Chapter 21

Even though Callum had made up his mind about his feelings towards Faith, now destiny seemed to be working against them. He hadn't managed to a get a single moment alone with her since his birthday party. Either work at the clinic came between them, or Faith's work at the orchard, or all the people that they were surrounded by all the time. There had been one case of chicken pox at the kindergarten earlier that week, and therefore, what started with one simple case turned into the whole class and they all flocked to the clinic looking for an appointment with Dr Grant. Faith had also suddenly become extremely busy with the sudden surge of wedding venue requests. Once Walter gave the okay to Faith's business plan, Mira got around to make them a website and social media accounts, which became extremely popular very fast. And despite showing up unannounced at the house a lot, Callum never seemed to get it quite right, and somehow, they always ended up having some extra company around.

"Having lunch here again, Doc? Everyone needs to stop treating this kitchen as a restaurant," Faith said as she glared right at Mira and Callum.

Mira and Callum glanced at each other and then at Lydia.

"Let them be. You go set the table and ask Kade to join us, too. There's plenty for everyone."

"Fine," Faith grumbled.

The group sat around the kitchen table, by the windows overlooking the gardens. Winter was near, and sadly for everyone, it was starting to get too cold to enjoy the outdoors. The flowers were no longer in full bloom; the trees were starting the lose their leaves and the mountains were no longer covered in sunset colours and soon everything would be covered in white.

"Do you have everything ready for tomorrow, love?" Lydia asked while pouring generous amounts of food on everyone's plate.

"Yes. I'll leave early and try to get back before dinner. Do you want to go, M?"

"Would love to. But I'm on a tight deadline and will have to work this weekend. Next time count me in for sure."

"Where are you going?" Callum asked with a confused frown.

"Oh... a family friend has a horse ranch. She used to teach classes too, but she's retired now. But sometimes I still go there to ride a bit. It's not far from here. Maybe an hour and half, or so. I decided to take a little break and go there tomorrow."

"Why don't you take Callum with you?" Mira said.

"What?" Faith and Calum asked in unison.

"You have the day off tomorrow, don't you?" Kade, that had been silent the entire time, finally looked up from his plate and engaged in the conversation.

"I do. But I don't ride. I've never been close to a horse in my life."

"Fresh air would do you some good."

"What do you mean, fresh air? We're in a town in the middle of the nowhere. How much fresher can the air get? We're already in the countryside surrounded by mountains and green as far as the eye can see." Callum couldn't help but to feel a little grumpy. He thought that his day off would finally be an opportunity to take Faith out for dinner. But here she was, just about to leave, and going with her to a ranch in the middle of nowhere wasn't exactly what he had idealized as the perfect first date.

"Trust me. It can get even fresher. That ranch has one of the best views ever," Mira agreed.

"A change of scenery, then," Kade said. "An actual day off. Since you've been working from the moment you got here, instead of taking a break, like you said you would."

"Fine..." Callum sighed. "Faith?"

"Me? What?"

"Are you okay with letting me tag along?"

"Oh... Of course." Faith couldn't help but to flush a bit.

"Thank you." Callum smirked. Maybe this is a good idea after all... He thought as he looked at Faith's adorable, flustered expression.

"Lunch break is over, loves. I need to clean this kitchen, and all of you need to go back to work."

"Can you pack some dessert for Richard?"

"Of course, love."

Faith glared at both Mira and Lydia, but neither of them seemed to care. "This is not a restaurant," she protested.

***

Early in the morning, Faith parked in front of Callum's building. Her palms were a bit sweaty and her heart troubled. It's just a car ride... Just an hour and a half... She took a deep breath as she saw him walk outside.

"Morning, Rapunzel."

"Good morning."

"Do you want me to drive?" Faith shook her head. Having something to do for the next hour would keep her mind busy and less nervous with the idea of spending so much time with Callum. He still hasn't mentioned the kiss... It's been a while... Did he forget about it? Or maybe it meant nothing to him... She pouted while glaring at him.

