by Elena Aitken
I put my empty plate and cup in the dishwasher and wiped off the table in the back. Old habits die hard and all that. Janet had always been strict with her staff and making sure we didn’t leave messes, no matter how small they were. My first job had been here, and I’d loved earning that extra cash in high school.
When I walked back out to the front of the café, wondering who I might see, my eyes were drawn to the front like a magnet and landed immediately on Brynn. She was sitting at a table by the windows, chatting with a woman I didn’t recognize and Beck Steele. Of course, I recognized Beck. We’d been in school together all the way until I moved away from town.
I rounded the counter, squeezing Janet’s shoulder as I passed by and ignoring the eyes on me as I crossed the café to Brynn. My heart kicked up a fast drumbeat in my chest. When Brynn’s eyes lifted to mine from across the room, the hair stood on the back of my neck, and awareness sizzled down my spine.
Brynn
My heartbeat stuttered and then lunged, galloping like a spooked horse, the moment my eyes collided with Caden’s. Maisie was saying something, but I didn’t even hear it. Beck said, “Well, well, if it isn’t the rock star in the flesh.”
Caden stopped beside Beck. Maisie narrowed her eyes as she looked up at him. Her eyes widened right when I presumed she figured out who he was.
Caden flashed a grin at Beck, and I looked around the café as all eyes were aimed toward our little table. So, this was what it was like for Caden to be a world-famous rock star. Even in Willow Brook, people recognized him. Some eyes were wide, and others amused.
Beck was completely amused. “How’s it going, badass?” he teased, lightly cuffing Caden on the shoulder.
Caden was quiet for a beat and then shrugged. “Doing well.”
Maisie was watching them avidly. Beck asked, “Is this your first time back since you moved away in high school?”
Caden nodded. “Yep.”
“Well, good to see you. What finally brings you back?”
Caden looked straight at me. “Brynn.”
Heat blasted my cheeks, and I swallowed. My belly did a spinning flip. I tried to take a breath but only got a stuttering sip of air—not nearly enough to slow the thundering beat of my heart.
Beck looked from Caden to me and back again. “Well.” After a quiet moment, Beck added, “This is my wife, Maisie.” He gestured to her.
Maisie cast him a side-eye before offering a small smile to Caden. “Nice to meet you.”
Caden nodded at her politely. “Nice to meet you.” His eyes landed on her baseball cap. “Kickass Construction?” he asked.
“It’s a construction company some friends own,” Maisie explained.
I’d met Maisie the day after I arrived back in town. Like Caden, I went to high school with Beck. He was so obviously smitten with Maisie that it was kind of adorable. She had curly dark hair and freckled cheeks. I was still recovering from learning that she and Beck had two children. I couldn’t even stay married, and Beck, one of the biggest flirts in high school, was happily settled down with kids.
“Our business,” a woman commented as she approached our table, apparently hearing Maisie’s reply.
Maisie glanced up and smiled. “Hey, Lucy.”
Lucy was a tomboy from her baseball cap with the same logo as Maisie’s to her overalls and down to her work boots. She was also petite and beautiful with blond hair and bright blue eyes. She gave off an elfish kind of vibe.
Maisie gestured from Lucy to me to Caden. “This is Lucy. She owns Kickass Construction with Amelia.” Her eyes held mine. “If you went to high school with Beck, I’m sure you know Amelia.”
“Amelia Haynes. She’s Amelia Masters now,” Beck offered helpfully.
“Oh, she married Cade?” I asked, referring to Amelia’s high school boyfriend.
Beck grinned. “Oh, yeah. They weren’t together straight through, but now they’re married.”
I swallowed. It was nice to learn another old friend had settled down, but it only illuminated the disaster of my love life.
Caden focused on Lucy. “Do you do renovations?”
“Of course,” Lucy said, appearing slightly affronted by his question.
She didn’t seem to recognize him, and I idly wondered if he wearied of people knowing who he was.
“I’d like to hire you then,” Caden said.
