Forever, California

Mint chocolate. Cookies and cream.  Butter pecan. Ashleigh mentally thought through all of her favorite ice cream flavors. Her mouth salivated as she and Melissa walked towards the ice cream shop.  Ashleigh had worked up quite an appetite since she had started working all day in the horse barn. Melissa was trying to limit her sugar intake and to resist temptation. She purposely didn't keep ice cream or sweets in the house. They had gone into town this afternoon to run errands and meet up with Seth. When Melissa mentioned that the town had an ice cream shop,  Ashleigh had suggested they stop by and get some ice cream. Melissa had texted Seth to let him know to meet them there. 

"Do they serve normal ice cream?" Ashleigh asked with a grimace. "No crazy flavors like celery or asparagus ice cream?" She was asking because she had heard about Seth and Melissa's experience at the juice bar.

"Yes, thankfully. You will be familiar with what they offer." Melissa said with a grin. 

The bell chimed as they walked into the ice cream shop, Ashleigh was arrested by the sight in front of her. She try to discreetly turn around but it was too late to stop the traffic jam.  Melissa bumped into her.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else." Ashleigh whispered.

"What did you say?" Melissa, who couldn't whisper to save her life, said in her normal voice.

"What was that?" Seth said from behind them. Ashleigh startled. She hadn't seen Seth sneak up on them.

They were starting to draw the attention of those around them. Ashleigh discreetly pulled Melissa and Seth to the left side of the door. Nearby was a yellow caution sign alerting customers to be careful since the floor was freshly mopped.

"Over there . . ." Ashleigh tried to explain her bizarre actions but was abruptly cut off.

"Mellie, dear." A cute bubbly brunette walked over to them. 

Mellie? Ashleigh mouthed behind the woman's back. Melissa shook her head and discreetly shrugged. 

"How are you?" The woman continued on oblivious to the unspoken dialogue going on between the two sisters. She  leaned in for a quick catch and release hug and kissed the air around Melissa's cheeks. "Have you given any thought to the property I mentioned?"

"Um . . . " Melissa  nervously looked around her gaze settling on Ashleigh. "Have you met my sister Ashleigh?" Sorry,  she mouthed. 

"No, I don't believe I have had the pleasure. So you must be the other person working in the barn this summer with Caulder." The woman put out her hand. "I'm Abigail Ronald. Abby for short."

Ashleigh shook her hand and felt she was being sized up.

"Caulder, honey bear come over here." Abby wiggled her fingers to get Caulder's attention. 

Abby sure loves her nicknames. Ashleigh thought. She tried to stifle a chuckle at the thought of gruff prickly Caulder in a bear suit. 

Abby was clearly used to commanding an audience and having her way.  Caulder seemed to know it was futile to resist her command. He wandered over reluctantly. Abby snaked her arm through his possessively. "Caulder, I was just meeting your coworker. Ashleigh, did I tell you that Caulder and I go way back. We used to date in high school."

Caulder seemed embarrassed. He ran his left hand through his hair as he said, "Yeah, that's ancient history though."

Abby pouted and playfully swatted his arm. "It wasn't that long ago. But we do have so much to get caught up on. You have to tell me all about Minnesota."

"Um, it was Montana. Not Minnesota."

"Yeah, that state." Abby said dismissively.

Ashleigh wasn't sure how she would get out of this increasingly awkward conversation. Melissa saw her chance to exit and said she and Seth would go ahead and get their order in.

She wasn't sure how Caulder's girlfriend would feel about another female laying claim to her man. It was clear that Abby was hoping to start something back up with Caulder. "Well, I will let you catch up. It was nice meeting you Abby. Caulder, I will see you at work." She turned to make a quick exit. As she turned she felt her feet go out from under her. Drats! I forgot about the wet floor. 

In the split second when her feet lost traction and before she hit the ground, her life flashed before her eyes. Lord, take me now. Why do I keep embarrassing myself in front of this man?  Why can't I ever make a graceful exit?

Before she could finish her prayer, strong arms scooped in and saved her from laying flat on the floor.

"Thank you." The words died in her throat as she gazed at Caulder's face up close. Why haven't I ever noticed that his brown eyes had flecks of green in them?

Caulder returned her gaze and also seem transfixed as well. Caulder's mouth curved up. "There is a never dull moment when I'm around you." He said with a chuckle.

A person clearing their throat broke through their bubble. "Caulder, honey bear. I think you can you let her go now."

Caulder hastily dropped his arms and stepped back a respectable distance. They had drawn quite a crowd of onlookers.  Caulder flushed and cleared his throat. "See you around, Ashleigh." He seemed to draw out her name as though savoring it. 

Ashleigh shook herself. She must have imagined that he placed any special emphasis on her name. Abby watched Caulder leave. After watching him until he disappeared around the corner, she turned to Ashleigh with a speculative gleam in her eye.

"Don't get any ideas. Caulder isn't a relationship guy. Heaven knows many girls in our high school tried to pin him down. But nobody was successful. He is a restless soul."

"Um, thanks." Ashleigh didn't think now was the right time to tell Abby that Caulder was currently in a relationship.

