When He Returns

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  “Maybe I need to start up cooking classes for the apartment dwellers,” Dalton suggested as they sat at the table finishing their coffee.

  They continued to talk about the merits of cooking classes, but soon Sierra found herself fighting back yawns. Between her long day and the huge amount of food she’d eaten, she was ready for sleep. If it were earlier, she might have taken a nap, but at this point, she’d probably fall asleep as soon as she finished her bedtime routine and crawled into bed.

  “I’m going to have to call it a night, guys,” Sierra said after losing her battle to hide her yawns. “I was up at five and need to be up at five again tomorrow, so my bed is calling to me. Loudly.”

  “I understand,” Dalton said. “Thanks to you both for keeping me company and helping me eat all this food.”

  “I don’t know about Sierra, but it was no difficulty for me,” Elliot said with a laugh as he rubbed his stomach.

  “Definitely not a hardship,” Sierra agreed. “Thank you for inviting us.”

  “Well, we’ll definitely have to do it again sometime,” Dalton promised.

  When Sierra tried to help clean up, Dalton shooed her out the door. “It’s not like I have to be up early tomorrow. Go get your rest.”

  Reluctantly, Sierra left the two guys and went back to her own apartment. She took a quick shower then crawled into bed. As she lay in the darkness, her thoughts turned to Danica and JD, and she hoped they were having a good and restful time together. She missed them both, although she missed Danica more.

  Sierra wondered what Danica would think of the friendship that had rekindled between her and Dalton. She knew that Danica was aware of the crush she’d had on Dalton though they’d never discussed it. Mainly because she’d never wanted Danica to think that was her only reason for being her friend.

  In the years since her crush had faded away, Sierra had never thought to mention it to her. She hoped that when Danica saw their friendship that she wouldn’t assume it was something more on Sierra’s part. Maybe, after many long years, they were due to have a conversation about. A short conversation about it.

  Three more times over the next week, Sierra found herself sitting at Dalton’s table with him and Elliot. It was an event that was quickly becoming a habit. While she enjoyed the food and the company, she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Was Dalton really enjoying cooking for her and Elliot, or was he just anxious for company?

  From the sounds of things, he was spending time with his parents and siblings, so she didn’t think he was desperate for company. She wasn’t going to question him too much about it though because she didn’t want him to think she wasn’t grateful for his efforts. And it was for more than just the food he shared with them. Each time the three of them had dinner together, he revealed more bits and pieces about his life before returning to Winnipeg.

  He seemed to just assume they all knew he’d been in rehab, which, Sierra realized, they probably had. He didn’t go into detail about any one thing, but just little details about a whole bunch of different things. Insignificant things like what they’d had on their rider demands while on tour. Some of it had seemed downright diva-ish, which Dalton had assured them wasn’t him.

  “Yeah, right,” Elliot said when they finally stopped laughing. “I’m positive the M&M’s separated by colors was all you.”

  “Seriously!” Dalton held up his hands. “Not me!”

  “Maybe if your friend Jesse ever comes to visit, we’ll have to ask him about it,” Sierra said.

  “I’ll make sure he’s briefed beforehand.” Dalton lifted his coffee to take a sip. “And he is coming. I’ve made him promise. I’m just not sure when.”

  “That would be cool,” Sierra said. “I’d like to give him a piece of my mind for ignoring my and Danica’s tweets but responding to JD’s.”

  Dalton shrugged. “You have to realize how crazy it was with girls claiming to be relatives and friends in order to contact me. The others could decide for themselves based on the messages they got, but since no one could find a direct social media link or email for me, the guys tended to just ignore any messages claiming to be an old friend or a family member of mine.”

  “Yeah, that’s what JD said.” Sierra realized now that JD must have kept in much closer contact with Jesse than she and Danica had realized. She understood why, but she wondered if that was going to be a conversation that JD and Danica had while on their honeymoon.

  “Are you working tomorrow?” Dalton asked as he got up and grabbed the coffee carafe to bring to the table.

  “Yeah, since I had the last two days off. I have a couple of night shifts coming up as well.”

  “Do you find it difficult switching back and forth?”

  “I do,” Sierra said, “but you do get used to it after awhile. Thankfully, I can sleep during the day without too much issue. I was on nights most of the two years following graduation, but I was fortunate that in the past couple of years or so, they’ve given me more day shifts.”

  “Changing my schedule really did a number on me,” Dalton said with a frown. “If we were up super late, I’d need something to get me going in the morning. If I needed to be up early and couldn’t sleep, they’d give me something to knock me out. It was a vicious, nasty cycle that I didn’t recognize at the time. Now I’ve come to realize how important a regular schedule is.”

  “Could you keep a regular schedule as a performer?” Sierra asked.

  Dalton shrugged. “When we weren’t touring, I definitely could have. And even while on tour, I could’ve made more of an effort to keep to a schedule. Making a decision to go out to all the after parties wasn’t a smart move. Management wanted us there, but if we’d just said no like Jesse wanted us to, we could have gone back to our hotel and gone to bed at a decent hour. Well, relatively decent.”

