run away now. He just came to visit,” Caleb said defensively. Geez, what did she take him for, a monster that his dog was trying to escape from? “He probably went for a run and smelled what you were baking. He loves apples.”
“Unless you live next door, which I know you don’t, I’m not so sure he could have smelled it that far away, but we’ll use your answer, if you’d like.” She smiled at him again, humoring him, he could see. “So, a drink and a cookie?” she asked again.
Since it didn’t look like the dog was going to budge and he didn’t feel like wrestling the hundred-pound mutt into the truck, he didn’t have much choice. “Sure.”
“Come on, Sparky,” Celeste said. “How about an apple while your father and I socialize?”
Damn. How did he get tricked into this? He looked at the dog and started to think it was some plan he didn’t know about. Not that it was possible, but he chose to believe the dog just set him up.
***
Celeste was trying not to laugh at the disgruntled look on Caleb’s face.
She knew he wanted to grab his dog and escape, but the dog obviously had other ideas. She didn’t actually think he would have punished the dog for coming to visit, but she was having too much fun teasing Caleb.
He needed to loosen up. He looked way too tense to her. No one should be that serious about life.
And well, the opportunity to learn a little bit more about him just plopped in her lap, so she’d be crazy not to take advantage of it.
She hadn’t really been worried about Sparky, figuring that Caleb would have made his way down the road at some point looking for his beloved canine friend. Someone that had the dog with him whenever he was in the truck obviously cared a great deal for his companion.
“What would you like to drink?” she asked him. “I’ve got hot and cold tea, coffee, lemonade, and water. I don’t provide alcoholic beverages for my guests, but since everyone is out at the moment, I could sneak you something from my private stash. You look like you could use it.”
“Coffee’s good if you don’t mind. I don’t drink.”
She ignored his comment about not drinking. “Will Sparky be okay waiting out here? If not, I’ll just bring the coffee out in a minute if you want to stay with him. I’m afraid I can’t really have animals inside. Well, I can, but I boast that I’m pet-free, so it wouldn’t be good to let him inside for those guests that might have allergies.”
“No problem, we’ll wait here. Don’t go out of your way, please.”
“It will take less than a minute to make the cup. Just have a seat on the porch if you’d like and I’ll be right back.”
She made quick work of setting his coffee to brew, then filled a tray with sugar and cream, a few apple bars she’d cut already, and for good measure sliced another apple for Sparky.
When she returned to the porch she saw Caleb sitting in the chair, the dog between his legs, and Caleb rubbing Sparky’s fur rapidly and what looked like him whispering in the dog’s ear.
It was almost too cute to comment, but she held her tongue so as to not embarrass him.
She set the tray down on the table between his chair and hers, then grabbed a slice of apple. “May I?” she asked, angling it toward the dog.
“Sure,” he said, picking up his coffee and taking a sip. Hmm, he drank it black, and somehow that didn’t surprise her. He seemed like a simple man. After a sip, he picked up an apple bar and took a bite. “These are really good.”
“Thank you,” she said.
Seeing him dressed similar to how he was last week—in shorts and an old T-shirt—she was trying to figure out what he did for a living. He didn’t look dirty enough to have been working on anything outside, and since she didn’t see him driving around often, she figured he worked from home.
She pulled out her business card with contact information on it and handed it over. “In case you find Sparky missing again, you can reach me here at the house or my cell.”
The dog had finished his apple slice quickly and looked to her for another so she handed it over.
“I’d like to say this was a one-time thing, but I’m afraid it might not be. I really don’t like to
tie him up and my yard isn’t fenced.”
She rubbed Sparky’s head again. “Some creatures don’t do well locked up. They need to be free.”
He snorted at her, but she ignored it. Most people had that reaction when she made comments like that, but she believed in what she said. Everyone was different and thrived or failed in various environments. Animals were the same.
“Yeah, well like I said, he doesn’t like to be locked up or left alone. I have to say I was shocked he left the property, though. He never has before. Like you said, it’s not like you live next door.”
“How far away did he travel?”
