Don't Explain (23 page)

The sound of her car door and Sam's barking roused the house, and Michael
came out of the front door wearing dirty jeans and a white t-shirt that was
accented with light green paint. He wiped the sweat off of his brow and headed
down the small hill to greet his guest, who was confused not only by his
physical state but also his emotional one. A bright smile shone from his face.

“Hey, Caitlyn, how's it going?”

“I hadn't heard from you since yesterday morning. I didn't know if we
were having dinner.” She felt weird under the glow of his goofy grin. “Is
everything alright?” The last word she said slowly when she saw Margaret
approaching.

His smile turned serious when he heard his fiancée in the distance and
whispered, “Listen, I know all about you telling Margaret about your feelings for
me. You can't do that. She is emotional right now because of the hormones, and
the stress can cause complications. You have to accept that there is nothing
you can do about this situation and move on.”

Caitlyn was stunned. She didn't know how to respond because it wasn't
even within the realm of what she imagined would happen. All that left her
mouth was a quiet, slow “okay” of confusion. Margaret had reached Michael and
looped her arm through his. “Did you show her?”

 “Not yet,” he smiled again looking at Margaret then turned back to Caitlyn.
“Margaret went to the doctor yesterday afternoon.” He started digging into his
pocket with his free hand. “They used the fetal Doppler and got this.” He
pulled out his phone, toyed with it a moment, and then a fast, steady thump
resonated from the speaker. “It's the heartbeat. Isn't that amazing?”

Caitlyn turned to look at Margaret, “It really is,” she said irritatingly
astonished.

“When I heard it, I wanted to get working on the nursery as soon as
possible. So I painted all evening, woke up and started working again. Only
twenty-five more weeks until he or she is here!”

Dazed, Caitlyn saw the complete joy on Michael's face. She saw him pull
Margaret closer and give her a kiss lovingly on the mouth. Caitlyn gulped back
the acid that rose in her. Suddenly, she realized that she not only had the
power to destroy Margaret, but also to break Michael's heart. How could she
break his heart? He had broken hers, but this was different. This felt
malicious.

She followed him down the hallway on the top floor. They stopped halfway
down the hall at an open door, and Michael glowed even more brightly at his
hard work. Various words of astonishment and good-will left Caitlyn's mouth as
she looked at the mostly painted room while Michael pointed out where they
planned to put each piece of furniture and wall decal.

Caitlyn withstood as much as she could before she excused herself. She
told them she was not feeling well. It was not a lie. As she left, Margaret
gave her a crooked cruel grin over Michael's shoulder. She had won.

Caitlyn stayed fully alert on her way home thinking only of the road. She
couldn't bear to think of anything else. When she got home, it was late
afternoon, but she moved to her bedroom anyway and immediately fell asleep.

A couple hours later she woke up and immediately called Alexis, and
within twenty minutes, they were sitting on the couch in Caitlyn's cottage
eating popcorn and ignoring the movie they had rented.

“What do you mean she has a recording of the heart beat? She can't. She's
not pregnant.” Alexis stood up.

“Where are you going?” Caitlyn asked fearfully.

“I'm going to go kick her ass.” She was serious, and Caitlyn had to physically
restrain Alexis from jumping into her car, driving over to Michael's house, and
actually fighting Margaret.

“How did she get it?” Alexis was still red in the face from anger.

“I don't know for sure, but I think that she downloaded it onto her
phone.”

Alexis shook her head in disbelief, “I don't understand. Why does she
think this will end well for her?”

“I wondered the same thing, but all I can think is that if she does get
pregnant again, Michael is in the same predicament. Just because she makes him
angry by tricking him into getting her pregnant for real doesn't mean he's
going to abandon the child.” Caitlyn fell back on the couch cushions, confused
and hurt. She knew that Margaret not being pregnant could be a good thing for
her. It meant Michael was not tied to Margaret, and that they had a real chance
again. She was willing to do almost anything for that.

Alexis rapidly tapped her friend's knee trying to get her to sit back up,
“We have to stop her from getting pregnant!”

“I considered it, but I don't know how to get the truth to Michael
without crushing him. He was so happy after hearing 'the heartbeat'. He won't
take this well.”

“Is there any way to keep him from having sex with her?” Alexis asked,
excited at the prospect.

“It's not like I can crawl in between them as they are about to have sex.
She's obviously determined and will do anything to get pregnant.” The thought
brought the fiery sickness from Caitlyn's stomach to her throat.

“Then you have to just tell him. And then you'll be the one to comfort
him. He'll thank you for revealing the truth, eventually, I mean. But he'll
need a friend, and you'll be there. It's perfect. Once he gets over it, he'll
want to get back to where you guys left off.” Alexis bounced up and down excitedly
on the couch.

Caitlyn gave her a questioning look. “I thought you hated him.”

“I hate her more. Besides, I've tried prying you away from him; it hasn't
worked. So, let's get rid of her so that you can be happy.”

“I don't know, Alexis.” Tears began welling in her eyes. “He might hate
me for this.”

Alexis moved the bowl of popcorn that separated them and crawled over to
hug Caitlyn, “Hey, we don't have to decide anything right now.”

Caitlyn wished it was true. She needed to make up her mind quickly though
or Margaret would be successful in her attempt to get pregnant, and she would
really lose Michael forever.

A knock at the door startled Caitlyn out of her thoughts, and she wiped
the tears from her eyes before giving Alexis a suspicious look.

Alexis shrugged. “Maybe it’s him. Maybe she felt bad and told him.”