  “I have times when I don’t keep a good schedule, particularly now that I’ve moved out on my own,” Elliot said. “But that’s mainly because time gets away from me when I start gaming with my buddies on the weekend. Friday night, in particular, I can end up staying up all night and then need to sleep all of the next day. Mom yells at me over the phone when she realizes she woke me up when she calls at three in the afternoon.”

  Sierra laughed. “Since I work nights sometimes, people just assume that’s why I’m sleeping the day away.”

  Dalton gave her a considering look before he said, “And is there ever a time it’s not because you worked all night?”

  “Can I say no and not have you both think I’m lame and have no social life?”

  “You’re not lame,” Dalton said. “If anything, you’re probably smarter than the two of us. Keeping a whack schedule because of work is probably the only good reason for sleeping the day away. Partying and playing video games definitely aren’t good excuses.”

  “But at least you guys have some fun,” Sierra said. “I feel like I need a little more fun in my life. Hopefully, when JD and Danica come back, we can do some fun stuff.”

  “I’d volunteer to be in charge of the fun for the apartment block, but I’m not sure I know what fun without drugs would look like these days.”

  “Maybe we should do a girls versus guys fun planning,” Elliot suggested. “You and Danica plan a fun activity one week, then me, Dalton, and JD will plan it the next.”

  “That would certainly help with my problem of not knowing how to have fun without drugs,” Dalton said with a nod.

  “What about Marc?” Sierra asked. “Should we include him too?”

  “It seems kind of rude not to,” Elliot said. “But I don’t want it to be awkward for Dalton if Marc realizes who he is.”

  Sierra nodded. “Let’s do it with just us five for the first little while, then we can see if you and Marc have connected, Dalton.”

  “I like the sound of that,” he said. “Hopefully Danica and JD agree with our plan.”

  “They will,” Sierra said confidently. “Especially right now because school is not in s
ession.”

  “When are they due back?” Elliot asked.

  “Next Saturday.” Sierra sighed. “They have one more week in paradise.”

  “They are so lucky that Maya’s dad hooked them up with that private plane to the island his friend owned,” Elliot said. “I bet they’re having a great time.”

  “Have you heard from them since they left?” Dalton asked.

  Sierra shook her head. “But I didn’t expect to. In fact, I told Danica she better not text, call, or email me unless she or JD were dying.”

  Though she was happy the couple had been able to get away for so long, Sierra missed her friends and couldn’t wait to have them home. She’d enjoyed her time with Elliot and Dalton, and she hoped they wouldn’t stop hanging out together after JD and Danica came home.

  The adjustment to being on her own in the apartment was still challenging, but not having to be alone there every single evening after work had been wonderful. She was grateful for Dalton and Elliot’s company, but sooner or later, she’d have to get used to being on her own.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The next day at work, a fellow nurse approached Sierra to see if they could switch shifts. She said yes, even though it meant she ended up with one more shift, and a night shift at that. After she got off work that day, Sierra tried to stay up later than usual so that she could sleep later the next day in preparation for the night shift. Unfortunately, neither Elliot nor Dalton were around to keep her company.

  Sierra decided to tackle the apartment, cleaning all the rooms then transferring the last of her things from the smaller room she’d lived in for the last few years to the bedroom Danica had vacated. Though she hadn’t minded the smaller room, it was kind of nice to have a bit more space. Of course, she had the whole apartment to herself now, so a larger bedroom really shouldn’t have been that big of a deal.

  It was close to eleven by the time she folded the last of her laundry and put it away. Hoping to push it until midnight, Sierra curled up on her couch with her tablet and spent some time reading a devotional book she’d bought a couple of weeks earlier.

  The weekly Bible study that she and Danica usually attended on Friday nights had been suspended for the summer, but this was a book that Joe, their Bible study leader, had recommended reading while they were on hiatus. She enjoyed the Bible study and missed meeting together on the weeks that her schedule didn’t allowed her to attend. Now that Danica and JD were married, she wasn’t sure if they’d continue with this group—which was primarily singles—or join another group that was more focused on young marrieds.

  Sierra hoped they didn’t leave the group, but she could understand if they did. Looking up from her tablet, she stared absently at the gas fireplace that currently sat dark. She wondered if Dalton would want to join the group if he was still around when the study started up again in the fall.

  As a teen, he had attended the youth group with them, but he’d seemed to be there mainly for the music. He hadn’t socialized much, preferring to just play his guitar off in a corner while he waited for the rest of them to be ready to leave once the evening’s activities were done. Sometimes Sierra had sat near him, waiting to see if he wanted to talk. However, most the time, she wasn’t even sure he knew she was there.

  Back then, she’d imagined them being together. Imagined that one day he’d look up and see her waiting there for him. But then he’d disappeared, and slowly that dream had died. Surprisingly, being with him now hadn’t resurrected it. She was smart enough to know that his life wasn’t here in Winnipeg, while hers was. Remembering that was her main defense against developing feelings for him again.

