Chapter 18
Santiago
The town of Caddawalk is small. I’m pretty sure there’s less than ten thousand people in total that live here. It’s a place where everyone knows everyone, somehow or someway. To newcomers, I guess that would be off-putting because if everyone knows you, they probably know your business.
The thing about Caddawalk is that it’s not like other small towns. While everyone can recognize a face, gossip doesn’t rampage around here. Ledger says it’s because everyone here has something to hide. Keep your mouth shut and secrets can’t be revealed. Not yours, not anyone else’s.
Knowing that, I’m not too worried about Molly’s keen interest in either me or Blair as Blair makes her way around the small women’s boutique we’ve stopped at.
Her eyes track us curiously and her polite smile is pinned firmly in place.
Sometimes she seems to catch herself staring openly.
When that happens, she’ll occasionally dip her head down so that her dark red hair covers her face, but I know she’s just peering at us through the strands in a more discreet way.
Whatever questions Molly has will be kept to herself. She’s sure as shit going to eavesdrop, though.
So, despite my curiosity to dig a little bit into Blair’s life, I keep conversation between us light as I follow Blair through the store.
“Okay, I was thinking, after this we can dump all your bags off back at the truck, then go get some food.”
As I draw closer to her, my body hums with excitement.
It’s been like this since the day she got here.
The sensation has only grown more pronounced with every passing day.
She makes me feel alive. Maybe it’s because she’s like a livewire, dangerous but only if you get too close.
The rush that whips through me at the thought of touching her is so exhilarating that it makes any threat to my life seem totally worth it.
Blair nods. “That sounds great, I’m famished. Where are you thinking?”
“Janet’s Janky Jukebox! They have a basement where live bands come to play and my favorite one is going to be there tonight,” I suggest.
Blair pauses, her fingers freezing on a clothes hanger as she gives me a quizzical side-eye.
“Janet’s Janky Jukebox?” She repeats. “That can’t be a real place, Santi.”
Behind the counter, Molly snorts her amusement but covers it with the fakest cough I’ve ever heard.
“Oh, it’s totally real and just as odd as its name.
You’ll love it,” I promise as Blair grabs a pale pink shirt, checks the size, then throws it over her arm where three other shirts hang.
“The walls are covered with all sorts of eighties memorabilia, and the floors are squishy and techno-colored, and the servers dress like their favorite eighty’s hair band member.
The food is greasy and delicious, and they bring in some great artists to play every Friday through Sunday.
It’s a dive bar, so it's nothing fancy but those are the best places to hang out on a night like tonight.”
Blair smiles brightly at this. “Alright, Santi, I’m trusting you. But if I get food poisoning or find a hair in my food—”
“You can slit my throat and use my corpse as a couch,” I confirm with a nod.
“Um, okay, well, that seems like an overly severe punishment.” Blair grimaces playfully then giggles.
The sound makes my heart flutter. I like that she doesn’t mind that I’m too much sometimes. She doesn’t roll her eyes, recoil, or simply shut down like other people I know. Blair just accepts that sometimes I don’t have a filter. She feels safe to be around.
“Does it? Seems fair to me for ruining your first real night out in Caddawalk.” I tilt my head to consider it then shrug. “But I guess you could be right.”
“Honestly, a corpse isn’t what I would use to decorate my house,” she counters. “But maybe I could put your teeth in one of those clear plastic DIY Christmas ornaments? Hang them on the tree every year?”
My footsteps falter as delight explodes in my chest. Crazy banter—I love it. She’s the only one who does this with me.
“Deal. You can have one or two even if this place ends up blowing your mind.”
Blair shakes her head with a light laugh. “Keep your teeth in your mouth, Santi, you big goof. I’m going to try these on. I’ll be quick, I promise.”
I wave a dismissive hand. “Take your time! There’s no rush.”
Blair slips away to the back of the store where the single dressing room is located. With a chuckle, I saunter up to the counter where Molly is giving me a knowing smirk.
“If I didn’t know your type, I’d say you were on a date right now, Santiago,” she says before quirking a curious brow.
Ah, so no questions like I suspected, but it seems Molly’s willing to commit to some small talk to get her answers. To be fair, Molly and I go way back. I think I’ve known her since kindergarten. Of course she would know that I’ve only ever shown interest in guys.
