Beth fell onto the cold metal bleacher. Women like Carolyn had a special talent for making people feel lousy about themselves.
The players warmed up on the field, standing in neat rows and moving at every whistle blow. Beth searched the back of the uniforms for Chase’s number. One great thing about high schools in small towns was that if you had talent you got an opportunity to play no matter what class you were in. Chase played free safety and had even served as backup quarterback a few times. By his senior year, he would have a great chance to be a standout on the team.
Chase had it all going for him, brains and athletic abilities, if only she could figure out how to convince him to stay out of trouble. She’d always struggled in school but gotten through by never causing problems for her teachers. She’d always been open and trusting of others, which often caused her hurt and disappointment. She didn’t know how to deal with the teenager she shared a home with who was distrustful of everyone around him. How could two siblings be so different from one another?
After the players had jogged into the locker room, Beth checked her cell phone for calls from the restaurant. Once the game started, most of the town would be at the stadium.
“Is this seat taken?” Brendan stood in front of her with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his worn, brown leather jacket.
After what had happened at dinner last weekend, she was glad she and Brendan were still speaking. No matter how many times Beth told herself Brendan was no good for her, the sight of him sent a charge of energy through her. Beth scooted over, leaving him room on her blanket. “Have a seat. What are you doing here?”
He pointed toward the entrance where Connor stood talking with one of the teachers at the high school. “I came with Connor.”
She tucked her phone away in her coat. “Have you told him about the job?”
Brendan let out a breath. “Not yet.”
“Why not?” she said too quickly. For a guy with a “need for speed” he sure was taking his time.
Brendan turned toward her, and his light eyes pierced hers. “It didn’t go so well last time I broke the news to someone.”
Beth shivered and pulled her coat tighter around her. “I wish it could be different, but it can’t,” she whispered. “Have you tried to talk to Will again?”
Brendan looked away from her and stared straight out toward the fifty-yard line. Lines of stress crept out from the edge of his eye. “I’ve tried. He’s not ready to talk to me.”
The players jogged from the locker room to the end zone. The marching band played, and Beth and Brendan stood to their feet, clapping along with the rest of the crowd. The team burst through the paper sign the cheerleaders held. Chase trailed the team, jogging at the back of the pack. The band played the final notes of the school fight song, and the fans all sat back in their seats.
How could something so simple destroy his relationship with his brother? “Is all this actually over missing a wedding?”
Brendan breathed into his cupped hands. “The fracture between Will and me happened years ago. Missing the wedding only made things worse. He could never understand why I left how I did.”
As hard as she tried, Beth couldn’t understand it either.
Chapter 13
Beth punched the numbers into her calculator for the third time. The machine buzzed and clicked. She lifted the paper from the small roll on the back, only to see the same disappointing numbers. They had been busy every day during the last three weeks. The reopening of the restaurant had appeared to be a success. Then again, old men sitting in the diner for hours nursing cups of coffee weren’t a great source of revenue. By the time she subtracted overhead and salaries, the numbers told her that at the end of the month the restaurant wasn’t making any money.
Her heavy head fell onto her crossed arms on the desk. She was a cook. Not a businessperson. She knew about baking, not keeping books and managing employees. Beth had never given her grandmother enough credit for what she had accomplished. Keeping a restaurant alive in such a small town wasn’t easy. Of course, what choice had her grandmother had after her grandfather passed away? What choice did Beth have now?
Someone tapped on her door. She sat straighter in her chair. “Come in.”
Brendan’s face peeked past the door, and he stepped inside. “I came by for a piece of pie, and they said you were in here.”
She straightened in her seat and concentrated on holding the smile on her face. “Great.”
He rocked back on his heels. “What’s wrong?”
She stacked the papers strewn on her desk and tapped the ends against the desktop. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong.”
He closed the door and sat across from her. His eyes pressed her to tell him the truth.
“Spill it.”