  As midnight approached, she was checking to make sure her door was locked when she heard someone out on the landing. Since it couldn’t be anyone but Dalton, she was tempted to open the door and say hi, but in the end, she didn’t. Opening her door like that might make it seem a bit too much like she was listening for him to come home. Which she hadn’t been.

  It was almost twelve-thirty by the time Sierra crawled into her bed. She didn’t bother to set her alarm because she wanted to sleep as late as possible. Thankfully, her night shifts were all in a row so once she adjusted to that schedule, she would be okay. The first shift was always the hardest.

  As she had expected, Sierra was dragging badly by the time she got home after her first night shift. She sat for a moment in her car, wishing she could just sleep right there, but eventually she found the energy to gather up her things and head inside.

  It felt like she had to climb a million stairs to reach the second floor, and as she did so, she noticed something sitting in front of her door. Sierra glanced over at Dalton’s door, but it was closed. Not that that was unexpected at just after six-thirty in the morning.

  Bending over, she picked up what looked to be a small cooler bag. She unlocked her apartment and took it into the kitchen. When she opened the bag, she found a note on top of an ice pack and something wrapped up in tinfoil. She unfolded the paper to read what was written on it.

  Elliot and I missed you at supper last night. Figured you might be hungry when you got home, so here’s a little something that might help stave off starvation while you get some sleep.

  He went on to give instructions on how to heat up the breakfast burritos he’d made for her. There were two of them, and after following his directions to warm them up, she sat down on a stool at the counter with a glass of water and the burritos.

  Even though she was still dragging with exhaustion, she could appreciate the deliciousness of what he’d left for her. She’d just planned to go to sleep and eat something when she woke up, but not going to bed starving was a much better option.

  Sierra had no idea why he’d done it. Possibly he was just that bored. Whatever the reason, she was grateful. Once she was done eating, she wrote Dalton a quick thank you note, put it in the cooler bag and then took it over and put it in front of his door.

  With a full stomach, Sierra found a burst of energy and was able to take a quick shower before crawling into bed. She set her alarm for four-thirty, though she assumed she’d be awake before then. She just wanted her body to get the rest it needed, and if that was more than eight hours, then that’s what it would get.

  Finally, she set her phone on the nightstand and let her exhaustion take over.

  Dalton just about tripped over the cooler bag when he left his apartment to head down to the basement to work out. Picking it up, he glanced at Sierra’s door then went back into his apartment. He hadn’t been sure about making her something, but he’d stumbled across a recipe on Facebook the previous day and thought it sounded good.

  Each time she’d shown up after work for the dinners he’d prepared, he could see how tired she was. Given it was her first night shift in awhile, he figured she was going to be even more tired, so making her something to eat had seemed like a small thing he could do to make her life a little easier. She was definitely working harder than him, so it only seemed right to help her out if he could.

  Thanks for being so thoughtful. The burritos were delicious and so very welcome after a long night. I’m off to sleep my day away. Hope you have a good one!

  The little smiley face she’d drawn at the end of the message made him laugh. Having her and Elliot around while Danica and JD were away had helped make the transition back to life in Winnipeg a bit easier. He’d spent time each day with different members of his family, and he’d enjoyed that even though there had been some awkward moments.

  While some had been more subtle in voicing their reproof of his actions, others—like Bennett and Gabe—had been fairly straightforward in voicing their displeasure. Tristan had tried to be understanding, but even he seemed to have a hard time grasping how Dalton could just cut himself off the way he had.

  Maybe if Dalton had been willing to share everything that had happened in his life back then, they would have a better—if not, complete—understanding. But he couldn’t—wouldn’t—share a lot of thos
e details, so he’d just have to live with their displeasure and hope that, in time, they’d move past it.

  After putting the cooler bag away, Dalton left the apartment again, heading downstairs to the workout room. He wasn’t surprised to find Elliot there. They’d talked a lot about working out over the past few days. Given Elliot’s slighter build—one that was very similar to Dalton’s—he wasn’t surprised to hear that the other man wasn’t a fan of working out. But even though Elliot didn’t like playing any sports, he did enjoy watching them. Particularly hockey.

  Up until he’d gone to rehab—and for even a little while after he’d been there—Dalton hadn’t been interested in working out at all. He’d grown up surrounded by men who enjoyed sports and being active, but Dalton had rejected that for himself at a young age. Now, though, he was beginning to see the benefits of working out. His body was stronger than it had ever been, and although he wasn’t looking to be the next bodybuilder of the world, Dalton found he was pleased with the definition his muscles were beginning to show.

  “So are you ready to do some working out?” Dalton asked Elliot as he joined him in the room.

  “No.” Elliot scowled as he lifted a travel mug. “I hope you’ll let me have some coffee while we do it.”

  “Sure. Whatever gets your motor running.” Dalton grinned. “I already had a cup.”

  “So what are we doing here?”

  “First I start with stretches, just to get my body limbered up.” Dalton settled on the floor. “Feel free to join me, or not. You can start slow.”

  He set up his playlist to start and began to slowly stretch out his muscles. Soon, Elliot joined him on the padded floor, stretching his legs out in front of him. He didn’t have the smooth motions like Dalton did, but Dalton had been doing the exercises for months already.