Love Fast

I stash the newly laundered napkins in the perfectly designed cubby and step back, pleased with myself. I’ve spent the last week learning the details of working in Blossom, because I’ve been moved from Autumn. It’s a promotion. Kind of. I’ll do half my shifts here and help out during special events, which comes with bonus pay. It’s nice to be doing things on different days. I’ll get to work with different people, meet different guests. I’m aware that I might not be here forever, but for now, I’m… happy.

I figure it will take some time to work out what I want to do with my life. Maybe I’ll stay on as a waitress at the Colorado Club. But talking to Marion about her college applications has made me ask questions of myself I’ve never asked before. I don’t know what I would have done after high school if I’d had the chance to choose. Would I have wanted to go to college? I knew it was never an option, so I never even fantasized about it.

Maybe I’ll go to veterinary school. Or become an English teacher. I’ve never thought about the possibilities because the future wasn’t ever my decision. My mom said I would be a good receptionist because I was pretty. So that’s what I did. Even when I stood in front of the mirror on the day I was supposed to get married, I don’t think I understood all the choices I’d have in front of me if I left Oregon. I never thought of what was possible. Just what was impossible: marrying Frank.

As if my thoughts summon him, I see a figure in the doorway that looks exactly like Frank from the back. But it can’t be.

Since my shift just ended, I head in that direction. When I get just a few yards away, the figure in the doorway turns—and I come face-to-face with my ex-fiancé.

“Frank?” It’s a stupid question. It’s obviously him. He looks more tired than I remember. A little older. His suit is a little rumpled and his tie a little crooked.

“Rosey!” His eyes are full of relief, but all I feel is heavy. Is he here to bring me back? Can he force me? Is my mom behind all this?

I glance around to see if anyone’s spotted him. I’m sure non-employees shouldn’t be wandering around this place. He probably shouldn’t even be on Colorado Club land. I don’t know how he managed to end up here, but he’s going to get us both into a ton of trouble.

“What are you doing here?” My jaw is tight and my fists are clenched. I’m ready to fight for my freedom. I don’t want to go back with him.

“I got the ring,” he says, as if that answers my question.

I hurry past him. “Come with me.” When we get to reception, I keep my head down and hurry out of the front entrance. We’ve been told we’re not allowed to use this entrance once the Club has opened. But right now, it’s my quickest route to get Frank the hell out of here. Not to mention, I need some air.

I lead him around to the side of the main building, toward the pathway that leads to staff housing. There are strictly no visitors allowed. The security risks have been drilled into us. Thankfully, the shuttle bus that takes staff to and from town pulls up in front of the staff block as we arrive.

“Come on,” I say to Frank. “Let’s get on this bus and head into town.”

We let passengers get off. I get a few odd looks, but I just smile like everything is peachy, and try not to let it show that I’m in the middle of a mild panic attack because my ex-fiancé has turned up on my doorstep after I jilted him at the altar.

I usher Frank onto the bus and take a seat toward the back so the driver can’t hear us.

“What are you doing here?” I ask. “How did you even get up here?”

“On this bus. I think they thought I’d come for an interview.” He chuckles. “It’s a nice place. Maybe I should get a job here.”

I roll my eyes. Frank has his own successful business back in Oregon. He’s not about to come and work at the Colorado Club. I just want a straight answer from him.

“I’m glad you got the ring,” I say, trying to get him back on topic. “And I’m really sorry about everything that happened. I should have—” I don’t want to hurt his feelings, so I don’t tell him I should never have accepted his proposal. “I should have spoken to you rather than just running off.”

His face darkens. “Yeah. It was a shock. I thought we were happy.”

I sigh. I never gave him any reason to doubt me. “I’m very sorry. You’re a really great guy.”

He pulls in a breath. “Yeah, your mom said she thought you’d realize you’d made a mistake. She said you’d be too prideful to come back.” He searches my face, waiting for me to confirm what my mom has said—what he’s clearly hoping is true.

I glance at the bus driver. I really don’t want to be having this conversation here. Or anywhere, ever. But I owe it to Frank. “I’m sorry, Frank. I regret hurting you. I really do. You’ve been nothing but kind to me. But I don’t regret my decision.”

