It was all Caitlin could do not to lash out at the implication that there was something wrong not just with her but with her brother, too. Her life might be a train wreck at the moment, but Ethan was serving his country. Couldn’t her parents even be proud of that? Apparently not. The only time Ethan had won approval was when he succeeded in sports in high school—and that was just because it gave her parents bragging rights in a small town where the local matches were big events. Her parents went to games and attempted to look important while bragging about their son.

  The artistic leaning that Caitlin possessed since she was little had never meant anything to her parents because it hadn’t held any benefit for them. They’d even forced her to give up her opportunity to attend a prestigious art school, insisting that the tuition would be a waste of money. She’d ended up at a state college, and further disappointed them by dropping out before her senior year to pursue tattoo art as a profession. They’d never once seen her for who she was—only for who she failed to be, by their standards.

  “Follow me, please.” Caitlin kept her cool and led the group to a round table in her section. She waited for them to sit before handing out menus and promising to return to take their orders.

  Caitlin moved off to help other customers but was overly conscious that she was being watched by the women at the table. Whenever she came close to them, she heard more remarks like the ones they’d already made, calling her ungrateful, selfish, a failure. Other patrons were starting to look in their direction, and she just wanted them to shut up.

  She reminded herself that after another minute, they’d have had their fun and would move on to another topic of gossip. Caitlin just had to hold out, keep a smile on her face, and do her job. On the outside she could look normal and professional, but on the inside all the insecurities brought on by her mother’s constant criticisms returned. She’d tried hard to get past all that, and sometimes she thought she had, but she still resented the way she’d been raised. Being back in this town, around these awful people, just made it all worse. But she wouldn’t let it dictate her actions. Not anymore, despite what these women said.

  Squaring her shoulders, Caitlin approached their table and pulled her order pad from her pocket. “What can I get for you ladies?”

  “A new server. We don’t want you,” Mrs. Fecto said. She’d had a son in the grade below Caitlin, and he’d been just as rude and obnoxious as his mother.

  “Get somebody else,” one of the other women said with a little shooing motion of her hand.

  Caitlin wanted to slap her order pad on the table and tell them to shove it where the sun didn’t shine, but she held back. Aurora had given her this job and was helping her out so much. She couldn’t repay her kindness by driving away customers. No matter what miserable, dried-up old shrews those customers might be.

  “If you prefer,” she said and turned on her heel. I hate this town, I hate this town she repeated in her head. Her face felt hot and her humiliation was high, but she kept walking until she reached Aurora who worked behind the counter. “You’ll need to take table fifteen.”

  “Why?” Aurora looked past her at the women seated there.

  “They’re friends of my mother’s,” Caitlin explained, “and don’t want me to serve them.”

  “Is that right? Those women are a bunch of cackling hens. I’m going to tell them to get lunch somewhere else if my staff isn’t good enough for them.” Aurora made to move past her, but Caitlin caught her arm.

  “Don’t,” she pleaded. “They’ll just make a bigger scene, and I don’t want you to lose customers over me. Please.”

  Aurora scowled, obviously not liking it. “Okay, but I’m going to have Marc put too much pepper or maybe paprika in anything they order.”

  While Aurora took care of the women, Caitlin worked the rest of her tables, smiling and chatting on the surface while she was seething inside. How dare those women treat her so poorly? She could do nothing about it, though, so she kept her mouth shut and did her job.

  It did seem to her like the women prolonged their lunch, taking every opportunity to shoot optical daggers in her direction. While they were eating dessert and drinking coffee, Brian walked in. Her frustration with the women was soon buried under the memory of the embarrassment she’d felt when she caught Brian reading the messages on her phone early that morning. The two he saw were damning, making it all too clear that she’d screwed her life up monumentally.

  He stepped to the side and she caught sight of Jake standing behind him. They weren’t identical twins, but they had similar builds, and the same brown hair and green eyes. Jake’s were less open and trusting. She’d never been sure if he liked her or not. From the frown on his face just then, she was pretty sure the answer was “not.”

  “Hi,” she greeted them. “Two for lunch?”

  “That’s right,” Brian responded. She led them to a table by the window, adjacent to the group of five. “Is this in your section?” Brian asked before sitting.

  “It is,” she said, feeling defensive. Was he going to refuse to be waited on by her, too? She could take that once on a shift, but not a second time. And not from him.

  “Good.” He gave her an obvious wink and slid into the booth. “Wouldn’t want anyone else to take my lunch order.” He spoke the words a little too loudly, and she heard a gasp come from behind her.

  “Look at her flirting with both Thorne twins.” The loud whisper came from behind Caitlin. “Slut.” The last was in a hiss, but plenty audible.

  “Danger at six o’clock,” Jake muttered under his breath and cast her a sympathetic glance.

  “How’s your first day going?” Brian asked, ignoring his brother’s words and the attention they were drawing.

  “Fine. We’ve been busy,” she said, trying to keep things brief and professional. No need to add further fuel to the fire of those women and their gossip. “Can I get you two coffee or something cold to drink?”

