Chapter 4
W ith his shift over, Caleb had to change before he could check on his place. He jogged up the stairs to Justin’s front door and gripped the doorknob. First, he had to steel himself. He had two days off. Two days to avoid Brigit.
He never thought he’d reach a point in his life where one full day lost to the firehouse was something he looked forward to. Battling fires was one thing; hanging around a bunch of guys doing menial tasks was another.
Okay, he could do this. She might not even be home. Not like it mattered.
Her scent surrounded him at the most unexpected times.
The bathroom had become a torture chamber.
Her shampoo sat next to his on the bathtub ledge, her toothbrush and toothpaste were only inches away from his own, and that lotion she spread on every night was like a field full of wildflowers blossoming inside his head.
And that was just her presence. Seeing her was even harder.
Cold leeched through his uniform. He twisted the knob and stepped inside.
Damn, he had shitty timing.
She was standing in the middle of the living room pulling her long blond hair up into a ponytail that would fit out of the back of her ball cap. It would be too awkward to back out of the house now. He had no choice but to move forward.
She peered under her raised arm. “Morning.”
“Morning.” It was the same word he’d said yesterday coming out of the bathroom. She’d been adorable, squinting in the light and frowning at him. He hadn’t wanted to leave, could’ve soaked in the sight of her in pajama pants and a T-shirt for months, but he’d convinced himself to keep moving.
He was staring at her now. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds, like neither one of them knew what else to do.
It was Justin’s place, but his friend was never around when Caleb needed him to run interference.
But then Justin had no clue what had transpired between himself and Brigit, or that she was why he was approaching thirty with no history of long-term relationships.
“Have you eaten breakfast?” He might as well make himself useful. Breakfast was usually on his own, while his other meals were eaten at the firehouse. Part of contributing while he stayed here rent-free was buying groceries and keeping food around that Justin could just grab and go.
“I had a banana before I went out and checked on the ewes.”
It was nearly nine in the morning. She’d been up and working already, and technically so had he, but it was hard not to feel like she’d done more for Justin in her short time under the same roof than he had in the months he’d been staying.
“I earn my keep by cooking eggs,” he said. “Do you want scrambled? Over easy? In a breakfast burrito?”
“Um…” Her gaze darted around the living room, touching on the mantel over the fireplace that held the pictures from her and Justin’s childhood.
When she focused on the short hallway to the kitchen, her forehead crinkled.
“Sure, I’m starving, and a breakfast burrito sounds like it’ll keep me for the rest of the day. ”
And it’d send him to a different room. “Major plans?”
The corners of her lips turned down, bordering on a frown. Others might not have caught it, but he had all of Brigit’s expressions catalogued. “Job hunting.”
He hadn’t expected that answer, thought maybe she would be helping Justin with some task on the ranch or assisting her cousins with all the after-harvest work.
“Does Moore have a lot to offer?” Not for someone like Brigit.
There were jobs, but no careers she’d be satisfied with.
He couldn’t picture her waiting tables, or even sitting behind a desk like her ex.
She was always moving, elbow-deep in what needed to be done.
Or according to Justin, studying, which must be coming to an end if she was talking about a job search.
A shadow crossed her face but was quickly replaced by her standard cool demeanor. “I won’t be looking in Moore.”
Her words were like a stealth bitch slap.
After graduation, she had walked off the stage and out of his life.
Since then, he’d been sustaining himself with glimpses of her and news of her well-being from her brother.
She was home now, but that didn’t mean she was his, and even if she were that didn’t mean she would stay.
Two things she’d always been clear on: her intent to get out of Moore to make something of herself and her lack of interest in him since leaving.
“Right. I’ll go get started.” Hopefully she wouldn’t notice how quickly he abandoned the topic of her job search.
In the kitchen, the tension drained out his body.
It wasn’t that he and Brigit couldn’t get along or had a history of not being civil.
No, the problem was that they’d blazed like a prairie fire, hot and fierce, and then she’d doused it with ice water in a second.
He’d been left in the dark for the last ten years.