He looks bewildered. Like he expected to waltz into the Colorado Club, sweep me off my feet, and take me home to Oregon. Like he thought I’d just been waiting for him to come and rescue me. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I try and block out the view from the bus. I don’t want Frank to exist in Colorado in my mind—not even the memory of him against the backdrop of pine trees. This place is freedom to me, and I don’t want anything changing that. “I’m sorry if that’s why you came here,” I say. “I sent back the ring because I should have never accepted it in the first place. I’m sorry if you interpreted that as me reaching out to you.”noveldrama

He presses his lips together, like he’s trying to hold back from saying something. I’m not sure I want to hear it. It feels like a dark cloud has passed over the brilliant blue sky. A sense of dread gathers in my stomach.

“Did my mom say it was a good idea to come and visit?” I hold my breath, waiting for his response.

“When I told her you sent back the ring, she said it was your way of apologizing.”

I don’t think I’ve ever hated my mother more than I do in this moment. Looking back, it’s easy to see how she manipulated and controlled me and my sisters. I just feel like a fool for not seeing it. For not breaking free sooner. It only occurs to me now that she didn’t restrict her appalling behavior to her daughters. She’ll do anything to get what she wants. Frank didn’t deserve to be rejected by me a first time, let alone a second.

“I’m sorry she said that to you,” I say. “The fact is, my mom wanted us to get married because you’re rich. She saw you as a meal ticket.”

He nods, like I’m not telling him anything new.

We sit in silence for a few minutes. Guilt for accepting his proposal, for not confessing to him what he was to our family, circles my chest and squeezes.

The bus pulls into the stop in town and we get off in silence.

“Let’s go to the coffee shop.”

Frank looks up and down Main Street. “It’s small,” he says.

I glance up at the mountains, jutting into the perfectly still blue sky, and wonder what he’s talking about. Star Falls is huge. A place I can spread my wings. A place I can be me. This place is bigger than the entire state of Oregon.

The coffee shop—Twilight Latte—is on the corner opposite the diner. I pass it every time I come into town, but I’ve never gone in. Which is why it comes as a surprise that the Twilight in Twilight Latte is a reference to the movie phenomenon, not the time of day. There’s no room for doubt when we push through the door. For a start, music I recognize from the movies is playing in the background. The barista is sporting fangs, and there’s a life-size cutout of Robert Pattinson by the cash register. It distracts me from the fact I’m about to have coffee with Frank.

“This place is weird,” he says from beside me.

“It’s my first time in here.” It is weird. But I can’t help being kinda charmed by it. Nothing but respect for sticking to a theme.

We order our drinks—I insist on paying—and head to one of the smaller tables near the window. Pine trees have been painted around the edges, not to reflect our beautiful surroundings, but to mimic the backdrop of Forks, Washington—the setting of Twilight. This town is wild. And I love it.

I tamp down my smile and turn to Frank. “I don’t want you to think I didn’t want to marry you because I don’t like you.”

He lets out a rueful huff as if to say, Then why didn’t you marry me?

“I thought that maybe we could move?” he suggests. “To a bigger house. Maybe one of your sisters could come stay with us.” The hope in his expression kills me.

I upended this man’s future and bruised his heart. He didn’t deserve that. And even if he wasn’t my choice, I should have had the strength to walk away before he got hurt. Why wasn’t I stronger? Why didn’t I stand up to my mother? I still haven’t. I’m still running from her.

“You’re a really good man, Frank.”

He rolls his eyes. “So you keep saying. But what can I do? Just tell me. I’m not a man who’s good at the… romantic stuff. But tell me what you want and it’s yours.”

I shake my head. “There’s nothing you can do.”

“Are you sure?” he says, his tone urgent.

Images of Byron fill my mind. Him grinning on the porch holding his hot chocolate. Him sitting across from me in the diner. Him holding Athena’s cat carrier as he came out of the vet’s office, even though he said he hated cats. Him over me. Under me. At my feet, between my thighs.

I chose Byron.

“I’m sorry, Frank. I’m not the right woman for you.”

He sighs as if he knew it all along, but had to try anyway. I have to admire him for that—knowing what he wants and going for it. There’s a lot about Frank to like.

“You know Lydia wants a job at the garage,” he says.

I groan, because I know exactly the direction this conversation is going. Now that I’m out of the picture and Frank is single, my mom is trying to get Lydia to fill the Rosey-shaped gap in Frank’s life.