“Oh. Don’t you want to see our work, or talk first?” Lucy asked, appearing startled at his quick choice to hire them.
Caden shook his head. “No. I knew Amelia years ago. I trust her, so I trust you. Willow Brook is so small, you wouldn’t make any money if you weren’t good at what you did, so I’ll trust that you’re good as well.”
Beck cracked up at that, and even Lucy smiled. “Well, we have an office down the street. We’re not there very often, but it is handy for meeting.”
Caden shrugged. “Can you come out to my place? We can go over the work I need. I’m going to be here for a few weeks, but after that, I’ll be scarce, so you won’t have to worry about accommodating my schedule.”
Beck waggled his eyebrows. “This is probably going to be an expensive renovation. You’re gonna need to pay top dollar.”
Caden chuckled. “I planned on it.” He looked back at Lucy. “Sound good?”
She glanced among the group and shrugged. “I suppose so.”
Maisie stood from her chair. Before I could say anything, Caden asked, “Mind if I sit?”
Even Maisie was getting amused at the interaction. She cast me a sly grin as she replied, “Absolutely not.”
I bit the insides of my cheeks as I looked from her to Caden. “Good to see you,” she added. “I need to get back to work. Are you going to meet us for cards night?”
“I think so. Why don’t you text me the details?”
Maisie gave me a thumbs-up just as Beck reached for her other hand, lacing his fingers through hers. “Good to see you around,” he commented, his eyes on Caden. “We should get together one of these nights while you’re here.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you around.”
Beck and Maisie left. Lucy gave Caden her number, which he punched into his phone, and then she hurried off to order coffee, leaving me alone with Caden. Well, alone, if you didn’t count what felt like all the eyes in the café on us. It might’ve taken a few minutes, but it appeared most everyone had deduced who Caden was.
I looked across the table at him. “Everyone’s staring at us, you know.”
He shrugged. “They’ll stop.”
“Did you see Janet yet?” I asked.
“Of course. She took me in the back. We had coffee, and I got a popover.”
“Oh.”
Ugh. It was going to be annoying if I couldn’t get my heartbeat under control around him. I felt like I’d been thrust back into high school when we first started dating, and I was all nervous and aflutter. Now, he was a bona fide rock star, and I honestly had no clue why he was trying to rekindle something with me.
“Where are we having dinner tonight?” he asked.
I gritted my teeth, a flash of annoyance rising inside. “You didn’t answer my text.”
For a moment, I felt the full beam of Caden’s fame. He stared at me intently with an edge of insouciance. I’d never quite seen him like that. Well, except for what I saw in the tabloids and in stories online and elsewhere about the band and his legendary cool arrogance mixed with sexiness.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I said sharply.
My words surprised me. For a moment, it literally felt as if the air around us cooled. Caden dropped his forehead into his hands. His shoulders rose with a breath, which he let out in a gust as he lifted his head again and brushed an errant lock of hair away from his face. “I’m sorry.” He looked genuinely abashed. “See, that’s why I needed to see you again.”
“So I could tell you not to pull your sexy rock star vibe on me?” I countered.
I couldn’t help the inse
curity that chased through me. I wasn’t feeling good about my life and about romance at all. I’d sworn it off. I was not going through that again.
“No. Because I missed you. I miss feeling like I can just be myself. I’m sorry,” he said so solemnly that I almost laughed.
I felt a burn over the surface of my heart, the sting reminding me I wasn’t immune to him, as much as I wished I were. I wondered what it must’ve been like for him to feel he couldn’t be himself with most people. I wasn’t famous, so obviously, I didn’t know. I could imagine it was a big trade-off. Everybody wanting a piece of what I projected out to the world.
“It’s no big thing. You just gave me a look. One that I imagine usually gets you what you want when it comes to women,” I said dryly.
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t believe what you’ve read about me,” he added.
“You’re a rock star, Caden. I’m sure you get plenty of action. No judgment from me on that account.”