Melissa approached with two large heaping ice cream cones. Ashleigh couldn't wait to try her strawberry cheesecake ice cream. 

"Thanks." She said as she reached for her cone.

Abby took this as her cue to leave. "Well, it was nice meeting you Ashleigh." She turned to Melissa and said, "That property won't last on the market. Let me know your decision soon." Abby's phone started to ring just then. "Oh, I better take this. Tootles." She wiggled her fingers and headed towards the exit.

Once Abby was safely outside, Melissa turned to Ashleigh. "That was quite the scene you and Caulder made. I about swooned when he caught you and the way he looked at you." She fanned herself. 

Seth approached with two ice cream cones before Ashleigh could say anything. "I guess Caulder forgot about his ice cream." He shrugged and said. "Oh well, I guess more for me."

Ashleigh was thankful for Seth's presence since this kept Melissa from prying too much. 

Seth turned to her. "Saw you took a tumble. Good thing Caulder was there to catch you."

Ashleigh groaned but thankfully nothing more was said on the matter as they headed towards the exit.

Once they were outside, Ashleigh turned to Melissa with a twinkle in her eye, "So, Mellie," Ashleigh made sure to place emphasis on the dreaded nickname. "Tell me about this property that Abby was talking to you about." 

Now it was Melissa's turn to groan. "There are truly no secrets in a small town."

The next day

The next morning,  as Ashleigh approached the barn, she coached herself to stay calm and play it cool. She was disappointed when she didn't see Caulder's vehicle nearby.  She had worked herself up for nothing. She got to work and was soon absorbed in sorting through a box full of old horse tack. 

She pulled out some reins and proceeded to whip them in front of her. 

"Whoa, there. Watch out you can poke someone's eye out with that." Caulder said from behind her.

Ashleigh jumped and took a step back landing her left leg right into the box full of horse tack. She tried to gracefully step out her box but her left leg got tangled up in the reins she had just dropped.

"Caulder. You startled me." She tried to make conversation while she worked to discreetly get her foot unstuck. "How about that weather we are having today? Nice and um . . .  weathery." She attempted to shake her foot loose but that only made things worse. 

Caulder looked down at her foot and let out a laugh. Caulder was different when he laughed. The scowl lines disappeared and he seemed to be younger and carefree. Caulder reined in his laughter and said, "I'm sorry for laughing. Can I help you get unstuck?" He motioned to the rat's nest she had made of the reins.

Ashleigh got over her mortification quickly and had to admit it was pretty funny. "Yes, please." She said with a laugh.

 Caulder bent down and proceeded to examine the mess she made. "You made quite the tangle here." After about five minutes, Ashleigh's foot was free. The incident seemed to diffuse any lingering tension from yesterday and the rest of the morning was spent in companionable silence as they work on their respective projects. Ashleigh was starting to see the vision that Agnes had for the place. She couldn't wait to see this place up and running.

At lunch, Ashleigh trudged up to Melissa's cabin. Cookie was at the door waiting for her. Cookie was a social cat and loved having an extra human to give her attention. Ashleigh dutifully bent down and gave her a scratch on the head. Cookie instantly started purring and weaving between her legs. "Ok, Cookie don't trip me. I need to get a bite to eat." At the word "eat" Cookie perked up and wandered over to her food dish. She looked at Ashleigh pitifully.

"Oh, no. I'm not falling for that. Melissa said you are on a strict diet. No extra meals for you." Cookie had literally blossomed since she had been adopted by Melissa. Cookie was a scrawny malnourished cat when Melissa discovered her in the barn and now she was a healthy 15 pounds. At the last check up the vet had urged Melissa to keep Cookie's diet in check so she didn't blossom any further.

Ashleigh wandered into the kitchen and started making herself a sandwich. She heard the front door open and turned to greet Melissa.

"Hey, Melissa. How was work this morning?"

"What a disaster!  The camp website crashed this morning and I was on the phone with IT all morning trying to get it resolved."

"Ouch. Not what you want to happen right before camp starts."

"Exactly. That looks good. I think I might make a sandwich as well."

After making their sandwiches and setting down at the table, they said a quick blessing and started to eat. 

"So tell me more about this property you are considering."

Melissa had said very little yesterday about the property. She had brushed it off saying she was just looking and that it wasn't serious.  Ashleigh didn't press the topic because Seth had seemed just as surprised that Melissa had even been looking at real estate. 

"It's nothing much. I felt it was time to get something more permanent. I can't live in this cabin forever. I don't want to wear out my welcome."

The cabin was owned by Joe Love, their sister Brooke's father-in-law. "I'm sure that Loves don't mind you staying her."

"I know but I just feel like it's time. I think I would feel more settled if I had a place to call my own."

Ashleigh didn't know what else to add and let the topic drop. When Melissa was ready she would share more.

"Enough about me. How was your morning?"

Ashleigh shook her head. "Well, I made a royal fool of myself this morning." She proceeded to tell her all about this morning's tangle.

"Wow. You certainly are livening up this place." Melissa said with a chuckle.