Chapter Five
“Wonder, where the heck are you?” Connor, Brian’s boss, best friend, and brother-in-law was on the phone. “Your wife is all by herself at the Christmas Lights Festival.”
Brian was at least two hours from San Francisco, sitting in a diner near his in-law’s cabin in the Sierra foothills. He’d spent the day chopping wood and clearing the brush around the property, and had gone into town to eat.
“I’m at Joe’s Diner and headed to the cabin for the night,” Brian said. “Your dad gave me the key.”
The cabin had no phone service and was out of range of the cell phone towers. It was just the right place for him to grieve. Not only had he lost the hope of someday being with Alana, but now, he’d lost contact with Glen. True, the boy didn’t know who he was, but he’d befriended him while playing online video games.
“Didn’t I assign you the Christmas tree lot? How’d you get out of it?” Connor sounded annoyed.
“Shane and Patrick said they had it covered.” Brian rubbed the back of his neck and nodded at the waitress who set his chicken fried steak down. “Why’s Cait by herself? Aren’t all of you at the festival, too?”
“Our entire family is here,” Connor said. “But everyone is paired up. Even Dale has a date. She looked kind of lonely standing there all by herself staring at the Christmas lights.”
“Maybe you should assign her a task. That’ll keep her busy.”
“I already did. She thinks she’s in charge of the overall operations and responsible for the donations.”
“Then what’s the problem? I’m sure she’s doing a great job.”
“She is, but dude, now that I’m a married man, I don’t know how you get away with it. If I don’t pair up with Nadine wherever we go, she’ll give me the silent treatment.”
“Not my Cait. She’s very independent.” Brian dug into the mashed potatoes accompanying his main course. “I’ll be back tomorrow night if you need me.”
“I need you back here tonight.” Connor’s voice lowered almost to a growl. “You’ve been a big zero ever since you married my sister. My wife is worried about Cait.”
Connor’s young wife had befriended Cait earlier this year when she was the first one to believe Nadine hadn’t caused the fire that burned down their parents’ house.
“Cait and I get each other,” Brian said in his own defense. “We’ve been married twelve years. Maybe she wants to be alone.”
Cait was a trooper, and she never complained. She was the hub for her family, the glue that bonded everyone together. She didn’t need him hanging around getting in the way of her activities.
“You’re always leaving her alone,” Connor said. “What the heck are you doing at our cabin?”
Connor liked to bug him about not paying attention to his wife, but the truth was, she had too much going on for him to keep up.
“Clearing the brush, repairing the fence, helping out your parents,” he grumbled and set his fork down. There was no sense arguing with Connor. Ever since he married Nadine, he’d turned into a family man and thought everyone else should be as warm and cozy as the two of them were.
“That can wait,” Connor said. “Get back and surprise Cait. My parents are worried, also.”
“She’s not sick, is she?” A prickle of heat flushed Brian’s skin. Cait was as healthy as a horse, but lately, with Nadine’s pregnancy, she’d been hinting about getting off the pill, not that she’d ever admit to her Roman Catholic family to being on it. She’d been moodier than usual, what with the constant fights with her two sisters about their weddings, and she’d turned her meddling attention to her remaining two brothers, who were still single and unaccounted for as far as relationships were concerned.
“No, she’s still going like the Energizer Bunny, butting into everyone’s business. My wife thinks she’s overcompensating because she’s not getting the love she craves.”
“She wants love?” Brian’s voice was strangled as his throat closed. He and Cait had always been best friends, and they’d long ago agreed that romance wasn’t necessary for a strong partnership. Their agreement had been one of convenience, but it was left unspoken what they’d do if one of them fell in love with someone else.
“Yes, at least that’s what Nadine thinks,” Connor said. “Granted she’s an artist and the sensitive type. She claims she sees colors, and Cait’s is muddy and gray with frustration and unmet needs.”
Brian bristled at the accusation, but bit his tongue, hard. He and Cait had sex regularly, and he was one of the few people who remembered her birthday and their anniversary. As for children, Cait had been adamant about not wanting any. To keep the peace with her family, she’d put the blame on him, and he’d been happy to shoulder it. He already had a child he could never acknowledge, and he couldn’t see having another one to replace Glen in his life.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he grumbled. “But I’m sure Cait will be in the middle of game night, probably beating the socks off of you in Scrabble. She won’t even notice me walking through the door.”
Her family always spent Saturday evening together, and since Pete and Kimberly, Cait’s parents, lived at Brian’s house, he was unable to escape except when he was working.
“Good,” Connor said. “We’re packing up at the festival and should be home by the time you return.”
* * *
