She figured if he had ordered something else, she’d stay to eat her chowder here while it was piping hot and freshly served. But if he was done, she could avoid a bone-chilling wait at the bus stop by taking him up on his offer to give her a ride any time. She pulled back to meet his eyes, but before he could answer, the woman poked Caitlin in the shoulder again.
“Do youmind?” she asked loudly when Caitlin wiggled a semi-turn to face her. “We’re on a date here and you’re in the way.”
“Oh!” gasped Caitlin, utterly chagrined. Shane had told her this was one of his favorite places to eat alone, or to catch a game on TV, and she just assumed that’s what he was doing. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Now that you do, you might want to back off a little.”
“Of course.” Caitlin didn’t know whether the woman meant figuratively or literally, but she shimmied backward, and bumped into the customer behind her, nearly causing him to spill his beer.
“Hey!” he exclaimed. “Use your rearview mirror before you throw yourself into reverse like that.”
“Sorry, sorry,” she repeated, and then she dashed out the door and down the street to the bus stop.
Caitlin’s face was so flaming hot she could’ve walked all the way back to the cottage with her coat unzipped and shestill would have felt her skin burning when she got there. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t realized Shane and that woman were on a date.
Why didn’t he clue me in from the beginning, or introduce her, or even utter a single syllable?she wondered.Instead he just let me stand there, yammering away, until his date told me to get lost. Not that I blame her—she probably thought I was some random stranger hitting on him.
Not only did Caitlin feel embarrassed about her faux pas, but she couldn’t help being disappointed to learn that Shane had been on a date—and her disappointment, in turn, made her feel even more foolish.Why am I so annoyed? I promised myself that I wasn’t going to flirt or socialize with him anymore, since a romantic relationship isn’t an option for us. So it’s not as if I can get mad at him for dating someone else. That would be completely unreasonable, not to mention, immature.
And yet, Caitlin couldn’t seem to shake her disappointment.What’s going on with me, anyway? I didn’t even feel this upset after I caught Jonathan kissing Melanie—and I’d been seeing him for half a year!
She stewed about it all the way home, for the rest of the afternoon, and well into the evening. Finally, she went to bed at 8:30, just so she wouldn’t have to think about it any longer.
By morning, Caitlin’s embarrassment had faded, and in its place was a gnawing homesickness. The way Shane’s date had spoken to her, making it clear she wasin the way, had left Caitlin longing to be with someone who treated her as if she were special.
She’d often wished she were closer to her parents; her relationship with her father and stepmother was cordial, but distant. However, Caitlin’s connection to her stepbrother wasalmost maternal, since he was ten years younger than she was and she’d spent so much time babysitting him. She was close to his wife, too, and of course, Caitlin cherished their three children and they thought the world of her.
Since nothing in Lydia’s Trust indicated she couldn’t leave the island for a short break, Caitlin impulsively decided to go back to Santa Fe for Thanksgiving. After her morning walk, she sat down to book a flight, but the holiday airfares were astronomical, and every flight included multiple stops.
I guess it’s just not worth it, she decided.
Crestfallen, she stood and stretched and then she went into the kitchen to make lunch. She’d barely had a chance to open the fridge when someone rapped on the door: it was Shane, hugging a brown paper bag to his chest. His pink-tipped ears were sticking out on both sides of his wool hat, and when he said hello, the word made a vapor puff in the air.
“Hi, Shane.” Despite the cold, she didn’t invite him in. “It’s Sunday, you know. Your day off.”
“I’m not here to work. I’d like to talk. Can I come in?”
She opened the door wider and he stepped inside and wiped his boots on the small rug. She supposed she should’ve offered him tea or asked if he wanted to take a seat, but she wasn’t feeling especially courteous. She folded her arms across her chest and waited for him to explain his presence.
“I, um, I’m sorry about what happened at the pub yesterday. It was an awkward situation, and I didn’t handle it very well.”
That’s an understatement, thought Caitlin.You didn’t handle it at all—you just sat there like a bump on a log.
“It’s just that I was really surprised to see you.” Shane shifted the bag he was holding to his other arm. “And it was so loud in the pub that I could hardly think straight. The next thing I knew, you were sitting down, and Darcy was coming back from theladies’ room, and it kind of felt like two worlds were colliding.” He gave a little nervous laugh, but Caitlin wasn’t amused.
“I can understand how uncomfortable that must have been for you,” she said stiffly, only half-meaning it. “After all, I disrupted your lunch, and I upset your date by unintentionally taking her seat and chatting with you. I’m very sorry. It won’t happen again. From now on, if I see you in public, I’ll pretend we don’t know each other.”
“That’s exactly whatIwas trying to do!” exclaimed Shane. Did he have to rub it in?
“Right, I get that now, but I didn’t realize it at the time,” she replied as patiently as she could. “I said I’m sorry, so I don’t know what else you want?—”
“I want you tolistenfor two minutes, please,” he interrupted, looking her squarely in the eyes. “The reason I was acting as if I didn’t know you was because Darcy’s one of my cousin’s off-island acquaintances—Joyce set us up. I didn’t want word getting back to her that you’re still on the island, because then she might somehow put two and two together and figure out what you’re doing here. And I know how important it is to keep the remodel and your plans to sell the cottage under wraps. So I figured the less said, the better.”
“Oh.” Caitlin felt completely humbled by his explanation, even though she was still a little disappointed that Shane had agreed to go out with Darcy. “It didn’t occur to me you were protecting my privacy. I mean, you introduced me to people at the Halloween party.”
“Yeah, but ever since then, Joyce has been grilling me about you. She got it in her head that I’m seeing you or something. I told her I wasn’t, but she doesn’t believe me. To be honest…” He paused and Caitlin waited with bated breath for what he’d say next. “The whole reason I went out on a blind date in the firstplace was to throw Joyce off. You know, to make her think I’m interested in getting out there on the dating scene again.”
“But you’re not?”
