Three days had passed since Caleb's family officially settled into the wooden house. Their presence brought a livelier atmosphere to Grandpa Hendra and Grandma Melia, but for Maya, her routine remained the same. The final-semester college student still often sat in the gazebo in the backyard every afternoon, her laptop balanced on her lap as she worked on her assignment revisions while waiting for her mother to finish cooking in the kitchen.
That afternoon, the wind was blowing quite strongly. Maya had just placed a stack of reference papers on the gazebo's wooden table when the sound of approaching footsteps reached her.
From the corner of her eye, Maya could see that tall, broad figure again. Caleb strolled along with a cup of black coffee in his hand. He was wearing a dark plain T-shirt that clearly outlined his solid frame. The man of French descent usually preferred spending his time in the upstairs reading room, but for some reason, that afternoon he had chosen to walk toward the backyard.
Maya lowered her head slightly in a polite gesture as Caleb passed by. "Good afternoon, sir."
Caleb only answered with a soft throat-clearing sound. "Hmm." His voice was deep and flat. Without saying anything else, he settled onto the long rattan chair just a few yards from the gazebo where Maya was sitting. Caleb leaned back against the chair, taking slow sips of coffee while staring straight at the koi pond.
The atmosphere suddenly fell silent. Maya tried to focus on her laptop screen again, even though, honestly, having that ice-cold man nearby made things feel a little awkward. She chose to act indifferent, treating Caleb as nothing more than part of the garden decor—someone she had no need to speak to.
However, the calm did not last long. A sudden gust of afternoon wind swept across the gazebo table, sending several sheets of Maya's reference papers flying into the air.
"Oh!" Maya cried out, quickly getting to her feet to catch the important papers.
She managed to secure most of them, but one sheet flew a little farther, toward the rattan chair. Just as Maya was about to step forward and retrieve it, a large hand, fine veins standing out across its surface, reached up and caught the paper in midair before she could.
Caleb stood. With his calm, long strides, he approached the gazebo. His towering height forced Maya to look up when he held out the paper that had flown away.
"Thanks, sir," Maya said politely, accepting the paper carefully so their fingers would not touch.
Instead of turning and leaving right away, Caleb paused for a moment. His hazel-brown eyes moved over the stack of papers and Maya's laptop screen, filled with long lines of text. His face remained flat and expressionless, but his gaze was not as cold as usual.
"Don't leave them on the edge," Caleb said curtly, his voice almost sounding like a murmur.
Before Maya could respond, the man had already turned and returned to his original rattan chair, once again staring at the koi pond as if nothing had happened. Maya blinked slowly, let out a faint sigh, and shifted her stack of papers farther toward the center of the table. The French man was certainly sparing with his words, but with the distance still stretching between them, Maya realized one thing: Caleb was not as aloof as she had thought.