27. Chapter 27
Chapter twenty-seven
Rowan
I’d just showered after a long swim on Sunday afternoon when someone beat on my hotel door. Tightening the fluffy robe around my waist, I peered through the peep hole.
“I can hear you breathing,” Poppy yelled.
“No, you can’t,” Lauren said, shoving her aside to lean closer to the door.
I opened it, and they flashed matching grins.
“Surprise!” Lauren said, giving me a hug. “We’re here for a sleepover.”
“If you’re both here, who’s at the café?” I asked as my sister walked past me without saying hello.
“Dibs,” Poppy said, throwing her bag onto the queen bed I hadn’t slept in.
“Cammie is closing,” Lauren said. “It occurred to me she spent so much time at Karma, she’d make a great part-time employee, and I thought she could use the money. She knows all the drink combinations and most of the regulars. Plus, the girl learns faster than anything I’ve ever seen.”
“You left your business with a new hire to drive over an hour and a half for a sleepover with me?”
“I left my friend in charge, so I could take advantage of an amazing resort I would otherwise never be able to afford, and because you’ve introverted enough.”
“I’m here for the observatory,” Poppy said, shaking the box of Sour Patch Kids leftover from my drive with Mom and popping a piece in her mouth. “And because Lauren made me,” she added around a mouthful of candy.
Lauren rolled her eyes. “She’s joking. We’re both concerned about you and wanted to check in.”
“I can’t believe Mom paid for two nights here,” Poppy said, walking to the sitting area and admiring the view. “That woman still wears the same sweatshirts she had when we were in elementary school.”
“She wanted me to have time alone to think about my next steps,” I said.
Lauren peered into the trashcan and frowned. “How many boxes of tissues have you gone through?”
“Wrong question,” Poppy said. “How many desserts have you eaten?”
I cleared my throat. “A couple. Of both.”
Lauren flopped onto my unmade bed and stretched out like a cat. “Wow, this bed is amazing.” She closed her eyes, and I noticed the dark circles under them had deepened. “If it makes you feel better, Cal looked terrible yesterday.”
“It’d make me feel better if we didn’t talk about him.” I’d done as Mom asked, alternating my crying sessions with short hikes, room service, and a swim. After a full day of thinking and letting myself feel whatever I wanted, I was emotionally exhausted and no closer to deciding about the job offer. But I’d come to one conclusion: I had to stop thinking about Caleb Cardoso and focus on the decisions I could control.
“You really are Mom’s favorite,” Poppy said, walking into the bathroom. “I figured it might be Chris since he’s the baby and all, but damn.”
“As great as this room is,” Lauren said, “I want to see everything else. Have you been to the spa?”
“Just the pool,” I said.
“What’s wrong with you?” Poppy said, glaring at me. “Let’s go. Do you have a couple more of those robes?”
It took a few minutes to convince Poppy that I should change into real clothes for the walk down to the spa instead of all of us parading through the lobby in matching terrycloth robes. After we’d checked in at the spa and were given the exact same robes to wear for our massage, Poppy shook her head.
“That’s your problem, Rowan. You complicate your life because you do what people expect you to do. So what if you wore a robe in the lobby? You don’t know anyone here but us, and we’d already seen you in it.”
Lauren laughed as she tightened the sash on her own robe. “I agree with Poppy, in theory, but no way would I have walked through the lobby half naked.”
“Y’all are no fun,” Poppy said as an employee led us to the massage room.
The tables reminded me of the ones in Cal’s office, and my chest tightened. The masseur directed me to lie face down, but I stood beside the massage table, my fingers gripping the edge.
“Um, can you give us five minutes before we start,” Lauren said, lifting her head up from the table where she was already face down.
“No,” I said, hopping onto my table and stretching out. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not,” Poppy mumbled. “Crap on a cracker,” she groaned as her masseur worked her shoulders, “why haven’t I done this before?”
“Because it’s $225 an hour,” I said as my masseur got to work on the tight muscles in my neck.