He retrieved the eggs from the fridge and started cooking, the work taking his mind off his woman problems, or rather lack thereof.
Was she feeling as self-conscious as he was?
She could be lost in her own drama, dealing with her own turmoil, and oblivious to his presence.
They were nothing more than roommates. Barely even that.
He laid out three tortillas—one for each of them and a third for Justin, since the guy never cooked on his own. After getting the eggs ready, he fried some sausage and melted cheese in the wraps before rolling them and putting them on plates.
“Bridge, breakfast is ready.” Did it really count as breakfast if it was almost ten in the morning? And why did calling her come so naturally?
She sauntered in, a navy-blue Walker Five hat squashed on her head with her ponytail hanging out the back.
Soft denim molded over her legs and draped over her Ariat boots.
Her purple sweatshirt was faded and one he recalled from their younger days.
The few times he’d seen her since she’d left town, she’d been wearing slacks or dressier pants.
It was nice seeing her in the clothing she’d grown up in.
The look suited her, but he might be the only one who thought so.
“Wow, that smells delicious.” She grabbed a couple paper towels to wrap the burritos in. “Thanks.”
He twisted Justin’s share in plastic wrap and set it in the fridge, then shot off a text to let his friend know there was food for him. He leaned against the counter to eat his own.
Brigit shifted her weight on her feet. “So, what do you have planned today?”
Was she nervous? She didn’t take her food to the dining room and leave him alone. He shouldn’t read anything into it. Just two old friends chatting. That’s all this was.
“I’m gonna run home and check on my ladies.
” There was no house, but dammit, it was home, and he wasn’t giving up on the cows.
They hadn’t given up on him, and he didn’t have many people in his life who could say the same thing.
“I need to figure out a time when it’ll be good to work cattle so I can recruit some help. ”
Running a ranch by himself wasn’t an issue, but there were certain times when it was an obstacle, like when he was moving them to another pasture, when it was time to work them, and then getting them loaded for sale…
Yeah, being alone sucked. He went from a whole crew of coworkers that formed a cohesive unit at the firehouse to… himself.
“We know Justin will help,” Brigit said. “Who usually pitches in?”
“Jesse, the guy who helped me out over the summer. Farah will probably be around too.” Farah and her parents had always had his back. But Caleb would have had to dissolve the ranch if Jesse hadn’t been stranded in town.
Brigit tipped her head. “That whole thing with Farah was kind of sudden.”
“You mean her relationship with Jesse?”
“Yeah. I mean, she goes from seeing nobody, like ever, to seeing a guy with a record, to him going full hero during the tornado and them getting engaged.”
Caleb smiled at her description. “He’s a good guy, and he’s really helped me out.
I honestly don’t know where I’d be right now without him.
” And since moving in with Farah, Jesse had ordered Caleb to quit paying him, claiming that it was the least he could do, since Caleb had given Jesse the space to put his life back on the right track in the first place.
It had all worked to get Jesse and Farah together.
Now, while Caleb was on duty, Jesse looked after his cattle and Farah helped when she was home.
“I always thought you would end up with her.” Brigit took a bite like she wanted to keep from saying more.
Caleb’s brows popped up and he stalled with his burrito halfway to his mouth. “Really? We’ve always been friends, nothing more.”
“You don’t see that too often.” A faint pink stained the ridges of her cheeks. Did talking about him in a relationship with another woman embarrass her? She’d been the one engaged less than a week ago.
“Farah’s one of my best friends.” Like a sister from another mister.
Though, with his mom’s history, it wouldn’t surprise him if he had half siblings running around, despite Mom swearing she’d taken care of that possibility.
I don’t make the same mistake twice . “There isn’t that type of chemistry between us. ”
“I guess it’s just not what you usually see.” Brigit fiddled with a flap of tortilla.
“I’m surprised you thought that about us.
You aren’t around to notice who I spend my time with.
” And I didn’t think you cared. He was going down a dangerous road, and he should stop.
This was the first time he and Brigit had had an actual conversation in the last decade.
But he couldn’t get over her wondering about him and Farah, or that it was awkward for her to mention it.