5. Caitlin
FIVE
CAITLIN
Two weeks after returning to Austin, I parked behind Bite and Brew in Poplar Springs.
If this was a movie, the skies would be gray and overcast and creepy music would be playing as I returned to the town I despised.
But this was real life, so the day was pleasant and sunny and the only soundtrack was the birds in the trees that lined Main Street.
From the exterior, not much about the diner had changed since I’d worked there as a teenager alongside the owner’s daughter and my best friend, Aurora West, now West-Diaz.
Having sworn that she would never marry, Aurora had met Marc while celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Vegas and the two had come together about as well as oil and water.
But that didn’t deter Marc. He’d tracked her down and played the long game—by befriending her parents first and working in this very diner.
Today, the couple ran the diner together and somehow managed to balance raising twin toddlers with all their responsibilities.
If anyone could do it, Aurora could, I thought, as she came out the backdoor of the diner to greet me.
“Oh, it’s so good to see you,” Aurora said, hugging me tight. “And I can’t thank you enough for helping me out. I’m in such a jam.”
“I appreciate the work,” I said, smiling.
You couldn’t help but smile around her. Aurora was optimistic and bossy, a strange combination, but it worked for her the same way that her cut-off denim shorts and funky sneakers did.
Aurora was an original, and I had been grateful when she reached out to me with the offer of a job.
Returning to Poplar Springs hadn’t been my first choice, but I’d had no luck recovering the money my piece-of-shit ex had stolen from me.
And the truth was that I was flat broke.
I’d quit my job at the tattoo parlor because I’d thought I’d be opening my own place.
When that fell through, Kieran, the owner of the old shop—and Seamus’s brother—had refused to hire me back, nor had I had any luck finding another place to take me on.
I was sure Kieran had spread the word that I was toxic, which was why I wasn’t getting any bites despite my portfolio and client list. The ass. He was pissed that I quit and got even madder when he found out I planned on opening my own shop. He was doing his damnedest to push me out of Austin.
With no money in my account and rent coming due, Aurora’s offer had been a lifeline.
It had meant I could sublet my apartment—charging higher than my monthly rent since the place was coming furnished—and bring in extra money waitressing.
Some of that money would go toward renting Aurora’s basement, but prices were so much lower here that it felt like a steal.
This was my chance to reboot my life. So I’d sublet my apartment in Austin and headed back to my hometown.
“How’s Sue doing?” I asked about the waitress that I’d be replacing temporarily.
“The doctor says everything’ll be fine if she stays on bedrest until the baby is born,” Aurora said. “When I saw your post that you were between jobs, it was kismet.”
“For me, too,” I said. “I need to get back on my feet again.”
“It’s a win-win, then. Let me show you the ropes while it’s quiet, although I bet you still remember.
While the menu is new, most of the processes are still the same, although we did get a spiffy new dishwasher.
” Aurora led me into the kitchen where I met Aurora’s husband, the chef and co-owner.
Aurora swatted Marc playfully on the butt while he was working the grill.
He grabbed his wife with one arm and gave her a smacking kiss.
“Welcome aboard,” he said to me before turning back to the grill and flipping the pancakes with a flick of his wrist.
“Out here things are about the same as always.” Aurora went through the swinging door from the kitchen to the counter area.
“We have three servers on the floor during breakfast and lunch. It can be a rush, but manageable. It’ll quiet down midafternoon, which is a good time to refill everything and prep for dinner.
Depending on the day of the week or if Marc decides to put together a tasting menu, we could have as many as four servers working until close at eight. ”
“Do you work all those hours?” I couldn’t imagine raising a family with diner hours.
“Oh no. Marc gets here before we open to prep, and I drop the kids off at my parents before coming in for the breakfast rush. We have another cook who mostly handles dinner unless Marc wants to try out some new recipes.” Aurora said with a shrug.
“My folks watch the kids during the day, but I miss them every minute I’m here.
” Aurora pulled out her phone to show me pictures of the adorable toddlers, a girl named Lily and a boy named Nico, who both had their father’s darker coloring.
