Chapter 35
Kayla
Castlebrook Town Crier Text Chain
Sue Cruthkins
Popsicles are on sale at the grocery store. Gwendolyn ordered too many boxes and now they are all melting.
“The perfect way to start a tour is with a coffee and a sweet treat,” I tell my brother.
I lift my sunglasses up onto my head and pull the door to the bakery open with the little extra tug it needs.
“The coffee here kinda sucks, but the pastries are amazing,” I whisper, hoping Luanne won’t hear my dig about her coffee.
“I can’t believe you’re living somewhere without a Starbucks, let alone somewhere that doesn’t sell decent coffee,” Fletch says as he takes in the rustic coffee shop.
“Colt keeps the fridge stocked with Starbucks creamer, so I’m not completely suffering,” I shrug. He has to drive out to Malta to get it, and I’ve told him I don’t need it, but he insists.
“Hiya, Sugar,” Luanne greets, smiling happily. “How are you doing?”
“I’m alright, how are you, Luanne?”
“Eh, I’m surviving. I keep meaning to talk to Colt about Billy. He tried to raise my rent again.”
“Ugh, of course he did,” I groan on her behalf.
“What’s Colt gotta do with that?” Fletch whispers to Faith, who watches the interactions with glimmering interest.
“Colt is on the town board. He can get the whole town involved,” I explain.
“Oh my God,” Faith breathes. “You’re living in the real-life Stars Hollow.”
“No, I’m not,” I chuckle. “I’ve been here over four months, and we haven’t had a town meeting once.”
“Well, just you wait, Sugar. I’m bringing the town together to deal with Billy and his greed,” Luanne declares. “So,” her voice turns more docile. “What can I get you three?”
“Are you sure it’s okay that we didn’t pay?” Fletch asks fifteen minutes later as we walk back out into the sun. “We got like six treats.”
“I put the payment in her tip jar,” I soothe his worry. “Luanne doesn’t like taking money from her friends.”
“Sounds like everyone in this town is her friend,” Faith sips her iced coffee. She got a pretty good impression of Luanne in the fifteen minutes it took her to serve us.
“Except Billy,” I shrug.
We stroll past the bookstore, and I wave to Candace, the pink-haired girl from my first month here.
Her mom, Wendy, is rearranging the flower boxes under the bookstore’s window.
“That’s Candace and Wendy. Wendy owns the bookstore, and Candace is her daughter.
She’s stuck working weekends for the foreseeable future since she spray-painted ‘cheater’ on her ex-boyfriend’s pickup. ”
Faith’s eyes widen in wonder. “I love her hair.”
“It was lime green last week.”
The feedstore is next. Jake leans against the truck while Hal’s grandsons load it up with bags of grain.
“Howdy, Kayla,” he plays up the whole cowboy thing. “Nice to see you again, Fletch and Faith.”
“Hi, Jake,” Faith smiles, preening under the cowboy’s attention. Fletch grumbles something that resembles a greeting and throws his arm around his wife.
“Hi, Ms. Carson,” Hal’s youngest grandson, Trevor, waves. His cousin, Eddie, wipes the sweat off his brow and tips his hat in my direction.
“How’s your summer going, boys?”
“Would be better without the extra hours,” Eddie scowls. “But I’m saving up for a car, so I guess I can’t complain too much.”
“No, I don’t suppose you can. Is your grandpa inside?”
“Mhm, he’s dealing with the goose, though, so he’s in a foul mood.”
“Maybe we’ll loop back around,” I wince.
“What’s up with the goose?” Fletch asks.
“Don’t ask.”
We stop in at the motel, just so I can introduce them to Carol.
Then it’s on to Castlebrook Outfitters, where Colt bought my first pair of boots.
We wait while Faith tries on a number of cowboy hats.
She ends up looking so good in one that Fletcher fumbles with his phone to take a picture, and then immediately buys it for her.
“Think she could pass for a local?” I ask Hal’s wife, Nora.
“She looks more local than you do,” she smiles prettily.
“Is this your way of trying to make me buy my own hat?”
“Is it working?”
