6. Brian
SIX
brIAN
Istirred a dash of cinnamon into the waffle batter before drizzling in a little vanilla to liven up the flavor.
I poured batter into the hot waffle iron and closed the lid.
Marc at Bite and Brew swore the added vanilla and cinnamon appeased Aurora’s pregnancy cravings and I hoped it would do as an apology breakfast. I felt bad about my rudeness to Caitlin the day before.
There was no reason to treat her so coldly, basically establishing a no contact policy.
It’d been a kneejerk reaction when I’d realized that Caitlin was the one I’d agreed to let stay with me.
When she’d bailed on me at the motel so soon after our lovemaking, I’d been hurt.
Admittedly, I had no idea what to expect, but it hadn’t been that.
Seeing her outside the diner, I knew I’d need to keep my shield up around her.
That feeling intensified when she walked through my front door.
Once upon a time, I’d had strong feelings for Caitlin and I could easily see myself falling back under her spell despite the distance and time. Except, the reason for us splitting hasn’t changed. If anything, it was stronger. My life was here in Poplar Springs and for Caitlin, it was anywhere else.
So, why was she back? Before I’d realized it was Caitlin, Aurora had said her new waitress was between jobs, which was surprising.
Caitlin was a talented artist. How was it she couldn’t find a job in a tattoo shop in Austin?
It didn’t make sense but it was up to Caitlin as to how much she was willing to share.
I heard the water come on in the shower overhead as I turned the strips of bacon in the frying pan.
She’d be down in ten minutes if I knew her.
She’d always been quick in the morning. I planned to feed her breakfast before she left for her first day of work.
It was the least I could do. And while I hadn’t consciously planned it that way, the food I cooked was the same breakfast I always made for her when she’d stayed over at my apartment in college when we’d been… dating.
Could I really call it dating? I’d never been sure.
I’d thought we were headed for something serious until the moment when I’d invited her to my mom’s birthday dinner at the ranch.
Caitlin had been to my childhood home plenty of times, but she’d vehemently objected to accompanying me from Austin to home for an extended weekend family celebration.
I’d wanted my family to see her as my girlfriend, had thought that was the next step for us.
But she was so dead set against it that I’d started second-guessing myself, eventually concluding that she didn’t think we had that kind of relationship.
A few weeks later when her brother arrived in Austin on a thirty-day leave before heading out to an assignment overseas, I had broken off our relationship, using the excuse that it would be awkward for Ethan.
The truth was, I took the easy way out instead of talking to her. I was worried I was getting too attached to someone who didn’t want something real or lasting with me.
A million times, I’d regretted letting her go so easily, but I’d known a one-sided attachment couldn’t last. And it was all further complicated by geography.
While I would’ve been open to a temporary long-distance relationship, her refusal to come with me for my mom’s birthday felt like a deal breaker.
She wouldn’t return to Poplar Springs, and it was the only place I wanted to be.
But she was here now. Upstairs. Singing in my shower. The bacon sizzled in the pan, shooting out grease that burned my wrist.
“Dammit,” I muttered, going to the sink to run cool water over the burn. I was drying off when my phone rang. Seeing it was my brother, I grabbed for the phone.
“Morning, Jake.” My twin had probably already been up for an hour and in the barn with the horses.
“What the hell are you thinking?” Jake demanded, skipping any kind of greeting. “You were miserable for a solid year after breaking up with Caitlin the first time. You setting yourself up for another broken heart? Because don’t think you can come crying to me when that happens.”
“You’ve heard, then?” I wasn’t surprised, with the way gossip flowed around our small town.
“Yeah, Aurora told Amy who told me. Of course, Amy doesn’t know about the history between the two of you.”
Jake knew the full extent of it. I’d sulked for weeks, including drinking far too much. Jake had found out about it and drove without stopping to Austin to stage a brotherly intervention. Mostly, he’d threatened to kick my ass if I couldn’t get my head out of it.
But even my twin didn’t know about the night I’d spent with Caitlin a couple weeks back.
I’d kept that to myself. Mostly because I wasn’t sure what it meant.
I could only imagine how irate Jake would be if he knew.
I could already envision the lengthy lecture that would have echoes of our dad as he declared that I clearly wasn’t over her and how I was setting myself up to get hurt.
And that just wasn’t true. I knew how to protect myself—and I wasn’t in love with Caitlin. Of course not.
Attracted, yes. Very attracted, just as I had always been.
But love? No. That wasn’t an option for either of us.
Caitlin was only here to help out at the diner until after Sue’s baby was born and she returned to the diner.
And I was too focused on work, which consumed nearly all my time.
I liked it that way, but it made relationships impossible.
A year or so ago, I’d tried dating a woman who worked for a local insurance agency.
After I’d rescheduled a date multiple times—each time because of a different emergency at the sheriff’s office—she’d told me not to bother calling her again.
I’d shelved the idea of dating then. But that shouldn’t be an issue with Caitlin, who didn’t want to date me in the first place.