  “Sweet tea for me,” Jake said, his focus behind her on the women. Caitlin didn’t have to turn to know they were staring in her direction. She could feel that all up and down her spine. Other people were noticing, too, but their attention was more friendly curiosity. She supposed they liked the sheriff and were watching to see their interaction.

  “I’ll have a Coke,” Brian said, smiling at her. “I’m glad it’s going well for you.”

  “Why wouldn’t it?” Jake said, raising his voice slightly. “Darby Crossing is full of kind-hearted, welcoming people.”

  “That’s right,” Brian agreed with his brother and matched his tone. “They recognize a good, hard-working person when they see one. That’s why I like being sheriff here.”

  Caitlin appreciated what they were trying to do for her, but inside she still felt like scurrying away from the table and taking refuge in the kitchen. She stopped herself, though, since she’d never been one to run and hide.

  “Coming here for lunch was a good idea,” Jake said to Brian. “It’s important to support one of our own.”

  “Thanks,” Caitlin kept her voice low. “It means a lot to me coming from both of you.”

  “Me? I’m just a simple rancher,” Jake said with a grin.

  Caitlin didn’t think there was anything simple about running the biggest, most prosperous ranch in the area, but she was happy to play along with them. With the Thornes clearly on her side, hardly anyone would dare to attack her. They carried too much weight in this town and had too much public support behind them. A couple months in town started to look a lot less daunting than it had just thirty minutes ago.

  “I’ll be back with your drinks.” She turned away from them, noting the subdued expressions on the faces of her mother’s friends. While she was getting the drinks, the women left, so when she put a Coke down in front of Brian, she touched his hand for a second. “Thanks, again,” she mouthed so only he could see.

  He didn’t respond other than with the smile that had always melted her heart.

  6

  Brian gave Aurora a wave as he entered the diner a week later. His eyes scanned the restaurant for Caitlin, but she was nowhere to be seen. She was at work, though. He knew she’d left early that morning.

  With the rodeo only a week away, he was working even longer hours than usual, so he only saw her briefly in the morning and some evenings when he’d find her watching television in his living room. They’d speak a few polite words about their days and that was it. He didn’t love that, but he could live with it because it seemed to be what Caitlin wanted.

  Brian removed his hat and made his way to where four women already sat waiting for him. He didn’t really have time for a lunch meeting this week, but he needed to speak to the group regarding some issues related to the upcoming rodeo. They represented the organizations that were helping with parking and getting attendees to the rodeo grounds. And since there were security and traffic issues at stake, his sister-in-law—in her role as the mayor’s secretary and the de facto organizer of the charity rodeo—had tapped him to meet with them.

  Amy was busy herself with all the other details of the event and nursing a broken heart. Brian shook his head at that situation. He’d known that Amy getting involved with their rodeo-riding half-brother would only end in tears. But Amy needed support, not “I told you so”s, so he kept his thoughts to himself. And unlike his twin, who had confronted Cal in a bar, he kept his fists to himself, too. Brian’s only part in it had been breaking up the barfight between Jake and Cal and throwing them both in jail for the night. Feuding brothers wasn’t what he needed right then considering everything else he had to get done.

  “Howdy, ladies,” he said when he reached the reserved table and claimed the last seat. “Thanks for meeting with me. I know you’ve all got lots to do.”

  They greeted him politely, but he hardly heard them as he saw Caitlin come from the kitchen. She caught his eye and smiled, a heartfelt, genuine smile that went right through him. She held up a finger to indicate that she’d be right there, and a moment later she was standing by his table.

  “Hi. I’m Caitlin, and I’ll be taking…Mom.” Her voice cracked on the last word as her smile faded.

  “Caitlin. I’m glad to see you back in town.” Hailey Baker’s smile was cool, almost brittle, as she looked her daughter up and down. “Always good to see a woman return to where she belongs.”

  Brian might have thought Hailey’s words seemed welcoming enough if he hadn’t seen Caitlin’s wince. Reserve, even distance seemed to be the norm for Hailey Baker. What surprised Brian, though, was that this appeared to be the first encounter between the two since Caitlin returned to Darby Crossing. He knew their relationship wasn’t good, but this interaction suggested it was far worse than he imagined.

  “What can I get you all?” Caitlin asked with her notepad in her hand. “Today’s special is turkey club with seasoned fries.”

  Brian eyed her. She’d reverted to a completely professional stance, even managing a small, stiff smile as she took each person’s order. She didn’t quite meet his gaze, though.

  Hailey sighed and gave him a pinched smile. “I’ve missed my daughter so much,” she said and leaned closer to him across the table. “I’ve asked her countless times to give up this attempt at independence in Austin and come back to Darby Crossing. I think things can be better for her here.” Brian didn’t know what things Hailey referred to, but he nodded along, figuring it was best to be polite and noncommittal. “I heard she’s staying at your house,” Hailey added.

  “She’s renting my spare room,” he explained, not wanting it to sound as though they were shacked up together. He didn’t need that kind of rumor circulating in town.

  “So sweet of you, but you always were good to her, even back in high school. I’m glad she has you as a friend,” Hailey said and turned to the woman next to her.

  Caitlin’s mother seemed sincere. Maybe she’d become less self-centered in the past few years. And since he had no trouble identifying with missing Caitlin when she was gone, he was inclined to take her words at face value.