“So sweet,” I said, admiring them. “They’re beautiful.”
“Aren’t they?” Aurora smiled at the images on her phone. “I tell everyone that I have the perfect children, but I suppose a lot of parents think that.”
Not mine, I wanted to say. I’d never been much of anything other than an inconvenient afterthought and a disappointment to my parents.
Aurora swiped her finger and accidentally brought up a picture showing a room with several inches of water in it.
“Oh, shoot. I didn’t tell you. The basement apartment I said you could use flooded yesterday.
Some problem with a drainage line. A few of our neighbors are also having problems. Unfortunately, it’s going to take time to repair and then the apartment will have to be completely gutted and redone because of all the water damage and mold. ”
I felt stricken. Part of my rationalization for taking the job, even though it meant coming back, was that it came with a place to live, because no way was I returning to my parents’ home.
Oh, God, where was I going to go? I couldn’t go back to Texas.
My apartment already had a tenant. The only close friend I had in Austin was Mel, who was still angry enough with me about the stolen money that I didn’t think I could ask to crash on her couch while I looked for work. I was stuck. No, worse, I was homeless.
“But don’t worry.” I focused back on what Aurora was saying.
“I’ve worked it out. Brian Thorne—you know, the sheriff—has a spare room at his house.
He heard me talking about the apartment and that I needed a place for my friend to stay and he volunteered his place.
He was good friends with your brother, so I figured you’d be cool with that. ”
Panic now rose in me. I hadn’t kept up with Aurora after high school, and we’d only found each other on social media recently, so Aurora didn’t know I’d dated Brian and broken up with him five years ago.
And no one knew that we’d hooked up two weeks earlier.
But I was plenty sure that Brian wouldn’t want me to stay with him.
“I need to make some calls,” I said, feeling a little queasy. I had to find another place to stay, and quick.
“Sure. Brian’ll stop by soon to take you to his place and show you around.”
Two weeks ago, I’d been more than willing to follow Brian anywhere.
But not now, not when I’d come crawling back to Poplar Springs to try to put my life back together.
My night with him had been an escape, a moment out of time.
But the thing about fantasies is that they weren’t supposed to intrude into the real world.
Now I was expected to live with him? I couldn’t.
I retraced my steps to the back of the building, went out the door, and leaned against the warm brick as I called everyone I still knew well enough in town who might have a spare room.
The list wasn’t long, and I exhausted it quickly.
My acquaintances were sympathetic, but no one had space for me.
The only one who did had three cats, and I was allergic.
I couldn’t spend my time in Poplar Springs with chronic hives.
Getting a hotel room wasn’t an option. Not only would it cost too much, but I doubted I’d be able to get a room for more than a few days with the rodeo right around the corner and lots of visitors expected.
Everything rentable was probably sold out.
My parents were the only option I had left.
With a sinking heart, I brought their number up on my phone and stared at it.
I couldn’t, I simply couldn’t make myself press the “call” button.
I gulped in a breath of air and tucked my phone away just as the backdoor opened and Aurora came out followed by Brian.
“There you are,” Aurora said, smiling. “Brian’s here. Brian, you remember Caitlin, I’m sure.”
“I do. Howdy.” Brian tipped his hat to me, and I almost expected the word darling to appear at the end of his greeting. I managed a nod since I was temporarily speechless.
“I’ll let you two work out the details.” Aurora opened the door to return to the diner. “Can you start tomorrow at six, Caitlin?”
“Sure.” I found my voice. “Thanks for everything, Aurora.”
“You’re helping me out, hon. Bye.”
I waited until Aurora was out of earshot, and I was turning to Brian to apologize when he spoke first.
“I’m sorry about this,” he said. “I agreed to put up Aurora’s best friend before I realized it was you.
I thought she was talking about Miranda Andrews, since I know Miranda comes back to town now and then.
It never occurred to me that she was talking about you since I got the impression you had no intention of returning here. ”
I waited for him to follow up that speech by revoking the invitation, but he didn’t.