“Mom’s favorite, for sure,” Poppy said and moaned.
“I know your mom told us to get massages," Lauren said, "but I’ll be sending her a very large gift card to Karma.”
I lifted my head. “Mom knows you’re here? I thought y’all just hijacked my hotel stay.”
“Yes,” Lauren said. “She asked us to spend the night and drive you home in the morning. Sorry, it’s going to be early. Cammie is opening, but she has to be at Dr. Cohen’s by eight.”
Poppy groaned but I wasn’t sure if it was in response to the massage or Lauren’s announcement we’d be leaving before the sun rose.
Thinking of Cammie made me think of Cal, which made the corners of my eyes burn. I took a deep breath and pushed his handsome face from my mind. “If we’re missing breakfast,” I said, “let’s have dinner in the restaurant. I haven’t been yet.”
Poppy lifted her head. “Mom said you only ordered peanut butter pie, baklava, and a pot of coffee to the room since you’ve been here.”
“Healthy,” Lauren said with a laugh.
“I guess I wasn’t that hungry,” I said, laying my head back down. The masseur placed hot stones down my back, and I let out a groan to rival Poppy’s.
“If we don’t feed you a real dinner, Mom will never let me hear the end of it,” Poppy said.
“I brought dresses,” Lauren said in a small voice. “We can do our hair and—”
Poppy and I both lifted our heads and looked at Lauren. Her eyes were shut, her lips parted.
“Did Lauren seriously just fall asleep mid-sentence?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Poppy said, lowering her head. “She insisted on driving, so I made her talk the whole time to keep her awake. Lauren has a lot of words.”
I chuckled. “Yes, she does.”
As if to prove how few words Poppy and I had, we went the rest of the massage without talking. I tried to clear my mind and enjoy the luxury around me, but I couldn’t stop wondering if Cal was upset about me or his conversation with Avery.
“Lauren needs another full-time employee,” Poppy said after the masseurs had left us. “She’s at Karma eighty plus hours a week.”
I looked at my best friend passed out on the table and nodded. “She’s working herself to death.”
“Cammie would be perfect, but she needs full time. I doubt there’s anyone else Lauren would trust to run the place while she wasn’t there.”
“Can’t you pick up more hours?” I asked.
“Don’t tell Lauren this, but I hate working at Karma. I know she teases you for being introverted, but at least you can talk to people without wanting to strangle them. I’m not cut out to be a barista. I need a job where I can work with minimal interaction.”
I nodded. “Like decorating cakes. You’re really talented.”
“So are you,” she said, propping herself up on her elbows. “We could do it. Start our own custom bakery. Even if it doesn’t make a ton of money at first, so what? It’s not like we have mortgages or families to support. Mom loves having us all in the house, and I know for a fact she wants to take over your student loan payments. As much as I want my own place, I wouldn’t mind living at home longer while I built my own business. You could handle all the baking and the customer interactions. I could do all the decorating and marketing, honestly, anything that didn’t involve people. If you taught me how to handle the finances, I’d even do that.”
“But that would mean I’d have to stay in Peace Falls.”
Poppy nodded. “We could open a bakery anywhere, but Peace Falls makes the most sense. Not only do we have a free place to live and work, but Mom knows a ton of people in the special event industry. We could even cross promote each other’s businesses.”
“I’m not sure I can live in a place as small as Peace Falls after living in DC for so long.”
“Of course, you can,” Poppy said, gently. “It’s whether or not you want to.”
Lauren let out a loud snore, and Poppy and I burst out laughing. “What,” she stammered, lifting her head. “Did I fall asleep?”
“That has to be the most expensive nap in the history of naps,” Poppy laughed.
Lauren waved her hand. “Nah, any surgery where you go under would cost more.”
“Yeah, about that,” I said.
Poppy and Lauren both snapped their attention to me with matching frowns.
“I might need back surgery. Which is why starting my own business without health insurance wouldn’t be a good idea.”
