Sheriff’s Pregnant Ex by Leslie North
3
Two weeks later, Caitlin parked behind the West Family Diner in Darby Crossing. If this was a movie, the skies would be gray and overcast and creepy music would be playing as she returned to the town she hated. But this was real life, so the day was pleasant and sunny and the only soundtrack was the light sounds of traffic nearby. Not much about the diner had changed since she’d worked there as a teenager alongside the owner’s daughter and her best friend, Aurora West. Now Aurora West-Diaz, after falling in love with a motorcycle-riding badass chef not long after they graduated from high school. Together, the couple ran the diner now and somehow managed to balance raising twin two-year-olds with all their responsibilities.
If anyone could do it, Aurora could, Caitlin thought, as Aurora came out the backdoor of the diner to greet her.
“Oh, it’s so good to see you,” Aurora said, hugging Caitlin tight. “And I can’t thank you enough for helping me out. I’m in such a jam.”
“I appreciate the work,” Caitlin said, smiling. You couldn’t help but smile around Aurora. She was optimistic and bossy, a strange combination, but it worked for her the same way that her cut-off denim shorts and funky sneakers did. Aurora was an original, and Caitlin had been grateful when Aurora reached out to her on Facebook with the offer of a job.
Returning to Darby Crossing hadn’t been Caitlin’s first choice, but she’d had no luck recovering the money Seamus had stolen from her. And the truth was that she was flat broke. She’d quit her job at the tattoo parlor because she’d thought she’d be opening her own place. When that fell through, the owner of the old shop—Seamus’s brother—had refused to hire her back, nor had she had any luck finding another place to take her on. With no money in her account and rent coming due, Aurora’s offer had been a lifeline. It had meant she could sublet her apartment—charging higher than her monthly rent since the place was coming furnished—and bring in extra money waitressing. Some of that money would go toward renting Aurora’s basement, but prices were so much lower here that it felt like a steal. This was her chance to reboot her life. So she’d sublet her apartment in Austin and headed to her hometown.
“How’s Sue doing?” Caitlin asked about the waitress that she’d be replacing temporarily.
“The doctor says everything’ll be fine if she stays on bedrest until the baby is born,” Aurora said. “When I saw your post that you were between jobs, it was Karma.”
“For me, too,” Caitlin said. “I need to get back on my feet again.”
“It’s a win-win, then. Let me show you the ropes while it’s quiet, although I bet you still remember—it’s not like much ever changes here.” Aurora led her into the kitchen where Caitlin met Aurora’s husband, the chef and co-owner. Aurora swatted Marc playfully on the butt while he was working the grill. He grabbed his wife with one arm and gave her a smacking kiss.
“Welcome aboard,” he said to Caitlin before turning back to his work.
“Out here things are about the same as always.” Aurora went through the swinging door from the kitchen to the counter area. “We only use two servers on the floor during the breakfast and lunch rushes. It can be a rush, but manageable. Other than that, it’s quiet until we close at four.”
“You close earlier now?” Caitlin remembered the diner being open into the evening when she was younger.
“Not much dinner business,” Aurora said with a shrug. “And Marc and I want to spend the time with the kids. My folks watch them during the day, but I miss them every minute I’m here.” Aurora pulled out her phone to show Caitlin pictures of the adorable toddlers, a girl and a boy, who both had their father’s darker coloring.
“So sweet,” Caitlin said, admiring them. “They’re beautiful.”
“Aren’t they?” Aurora smiled at the images on her phone. “I tell everyone that I have the perfect children, but I suppose a lot of parents think that.”
Not mine, Caitlin wanted to say. She’d never been much of anything other than an inconvenient afterthought and a disappointment to her parents.
Aurora swiped her finger and accidentally brought up a picture showing a room with several inches of water in it. “Oh, shoot. I didn’t tell you. The basement apartment I said you could have flooded yesterday. Some problem with a drainage line. I don’t really understand it, but it’s going to take some time to repair and then the apartment will have to be redone.”
Caitlin felt stricken. Part of her rationalization for taking the job, even though it meant coming back, was that it came with a place to live, because no way was she returning to her parents’ home. Oh, god, where was she going to go? Her apartment in Austin already had a tenant. The only really close friend she had in Austin was Maggie, who was still angry enough with her about the stolen money that Caitlin didn’t think she could ask to crash on her couch. She was stuck. No, worse, she was homeless.
“But don’t worry.” Caitlin focused back in on what Aurora was saying. “I’ve worked it out. Brian Thorne, you know the sheriff, has a spare room at his house. He heard me talking about the apartment and that I needed a place for my friend to stay and he volunteered his place. He was good friends with your brother, so I figured you’d be cool with that.”
Panic now rose in Caitlin. She hadn’t kept up with Aurora after high school, and they’d only found each other on Facebook recently, so Aurora didn’t know she’d dated Brian and broken up with him over four years ago. And no one knew that they’d hooked up two weeks earlier. But Caitlin was plenty sure that Brian wouldn’t want her to stay.
“I need to make some calls,” Caitlin said, feeling a little queasy. She had to find another place to stay, and quick.
“Sure. Brian’ll stop by soon to take you to his place and show you around.”
Two weeks ago she’d been more than willing to follow Brian anywhere. But not now, not when she’d come crawling back to Darby Crossing to try to put her life back together. Her night with him had been an escape, a moment out of time. But the thing about fantasies is that they end—they weren’t supposed to intrude into the real world. Now she was expected to live with him? She couldn’t.