“A little over a mile. Not really far for his breed of dog. He likes to run and often runs around the yard playing for hours a day. He’s just never left before.”
Caleb’s frown led her to believe he was struggling with what had happened today, as if he was trying to grasp a situation outside of his control.
Hmm. So he lived closer than she thought. Right here on the lake somewhere then and not further up in the mountains as she originally suspected.
“Guess he has a lot of energy.”
“He’s a working dog. Has to have a purpose, you could say. I’m glad I’ve got the land and water for him. He likes to swim too, so don’t panic if he wanders down again and sees you by the water. He won’t hurt anyone.”
“I didn’t think he would, even as intimidating as he looks.” She picked up another slice and handed it to Sparky. “He’s a big softie and now I know how to bribe him.”
Caleb smiled for the first time. He was still shaggy-looking, but she was right in that he had potential. Once his features softened, he was actually good-looking. Not in a polished way at all. Almost in a sad way, which didn’t sound good, but she couldn’t think of another description.
Unfortunately for her, and maybe for him since she knew he wanted to leave with the way he kept looking out into the distance, she had a soft spot for the sad and lonely.
“I’ll have to make sure I carry apples in my truck now. I normally buy him treats in town, so he’s always willing to go for a ride knowing we’ll stop and get him something.”
Her instincts were on target. He was a big old teddy bear when it came to his best friend.
“The homemade dog treats with peanut butter?” she asked. Lots of shops in town sold them. The tourists with pets always forked over money for them.
“Yeah,” he said, finishing up his coffee faster than she’d hoped.
“I’ll have to keep that in mind if he comes to visit again.”
Caleb stood up, Sparky following. She’d been right when she said the dog would be more than willing to go if he thought it was a casual visit. “Thanks again. I’m sorry he interrupted your day.”
“Oh, think nothing of it. Sometimes the unexpected are the best interruptions.”
Socialize
“Nick Buchanan?” Caleb asked when he walked over to the man sitting in a booth alone.
“That’s me. You’re Caleb?” Nick asked, standing up and shaking his hand, then gesturing for Caleb to sit.
He was still surprised he’d agreed to this meeting, but then decided, what could it hurt? Best case, he found a purpose for his time here, worst case, he continued on as is.
“Yeah. Thanks for meeting me here.”
“No problem. It gets me out of the house. I’m still acclimating myself to working from home here. Of course, the weather is a lot nicer here in the summer than Richmond.”
Caleb knew NB Innovations was based out of Richmond, Virginia, with multiple satellite offices in the US, but he didn’t think there was one here. “Are you opening a location here?”
“So you know about my company?” Nick asked. “That’s good, saves me the time and breath explaining things today. No location here, and not sure if I’m going to open one or not. I haven’t decided. I moved here to be with my fiancée. I can work from anywhere, as I’m sure you know, having owned your own software firm.”
Caleb had researched Nick’s company months ago when Zach first reached out to him, then looked up a bit more on him in the last week.
“Why me?” Caleb asked.
He wasn’t one for small talk and he had a feeling Nick might be. He knew darn well Zach Monroe was. Boy, were those emails long.
“I see some of myself in you—your products before you sold the company. Maybe it won’t be a good fit at all, maybe it will be. I guess we won’t know until we talk. I just know you have some serious skills and that’s what I need.”
“You aren’t looking for someone to run a location?”
“Nope. I want someone I can hand over a project to and let them run with it. Someone I can brainstorm with myself. I miss just sitting back and letting my products develop in my mind. Moving here has been the best thing I could have done for my company. I’ve handed over the day-to-day operations to those I trust.”
“How hard was that?”
Caleb never found someone he trusted enough to do that, which meant he’d had to work twice as much and twice as hard, adding more stress and taking away from what he truly loved. Deep down, he’d felt his products suffered because he couldn’t devote the time he wanted to them.
“Not hard. You just need to find the right people. I’ve known Zach since college. He’s not much of a programmer, but he runs all the satellite offices with the help of my father now. Zach is good at recruiting and head hunting, too. He found you.”
