Chapter 12 Brian
TWELVE
brIAN
Afew nights later, I found myself in my living room again, staring mindlessly at the television. I was beat, too tired to walk up the stairs, after an eighteen-hour day. God, I’d be thankful when the rodeo was over and things at the sheriff’s office returned to normal.
I leaned back against the couch and sighed.
“Normal” would mean catching up on all the work that had been set aside temporarily.
I’d put off reports from last week, but I’d stayed late today to try to wade through some of them.
The county prosecutor would need the documents soon for a few criminal cases.
I worked until my eyes burned before making my way home.
Although the house was quiet, a tense atmosphere seemed to pervade every corner.
That had been the way of it since my disagreement with Caitlin in the kitchen.
I wasn’t calling it a fight. Angry words hadn’t been exchanged, not really, but it had been clear that she wasn’t happy with me.
I hadn’t been very happy with myself, for that matter.
I should have realized more about what she’d gone through back then.
My family had taken Ethan in. Why had no one asked whether it was okay for Caitlin to be left behind?
I flipped the channel, looking for anything that wasn’t serious. Caitlin had been on my mind too much, and for the first time in my career, I was distracted at work. Her face, her voice, the fact that she was only feet away from me at night interfered with my thought process.
And we hadn’t cleared the air. I wanted to, but I wasn’t sure where to begin. Tonight definitely wasn’t a good time for it since she was already in bed and likely asleep. With her early morning shifts, I was reluctant to disturb her.
She’d had the morning off today, which I hadn’t known about until I’d stopped by for an early lunch and found Aurora handling her section.
Caitlin had been invited to participate in some sort of video Zoe was filming for Lost Valley Ranch.
I’d known of it through Sofia, since she had planned to go, as well, but I’d been surprised to find out Caitlin had been included.
I shouldn’t have been, though. The women were all of a similar age and would have known each other, at least casually, through school.
I couldn’t decide what bothered me more—that she hadn’t thought to tell me about it or that she was socializing with everyone but me.
It was both, I decided, which wasn’t fair to Caitlin. Not with the way I’d initially set the ground rules when she arrived. She had every right to socialize with whoever she wanted without any input from me.
My eyes were half-closed when I heard footsteps on the stairs. I sat up straighter and turned to the doorway.
“Hi,” she said. Her hair was mussed from contact with a pillow and she wore an oversized T-shirt with Bevo, the UT mascot, on it.
“Did I wake you? The television’s too loud. I’m sorry about that.” I lowered the volume, kicking myself for being so thoughtless. I was too used to living alone.
“It’s fine. I wasn’t sleeping.”
“Something keeping you up?” I knew she had worries, above and beyond the situation with her parents. I was curious about the texts I’d read, but she kept a tough front up most of the time. Right now, her usual “I’ve got this” persona seemed softened by the late hour.
“You, actually. You’re really late tonight,” she said. “I got worried when I heard sirens about an hour ago.”
“That was just a routine traffic stop,” I explained.
“Mack—my newest deputy—got a little overexcited pulling over a speeder on the outskirts of town.” Tomorrow, I planned to have another conversation with the young deputy in which I once again would ask him to explain his reasoning.
I figured if I asked that same question enough times, maybe it would take up space in Mack’s brain, and he’d learn to think before he acted.
“Oh, good.” Her face brightened with relief. “My imagination was coming up with all sorts of terrible scenarios.”
“Poplar Springs is a safe place,” I said, but I was touched that she was concerned for me. “My evening consisted of paperwork, which is about as far from excitement as a person can get.”
“You could have brought that home,” she suggested. I liked the way she referred to my house as home. It made me feel warm inside even if I knew that our cohabitation was temporary.
“I do sometimes, but I spread it all over the kitchen table and make a mess. I didn’t want to inconvenience you.” Nor could I afford the distraction of having her near when I had to concentrate. I already struggled to do that in my office. At home, it would be impossible.
“It’s your house,” she pointed out.
“I don’t want to be rude.”
That got a smile from her for some reason. “I’ve never seen you be rude in my life,” she said, and I didn’t know how to respond to that. “I like this show,” she continued. “Do you mind if I sit down and join you?”
“Not at all,” I said, and she sat on the opposite end of the couch, tucking her legs underneath her. I turned the volume back up and we watched an old episode of Parks and Recreation. When we both laughed at the same moment, she shot me a smile.
“I don’t know why this show is so funny, but it is,” she said, and I felt the tension between us ease. Watching a show together late at night had the air of a truce between us. I studied her, wondering again what had happened to bring her home and if there was any chance she’d stay.
The fact that she was worried about me and that something bad had happened in town suggested she cared. Did that mean the town and some of the people were growing on her? I hoped so, because having her around was growing on me.
I cleared my throat while the next episode loaded. “So, what’d you do out at Lost Valley this morning?”
Her smile lit up the room as she launched into a description of the ride the women took to the meadow out near the Caffertys’ old hunting cabin, which was a stop on some of their longer trail rides.
“The meadow grass and blooms were waist high, so when the horses walked through them, it was as if we were swimming in a lake of petals. I took a lot of pictures, and I have all these ideas for a series of floral designs to add to my portfolio.”
“That’s great.” Of course she was figuring out how to incorporate it into her work. “And you went out on horseback?”
She nodded with enthusiasm. “I rode a pretty chestnut named Red. When Fiona first asked me to come, I almost said no. I hadn’t been on a horse since high school and I was worried I’d make a fool out of myself, but it all worked out.
I can’t wait to see the video. Zoe promised to send it out as soon as it was ready. ”
Caitlin went on to share that she’d already looked up a couple horse rescues in Austin, and that she planned to reach out to them as a volunteer to help exercise the horses when she got back.
I was pleased that she was finding things to do and friends here in town, but it unsettled me that she seemed to want to transplant all her good experiences back to Austin rather than staying in Poplar Springs to enjoy them here.
She really was full focused on leaving this town behind and getting back to her other life.
A life I would never be a part of. I worried that Jake would be proven right. When Caitlin eventually returned to Austin, it would be like breaking up with her all over again.