Page 124 of Finding Jess

Caleb smiled softly. “I was talking about you.”

She stared at him, her brow crinkling as she absorbed the words. “Me?”

Caleb nodded, his smile softening into something more earnest. “I knew it the day I met you. That first time we talked—you just—had it. The way you think, the way you solve problems, the way you care about the work and the people doing it. That’s almost impossible to find in a person.”

Sam looked away, her throat tightening.

Caleb was quiet for a moment before releasing a deep sigh as he leaned back in his chair. “I didn’t care if we eventually sold, or if we just coasted along, or even if we went bankrupt. Because every day, I got to do what I always wanted from the start.”

Sam swallowed hard, the weight of his words pressing against the emptiness in her chest.

“Maybe you need something more than that,” Caleb continued, his tone gentle. “But I can’t imagine anything greater than what we’ve already built. Not because of the company, but because of the people in it. And because of you.”

She stared down at the table, the words turning over in her mind.

She thought about everything she’d been chasing—the deals, the contracts, the validation that came with success. But sitting there, with Caleb’s unwavering belief laid bare, she felt something crack open inside her.

“What if it’s not enough?” she asked quietly.

Caleb’s expression softened, but kept its serious edge. “What if it is?”

The words hung in the air, sinking deep into her chest. She thought about the long hours, the sleepless nights, the sacrifices she’d made to get there. And then she thought about the team they’d built, the people who had come and gone. The ones who stayed.

“It’s a lot to handle,” she admitted, her voice barely audible. “I used to love it. Building something bigger than myself. Now it just feels—I don’t know. Different.”

Caleb smiled, quiet and understanding. “Then let’s change that. You don’t have to do it all alone. You never had to.”

The warmth of his words easing the icy knot in her chest. “Thank you,” she said, swallowing. “Not just for this. But—for everything.”

“Anytime,” he replied easily, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied grin.

She glanced down at the papers on the table once more, her eyes flitting across them. “I think I need to clear my head,” she said quietly. “Go for a ride and think about things.”

He smiled knowingly, as if he’d expected that from the start. “Do whatever you need.”

***

The city skyscrapers blurred past as she wove through the streets, the rare warm air of the day drifting over her bare arms. The rides were a reset button. A way of finding clarity when everything felt like too much.

But this time, it wasn’t working.

She pushed harder, twisting the throttle and feeling the surge of power beneath her. The engine’s roar drowned out the noise in her head, but it didn’t quiet it. Her thoughts chased each other in endless circles: the deal, Caleb’s words, Jess, the wedding, the fight. It all spun together in a chaotic storm she couldn’t outrun.

She turned down a familiar street, one that usually soothed her with its winding arcs. But even the rhythm of the ride—leaning into the curves, shifting gears, letting the machine and the road work in harmony—didn’t bring the relief it usually did.

Frustration bubbled under her skin like a restless itch. She gritted her teeth, hands tightening on the handlebars as she accelerated onto an open stretch of road. The wind tore past, sharp and burning, but it did nothing to cut through the raw cold in her chest.

The traffic light ahead turned red, and she slowed, her breaths coming shallow and uneven as she looked down at the glowing controls of the bike.

Then one unexpected thought made its way into her head, swirling with the others. And even when she tried to shut it out, it persisted. Something she didn’t want to do—but for some reason, felt the overwhelmingneedto do.

She released a frustrated breath, shaking her head as the light turned green. Then she twisted the throttle again, the engine snarling in protest as the bike shot forward.

Finally, with a sharp exhale, she made a U-turn, heading to the last place she would’ve expected to want to go.

Chapter twenty-six

The office was quiet when Sam arrived, the hum of fluorescent lights and the faint tap of keyboards the only sounds in the otherwise still space.

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