She retraced her steps to the back of the building, went out the door, and leaned against the warm brick as she called everyone she still knew well enough in town who might have a spare room. The list wasn’t long, and she exhausted it quickly. Her acquaintances were sympathetic, but no one had space for her. The only one who did had three cats, and Caitlin was allergic. She couldn’t spend her time in Darby Crossing with chronic hives. Getting a hotel room wasn’t an option. Not only would it cost too much, but she doubted she’d be able to get a room for more than a few days with the rodeo right around the corner and lots of visitors expected. Everything rentable was probably sold out.
Her parents were the only option she had left. With a sinking heart, she brought their number up on her phone and stared at it. She couldn’t, she simply couldn’t make herself press the “call” button. She gulped in a breath of air and tucked her phone away just as the backdoor opened and Aurora came out followed by Brian.
“There you are,” Aurora said, smiling. “Brian’s here. Brian, you remember Caitlin, I’m sure.”
“I do. Howdy.” Brian tipped his hat to her, and Caitlin almost expected the word darlin’ to appear at the end of his greeting. She managed a nod since she was temporarily speechless.
“I’ll let you two work out the details.” Aurora opened the door to return to the diner. “Can you start tomorrow at six, Caitlin?”
“Sure.” Caitlin found her voice. “Thanks for everything, Aurora.”
“You’re helping me out, hon. Bye.”
Caitlin waited until Aurora was out of earshot, and she was turning to Brian to apologize when he spoke first.
“I’m sorry about this,” he said. “I agreed to put up Aurora’s best friend before I realized it was you. I thought she was talking about Miranda Andrews, since I know Miranda comes back to town now and then. It never occurred to me that she was talking about you.”
Caitlin waited for him to follow up that speech by revoking the invitation, but he didn’t.
“I get it if you want to stay elsewhere,” he continued. “Your parents maybe? Unless that relationship is still…fraught.”
Fraughtwould be putting it mildly. Every word and action were landmines waiting to explode in her parents’ house. But Brian had never known the full extent of it and she wasn’t about to clue him in now. Her life was enough of a mess without sorting through all her dirty laundry. “It isn’t sunshine and roses, but I’d stay there if I could.” She hated lying to him but it seemed better than the alternative. “But they downsized last year and no longer have a guestroom.” The part about moving was actually true, though she didn’t know if they had a guestroom or not since she’d never been to their new home. Still, it sounded like a plausible excuse and it would prevent him from pitying her. She didn’t want that from him.
“My place it is then.” He sounded falsely chipper. “And I’m not charging you rent.”
“Why would you offer that?” she asked, stung at the idea that she needed charity or was looking for a handout. “Of course I’ll pay. I insist on it. Aurora will take it out of my salary.” She’d already arranged that with Aurora when she thought she’d be renting a place from her.
“I don’t charge friends,” he insisted.
“I’ll pay whatever price you and Aurora agreed on. I’m not mooching.” And she needed to feel that there were some boundaries in place between them. She’d be his renter, nothing more.
He didn’t like it. She could tell by the rigid set of his jaw, but he didn’t argue again. “It’s not far, so you’ll be able to walk to work. I’ll ride with you and show you the way right now, and you can get settled.”
When they got in her SUV, she saw him glance into the backseat that was piled with her belongings. She didn’t blush easily, but she felt heat rise through her cheeks when she recalled what they almost did on that seat.
“Take a left on Main,” he said. “My place is on South Chaska Street.”
She made the appropriate turns and in under two minutes, she pulled into the driveway of a small two-story house. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it appeared to be well-maintained and had flowerbeds with red and white geraniums around the small porch.
“I’ll help you carry your stuff in.” He grabbed a duffle bag and a laundry basket from the back seat and headed for the door, unlocking it one-handed. “Your room is top of the stairs on the right.”
The steps were right in front of them, so she started up, but she caught glimpses of a living room on one side, and a combination kitchen and dining room on the other. At the top of the stairs, she saw a closed door on the left and two open ones on the right. The first was a bathroom and the other was a small bedroom.
The room contained a bed, dresser, and chair that looked like they’d come out of someone’s grandparents’ house. They were antiques, pretty and well cared for.
“Hope this is okay?” Brian said, entering the room behind her and putting the items down.
“Brian, are you sure about this? I can see you’re uncomfortable with having me here, and I…” She trailed off because she’d been going to say that she could find some other place, but she couldn’t.
“It’s fine,” he said after a slight hesitation. “But I warn you that I’ll be a crappy host. I won’t have any time to spend with you because my first priority is my job, especially with the rodeo only two weeks away.”
“Of course, I didn’t expect anything else,” she said. She didn’t need to be entertained. She was even thinking that she might pick up a second job in the evenings since the diner closed early. More money meant that she got her life back that much sooner.
“And we can’t…hook up again,” Brian said, his gaze steady on her.
“I wasn’t thinking we would.” Was that a flicker of surprise on his face? It disappeared in the blink of an eye, so she wasn’t sure. Only a stern cop-face showed now. “I just need a place to live for the next few months. I’ll stay out of your way, I promise. The truth is that I had just gotten out of a lousy relationship when we met up at that bar. The aftermath of it has…complicated things for me. Personally, financially.” She didn’t want to explain any more than that. “I’m trying to put my life back together right now, so that’s where my focus is. I need to keep our relationship simple and separate.”
“That’ll work for me. I’ll get the rest of your things.” He disappeared from the room before she could say more, which was good, she decided. They’d said enough to establish the ground rules, and she’d do her part in sticking to them.
