Page 105 of All The Ways to Miss You

“You deliver and we’ll keep a lid on it.”

“Fine.”

“Tools are in the hall closet.” He reclines with a pleased smirk. I dig out the tools and retreat before I’m sending the two on a damn Alaskan cruise.

By the time I knock on Cait’s door, I’ve dug myself a pretty substantial hole. It’s well worth it when she answers. Sunlight filters in from behind her, casting her in a glowing silhouette and making her look like a damn angel. My knees weaken.

“Morning.” I beam at her, still astonished she’s here. How long will it take before it sinks in?

“Come in.” She steps aside.

“Which unit?”

“Bedroom.” She points.

“You’ve been busy.” I glance around.

“Stayed up all night organizing. Can’t stand messes.”

I remember. She reorganized my kitchen once and I about killed her, but it was a great argument, one that ended with sex on the kitchen counter. Twice.

In her room, I drop to the floor to inspect the AC/heating unit combo. I’ve watched Gusterson fix these plenty of times, but now that I have to do it myself, I’m drawing a blank. Or it could be that Cait’s behind me, watching everything I do, making me a nervous wreck.

Projecting confidence, I play with the digital controls. When the unit still won’t kick on, I release the front panel and poke around inside.

“This happen a lot?” She shuffles closer.

“Old buildings require a lot of maintenance.”

“Does it look fixable?”

“Looks like I have to buy the part,” I say, even though I have no clue. I’ll need to ask Gusterson what to do. Looks like I’ll be sending him and Mrs. Venti on a cruise after all.

“Will you be home later?” I ask.

“I’m hitting Ikea. I’ll be out for a few hours.”

“Perfect. I mean, I’ll have it fixed before you return.” I lock on the cover, grab my tools, and stand.

“So, I’ll owe you two pizzas,” she says.

“Yeah, I was thinking I could show you around next weekend? If Linden finds out I didn’t fulfill my tour guide duties this weekend, there will be hell to pay.”

At her reaction to my offer, it becomes painfully obvious she has no intention of sightseeing with me, even if her new boss mandated it.

“Another rain check?” She scrunches her face.

“No problem.”

Getting to know her won’t work if she’s resistant. Which I can see she is.

And this is the blueprint for the next several months.

Being near her is more painful than I expect. I do my best to engage, but no matter how many appliances I purposefully break in her apartment, no matter how many times I fix them, and no matter how many times I joke like old times, she pushes me away. The harder I try, the deeper she burrows into herself.

I discover there’s something very different about Cait now, as Shelby predicted. She’s not the woman I fell in love with. She’s not the person I pulled all-nighters with, watching movie marathons. She’s not the person who filled pinboards with photos of all the places we wanted to travel. She’s not the person who made fun of me for talking in my sleep.

She’s not the person I loved. She’s someone different.