Small-Town Homecoming

“Yes, that’s right,” Curt said, leaning a hip against the counter as he unwrapped the candy bar. “I’m here to run the Sports Shack for my brother Seth, while he and his family are in Seattle getting a new store set up.”

“It’s too bad you couldn’t stay at his house.” Miss Landry turned to Jenna. “No offense, dear.”

“None taken,” Jenna said.

“I would have,” Curt replied, “but while Seth and his family are gone, they’re remodeling the house to add a bedroom for their new baby girl, and to bump out the kitchen, too. With construction going on, it made more sense to stay here.”

“Ah, I see,” Miss Landry replied, nodding. “So, what took you away from this lovely burg, in the first place?”

Miss Landry’s question hit him like a bullet and filled him with dread. Of course, he was going to have to explain things to people. But he couldn’t just blurt out the truth. It wasn’t as if he could say, “Oh, well, yes, I ran around town as a surly teen, creating trouble, crashed my motorcycle while drunk, and left with my tail between my legs and now I’m back ’cause I’m clean after three tries in rehab and I want to start over.”

He settled for part of the truth. “I’m a musician, and I went to L.A. to play in a band.” The heady lifestyle of L.A. had called to him. Especially after what happened with Dad.

“Hmm.” Miss Landry’s eyes sparkled. “A musician. I went steady with a musician once. He played piano.” She opened a candy bar. “What do you play, dear?”

“Guitar.”

Miss Landry nodded approvingly. “Excellent. An artist. And handsome. And single, I presume?”

Curt could only nod.

“Just as I thought—no ring.” Miss Landry slanted a glance at Jenna, who was checking the pies on the counter. “Are you paying attention, Jenna?”

Curt’s jaw fell. Miss Landry wasn’t wasting any time at trying to get him and Jenna together, was she? He’d have to keep his eye on her. She was sharp and dating wasn’t on his to-do list. Staying on the straight and narrow and proving himself capable was.

“Why, Miss Landry, are you matchmaking?” Jenna said without missing a beat.

“Well, maybe just a bit,” Miss Landry said with a sheepish smile. “I don’t want someone as lovely as you to be alone forever.”

“What makes you think I’m going to be alone forever?” Jenna asked, taking the teapot off the stove.

Curt’s ears perked up.

“Well,” Miss Landry said, “if you don’t come up with a more realistic checklist for the man you want, you’re never going to find him.”

Curt frowned. Jenna had a man checklist?

“I like to think I can keep my list and still find love eventually,” Jenna said, pouring boiling water into the flowered mug she’d set on the counter.

Apparently, she did. Huh.

“We’ll see,” Miss Landry replied with a quirk of her lips.

Jenna’s comment reminded Curt that with his troubled history, he wasn’t sure any woman with any kind of checklist would be interested in him. No way. The scars of his past ran deep and would be hard—perhaps impossible—to overlook. And with small-town gossip at work, it wouldn’t be long before Jenna knew all about his checkered past—or maybe she already did. His gut clenched at that idea.

Miss Landry turned to Curt. “So, what do you do for a living, aside from working with your brother? Music still?”

He geared himself up for giving his rehearsed answer. “I’m between jobs right now, and I want to eventually go to school to become a therapist.” He owed his life to his drug counselor, Marv, and wanted to help others in the same way someday.

“Oh, excellent. Very noble of you,” Miss Landry said with a warm look. “There’s always a need for compassionate listeners and advisers.”

“Well, thank you.” Curt figured it was about time he did something worthwhile with his life.

“Do you plan on staying in Moonlight Cove permanently?” Miss Landry asked, surreptitiously handing Sam another candy bar under the table. She winked at the boy. He grinned, showing he was missing his two front teeth.

“I hope to,” he said, giving the easy answer. But in a small town like Moonlight Cove, people often didn’t forgive and forget. He’d need both and was worried neither was possible. “Seth knew I was looking for something here in town, so he offered me the store job to get me started. My goal is to get a permanent job at my brother’s store, and go to community college part-time to work on my psychology degree.” He definitely had a lot of hard work ahead of him. He liked to think he was ready for the challenge. Or as ready as he’d ever be.

“And do you have family besides your brother still in town?”

Jenna brought a steaming cup of tea over and set it in front of Miss Landry.

“Thank you, dear,” she said to Jenna.

Curt hesitated, not sure how much to share about his dysfunctional family. Old habit, one he was going to need to break. Somehow.

“Forgive me,” Miss Landry said before he responded. “I’m way too nosy for my own good.”

“No, no problem.” He was going to have to get used to fielding questions like this, and to talking about his family; there would be no running from people’s interest here. “Yes, my parents are still in town. My younger brother, Ian, lives in San Diego.”

“So your family called you back?” Miss Landry asked.

“In a way. Seth and his wife, Kim, visited me in L.A., and I met my niece and nephew for the first time. I realized how much I was missing by being away.” That realization had surprised him; it had been a long time since he’d actually longed for the connection of family. Interesting how being clean had cleared his mind and made him want things that had never seemed important before.

“Ah, so you have a young niece and nephew. No wonder you returned,” Miss Landry said.

“I’m looking forward to being in their lives.” He liked the fact that Dylan and Charlotte viewed him with a clean slate. A small thing, Dylan’s and Charlotte’s rosy views of him, but he was holding on to it like a lifeline. He desperately wanted to be good Uncle Curt, someone whom his niece and nephew could look up to in the future without the shadow of his bad choices shading their opinion of him.

He wanted that fresh start.

“Excellent. Children are such a blessing, though I was never fortunate enough to have any.” She stirred some sugar into her tea. “So you said your parents are still in town?”

His shoulders tensed. “Yes, they are.”

“Well, I’ll bet they’re thrilled to have you back.”

Mom, yes. Dad? Not even close. He thought Curt was a worthless loser, and while that opinion hurt, Curt knew he’d earned the attitude with his bad choices. No doubt about it—he had a hard road ahead proving his dad wrong.

But Curt wasn’t going to dump details of his and his dad’s dysfunctional relationship on Miss Landry. He barely knew her, and he sure didn’t want to shock her, or lower her opinion of him. Though...he had to keep in mind what Marv had drilled into him—that Curt had to own up to his past behavior to move beyond it. He’d have to ease into that approach; his shame still had the upper hand a lot of the time.

So, for now, he simply said, “Well, I haven’t connected with them yet, so that remains to be seen.” He did his best to sound relaxed when he was anything but. He and his dad hadn’t spoken since Curt left town.

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll welcome you back with open arms,” Miss Landry said with a knowing nod. She patted his hand. “What parents wouldn’t?”

Curt’s gut pitched. His parents wouldn’t. Well, not Dad anyway. Mom had always been more forgiving, and they’d talked weekly for the past few months. Curt only hoped he had the courage to deal with his dad—and the Graham family’s problems—while continuing to make good choices that would keep him on the path he’d mapped out.

Apprehension formed a knot in his chest. His resolve would be tested soon enough; he had no place to hide as he’d had in L.A. He was bound to run into Dad sooner rather than later. Curt preferred later. Or never, actually.

There would be no running for cover this time, no distance to soften the harsh reality that hung over the Graham family like a sickening haze. And that fact had him worried more than anything else he’d had to face since he’d OD’d and looked death straight in the eye.