“I’m fine. It’s no big deal.” I balanced the phone between my shoulder and ear while I removed the first waffle from the iron and poured in more batter.
“Like hell, it is,” Jake grumbled and hung up.
I tossed the phone down, irritated with my brother but also knowing that he meant well, and also that he’d been struggling lately.
Growing up, we were called fire and ice—my brother was the hothead at times, while I always strived to remain cool and calm.
But recently, he’d been worse than usual—snapping at folks.
The entire family was still reeling from finding out about Cal Pierce.
My newly found half-brother seemed decent enough.
The problem was that he and Amy were working together on the rodeo promotions and while I couldn’t be certain, it looked like the two of them were getting pretty chummy.
The sparks between the pair of them were making the whole family nervous.
We all wanted Amy to be happy, of course, but getting her heart tangled up with someone who wasn’t planning to stick around seemed like a recipe for trouble, as I knew firsthand.
I didn’t want to see her or my nephew get hurt when Cal moved on.
“We’re all just a hell of a mess,” I said to myself while I put plates, butter, and maple syrup on the table.
“Something wrong?” Caitlin asked from the doorway. I hadn’t heard her come downstairs, which showed how distracted I was. The third step from the bottom squeaked. How had I missed the sound?
“Nothing,” I said, putting a waffle on a plate for her. “I thought you might want some breakfast before you start your new job. Waffles and bacon.”
“That’s really nice of you.” Her eyes traveled over the table. “But I don’t have time. I’ve got to get to work. I need to learn the menu and—”
“Take five minutes to eat,” I insisted. I looked at the clock over the stove and knew she had plenty of time. “You’re going to be on your feet all day. You’ve got to have something in your stomach.”
“I don’t need you to take care of me.” Her voice was firm.
“It’s only breakfast, Caitlin. It’s something I do every morning. The only difference this time was I made twice as much,” I said but she looked unconvinced. I resisted the urge to push. Whatever was going on with her, my making breakfast seemed to feed into it.
“Just some coffee. No time for anything more, but thanks again.” She put her phone down on the table and picked up a mug I’d just poured, drinking quickly and hissing as the coffee scalded her tongue.
I was about to lecture her on her nutrition choices, but I stopped myself. She didn’t want my interference in her life. And hadn’t I insisted the evening before that we live separate lives? In less than twelve hours, I’d already broken that declaration.
“See you,” she said and slipped past me and out the front door. I caught a glimpse of her walking briskly toward Main Street from the window.
I rubbed a hand across the back of my neck before plunging the waffle batter bowl into the sink.
“Guess I’m eating breakfast alone,” I said to no one.
I sat at the table and was about to pour syrup on my waffle when I noticed her phone light up with an incoming message.
She’d set it down and forgotten to take it with her.
I glanced at the message that appeared on her lock screen.
It was an alert from a credit card company reminding her that her monthly payment was overdue. I grimaced before reminding myself that it was none of my business. Another message came in while I was still staring at the screen. This one from someone named Melody. I couldn’t help reading it.
Sorry, Cait, but I can’t be the one you vent to about living with your hottie ex. I’m still so pissed about Seamus stealing OUR money from you. Can’t deal with your guy drama.
Stealing? I put the syrup down. How bad a spot was Caitlin in?
She’d said the day before that she was putting her life back together after a bad breakup, but the guy had stolen from her, too?
What kind of jackass did that? And what role did this Melody play in it?
There was no mistaking the anger in her message.
This Seamus had stolen from her in some way, too? Were the police involved?
The door opened and Caitlin rushed back into my kitchen. Her mouth was open as if to speak, but it clamped shut when she saw me looking down at her phone.
“Caitlin, if you’re in some kind of trouble…
” I wanted to help her, wanted to solve whatever the problem was.
That was why I’d become sheriff: so I could help people.
And after all Caitlin had been through with her parents—and now, apparently, with her ex—she deserved to know that someone was in her corner.
“Not your problem, Brian,” she said and held out her hand. I placed her phone in it, and she went back out the door, snagging a piece of bacon on her way.
She had plenty of spine, I’d give her that, but I was worried about her.
Still, I knew there was not much I could do for her without the details, and I didn’t think she’d be forthcoming with those.
Sure, I had resources she didn’t, but it was also against the law to use the databases I had access to for personal reasons.
Which meant the only thing I could do was respect the boundaries we’d established yesterday.
I did grin when I realized that the hottie ex Melody had referred to had to be me.
Maybe she wasn’t as impervious to me as she was trying to appear.
Nevertheless, I had to respect her clear desire for distance on that point, too.
The walls she put up didn’t leave me a lot of options to help her. I ate the last of my waffle, considering what I could do. She had money troubles, so she’d be trying to earn as much as she could while in Poplar Springs.
I suddenly smiled when an idea formed in my head. She might not let me give her cash, but she couldn’t refuse the big, fat tips I planned to leave for her in the diner.
Yeah, I’d do what I could for her. The tough part was going to be trying to forget what she’d once meant to me—especially since a part of me didn’t want to.