“So, you CObrA your old policy until you can enroll in an open market plan in November,” Lauren said. “Besides, if you need a job, I’m happy to hire you.”
“No,” Poppy said. “You can buy her baked goods and hire Cammie full time. Assuming Rowan decides she’s woman enough to live in Peace Falls.”
Lauren and Poppy both looked at me with hopeful expressions. I blew out a breath. “I’m considering it,” I said. “I’ve enjoyed being in the mountains again and spending time with y’all.”
Lauren squealed and Poppy smiled. I hadn’t realized how few friends I had in DC until I had the chance to see Lauren and Poppy whenever I wanted. Though we’d just met, Cammie could easily become someone I could count on to grab dinner or a coffee. But living in Peace Falls meant seeing Cal. Even if I moved off Sullivan Street, we’d still cross paths. Poppy seemed smitten with Theo, which would put Cal and me together from time to time. Heck, I couldn’t go to the grocery store without the risk of running into him. It was inevitable. As much as I didn’t want to think about Cal, I needed to know what to expect the next time I saw him.
“Do you think Cal was upset because of me?” I asked Lauren.
She nodded. “I think he might be afraid to get close to people after what happened to Logan.”
“Bullshit,” Poppy said, swinging her feet to the floor, flashing us both. “He’s gotten close to plenty of people since then. Cammie makes it sound like he’s her brother, and Chris says the same. Cal’s capable of loving people. He just hasn’t let that extend beyond friendships.”
Lauren stared up at the ceiling while Poppy wiggled into her robe. “I agree. But it’s different being friends with someone and allowing yourself to be vulnerable enough to fall in love.”
“Speaking from experience there?” I asked.
Lauren shrugged. “Are you decent, Poppy?”
“Never,” Poppy said, tying the sash of her robe in a knot.
“At least she’s honest,” I said, with a laugh, covering myself with a sheet as I slipped into my own robe. I let out a breath and put my head in my hands. “I forgot to tell Cammie to cancel my PT session tomorrow.”
“No problem,” Lauren said, tightening her robe. “I’ll text her after we eat. I’d already planned to check in with her later. Let’s stop on the way upstairs and make a reservation for dinner.”
“Tell Cammie to move Rowan’s appointment to Tuesday,” Poppy said. She walked to my table and gripped my shoulders. “You’re not letting your back get worse because Cal can’t pull his head from his ass. Besides, any longer than that, and you’ll work yourself up too much. Better to get it over with.”
I nodded.
“You could just switch your appointment to Dr. Cohen,” Lauren said.
“No,” I said. “Caleb is not losing his job because of me. We’re adults. I only have two sessions left. I might as well finish them this week, whether I decide to move or stay.”
“Great,” Poppy said, helping me from the table. “Let’s make that reservation. I could hear Rowan’s stomach rumbling across the room.”
“Oh,” Lauren said, standing. “I have the perfect dress for you, Poppy. It’s floral.”
Poppy made a gagging sound, and a huge laugh burst through the ache in my chest.
They both stared at me. I laughed harder, bending at the waist and gripping my knees.
“Is she losing it?” Poppy asked.
“Maybe,” Lauren said.
I stood up, wiping the tears that had suddenly sprung from my eyes. “Poppy wearing floral is about as likely as Caleb Cardoso falling for me. Men like him do not end up with women like me, even if they hadn’t sworn off relationships. I’m so stupid. I couldn’t keep a guy like Brad faithful. Why in a million years would I think a man like Cal would want more from me than a casual fuck? It’s embarrassing how much this hurts. Honestly, he’s the only reason I’m still considering that job in DC. When we were in school, would either of you have imagined I’d have to worry about dodging Cal Cardoso at Church because he’s seen me naked? We might as well be different species.”
“Lauren,” Poppy gritted out. “I’m going to rock the shit out of that floral dress.”
As we made our way into the restaurant later that night, I had to admit, she did.