She debated whether to trust him with the information. She needed someone to talk to about it, and they had agreed to be friends. Although, it would be hard to think of him only as a friend with the rugged stubble across his face. “Business isn’t great,” she said, her voice low.
“What do you mean?” His thumb pointed toward the door. “There’s a dining room full of customers out there.”
She pressed her knuckles against her cheek. “I know. I don’t get it either. I feel like I’m failing the restaurant. I’m terrified I’ll fail Nana and Chase.”
Brendan tilted his head to the side, sympathy pulling at the edges of his eyes. “You’re not failing anybody. You’re doing an amazing job.”
Beth rubbed her hands over her eyes. “Chase is so smart. No one in our family has ever graduated college. I want him to get a degree and go do something he loves. He’s failing his classes, ruining any shot for a scholarship, and at this rate I’m not going to be able to help him at all like I’d hoped to.” She was rambling, the words tumbling from her lips.
Brendan walked around the desk to her and crouched down in front of her. “Don’t say that. You’re doing a good thing with him. You love him. That’s what he needs.”
Beth sniffed. It felt good to have Brendan with her now, but he wouldn’t be here for long, which would only make the pain worse.
Brendan stood and took a tissue from the box on the bookshelf and handed it to her. “You can’t give up now. Show him he can do anything he wants in life. That no matter how tough things get, he can get through it.”
As baffling as Brendan could be, this time he was right. She had to fill Nana’s role as the strong one. She couldn’t let Chase see her like this. Beth couldn’t tell Chase he could do something with his life. She had to show him.
“Can I take him on a ride tonight?” Brendan asked. “We’ll go out on the motorcycle. It will get him out of your hair.”
Chase had been begging to ride on Brendan’s motorcycle since the day he got suspended. She shook her head. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. It’s a school night.”
He held his right palm open by his shoulder. “I promise not to speed. I’ll be extremely careful.” His face softened. “He’s a teenage boy. This will be good for him.”
Beth studied Brendan’s hopeful expression. Maybe there was something different about Brendan. Maybe the things he’d said about changing were true. “Okay, but he has a nine o’clock curfew, and be safe.”
The cold air slammed into Brendan as he and Chase walked out of the sizzling kitchen to the alley. The cool air swirled dead leaves around their legs. Brendan glanced back to make sure Chase was wearing a jacket. “Where should we ride?” Brendan asked him.
Chase’s oversize hooded sweatshirt hung down over his faded jeans. “I don’t know. Sometimes I like to ride my bicycle out to Bison Creek.”
Brendan’s pulse accelerated at the mention of the bridge. “Why do you go out there?”
Chase narrowed his eyes. “No reason. I like to sit on the bridge. It’s quiet.”
Brendan had already faced the bridge once, and he wouldn’t go back. Brendan handed Chase the helmet. “How about we drive through the canyon?”
<
br /> Chase shrugged. “That’s cool, too.” He pushed the helmet over his shaggy haircut and lifted a lanky leg over the back of the motorcycle.
Brendan took the long route to the campgrounds. By the time they passed the STATE PARK sign, half of the sun had slipped behind the wall of the canyon. The pink sky made the red and orange leaves of the maple trees glow like flames. Brendan parked his bike in front of a campsite in the mostly empty grounds. It was beginning to get too cold for campers. A lone pop-up camper sat on a site near the concrete block building.
Brendan climbed off the bike. Chase pulled his helmet off with a full grin on his face, and Brendan realized how much he and Beth resembled each other. Chase’s hair clung to his forehead. “That was awesome.”
Brendan had practically crawled down the road so he wouldn’t break his promise with Beth. Brendan was glad the kid had liked it. He nodded his head toward the gravel road. “Want to take a walk?”
Chase followed Brendan. They walked side by side down the path between the canyon walls. Chase turned to get another look at the bike. “I can’t wait until I’m sixteen.”