"Everything okay, princess?" Callum frowned looking at Faith's expression. How adorable... I wonder what she's thinking about.

Faith nodded. "Seatbelt?"

After the initial awkwardness of the car ride, Faith started to feel more at ease. She was with Callum after all, and as much as the butterflies in her stomach made her feel weird and jittery, she also felt safer with him than with anyone else. Somehow, he made her feel like she was less of an oddball. Around him, she didn't feel as anxious. She glanced at him and smiled. Even when they were both silent, there was an odd comforting feeling.

As Callum looked out the window, he saw as the landscape changed. They were surrounded by nature daily, but what was in front of them was an even more raw and wild form of it. There were barely any buildings around, the mountains appeared to be completely untouched. Nature in its purest form.

While they approached the front gate, a lady in her late fifties started waving at them. She was slender and tall, with her white hair in a long braid. "Angela!" Faith hugged her as soon as she got out of the car.

"Faith, it's so good to see you." Angela squeezed her tightly. "You need to stop by more often."

"I know. I promise I will. This is my friend Callum."

Angela gave Callum a quick hug and wasted no time taking them on a tour through the property. Faith knew the property very well, but she was still mesmerized every time she visited. There was just something so unique and magical about the type of nature that surrounded them. Something raw and powerful, almost overwhelming even.

After lunch, Angela finally took them to the stables to meet the horses. "Let's introduce you to Butter. Don't let her name full you, she can be a bit stubborn at times. I was hoping you could ride her a bit and see how her temperament is and how she does. Let me know what you think. There's someone interested in buying her for their daughter. Young girl, still learning. More or less the same age as you when you started."

"Will, do Angela." Faith gently petted the horse. It was a beautiful and majestic mare.

"I have some work to do back at the house. Take your time." Angela waved as she left and walked away from the stables.

"Do you do this often?" Callum asked, leaning back against the wall as he saw Faith saddling the horse and change into her riding boots.

"What?"

"Ride horses for her?"

"I do. Since I was one of her students for years and competed, she trusts my opinion. And Angela doesn't ride anymore because of a back injury. That's why she retired and only has one or two horses at a time right now. There's still some staff teaching classes. But not her. It's nothing like it used to be."

"Let me guess... She fell from a horse?"

"No." She glared at him. "It was from a car crash. Are you afraid of horses, Dr Grant?" She smirked

"Respect. Not fear."

"You're only used to seeing them in front of a carriage doing tours around a park in the middle of a city, right?"

"You don't need to look so amused, Faith." He grumbled, taken aback by the size of the animals around them. The horses looked massive and the muscles on their bodies showed with every move. This was a terrible idea... He thought as a horse got closer to him. Callum could feel its warm breath behind him, breathing right on the back of his neck.

"Come on. Ride with me," she whined.

"No. I think I'll safely watch from the distance."

"I've been riding since I was a kid. Trust me."

"I've seen bad fractures caused by horse riding accidents. I remember a shoulder fracture that was particularly bad. So, I think I'm good. I want to keep all my bones and organs intact."

"Come on, doc. Do this for me. Pretty please."

"Faith, believe me when I tell you that I'd do anything for you, but..." As Callum uttered this words, Faith turned completely red. How adorable... "Fine. I'll ride with you." He grinned. No way I can say no now....

"Huh... What?"

"Let's go, Rapunzel."

"What?"

After riding for a while, Faith stopped at the highest point in the property, from where they had an amazing view of the valley and the river that ran through it. They sat on the grass while Butter rested.

"This view is breathtaking."

"Beats concrete walls and skyscrapers, doesn't' it?"

"Absolutely." Truly breathtaking... He glanced to the side. "So, princess, seems like you don't need a prince on a white horse when you can ride one yourself."

She chuckled. "I guess so. I still wouldn't mind having a prince charming to ride with me."