Caitlyn stood up, smoothed her hair, and straightened out her sweats
before going to the door. She took a deep breath and pulled it open, but let it
all out quickly when she saw Danny Moreno standing on her front porch in full
uniform.

She smiled at him and asked, “Danny, what are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, Miss Murphy, but I’m going to need you to come
with me.” He was stoic and stood completely straight and still.

Caitlyn’s face fell. “What is this about?”

“I’m sorry, Miss Murphy, but I just need you to come with me.”

Caitlyn’s mind ran the gamut of things that could have gone wrong. “Okay.
I’ll get my purse.”

“Oh my God,” Caitlyn said, covering her hand with her mouth. She looked
out the window of the police car at the firefighters walking through the
rubble, and the group of townspeople that had gathered behind the police tape,
even though it was nearly ten o’clock.

As the car slowed, Caitlyn opened the door and walked silently under the
police tape and toward the pile of smoking ash that was once her coffee shop. She
felt a dull ache high in her chest, and she bit her finger trying to keep
herself from crying.

“Miss Murphy,” a male voice said as she continued walking. “Caitlyn!” A
hand gripped her shoulder, holding her back from moving any further. “You need
to stay back. There are still hot spots.”

Caitlyn looked up at Kyle Anderson, who was dressed in his yellow and
black fireman’s suit and helmet. “What happened?” she asked.

He shook his head and said, “I don’t know. I was a town over when the
call came in a couple of hours ago. It was already a blaze when I got here. The
whole building was on fire, not just one part of it, and the fire had already
blown off the roof.”

Caitlyn began breathing quick and hard. “This was my life. My whole
savings.”

Kyle tried to comfort her with a smile, but it didn’t help. Everything she
had sunk the last six months into—the money, the work, the pain—was suddenly
gone, and she didn’t know why. There weren’t any walls or flooring. She could
vaguely see the outline of the espresso machine that was lying on the floor.

“Can I go in?”

“Not yet. For now, you’re going to have to answer some questions about
what happened today before you left and about the property. Officer Moreno will
take you.” Kyle nodded at someone in the distance, and within moments Danny
Moreno had wrapped an arm around her waist and was taking her to an ambulance.

“Caitlyn!” She turned and saw Alexis jumping and waving her hands behind
the police tape. “They won’t let me in.”

Caitlyn looked up at Danny, and he waved Alexis through.

Alexis ran over to them, and hugged Caitlyn. “You okay,” she said into
Caitlyn’s hair.

“Not at all.”

Caitlyn and Alexis sat on the back of the ambulance, and Danny pulled out
a little notebook.

“Okay, Miss Murphy.”

“Danny, knock it off. I’ve known you for six years. We watched the Pats
lose to the freaking Jets together last weekend, and you called me Caitlyn. My
business is a quarter of the size I left it and not the color I painted it. I
don’t want to be Miss Murphied.”

“Alright, Caitlyn,” he said adding emphasis to her name. “Tell me about
the appliances in the building.”

She listed them off and then said, “They were all brand new, and I had an
electrician put in all new wiring this summer.”

“Alright, what about your heating system? Was it a central furnace?”

Caitlyn shook her head. “No. The space was small, so I figured I could
get away with the heat from the wood stove.”

“Could you have left that burning?”

“No, I drown the fire every night and then bury the wet ashes. I’m very
careful about these things.”

Danny twisted his mouth and made a quick humming noise. “Is there
anything else you can think of that could have been the source. Did you leave
any coffee makers on?”

“I’m very careful. Always.”

He closed his notebook. “Alright. If you think of anything, let me know.
The fire investigator will look into it.”

Caitlyn sucked in a deep breath and coughed it back out. She was
breathing ash. She looked at Alexis. “What the hell am I supposed to do?”

Alexis just grabbed her around the shoulders and let Caitlyn put her head
on her shoulder while she cried.

#

Michael picked up the morning paper off the door step as he entered the
waiting room of his new office. Margaret followed behind him

“Have you seen my locket?” she asked. “I can’t find it anywhere and…” she
continued rambling, but he stopped paying attention to her. She’d repeat it
again for him later. She always did.

He unfolded the paper and looked at the picture on the front page.
Caitlyn’s sad face stared at a police officer in the dark. He scanned the page and
found a headline that read “New Business Burns to Ground.”

He set the paper down on a coffee table and walked quickly to his office
and looked out the window. The coffee shop was gone. A pile of wet blackness
sat in its place. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

“Michael, what’s wrong?” Margaret had followed him into his office. He
pointed at the paper and then out the window.

Her eyes became wide when she saw the picture and wider still when she
looked out the window. “What happened?”

“That’s what I am trying to find out. Can you give me a minute?” He
nudged his head toward the door. “Shut the door on your way out.”

Michael saw her glare at him for a moment before smiling and doing as he
requested.

“Hello?” came a yawn through the speaker.

“Murph, are you okay?” Michael sat down in his chair, a little relieved upon
hearing her voice.

“Not really.”

“Were you there when it happened?”

“No. I don’t really feel like talking right now Fitz. I’ve hardly slept,
and I have to file an insurance claim and stuff. Can we do this later?”

“Do you want me to come over?”

“No. Alexis is here. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay.”

“Bye.”

Michael was surprised by the suddenness of the conversation. She was
pushing him away again, and he felt a little hurt that she was so dismissive of
him.

He stood up and left the little office. Margaret was behind the reception
counter when he walked past looking at the computer screen and talking on the
phone.

“Can you hold for a moment?” he heard her ask, and before he reached the door,
she called after him. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to Caitlyn’s.”

“Is she hurt?”