Poor Beth probably dreaded Chase’s next birthday. “Why’s that? You want a car?”
Chase’s smile disappeared. “Yeah, right. I don’t have money for one. I’ll be lucky to convince my sister to let me drive her car.”
Getting Chase through high school would only get more expensive for Beth, but if anyone could make Canyon Café a success, it would be her. “I didn’t get a vehicle right away either. I eventually got a job at your grandmother’s restaurant and saved up to buy a car.”
Chase’s head cocked back. “What kind?”
Of course that’s the first question a teenage boy would ask. “It was a 1987 Toyota Supra Turbo. Red. I thought it was the coolest car in the world.” Brendan laughed. He would never forget the day he saw the car sitting in a driveway with a FOR SALE sign in the window. “It wasn’t pretty, but it sure could go fast.”
Chase’s face snapped toward Brendan. “How fast?”
Brendan kicked a rock under his foot. He shouldn’t talk about driving too fast to a fifteen-year-old boy. “I don’t really remember,” he mumbled. “I did a lot of stupid things back then that I wish I hadn’t done, including driving too fast.”
They stopped in front of a concrete picnic table. Chase stepped up on the bench and turned to sit on the table. “You sound like my sister.”
The memory of the photo in the paper of his first car upside down in the creek crashed over Brendan. Lord, please don’t let Chase make the same kinds of mistakes I’ve made in the past.
Brendan sat beside Chase and stared out at the red sandstone walls of the canyon. “You know your sister’s pretty smart. You should listen to her.” Brendan should have listened to Beth when they were teenagers.
Chase’s blocky black tennis shoes scraped against the concrete bench as he shifted on the table. “You do like her, don’t you?” he said, uneasiness running through his voice.
Brendan rubbed his hands together. “Yes,” he said. “I like her a lot, but I don’t think it would work between us. Things are complicated.”
A loud huff came from Chase’s nose and mouth. “Yeah. Tell me about it.” He stuffed his hands in the pocket of his sweatshirt. “Everything’s weird now—Beth trying to tell me what to do and acting like she’s our grandma or something.”
Brendan could relate to how sensitive relationships with siblings could be, but it was obvious how much Beth loved her brother. He couldn’t say as much for his own brother right now. “That is a tough situation, but I think your sister is doing the best she can.”
The edges of Chase’s eyes and mouth fell. “I guess, but I wish I had my sister back.”
Beth paced in the living room, her bare feet creating a trail across the carpet. Fire rose up from her stomach to the top of her head. Her eyes darted back to the grandfather clock. 9:18. Only two minutes had passed, but her frustration at Brendan climbed at breakneck speed.
Why hadn’t they called?
The roar of Brendan’s motorcycle sent Beth running to the window. She pushed back her grandmother’s floral curtains.
Finally.
Beth threw open the clear glass front door. “Where have you been?” she asked before her feet had even peeled off the plastic grass on the front porch. She jogged across the grass to the driveway.
The glow of the porch lights shone on Chase as he pulled his helmet off and shook his shaggy hair. His lip curled up like Elvis’s. “Why are you yelling?”
Brendan’s face wrinkled up at her like she’d lost her mind.
“Because you should have been home by nine o’clock,” Beth said.
Brendan took Chase’s helmet, and they shared a pointed look. “I was with Brendan.”
She wasn’t going to let these two wannabe James Deans treat her like she was the crazy one. “I don’t care if you were with the pope. You have a nine o’clock curfew.”
“Beth,” Brendan spoke up for the first time. His chest rose and fell with a deep breath. “I’m sorry I kept him out too late, but we got to talking,” Brendan said, his hands open toward her.
She shook her head and walked to the front porch and collapsed into the metal chair.
Chase and Brendan glanced at each other.
Beth looked at Chase. “Go inside. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Chase huffed before scooting his feet to the front porch and letting the front door slam behind him.
