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“I don’t get why she doesn’t just call me when this stuff comes up,” Caleb said.
“She doesn’t want to bother you.”
“She’s supposed to bother me. Being around for her to bother me is the whole reason I moved back here.”
“I know that, Caleb. She knows it, too, but she’s used to you being gone. I think she’s afraid to depend on you in case you decide to reenlist or something. Give it time, huh?”
Unconvinced, he grunted his assent. He’d already given it six months.
Katie pulled the trash can out from under the sink and started shoving used disposable cups and cutlery in it, her mouth set in a grimace he’d seen too often lately. Between working as his office manager, studying for the online college class she was taking, and nursing whatever private pain she’d brought back from Alaska, she had too much on her plate.
All of them did. Mom and Dad’s apartment complex was aging, getting more expensive to run every year, and the price of their health insurance seemed to double every time he blinked.
Someone had to take care of them. That someone was him.
Heading back into the living room, he wiped up the mess on the floor. He’d been hoping it was water, but it didn’t smell like water. Next week, the dog stayed home.
He returned to the kitchen and tossed the sodden paper towels over his sister’s shoulder and into the trash. Direct hit. Katie looked at the bag. Looked at him. “Don’t throw pee towels at me, Buster. I am not the enemy.”
True, that. She was the best friend he had in this town. Most of his old buddies had moved on years ago, drawn away to Columbus or farther afield. Katie had gone all the way to Anchorage with her high school boyfriend and started up an outfitting business, but a few months before their dad’s stroke she’d come back alone, flat broke, refusing to talk about Alaska. Caleb had given her the house to live in rent-free, never expecting they’d end up sharing it.
When he had first moved home, he’d been shocked by the change in her. She spent nights tending bar and sat around listless in yoga pants all day, snacking and watching reality TV. It was as if someone had stolen his sister—usually all restless motion and cheerful wit—and replaced her with a zombie. He’d offered her the job in the office to get her out of the house, and it seemed to have helped. She was much more herself lately.
But he still worried.
He nudged Katie away from the sink with his hip so he could wash his hands. “I don’t have any enemies.”
To his surprise, Katie put her arms around him. “That’s right,” she said. “Everybody loves Caleb.” He turned, holding his wet hands away from her back and looking down at the top of her head resting on his chest.
Affection from Katie was a rare thing. She had a big heart and a barbed sense of humor that she used to keep anyone who didn’t know her well from guessing it. “You’re getting soft,” he told her.
She poked him in the stomach. “Compared to you, everybody is soft.” When she met his eyes, he saw her concern. “You worry too much,” she said. “It’s going to be fine.”
“What is?”
“Everything.”
He sure as hell hoped so. When he started the company, he’d been counting on some business from the college. The woman who ran the campus security office had made enthusiastic noises about contracting with him for the protection of visiting speakers and dignitaries, and they’d developed a plan to set up car and bike patrols of the campus under his supervision—something the college needed but couldn’t afford to do itself, since adding a staff of full-time security employees would cost a fortune in salary and generous Camelot College benefits, whereas Caleb could do it mostly with part-timers.
During the last few phone calls he’d had with her, though, her enthusiasm had cooled. She’d told him student enrollment was down for the coming year, and her budget had taken a hit. In the meantime, Camelot Security had eaten up nearly all of his savings. Business wasn’t coming in fast enough to meet the payroll.
Hoping to lighten the moment, he stuck a wet hand down the back of Katie’s shirt, making her screech and swat at him with a dish towel. He stole it and used it to dry off his hands. “I have to get going.”
“Where are you off to? Hot date?”
There was a thought. “I have to go check on the guys at Carly’s place and maybe talk to Callahan’s sister.” If she’ll let me in the door.
Katie boosted herself up to sit on the counter and leaned eagerly toward him. “Did you meet Jamie yet? Is he as hot as he looks on TV?”
“I already told you, he’s in L.A. I’m probably not going to meet him.”
“The sister’s pretty, though. I’ve seen her around.”
“She’s a job. I’m not allowed to notice.”
Tactical error. Katie’s whole face brightened. “Ooh, you like her! With your luck, she’ll probably throw herself at you, and you’ll have to beat her off with a stick.”
“I’m not a mall cop. I don’t carry a stick.”