“Nah, I’ll stick to what I got.” Even if all I’ve got is Colt’s old baseball cap, that’s seen better days. Just the other day, Dixie was chewing on it like it was hay.
“Is it lunch time yet?” Faith asks once we’re back out in the sun.
“Sure, what do you guys feel like eating? Steak? Italian? Diner food?”
“Let’s go to the diner,” Fletch suggests, rolling his shoulders back and basking in the sun for a moment. “Does it always smell like this?”
I sniff, smelling the flowers that fill the planters along Main Street and the warm asphalt. I don’t smell anything bad. “Like what?”
“So fresh?”
Oh, that’s what he meant. “Isn’t it wonderful?” I smile knowingly.
We start the short walk to the diner where I first had dinner with Colt, what he calls our first date.
Fletch and Faith fall into step behind me, their voices blending with the hum of small-town life.
Our mayor, Quenton, mows the lawn outside his office.
Carol’s collection of wind chimes jingles with the breeze.
Kids call out as they race by on bikes and scooters.
We look like something out of a sitcom. Or a cult.
The bell above the diner door jingles as we step inside. It smells like grease and something sweet.
“Kayla!” Sue calls from behind the counter. “And look at this little entourage. You bringin’ the big city with you?”
“Just for the weekend,” I smile. “Sue, this is my brother Fletcher and his wife, Faith.”
Sue wipes her hands on her apron and comes around to greet them, full of warmth. “Welcome to nowhere special. We’ve got good food, strong opinions, and gossip that lasts all year long.”
“I love it already,” Faith grins, sliding into a booth.
“What are you doing here, Sue?”
“Eh, I got bored at home, so I figured I’d lend a helping hand,” the old woman waves away my question like it's a nuisance. I’m sure the fact that the diner provides some good gossip has nothing to do with her desire to work.
We order quickly, watching the town crier weave her way into the kitchen to tell the chef. “I have to say, I get why you wanted to stay,” Fletcher sighs, as if it pains him to even admit it. “There’s something magical in the air here.”
I look around the diner, smiling at Penny, Sawyer, and Granger, who seem to be taking a lunch break together. “It feels right,” I shrug. “Like the weight holding me down has finally lifted.”
“I know what that's like,” he smiles at Faith. They share a secret moment between the two of them, but instead of feeling the familiar pang of loneliness, I feel happy for my brother. I finally understand just how amazing love like his and Faith’s is.
Outside, someone honks twice. I glance through the window and see the familiar logo of a tower standing tall amongst the mountains. The truck parks along the curb, and Colt climbs out.
The bell jingles again.
He walks in, all sun-kissed skin and calm confidence, his eyes finding mine instantly. “Hey, Sweets.”
“Hey,” I say, trying not to beam too much. “I thought you had to repair the fence in Brutus’ field. Again.”
“I tried,” he huffs. “I still can’t figure out how he keeps getting out.
I swear these fences were built just to fall over.
” He pulls a hand roughly through his hair, shoulders tense.
“Figured I’d take a break and crash your tour before I did something stupid and tore the whole thing apart.
” Colt slides into the booth beside me, pressing a kiss to my temple.
I catch Fletch watching the exchange with something between suspicion and reluctant approval.
“Who’s Brutus?” Faith asks, leaning her cheek on her chin.
“He’s one of the bulls at Castlebrook Ranch,” I explain, telling them about my first experience with the huge animal. Sue comes by and takes Colt’s order, and he doesn’t even blink at the retiree who’s picked up a side hustle for the day.
When we finally leave the diner, full and sun-drenched, Faith loops her arm through mine.
“I get it now,” she says.
“Get what?” I ask.
“You were never meant for Chicago.” She looks around Main Street, at the flower boxes and crooked signs and neighbors calling each other by name.
“At first, I thought you were leaving cause of us. I thought maybe we did something wrong. But you were never like this when living in Chicago. You were never this happy. This comfortable. You found something really important here.”
I glance over my shoulder at Colt, who’s tipping his hat to Sue as she eats pie right out of the pie tin, and then I look back at Faith.
“Yeah,” I say softly. “I think I did.”