Caleb grunted, not liking that Nick pointed that out. “How did he manage that?”
“I don’t ask. I just let Zach do his thing,” Nick said, smiling. The waitress made her way over and took their drink orders. “Are you hungry? Staying for lunch? Have I managed to pique your interest yet?”
“Enough,” Caleb said, then placed his order and turned back to Nick. “Does Zach talk as much as he writes or as often as he emails?”
“More,” Nick said.
“Am I going to have any interaction with him?”
“I’ll keep him away from you if that’s part of the deal.”
Caleb smiled. He knew the comment was said in jest, but he was happy that it looked like things could be negotiated. “What kind of deal are you offering?”
“I want a developer. I want someone to write code. That’s it. You can take on as much or as little as you want. I think I know why you sold your company, so I’m willing to offer you the flexibility you need.”
Caleb sat back and crossed his arms. “Why do you think I sold it?”
Nick seemed unfazed by the hard look Caleb was sending him. “Like most programmers or developers, you wanted to be left alone to do what you loved. Running a business can get in the way of that.”
Nick hit it right on the head. Well, the bulk of it. That was what he’d hated the most about owning his own business, but that wasn’t the whole reason why he walked away. “You’re close.”
“Closer than you want me to know, I’m guessing,” Nick said.
“I’ll be honest with you since you’ve been honest with me so far. That was a big part of it. There are other personal reasons that I won’t get into. But you should know I’m not good at making decisions.”
“Meaning?” Nick asked.
“Meaning that I’ve always struggled to make the next decision to move forward. I knew what I wanted a product to do, but I always had trouble committing to the next step. The pieces in the middle were where I struggled. I was indecisive, always thinking I could find a better way, a shorter way. If someone just told me what way to go, I could write the code in my sleep. But it was trying to figure out the next direction that I stumbled with. I’d come up with the next step and then convince myself there had to be a better way, even if there wasn’t, causing myself a lot of time and heartache. Who knows, maybe it’s more of a commitment issue.”
It was hard for Caleb to admit that, but he wanted Nick to know. Sure, he could still create anything, but not as fast as some people would like. And definitely not as ea
sily. Sometimes having too much knowledge was a handicap. For Caleb, there always had to be a better and easier way, and he tried his hardest to find it rather than just moving forward, oftentimes halting everything.
“Perfect,” Nick said. “I’ll tell you what direction to go in. Like I said, I want a hardcore developer. Those are my terms. What are yours?”
It couldn’t be this easy, Caleb thought. Nothing fell in someone’s lap like this. “Deadlines don’t bother me, but people do. I like to keep to myself.”
“I would have never guessed that,” Nick said, grinning and pushing back when the waitress brought over their sandwiches. “But I like communication. If I’m the only one you communicate with, that’s fine. I’m here most of the time anyway. Don’t worry, I won’t schedule weekly meetings or anything like that.”
Caleb snorted. “Good, because that might be a deal breaker. The same with conference calls.”
“Well now, I can’t guarantee you won’t be included on a few of them. I mean, a lot of my projects have multiple players, but I won’t require you to talk. Does that help?”
“It does,” Caleb said, picking up his sandwich and taking a bite. “You’re really okay with all of this? With letting me work on my own and not deal with people?”
“I want the best.” Nick picked his drink up and held it toward to Caleb. “And you’re the best…next to me, that is. I’ll do what it takes to get whatever I can. We can work the details out as we go.”
Caleb left the diner and Nick shortly after, and was driving home when he turned to look at Celeste’s house. “Seriously!”
He made a sharp left turn into the parking lot and put his truck in park. There was no way. It couldn’t be. Not twice.
“We figured you’d make your way here sooner or later. Though I have to say you’re coming from a different direction than I expected,” Celeste said.
She was walking around with a hose in her hand watering all the flowers on her property. There were a lot of flowers to water, too. The place was almost like a fairytale, the landscaping just beautiful. Serene almost. He could see why she always seemed busy outside. The place just screamed old-school charm, even enchanting, if you really looked.