"Both of you galivanting into the sunset riding your horses like at the end of a movie?"

Faith chuckled. "Exactly like that."

"Do you think he's out there?" Faith wanted butterflies and a novel worthy romance, and even though Callum had made up his mind about his feelings for her, he still wondered if he would be able to give her everything that she hoped for. Everything that she deserved.

"I hope so." She looked straight at him, her green eyes piercing him. "I think there's someone for everyone out there. Just takes a lot of a luck to find them."

"Do you think that there's more than one? More than one soulmate, that is."

"I don't know. What do you think?"

"I wonder if there's even one, let alone more than one." Had Callum lost his chance? What if we are only entitled to one great romance? To one soulmate. Maybe he used up his chance with Alice. Or maybe Alice hadn't even been his first great romance yet... One thing he was certain of, he had never felt anything as intense as what he was feeling for Faith.

"Who broke your heart, Dr Grant?" Callum smiled sadly. "Oh... I am right, aren't I? Someone did. I'm so sorry Callum, I didn't mean to-"

"Don't worry about it, Faith."

"Alice and Ben, right?" Faith asked, recalling the conversation during Callum's birthday lunch. Callum nodded while mindlessly gazing at the horizon. "I'm sorry. It's none of my business. Let's head back to the house. We don't want to leave too late."

As Faith was about to get up, Callum placed his hand over hers and pulled her down. "No. I want to tell you. I promised I would tell you about it."

Callum told her all about Alice and Ben. How the three of them became friends. How Alice and he started to date during med school and how she cheated on him with his own best friend.

"How did you find out?"

"I saw them."

"Oh..."

"I wasn't supposed to be home at that time. But I wasn't doing well because of my patient. Barely sleeping. So, I managed to switch around some shifts at the hospital. I went home to sleep and there they were."

"Do you still love her?" As she uttered these words, Faith realized how much the thought of Callum loving someone else hurt her. The sharp pain in her heart was real. There was no denying it.

He shook his head. "No. Not at all. It's the betrayal for me. I'm not sure how to move forward from it. And I almost proposed to her. I had already bought the ring. I was just waiting for the right moment. Waiting for me to feel better after Wendy died and then-".

"And then she cheated on you..." Faith muttered, and Callum nodded. "Oh... I'm so sorry, Callum." She went silent, and then, out of the blue, tears started to slowly roll down her face.

"Faith? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Callum pulled Faith closer to him and started to clean her tears with his thumbs.

"It's nothing. It's stupid."

"Doesn't matter. Tell me anyway. Please."

"I don't get it."

"You don't get what?"

"How could someone do what they did to you? Especially you. You didn't deserve that. How..."

Callum pulled Faith into his embrace. She let the tears flow with her forehead pressed against his chest while he brushed his fingers through her hair.

"I'm okay," Faith said after a few minutes. She moved a few inches away from his chest and took a deep breath. Callum chuckled. "What's funny?"

"You. You're adorable. Why are you crying like that for something that happened to someone else?" His heart ached seeing her sob like that, and knowing the reason behind the tears made him fall even harder for her. You truly are quite something, princess... He thought while gently cleaning her tears.

"I don't know. And it wasn't someone else. It was you. It happened to you," she mumbled while cleaning her face with her sleeve. "Don't make fun of me," she pouted.

"I'm not making fun of you." Callum gently raised her chin so that she would look straight at him. "I think you just made me fall for you even more."

"What?" Butterflies... Butterflies... What do I do? Faith said to herself, panicking while she turned red from head to toe.

With one hand on the nape of her neck and the other around her waist, Callum pulled Faith closer to him, until their noses brushed against each other. Then he smirked, right before leaning in towards her lips and kissing her. Faith's heart was banging against her ribcage, and she felt lightheaded and dizzy. So, this is what real butterflies feel like... She thought as she let herself go and wrapped her arms around Callum's neck as both his hands were now on her waist.