He shook his head quickly. “I don’t.” Bitterness dashed through his eyes. “Yes, I suppose I could.” He paused and did something that made my heart turn over in my chest. He bit the corner of his bottom lip and ducked his head just slightly. His dark glossy bangs fell over his eyes, and that motion was so familiar it almost physically hurt to see.
His eyes lifted to mine again. “When we first got big, I won’t lie, I definitely had some fun, but it didn’t turn out to be much fun after all. Nobody wanted me for me. They wanted me for some kind of image. I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s a feeling more than anything.” He drummed his fingertips on the edge of the table, another motion that clued me in to the fact he was nervous.
Awash in a tangle of nostalgia and emotion, I swallowed through the thickness in my throat. “You don’t have to tell me all the details of your life. After you moved away, you went on to live your life, and I went on to live mine. Circumstances changed for both of us. Who’s to say we would’ve even stayed together if you hadn’t moved away?”
Caden’s eyes darkened, and butterflies twirled inside my belly as my pulse skittered wildly. “Oh, we would’ve.”
I wasn’t quite ready to believe that, no matter how much my hormones were applauding. “Caden, that’s sweet and romantic, but it’s never that simple. You got famous and discovered superficial sex isn’t all that great. I’ve already been married and divorced, and I’m not a fan of romance. I’m not the girl you remember.”
“Janet mentioned your husband took you to the cleaners in the divorce. If you’d like—”
I shook my head quickly. “Oh, God, no. I don’t need you riding into my life like a savior. It’s over. That’s what I wanted.”
“For it to be over?” he pressed.
“Yep. I could’ve fought harder in court, but I didn’t want to drag it out. I didn’t have the stomach for it, and it was exhausting.”
“Maybe I don’t have all the details, but he’s a fucking asshole,” Caden said, his tone low.
I didn’t like to admit I experienced a little thrill at his protectiveness and anger on my behalf.
“I appreciate that, and I completely agree. No need to dwell on that little chapter in my life.”
“Brynn.”
I had looked down to fold my napkin, frankly because I was nervous and restless. I lifted my eyes to find his boyish gaze on me. It was so strange to see him again like this. There were moments when he seemed world weary and cynical, and others when he seemed boyish and so earnest I didn’t quite know what to do with it.
“What?”
“This isn’t just a lark for me. I need you to know that.”
It felt as if the air shifted around us, almost shimmering with sparks and energy. Unsettled, I looked back down at my napkin and finished folding it into a perfect square. When I gathered the courage to look up, his eyes were still waiting. I felt a peculiar ache in my heart when I saw the warmth and understanding there. How in the world did he know me so well after all this time?
“Okay. I’ll have dinner with you. Let’s get pizza.”
The smile that broke across his face stole my breath and set my heartbeat to thundering again. I couldn’t not smile back. It was purely impossible. I left a few minutes later, feeling like a foolish girl.
Caden
When I parked in front of Brynn’s house, it felt weird. She’d warned me via text that her mother was here and wanted to say hello. I felt catapulted back in time. As if I was a sixteen-year-old guy coming to pick up my girlfriend.
I would’ve been in my dad’s borrowed car after a lecture from him about keeping it clean. He also made sure I had condoms—not because he was encouraging me to get it on, but because he said he wasn’t stupid, and he knew what it was like to be a teenage guy. He’d told me he didn’t want me to be even more stupid unless I wanted to be a father.
I laughed to myself, giving my head a little shake. Moments later, I was standing in the living room, which looked pretty much like it did when I was last here. A colorful throw rug in the center of the hardwood floor, a big stone fireplace on one wall and a comfortable sectional facing it. Brynn’s mother—Mrs. Sparks, as I thought of her—had just squeezed me tightly in a hug. Her eyes were bright as she looked at me now after stepping back.
“You have turned out to be such a handsome young man. I can’t believe you’re a rock star. Please don’t tell me it’s ruined you,” she said.
