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“I’ll be right back,” I tell Caiti.
“I’ll be right here.” She raises her shot in a salute and downs the glass.
He leads me a quarter way down the bar, weaving through patrons as we go. He fits us between a couple of stools and rubs warmth into my upper arms.
“Are you okay?”
“It’s a headache. I’m fine.” I worry my bottom lip with my teeth and squeeze my forehead. “I should have checked on her more. I should have made her come visit sooner.”
“You’ve done everything you can. You and I both know it’s impossible to force a stubborn woman to do something she doesn’t want to do.” His gaze is pointed.
“Yeah, well, now she doesn’t want to leave, but I can’t leave her here alone.”
“I can keep an eye on her.”
I look at the quiet bartender who’s injected himself into our conversation. He’s braced himself with both hands flat against the gleaming counter.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know you very well, and she’s my sister.”
“I’ve seen grief like that. Sometimes it’s better to let it wring itself out, and I have enough on staff tonight to join her while she does that.” He yanks the white towel off his shoulder and buffs the handprints from the bar.
“He’s good people,” Rhett says quietly to me. “I trust him, but I understand if you don’t.”
“It’s just an offer so the two of you can get out of here. I can comp her tab and drive her home when the bar closes in…” He checks his black wristwatch. “An hour and a half.”
If Rhett trusts him, I know I can too. It’s just my heart aches at seeing her torn up like this.
“You’ll get her home safe? No funny business?” I seek confirmation.
He grunts humorlessly. “You have my word.”
I look at Rhett and sigh. “As long as she’s okay with it, I guess it’s not a bad solution for everyone.”
Rhett releases me to unhook a key from his keyring. “This is for the house she’s in. One on the right once you pull into the driveway.”
“Got it.”
When we return, Caiti regards her water with a sullen expression. “This sucks,” she mutters.
“Come on, honey. Let’s get home and sleep it off. Tomorrow, we can take a walk by the river, and I can show you the Swinging Bridge.”
“I said I don’t want to go. Not yet.” She chugs half her glass of water while I’m stunned into silence. The Caiti I know never talked to anyone like this. Sure, she could be heated in arguments, but she typically manifested her emotions in the form of tears, not aggression.
Knowing she has someone to keep her safe, I deadbolt my own emotions tight with an internal promise to force her into a serious talk tomorrow. She needs help. Not the kind of cloak the alcohol provides.
“If you want to stay, then Dane’s promised to get you home safe. He’s a good friend of Rhett’s.” I gesture to the tall bartender as I ask the quiet words. “Do you want to stay?”
She appraises him with a critical eye. When she returns her gaze to mine, the pain is diminished. Hidden, but not gone. God, it would torment Eric to see her this way. “Yes. I want to stay.”
“I love you.” I bid her goodbye, wrapping my arms around her shoulders in a tight hug. “We’ll talk in the morning.”
“I love you too.”
Rhett wraps my hand securely in his and tows me to the door. Before stepping into the biting fall night air, I glance back. Dane occupies the stool I vacated. With a full beer in front of him, and his eyes pinned on Caiti as she talks animatedly, he appears to soak up each word.
Tonight, I’ll sleep off this headache.
Then tomorrow, I’ll work on getting my Caiti back.