Brendan sat beside her. “I’m sorry I got him home late, but we had a great talk. Next time I promise I’ll have him home earlier.”
Beth bit the inside of her cheek. “I just don’t know if your friendship with Chase is such a great idea.”
He stood up and strode across the porch. “Don’t say that.”
She stared up at the streetlamp on the corner. “You’re getting his hopes up that you’re going to be around for a while. We both know you’re leaving.”
Brendan looked down at her. “Is this about me and Chase, or is this about me and you?”
Beth stood up, her shoulders back. “I don’t have the luxury of making things about me anymore. This is about Chase. I have to protect him from getting hurt, and you’re setting him up for it.”
They stood silent and watched the headlights of a car pass in front of the house. Brendan rubbed a hand across the back of his neck.
He ducked his head. “I’m sorry I brought him home late. Trust me, nothing like that will happen again, but he needs a guy he can talk to about cars and sports and about life.”
She shook her head. “It’s not that simple, Brendan.”
He turned around on the grass and walked toward his motorcycle.
Instead of feeling triumphant for standing up for Chase and herself, she was left with a hollow space inside her ribs, afraid she’d pushed Brendan and Chase so far from her she’d never be able to reach them.
Chapter 14
Once Brendan turned the corner of Beth’s block, he sped off, the back tire of his motorcycle kicking up gravel behind him. He needed to clear his head. He turned down the road leading to the winding road of the canyons.
The adrenaline pumped through his veins, and he revved the motor faster, leaving the incident with Beth in the shadows behind him. The trees rushed by him in a blur. Why was he here? He had a successful career as a photographer and an exciting life outside Wyatt Bend.
Brendan steered the motorcycle around a tight curve, his headlight a narrow path guiding his way. Movement caught the edge of his line of sight, but by the time he could slow the motorcycle, a deer had darted across the road. He fought against his reflexes to jerk the handles, which would send him flying into the ditch. He braced for impact, praying his front tire wouldn’t catch the hind end of the doe. Before he could react, the deer jumped to the other side of the road and leaped over the barbed-wire fence.
Brendan pulled to the side of the road, peeled his hands from the handles o
f the motorcycle, and killed the engine. The deep thud in his chest broke through the stillness of the night. He ripped the helmet from his head.
It had been too close. Hitting the deer would have sent him off his motorcycle and could have killed him. Brendan sent up a prayer of thanks and leaned on the seat of his bike to regain his composure. Brendan had been blasting through his life, and he feared it was catching up with him.
Beth parked her car where she had a view of the team practicing on the field. Chase had ridden his bicycle to school, and Beth didn’t want him to get stuck in the rain predicted to hit on his way home from football practice.
After fifteen minutes of drills, the group huddled together. She climbed out of the car to make sure he’d seen her before getting on his bike. The team broke out of the circle, and Chase’s eyes never looked up from the grass under his feet. “Chase,” Beth yelled and waved her arms. The other boys looked up at her, but Chase continued walking.
Thunder crashed above them. “Chase,” she yelled again.
A senior boy who wasn’t much bigger than Chase hit him on the arm and pointed at Beth’s car.
Chase shook his head and picked up his bike from where it lay in the grass. Beth jogged over to him.
Beads of sweat ran along Chase’s face. “What are you doing here?”
Beth leaned back and tucked her chin in. “I came to pick you up.”
Chase slung his gray-and-black backpack over his shoulders. “I’m riding my bike home.”
Beth hadn’t intended to embarrass him by coming. A few of the other parents were there. Some of the fathers of the boys even stood on the sidelines and watched them practice. “It’s going to storm. I don’t want you to get caught in it.”
He walked his bike out of the grass, refusing to look at her. “It’s only a few blocks.” His words were as sharp as knives.
Beth put her hand on the handlebar of his bike to stop him. “What’s going on with you?”
Chase’s mouth twisted, and his eyes narrowed. “I don’t know why you have to be so mean to Brendan.”
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