“I get it if you want to stay elsewhere,” he continued. “Your parents maybe? Unless that relationship is still…fraught.”
Fraught would be putting it mildly. Every word and action were landmines waiting to explode in my parents’ house. But Brian had never known the full extent of it, and I wasn’t about to clue him in now. My life was enough of a mess without sorting through all my dirty laundry.
“It isn’t sunshine and roses, but I’d stay there if I could.
” I hated lying to him but it seemed better than the alternative.
I wasn’t prepared to air my childhood trauma standing in the back alley of a diner.
“But they downsized last year and no longer have a guestroom.” The part about moving was actually true, though I didn’t know if they had a guestroom or not since I’d never been to their new home or even exchanged any words with them.
Still, it sounded like a plausible excuse, and it would prevent him from pitying me.
I didn’t want that from anyone, but especially not him.
“My place it is then.” He sounded falsely chipper. “And I’m not charging you rent.”
“Why would you do that?” I asked, stung at the idea that I needed charity or was looking for a handout. “Of course I’ll pay. I insist on it. Aurora will take it out of my salary.” I’d already arranged that with Aurora when I thought I’d be renting a place from her.
“I don’t charge friends,” he insisted.
“I’ll pay whatever price you and Aurora agreed on. I’m not mooching.” And I needed to feel that there were some boundaries in place between us. I’d be his renter, nothing more.
He didn’t like it. I could tell by the rigid set of his jaw, but he didn’t argue again. “It’s not far, so you’ll be able to walk to work. I’ll ride with you and show you the way right now, and you can get settled.”
When we got in my SUV, I saw him glance into the backseat that was piled with my belongings. I didn’t blush easily, but I felt heat rise through my cheeks when I recalled what we almost did on that seat.
“Take a left on Main,” he said. “My place is on South Chaska Street.”
I made the appropriate turns and in under two minutes, I pulled into the driveway of a small two-story house. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it appeared to be well-maintained and had flowerbeds with red and white geraniums around the small porch.
“I’ll help you carry your stuff in.” He grabbed a duffle bag and a laundry basket from the backseat and headed for the door, unlocking it one-handed. “Your room is top of the stairs on the right.”
The steps were right in front of us, so I started up, but I caught glimpses of a living room on one side, and a combination kitchen and dining room on the other.
At the top of the stairs, I saw a closed door on the left and two open ones on the right.
The first was a bathroom and the other was a small bedroom.
The room contained a bed, dresser, and chair that looked like they’d come out of someone’s grandparents’ house. They were antiques, pretty and well cared for.
“Hope this is okay,” Brian said, entering the room behind me and putting the items down.
“Brian, are you sure about this? I can see you’re uncomfortable with having me here, and I…” I trailed off because I’d been going to say that I could find some other place, but I couldn’t.
“It’s fine,” he said after a slight hesitation. “But I warn you that I’ll be a crappy host. I won’t have any time to spend with you because my first priority is my job, especially with the rodeo only two weeks away.”
“Of course, I didn’t expect anything else,” I said. I didn’t need to be entertained. I was even thinking that I might pick up a second job in the evenings if I wasn’t needed at the diner. More money meant that I got my life back that much sooner.
“And we can’t…hook up again,” Brian said, his gaze steady on me.
“I wasn’t thinking we would.” Was that a flicker of surprise on his face?
It disappeared in the blink of an eye, so I wasn’t sure.
Only a stern cop-face showed now. “I just need a place to live for the next few months. I’ll stay out of your way, I promise.
The truth is that I had just gotten out of a lousy relationship when we met up at that bar.
The aftermath of it has…complicated things for me.
Personally, financially.” I didn’t want to explain anything more than that.
“I’m trying to put my life back together right now, so that’s where my focus is.
I need to keep our relationship simple and separate. ”
“That’ll work for me. I’ll get the rest of your things and leave you the spare key on the kitchen counter before I head back to my office.
” He disappeared from the room before I could say more, which was good, I decided.
We’d said enough to establish the ground rules, and I’d do my part in sticking to them. Except, why did it hurt so much?