“Caitlin!” Her father called after her incredulously.
She kept walking, unwilling to give her father another opportunity to have a say in which direction her life would go. If he wanted to see her marry someone, she’d find that someone on her terms.
Caitlin wasn’t expectinga huge rush on a Thursday night. A few of their usual customers came in, ordering the same lager that they always preferred after a long day’s work. Aside from that, it was a sea of new faces—most of them belonging to people just passing through this part of the country, people Caitlin would most likely never see again. She kept this thought in the forefront of her mind as she forced herself to navigate through small talk. After finishing another round of blended drinks for a pair of women in nearly identical uniforms, Caitlin turned to serve the guest who had just sat down. She was delighted to find a tan, dark-haired man sitting at one of the barstools near the wall. His face was framed by full eyebrows and when his mouth formed his drink order—"a rum and Coke, please,”—he flashed his full set of teeth.
“Sure thing, love,” Caitlin nodded, already reaching for the bottle of rum on the back counter. As she combined the ingredients into the glass, she lifted her eyes to get another look at the man in front of her. To her surprise, he was already looking back at her. His eyes looked green in the dim lighting of the pub—she wondered if they looked different in the daylight outside. “What brings you into town?”
“You can tell I’m not from here? What gave me away?” He broke into another wide smile as he exaggerated his American accent and peeled away his jacket to reveal the t-shirt underneath it. The Green Bay Packers logo sat in the center of the shirt with the team’s name printed across the fabric in thick lettering underneath it.
Caitlin laughed and set his drink down in front of him. He didn’t move towards it yet. “You’re into football?” She pointed towards his t-shirt.
“Honestly? No.” He let the t-shirt fall against his chest again, stirring at the contents of his glass. “It just makes me feel a little less guilty about being so far away.”
“You make it sound like you’re here against your will—” Caitlin sent a suspicious look down the bar. “You know we have code drinks for situations like yours. Which one is the catfish?”
The man broke into a wide smile, laughing wholeheartedly at her joke. He lifted his drink up, thanking her for it and her company, before taking a long sip. “Honestly, I’m just in town for the month. I came to get away before I start a new job.”
“Just in time for the Oyster Festival, lucky you.” Caitlin finished a drink for a woman down at the other end of the bar. After dropping it off, she walked back over towards the American man as she wiped off the counter where she had been mixing drinks. “Sounds like you’ve really rounded out yourEat, Pray, Lovejourney.”
He laughed again. Caitlin noticed that his cheeks were beginning to lighten to a soft pink color, but decided that it had more to do with the alcohol than anything else. “No teasing,” he spoke quietly, stirring at his drink again. “But I’m actually really looking forward to that festival.” She lifted her gaze to look at him once more, noticing that he had quite a handsome face. “It’s more about the free samples than anything, if I’m being totally honest.” He turned his mouth into a short frown to demonstrate a flicker of guilt.
Caitlin nodded with new understanding as she leaned against the bar. “So, you’re just another cheap American, huh?”
“Guilty as charged, I’m afraid,” he chuckled before finishing off the rum and coke.
When she reached up to clean away his empty glass, he held out a folded bill to her. There was a white slip of paper tucked inside of it, and Caitlin looked up at the man for clarification before pulling the items out from in between his fingers.
“I’m not in town for long, but I’d like to take you to dinner once you’re off work. My number’s on the slip there. Give me a call if you’re up for it.”
Caitlin was too shocked to come up with a witty response, but smiled at the man. “I just might.” Tucking the note into her pocket, she kept her eyes trained on the other customers at the bar while the man headed for the exit.
When his back was safely turned away, she stared after him—even if he was only in town for a short amount of time, it’d be nice to dip her feet into dating again with someone who’d find their own way out sooner than later. With a look in the direction of her father’s office, Caitlin pulled out her cell phone, and quickly texted the number in her pocket.
Hi, this is Caitlin from the Pub. Dinner would be great.
5
Daniel
The clouds streamed lazilyin the sky, leaving wisps of pearl-colored cotton candy amongst the blue.
Golden sunlight cut through the breaks in the clouds, warming the coastal walkways. Seagulls dove in their confidential flight patterns overhead, arching in grandiose loops and turns. The gulls called out to one another—crudely mocking the flightless shoppers below as Daniel and Sophie strolled out of the tailor’s shop.
“Are you hungry at all?” Sophie asked, sending a sideways glance up at her brother as they stepped in unison.
“I could eat,” Daniel noted, stuffing his hands into his jacket and looking down at his sister. A coastal breeze tossed Sophie’s blonde curls around her face. She wrangled them, tucking the unruly strands behind her ears—only to have them spring free again.
Daniel watched as she struggled with her locks with an amused smile. “Why don’t you just wear your hood?” Daniel questioned, lifting the folded, woolen fabric off her back.
She shook his hand off, “And ruin all my hard work?” She rolled the back of her hand through her hair to brush it over her shoulder. The locks spilled over her coat’s shoulder in vibrant, icy strands. “Not a chance.”
Despite this light banter, Daniel couldn’t help but notice the strain. There was a tension that had never existed between the two of them before and he tried his best to ignore it, choosing to look out over the water as they pulled away from a line of parked cars.
Across the gentle, navy-colored ripples, Daniel could make out the distant peaks of multicolored townhomes—their shades of brunnera, saffron, and mustard softly muted in the water’s reflection. With a wistful smile, Daniel watched as two gulls swam alongside one another as a boat drifted into the harbor; neither of them seemingly bothered by the boat’s wake. Both gulls floated over the short wave—two life rafts out in the middle of an unforgiving ocean. As he watched them, he looked back to his sister.
“Did you already know about dad’s job, the family business—all of it?” He arched one of his bold brows at her. Daniel kept his hands inside his pockets. In there, he twirled the dark band he wore around his finger—his mind bounced to his father instinctively. The regality of the man’s dark hair and piercing blue eyes—an innate part of Daniel’s inheritance—appeared in Daniel’s mind. The hesitance he spoke with that night, as if he half-expected his own son to dismiss him left Daniel fidgeting.
Sophie’s eyes were alight with amusement now. “Of course, don’t be moronic,” she laughed. Her lips pulled back, revealing a partial smile as she shook her head at her brother. “You’re not the only one who can piece puzzles together, you know?” Her tongue tucked out of her mouth in a small cone.
