7. Nate #2
Unable to avoid the confrontation, I turn and give her a short nod. “Hi, Kaitlyn. How are you?”
I’m hoping that my perfunctory greeting will be enough, but Kaitlyn takes a step closer to me, her too-sweet perfume cloying as it invades my nostrils.
“Oh, I’m doing well. I’m so sorry to hear about Rory.” She trails her bright-red fingernails down my shoulder.
What is it about breakups that makes people think it’s okay to touch you?
I take a step away from her and study the menu. Our takeout order should be ready, and I don’t think they’ve changed the options in the past ten years, but I stare at it like it’s the most interesting thing I’ve ever seen.
“I’d love to take you out to cheer you up.”
She’s about as subtle as a freight train.
I turn around again, coming face-to-face with Kaitlyn. If my attempts to dissuade her from conversation didn’t work, I’m going to have to address this head-on.
“Thank you, Kaitlyn, but I’m not interested.”
Most normal women would simply back off at this point.
They may be upset or even offended, but they’d take the hint.
It’s not even a hint. It’s the blunt truth, staring you right in the face.
We don’t exactly cultivate normal in our little town, though, and Kaitlyn’s smile doesn’t fade. “Oh, don’t worry. We can have fun anyway. How about Church Bar? I’ll be there tonight. Maybe seven or so? Really, I’m there around seven most nights. I’ll see you then!”
I’m not sure I manage to hold back my grimace, but she doesn’t seem to notice. Or if she does, she doesn’t seem to care.
With a little wave, she turns and walks off, swaying her hips in a way that I imagine is meant to look sexy, but in fact makes her look like a newborn giraffe who’s not quite comfortable with the idea of walking just yet.
Seven o’clock at Church Bar. Noted.
“You on till eleven tonight?” Lawton asks, looking up from his desk at the station.
I shake my head. “Just till seven. Short shift. Conrad wanted to split it, so he’s coming in then for me.”
Lawton writes a few more words on the paper in front of him before he sets down his pen and leans back in his chair. “I’m thinking of heading to get a drink after work. Want to join me?”
I could use a drink, in fact. The constant attention from folks in town about my breakup and the complete silence from Rory is starting to wear on me.
I have a plan to win her back, but so far, it’s not working. Maybe a drink is a good idea.
“Yeah. But not Church.” I’m not taking a chance at running into Kaitlyn. I pull on the back of my neck. “Fuck, I don’t know what to do, man.”
“About Rory?”
“No, about climate change. Of course about Rory.”
Lawton rubs a hand across his jaw. “What have you done so far? Just text her, right?”
“Yeah. Her best friend thought that was best. Show her I’m here for her without being threatening or pushing or anything.”
“Send her flowers,” Gladys calls from the other room.
She may be pushing retirement age, but her hearing is as sharp as ever.
I roll my eyes. So much for privacy. “Thanks, G.”
“In my day, we called it courting, you know. None of this Grindr nonsense.”
Lawton snickers. “You think she knows what Grindr is?” he whispers.
“I heard that, young man.”
I can’t see her from my desk, but I’d bet anything she’s pointing her gnarled finger toward the workroom in admonishment.
I hold back my laughter as I make eye contact with Lawton, but he seems lost in thought.
I tilt my head. “You okay, man?”
From what I remember, he moved up here with a girlfriend. Kris? Kristine? Whatever her name is, she didn’t last through the first winter here.
At the time, we all figured Lawton would be a one-season man, like so many of the out-of-towners who come to High Lonesome and don’t last long before they hightail it back to Denver. But he’s surprised us all by staying in town, even when his now-ex-girlfriend didn’t.
“Hey. You okay there?” I ask again.
“Sorry. Yeah. I was just thinking.” After standing from his desk, Lawton walks across the room and sits on the edge of my desk. “The thing Gladys said about courting. Maybe you should try that with Rory.”
“Courting?” I’m not sure I know exactly what that means, especially in this century.
Am I supposed to show up at her place with my horse and buggy? Ask her father for a dowry? Maybe a goat will change hands.
Lawton smacks my arm. “Dating, you idiot. Like people do in a normal relationship. Instead of just moving in together after not seeing one another for ten years, maybe try asking her out.”
I blink. Dating. Going out on a date. Why didn’t I think of that?
Maybe because I can’t get her to respond to a text message, let alone go out on a date with me.
“How am I supposed to get her to go out with me? She’d have to respond to her text messages first.” I hate to point out the obvious, but here we are.
Lawton taps a finger against his lips. For all the crap that went down in that last relationship, he really is a romantic little fucker.
“You need allies,” he says. “People who support your cause.”
“I think you’ve been reading too many war novels, dude. Allies?” This is getting stranger by the second.
For the second time today, Lawton hits me, this one more like a punch.
“Ow.” I rub my arm.
That’s going to leave a mark. Maybe I deserve it, though.
Lawton doesn’t seem at all remorseful. “First of all, they’re biographies, you asshole. They’re fucking fascinating, and if you read a few, you might learn something. Second, I’m not talking about battle, although love is a battlefield.”
He hums a few bars of the song from the ‘80s, in case I’d forgotten.
I roll my eyes, but I’m listening. He might be on to something this time.
“Anyway, I’m talking about her parents. Her brother. Her friends. Get them on your side. Make sure they want Rory to get back together with you. Because they can help.”
I scratch my jaw. I hate that he’s making sense. “How?”
He shrugs, like this is the easiest question in the world.
“Plenty of ways. They can let you in when you come to call on her at her house.
They can take her out to dinner, invite you to join them, and then have a sudden urgent matter to attend to, leaving you and Rory alone for dinner. They could?—“
“I get it.” I hold up my hand to cut him off.
The idea is growing on me, although I’ll need Rory to agree, at least to the idea of a date.
If I ambush her, there’s no chance for us. But I’ll lie low for a few days, maybe even a week or more. Get her parents and Stacey and Allie and Dylan on my side.
Dylan may be a tough one, honestly. He’s been skeptical of my relationship with Rory since he found out about it, but he’s a reasonable man. With time, I bet I can get him to see my side of things.
And if it gets Rory back, it’ll be worth any number of hoops he makes me jump through.
A smile slowly forms, spreading across my face. “I’ll try it.”
Lawton nods approvingly. He may be saying something, but my mind is a million miles away, thinking of everything I need to do.
Because I’m going to get my girl back.