Remember This (Virgin River)

Put Together

As the light filtered through the blinds the next morning, it was slightly disorienting to be pulled from the darkness, my demons no longer lurking in the shadows. As I stretched out the sleep from my body, I could still feel the numbness of how close I had gotten to my secret unraveling right there at the bar. Now I was ignoring all of Brady's text knowing I couldn't form a sentence accurately describing why I had run away. If I couldn't explain it to him, there would be no way I could tell my brother Jack or anyone else.

A part of me was not worried they would interact since Brady and Jack were no longer friends since serving in the marines all those years ago. However, it only dawned on me as I was falling asleep last night, secrets had a way of making their way to the surface no matter where you were in life.

Shuffling to the bathroom, I started getting ready. I let the hot water roll off every inch of my tired muscles before wrapping the towel tightly around me. My right hand wiped at the condensation gathered on the mirror. I caught my reflection as I stood in front of it, happy I had a little more color to my cheeks than yesterday. I applied some foundation and blush to look more put together, then moved to curling my hair loosely with the curling wand. I then picked a comfortable white dress shirt, blue quarter-sleeved sweater, slightly faded jeans, and the black pumps I wore last night.

"Morning." Jack was behind the bar when I came down from my room. His presence caught me by surprise, more as I was caught in my own thoughts. "You're coming down later than usual."

"Thought I would let myself sleep in today." Sitting down two stools down from the end, he started to pull out a cup from the shelf underneath the counter as if he already sensed what I needed.

"Coffee?"

"Please." He didn't press me for more details while pouring the hot liquid into the mug before setting it in front of me. "Thank you."

"Your usual toast with jam?" A smile crept across my face as I watched him recite my order. I had been in Virgin River for a few weeks now, often coming for a cup of coffee when needed and skipping breakfast altogether. I didn't want to explain why I had recently lost my appetite in the first place. "What? We lived in the same house for eighteen years. You were always adamant about eating breakfast, especially the eggs mom used to make. What happened?"

"Work mostly." My stomach decided to growl loudly at that moment and I changed my mind about skipping breakfast today. "In response to your question, eggs sound good." Nursing the cup in my hands, I focused on blowing on the hot liquid instead of focusing what his reaction would be.

"Okay." He sounded slightly skeptical but went along with it. "You still like your eggs scrambled like when we were kids?"

"I do. You know, I feel like that is something that hasn't changed about us."

"Which is what exactly?"

"A lot has changed in our lives, but our food preferences more or less stayed the same."

"I guess they have. I do remember you asking mom to make them when you weren't feeling well."

"I can assure you, I feel fine." With my hand cupped tightly around the ceramic mug, I wondered if I was indeed fine, but I kept that piece of information to myself. "I'm pretty sure I asked for them other times before Mom taught me how she actually made them."

"I wasn't aware you stopped."

"Yeah, well, it made me think of too many memories with her."

"I think about her too." Drumming his fingers on the counter uncomfortably, it had been a while since we had talked about her together. "Alright, I'll get that order ready for you."

"You're the best," I called after him as he disappeared back into the kitchen. When he was no longer in view, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had yet to return texts from people back at the firm, but the majority of my messages were from Brady. I was reading through his text when I heard footsteps approaching the bar so I shoved my phone back into my pocket with the promise to text back later.

"Hey." Mel was wearing a short-sleeved pink dress shirt, jeans, and brown boots. She seemed to be in a pretty good mood. I was glad because that meant my brother was still treating her right. Not that he wouldn't, he just got in his own way when it came to relationships.

"Hey." I decided it had been long enough for my coffee to cool and took a long sip. "If you've come to talk to my brother, he's back in the kitchen."

"I actually came to pick up an order. It's going to be a long workday, so I figured I would bring the food to me."

"That's good you're planning ahead."

"Actually, I'm really glad you're here because I wanted to ask you if we're we still on for drinks tonight?"

"Yes."

"One breakfast special." Preacher burst through the kitchen door, a brown sack holding a styrofoam container he passed off to her while taking her money down to the cash register. "Out of ten?"

"Yes."

"Two dollars and fifty cents is your change." He handed her back two one-dollar bills and a quarter over the counter. "You have a great day."

"You too. Thanks, Preacher." Mel expressed her gratitude as he moved on to another customer, an older gentleman who had walked into the bar a few minutes after her. "Sorry, back to our conversation. I don't know how this day will go, but I should be back around six to pick you up."

"I'll be here," I promised, wrapping my hand back around the cup for comfort. I wasn't quite comfortable talking about my past life, yet we would still find fun things to do, like shopping, getting our nails done, going out for a bite to eat, or getting drinks.

"Then I will see you tonight."

"See you tonight," I told her as she gave a little wave and walked back across the room to exit the bar, a small smile on my face as Jack walked out of the kitchen holding my breakfast.