“I told her no, but she’s quite persistent.”

“It’s not Lydia’s fault,” I say. “I’m so sorry, Frank, but I’m sure it’s my mom’s idea. If I were you, I wouldn’t give her a job.”

“She keeps finding reasons to drop by. Suggests grabbing a coffee, talks about the latest movie release she wants to go and see.”

I smile, but it’s full of pity. He knows what’s going on. He doesn’t need me to tell him.

Frank nods at my silence. “Yeah, I know. I need to move on. Your mom… she calls me every now and then, just when I’m about to walk away—from you or Lydia.”

My heart clenches. I know exactly what he’s saying. “I think she steps in when things aren’t going her way. Most of the time she can use one of us to do whatever she wants. And then I guess she steps in when she needs to.”

He swallows, and I stare over his shoulder at Robert Pattinson, trying to push down the nausea as I realize the full extent of my mother’s horrible behavior.

“Barney at the garage says she’s a manipulator,” Frank says. “I talked to him a little after… you know, what happened with the wedding.” His eyes don’t meet mine. “Your mom dropped by the garage a couple of times. Shared her theories on why you ran away.”

I don’t want to ask. I know all her theories will be bullshit. “I’m sorry.” I can’t think of anything else to say.

“She said I didn’t spoil you enough. Didn’t show my love the way I should have.”

I groan. “Barney’s right. Me leaving didn’t have anything to do with you. I needed to escape my mother and her manipulation.” It’s like all the colors of the kaleidoscope have come into focus, and for the first time I see everything with perfect clarity. I’ve always known. But now that knowledge isn’t buried at the back of my brain. It’s front and center. Frank wasn’t who I was running from. It was always my mom who I needed to escape. “My mother was trying to get you to blame yourself, when she only had herself to blame.”

He sighs and leans back in his chair. I can see his brain processing all this information.

“There are plenty of women who will want you for all the right reasons, Frank.”

We sip our drinks in silence until I remember the trailer.

“I don’t have the trailer documents with me—I mean, obviously, because I left with nothing. But I’m going to figure out how to transfer it back to you.”

Frank shakes his head. “You don’t need to do that. I don’t want it.”

“Of course I need to do that,” I say. “I should have done it before now. It’s just because I don’t have the paperwork, I’ve been…” I trail off. I’ve been delaying the inevitable. If I want those papers, I need to go get them from Oregon. I could ask Marion to find them for me, but I don’t want to get her into trouble. Mom’s so tricky and always at home because she doesn’t work, so she’s bound to find out. Marion has enough secrecy and lies in her life just applying for schools. I don’t need to put her in a more difficult position. I know Mom would never forgive her if she thought we were communicating behind her back.

“I need to come back to Oregon,” I say. “I’ll arrange for an attorney to do everything while I’m there.” But when? The Club opens is in ten days. I have this weekend off, then it’s the party for the residents of Star Falls on Monday night. The Club will welcome members the following weekend. Hart has made it clear that all hands are required on deck; shift patterns kick in properly, and time off won’t be on the table unless there’s an emergency. I don’t know when I’ll next have an opportunity to get away after the Club opens.

“You really don’t need to. It’s not like I want to own the trailer anyway. That was always to make your family feel more secure.”

I reach out and place my hand on Frank’s arm. He’s such a thoughtful man. “It was a lovely thing to do. But I can’t keep it. After I transfer it to you, maybe you can sell it.”

His eyes widen. “What about your mom?”

“She’ll have to pay rent to whoever buys it. Or find somewhere else to live.”

Maybe that would create an opportunity for my sisters to move out and find a place of their own. It could help them see that they don’t need to be at home, paying Mom rent, when they could have a place of their own.

“Do you know how to transfer it?” I ask.

“I have a copy of most of the paperwork. I can set the wheels in motion when I get back to Oregon.”

“I’ll pay all the legal costs,” I say.

He offers me a small smile. “You’re a good person too, Rosey. I’m sorry things weren’t different between us.”

“Me too.” In many ways, it would be easy to love Frank. He’s kind and generous and he loves me. But he’s not where my heart is. That honor belongs here, in the Colorado Rockies, where my heart has never felt more at home.