I shrug, trying to play it cool. “I think it’s a little more casual than a real date.”
But if Blair wanted this to be one I’d be over the fucking moon about it.
“Well,” she starts. “For what it’s worth, you haven’t stopped smiling since you walked in here. You look happy.”
I open my mouth to tell her I absolutely am, but choke on the words as my attention is snagged by the faded black and white missing person’s flyer pinned on the bulletin board behind her. There, staring back at me, is Blair.
Well, kind of.
According to the flyer, the woman is Ashleigh Burr—a local to Caddawalk that lived on the other side of town.
She’s got short, spikey dreadlocks, a painfully haggard expression, and pocked skin.
But it’s the shape of her face, the point of her nose, and the fire in her eyes that—from a distance—makes her look like an off-brand version of Blair.
This is why I thought I’d seen Blair before.
The flyer is ancient, but I remember when it had been posted all around Caddawalk five, maybe six years ago.
But it was her sudden reappearance that made the news.
She’d been gone for six months then showed up healthy as ever and claimed she’d been away visiting family.
“Alright,” Blair says, appearing by my side and placing the articles of clothes on the counter. “I’m ready to go.”
Molly smiles at her. “Find everything to your likin’, hun?”
As Blair confirms that she has, I give her Ledger’s credit card so she can purchase her items, then slip away to discreetly snatch the missing flyer poster off the board. I don’t know why. It doesn’t mean anything to me and it’s definitely not Blair. Still, I stuff the flyer into my back pocket.
A few minutes later, we’re strolling down the street.
“There’s a fall festival happening at the end of October.
I’ll show you where it takes place after we drop your bags off,” I tell Blair.
“It’s really fun. There’s great food, games, rides and all sorts of stuff.
Ledger has made sure Gnarly Pines has had a stand for the past few years.
We make it a competition on who can chop the most wood in thirty seconds. ”
“That sounds like fun!”
Blair’s voice seems kind of distant and when I look down at my side, I see why.
“Oh, shit, sorry!” I whirl around and hurry back to Blair’s side who is power walking in an attempt to catch up.
“You’re walking too fast for me to take it all in, Santi!” Blair teases, grabbing my forearm as I start to move again.
I try not to react to the simple touch, one that doesn’t even linger before her hand falls away, but my chest puffs out all the same. Unaware of the free falling sensation happening in my chest, Blair innocently tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear as she looks around Main Street.
“Sorry,” I tell her sheepishly. “I’ll slow down. I keep forgetting your legs are shorter than mine and I’m just excited to be out and about with you. I want to show you everything.”
I want you to fall in love with this place so that you’ll want to stay long after you’re out of danger…
It’s there, sitting on the tip of my tongue just waiting to be spoken. I swallow it down. I can’t say it, not yet. But maybe later…
“I’m enjoying being out with you, too, Santi,” Blair says with a grin, unaware of how I’m practically vibrating in her presence. “Alright, let the tour continue.”
Her innocent confession makes me feel giddy. I love that it’s just us tonight. These few hours with Blair are just what I need right now. Rhett is always there to ground me and I love that about him. Having someone there to grab my hand and force me to take a deep breath is comforting.
But I don’t want to be grounded tonight, and around Blair—I’m not.
In her presence, there’s a freedom I don’t get with anyone else.
I can say what I want, when I want, and I know she’s not going to rein me in.
She laughs easily, playfully antagonizes me, and calls me on my shit.
Since she’s moved in, it’s felt like I’ve been standing under a warm beam of sunlight and its refreshing. I don’t want to lose it.
What’s more, there’s been this buzzing in my head whenever I get close to her.
It’s pleasant despite the fact that it’s so intense I swear my bones are vibrating.
I know what that buzzing is. It’s the low whispering of two corrupted souls familiarizing themselves with one another on a frequency too low to make out what’s being said.
This is me feeling how right it is to have Blair at my side on a molecular level.
Once Rhett gets his head out of his ass and realizes how great she is, having them on either side of me is going to bliss me out. I just know it.
“Ok, well just over there behind that organic grocery store is the baseball field I used to play on. I was on a little league team when I was a kid, then I was the top pitcher in high school.”