“I hope not, Mrs. Sparks,” I replied.
“Oh, for crying out loud, just call me Martha. You’re an adult now,” she insisted. “Now, where are you two going?”
Brynn’s cheeks flushed, and I was discovering I liked to see her a little flustered. She let out a little laugh. “Mom, it sounds like you’re about to remind us of my curfew.”
Martha rolled her eyes. “No, I’m not. I would ask you to text me if you’re not planning to come home tonight.”
Brynn’s cheeks flushed a deeper shade of pink. “Oh, my God! I’m coming home, Mom.”
“You don’t have to,” Martha replied with a saucy grin in my direction.
I decided my best option was to remain silent for this little exchange and simply smiled between them.
“We’re going to that new pizza place. What’s it called again?” Brynn asked, ignoring her mother’s teasing.
“Alpenglow Pizza. It’s delicious,” her mother offered.
“So, I hear,” I replied. “I promise I won’t keep Brynn out too late.”
Brynn cast a glare at me. “Come to think of it, maybe I should follow you into town. That way, you won’t need to worry about bringing me home,” she said sweetly.
Brynn’s mother chimed in, “Actually, I’m having dinner with Beck’s mom. Unfortunately, you can’t take my car tonight because I need it.”
Brynn handled that in stride. When she turned to reach for her jacket that was laid over the back of the couch, her mother winked at me, and I was pretty sure she was trying to play wing-woman for me. While I didn’t doubt she would make good on her improvised plans for the evening, I didn’t think they were plans until right this moment.
I could tell Brynn was nervous when she got into the SUV because she smoothed her hands over the jeans on her thighs several times before catching a lock of her hair with a finger and spinning it in tight little circles.
Both of those were old nervous habits of hers. It was incredible to see her after all these years and realize I still knew so many details about her. It was like finding the Easter eggs of a person.
“Sorry about my mom,” she said once I started driving toward downtown Willow Brook.
“No need to apologize. Parents are nosy. It’s good to see her. I’m sorry about your dad.”
I glanced sideways to catch a quick and grateful smile from her. “Thanks. It’s been a few years since he passed away, so I have adjusted. I suppose she has too.” She paused before adding, “I hope you got to see your dad some after you moved away.”
“I did. Plenty actually. Min
d you, it wasn’t fun to move in the middle of high school. But once the court sorted out the visit schedule, there was no more fighting and that was a relief.”
“Do you ever wish they hadn’t broken up?”
I shrugged. “That’s a pretty impossible question to answer. I wish they’d stayed happy together. Since they weren’t happy together, it was better that they broke up. I also wish they hadn’t fought over me, but you can’t change what’s in the past. They were happier apart. It’s crazy how two otherwise decent people can be so nasty in a divorce.”
“Right. It’s weird.”
I abruptly realized Brynn might have more to say about that than me. I’d never even been married. “Sore spot?”
I felt her shrug. “Not really. We didn’t have kids, and we weren’t married for very long. I don’t think I turned into a nightmare during the divorce. I didn’t have it in me to keep going to court.”
“What happened?” I asked, very curious. I needed to know who hurt Brynn.
“A typical story. I don’t think we were ever really in love. I did actually like him, but I was only twenty-five. He and I were both working in the same business. I ran a floral shop, and he was a competitor. We just kind of fell into something comfortable. He asked me to marry him, and I said yes. Since we merged our businesses after we got married—like an idiot, I didn’t get a prenup around my business beforehand—I set the stage for losing it.”
“Who filed for divorce?”
“Me. We were arguing a lot because his approach to business was very different than mine. I found out he was interested in someone else, and I found out he’d taken out some loans behind my back. By that point, I didn’t trust him. He turned ugly when I filed for divorce. I didn’t come away with nothing, but I was cash poor enough that I needed to leave the business behind. I didn’t want to start all over. Seattle is a great city, but it’s not easy to start anything there. I kind of lucked out with my first go by keeping expenses low and starting my business out of a small truck.”