  After the meeting ended, he spent the afternoon and early evening reviewing with his deputies their placements and roles for the weekend of the rodeo. He had faith in Sofia Alvarez, his chief deputy sheriff. His other veteran deputies weren’t a worry either, but his newest hire had Brian ready to reach for the roll of Tums in his desk drawer.

  Mack Kilpatrick was young and enthusiastic, which would be a plus if it didn’t lead him into trouble so often. Add to that his fascination with girls and his killer crush on Sofia and Mack was a daily headache. His saving grace was his ability to deal with the office’s internet connectivity and get the laptops to communicate with the printer.

  Maybe in time, he’d be a first-rate deputy. Brian was just hoping to have some lining in his stomach left when they reached that day. He left Sofia in charge of the overnight shift with his standing order to call him if any problems arose and headed home at about eight. Lights were on in his kitchen and in Caitlin’s bedroom, he noted, when he parked.

  It was nice to come home to someone, nice to come home to her. True, she wasn’t staying past a few months, and their relationship was…limited, but it still gave him a warm feeling to know she was there, at least for now.

  He let himself in the front door. “Just me,” he called, not knowing where she was in the house and not wanting to frighten her. He heard footsteps overhead and then he saw her coming down the stairs. She had on a tank top and shorts that left plenty of leg to admire.

  “I want to talk to you,” she said and crossed her arms over her chest as she reached the bottom step. Her expression, when he could tear his eyes away from her legs, made it clear that he had screwed up in some way. Shit. He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. What had he done?

  “Okay, but I need dinner, so talk to me in the kitchen.” He led the way and washed his hands at the sink before opening the fridge and evaluating the contents. He’d had the turkey club special at the diner, but that had been long ago. He needed food, but he found himself reaching for a beer first and then the makings for a sandwich. He wasn’t in the mood to fuss with cooking, and if Caitlin was looking for an argument, he didn’t expect his mood was going to improve anytime soon.

  “Can I make you one?” he asked as he layered cheese on top of roast beef.

  “No, thanks.” Her tone was flat.

  Okay, then. She waited, leaning against the doorjamb until he’d prepared his sandwich. He could tell she was simmering; the tension in the air was palpable.

  “What do you want to talk about?” He took a seat at the kitchen table and pulled out the chair next to him for her, feeling a little surprised when she sat.

  “My mother,” she said as soon as her butt hit the seat. “Why didn’t you warn me that she’d be in the diner today? You obviously knew—I could tell it was a planned meeting.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Don’t you realize how I feel about her?” Caitlin demanded. Obviously not well enough, he wanted to say, but commenting would just escalate the situation. “She’s…she’s just so awful. I never come to town because I don’t want to see her or my father.” Her fingers picked at a scratch in the wooden tabletop.

  Through her brother, Brian was familiar with some of the tension in the family, but he wondered exactly how it had affected Caitlin. When they were dating in college, she’d avoided talking about her parents, which he supposed was telling.

  “I thought you understood that I don’t have a good relationship with them.” There was both anger and sorrow in her voice. “Don’t you remember what it was like when her friends came in, my first day on the job? You should have warned me she’d be there, or better yet had the stupid meeting someplace else.”

  He drank a swig of his beer and let silence descend, waiting for her to finish. When she didn’t offer any more, he had to put questions to her. “You never really wanted to talk about your relationship with them, remember? And I respected that—still do. But if you want me to understand, you’re going to have to give me more to go on. Tell me what she did to you as a kid. What made it so awful?” He needed information to help him understand the situation. If she really wanted him to understand, that is.

  Caitlin huffed. “She didn’t abuse me physically if that’s what you’re asking. But she…she told me every day how selfish I was. If I asked for anything like art supplies or books, she told me that I always wanted too much. And if I had a poor grade or misbehaved in any way, she called me ungrateful. She never cared about anything that mattered to me—she only cared about making herself look good. I got new clothes when I’d outgrown mine—clothes that she picked out, without even bringing me along. I got food that never took into consideration what I liked or even what I was allergic to. I got a roof over my head because the neighbors would have talked if she’d kicked me out of the house. She gave me the bare minimum of what I needed and couldn’t have cared less about what I wanted. She was demeaning and cruel and my father never stood up to her, never once defended me. He was too busy in his own world. I couldn’t wait to get away from them. I can’t…I can’t be around them.” Caitlin shuddered and rubbed her hands down her bare arms.

  He wanted to wrap her in a hug, warming her and taking away the sting of the past, but he didn’t think she’d welcome that. “I’m sorry, Caitlin.” Tears brimmed in her eyes, but they didn’t fall. He figured only her anger was holding them back.

  “Dealing with her friends at the diner is bad enough,” Caitlin said. “They’re catty and backstabbing, but she’s worse. And her veneer of niceness and concern is paper thin.”

  “I wish you’d told me all of this before now.” His food sat on his plate forgotten. “You kept so much to yourself. How was I supposed to know you needed a warning before seeing your mother at the diner?” He controlled his tone, but he wanted an answer to that question. Why hadn’t she trusted him with the truth?