Fourteen
S o, how’s the trip back home going?” Arlen asked before Scott could pin him down about his retirement announcement.
“Interesting.” Scott wasn’t about ready to share with his client that his dad probably, well most certainly, had taken bribes and it was just a matter of time before his investigators uncovered the depth of his father’s corruption.
“Is the girl married?”
“No.”
“No! Well, is she dating someone?”
“Not that I know of.” Scott dug through the messenger bag he used to carry work materials back and forth from his home to the office for the legal pad that he’d used to draft a rough copy of Arlen’s speech.
“And you’re on the phone talking to me on a Saturday morning instead of spending time with her?”
“Arlen, we need to come up with what you’re going to say.”
“No, we don’t. I’ve been doing pressers longer than you’ve been an agent. I know exactly what to say and what not to say.”
Scott pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Arlen was a great client and a good friend. Except when he played the ‘I’m older than you and I have more experience than you card’. He didn’t do all that often, only when he didn’t want to do something and was backed in a corner and made to do it.
“Don’t worry about the statement, worry about the girl you let get away.”
“Why are you so fixated on me and Lauren and the possibility of a relationship?”
“With my nieces living with me now, I need to live vicariously through you.”
“You’ve played with some of the greatest. You’ll be a first ballot Hall of Famer. The last thing you need to do is live vicariously through me.”
Arlen grunted in response to Scott’s Claim. “I’m going to hang up and you’re going to find her and the next time you call, I’ll expect a detailed report too.”
True to his word, Arlen hung up the phone.
Three minutes later Scott was sitting in his car in the parking lot of the hotel and replayed every conversation about Lauren he’d had in the past two days. And then, just because, he replayed his conversation with Arlen a few minutes ago. If his life decisions were based on a democracy, there wouldn’t be any hesitation. He’d already be heading to the bakery to convince Lauren to spend time with him.
But his life wasn’t based on a vote of his friends. (Scott decided Jake abstained from the vote and Trent was on team Lauren and Scott.)
He had to make his own decisions. Every instinct, the thing he hated to follow, told him to go for it despite the shouting from the logic and reason part of his brain telling him that work and relationships never worked. Not to mention that Lauren was going to hate him for what his father most likely did to the town.
The phone on the seat next to him chimed, announcing a text message. He picked it up and looked at the screen. Arlen.
You better not be sitting in your car talking yourself out of finding her!
Five minutes later he headed to the bakery, after making a quick detour at the bait shop. Lauren used to love to go fishing. She didn’t have much time for it lately, especially with what Jake had said about none of them having much time for hobbies now. Scott planned on changing that.
S he’s not here.”
Scott stared at the high schooler standing behind the counter. Had they ever been that young?
“She’s not?”
“She comes in and bakes in the morning then leaves for the rest of the day.”
“Is she at home?”
The teenager, only a little bit surly as far as teenagers went, shrugged. “Probably.”
“Give me a loaf of that marbled rye and a coffee.”
The teenager blinked at him. “Kind and size?”
What did he care about the kind of coffee?
“Small coffee.” He pointed to the commercial coffee maker that brewed drip coffee.
“Sliced?”
“No thanks.” It took him a minute to get his brain on the same track as the girl. “Do you work on Sunday’s too?”
“Not usually. At least not until summer.”
“Do you want to work tomorrow?”
“I’d love to, but I’m not sure the bakery gets enough customers this time of year for me to come in.” What the girl wasn’t saying was that Lauren couldn’t afford to have her come in on Sundays too.
“Well, come in tomorrow.” He made a snap decision to give Lauren an entire weekend off. He’d do lunch with her today and take her fishing tomorrow.
“No offense, but you’re not my boss.”
“Just come in tomorrow.” He pulled out his money clip and handed her a hundred-dollar bill.
“I know who you are.” Her gaze landed on the bill, but she didn’t take it.
“You do?”
She nodded. “Everyone does. They were all talking about if you would come home.”
Scott dropped the bill on the counter and tapped the glass top with the tip of his finger. “Just come in tomorrow.”
He paid for his order and stuck a twenty in the tip jar. With the new plan in place, he tucked the bread under his arm, took the coffee, and left the bakery. He’d need to make one more stop at the grocery store to get the other ingredients, but it would be worth it to give Lauren a break. Or at least he hoped it would be worth it.
The trip to the grocery store took longer than planned. But only because he couldn’t go ten steps without running into someone offering their condolences. He was sure they would feel that way if they knew his father was the reason behind the slow death of the town. Well, maybe not the sole reason, but his actions sped things along.
He left the grocery store with a bag full of corned beef, Swiss cheese, a jar of sauerkraut, and a bottle of thousand island since they didn’t have a top-notch Russian dressing. He also had his phone stuck to his ear. Not that he was actually talking to anyone, but it was the only way to keep the well-intentioned residents of Iron Creek from constantly stopping to talk with him. Once back in his car, he drove to Laurens.
Scott stood in front of the aging house and the sight reminded him of the passing time and just how long I’d been gone. Before he left, Jim Somers took care of his house. They never had much, but they never seemed to need it. After Robin passed, Jim must not have thought he had a reason to keep going, but what about Lauren? She didn’t deserve this. She never deserved this.
Jake shared what happened after Lauren’s mom died and she’d doubled down on taking care of her father. Guilt punched Scott in the stomach. Leaving was the best thing for him, and he hated thinking about what he would have been like if he had stayed. But he wished he hadn’t severed ties so completely.
He could have dropped Lauren an email. He could have picked up the phone and called her. It would have been easy to blame his dad as the reason for staying away for so long, and he played a huge role, but he wasn’t the only reason. Scott stayed away because he didn’t need any more images of Lauren haunting him. If something had happened between them all those years ago, he would have hurt her, and she would have hated him. Of course, now she might hate him anyway, but it wouldn’t be because of what he did or didn’t do.
But he told himself things were different now. So here he was, standing at her front door with lunch in a bag to make up for all the stupid mistakes he had made.
“Are you going to stand at the door all day or are you going to knock?”
Scott jumped at the sound of Jake’s voice.
“I was going to knock.”
Jake moved past him and opened the door. “Well come on in. You can help me clean the gutters.”
Scott had a feeling ‘cleaning the gutters’ was code for not spending time alone with Lauren, but stepped through the door, anyway. He survived Jake’s interrogation the day before and after they spoke at the bar, Scott thought they had come to a quasi-understanding — Jake could beat the crap out of Scott if he hurt Lauren, but would stop trying to run interference.
Scott was wrong.