Is she blushing?“Well, I spent a couple days with the guy from the bar.Since then, I’ve been hiding out at home binge-watching my shows.”
Hope fills me.“Can you get ahold of him for me?I need to get a message to Rygar.”
She shakes her head and I recognize the sadness I see behind her smile.“He took off yesterday.No explanation.Haven’t seen or heard from him since.”She picks up one of my cookies and takes a bite.“Typical.Got what he wanted and took off.”
I’m still trying to come up with a response to that information when she points at the array of mounted antlers, fish and various camping knives behindRoughin’ It Outfitters.“Every year I wonder if they’re going to get some new dead stuff to put on display.”
I can take a hint.She doesn’t want to talk about it.Conversation closed.
“I don’t think they have room for more.”The store is owned by an octogenarian rancher, Silas Williams, and his two grandkids, Paige and Carter, both of whom are a couple years older than me.They also offer survival training, have a shooting range just outside of town, and somehow manage to run cattle on several thousand acres of land.Silas and my dad are two peas in pod, in more ways than I can count, my dad is just several decades younger.?
“Silas doesn’t hunt much anymore.”Like I said, my dad knows everything.He waves at Max, who is still feeling very proud of himself for the fire alarm stunt.Max, wearing an astronaut helmet shaped tin foil hat, and his mom are doing the same thing I am, but in front ofRosa’s Italian Eatery.Instead of arranging cookies, they’ve got shot glass sized cheesecake and tiramisu desserts in large ice trays.Grandma Rosa is most likely in the kitchen taste-testing her homemade marinara.The recipe is, according to dad, locked away in a safe deposit box inside a vault in Las Vegas.Not that I blame her for going to such lengths, as her marinara is the best I’ve ever tasted.?
Emily sighs with a distressed frown.“I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Hannah?”?
“No.”I guess we’re both worried.It’s not like Hannah to disappear for four days and not respond to texts.Then again, she was probably in some exotic location having non-stop sex with the alien hottie she picked up in the bar.If so, she’s smarter than I am.
I wonder if he’s gone now, too.?
All because I messed everything up.?
I’m miserable.I miss him.Not in some weak minded, maybe I should call him, kind of longing way.My heart hurts.Physically aches inside my body.I broke my own damn heart.The second this stupid festival is over, I’m going find a way to tell him exactly how much I love him.That I am a moron for walking away, because he is the best thing to ever happen to me.If I need to, I will get down on my knees and beg him to give me another chance.Is living on another planet an ideal option?Maybe not.Then again, I’ve adapted to so many places, cultures and climates, maybe I’ll absolutely love it.?
In the end it doesn’t matter where we live as long as we’re together.??
“Don’t look now, but here comes trouble.”Emily mumbles in my ear then stands up straight, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at a small group of people approaching.My heart drops the moment I recognize them.?
Oh, shit.?
Saffron was right.Dammit.There really is negative energy around me.??
I plaster a smile on my face.“Mr.Mayor.Mrs.Cunningham.How are you?”?
Nicholas’s parents don’t come across as warm and friendly on a good day.This is not a good day.“We placed an order for five boxes of cookies.Do you have them ready?”?
Before I can respond, an all too familiar voice interrupts.“Of course, she does.Madison is practically perfect, mother.”?
Nicholas.?He’s a couple steps behind his mother in pressed navy pants, a green and navy golf shirt with an overly-bright smile stretching his cheeks to the breaking point.
“What the fuck?”Emily’s whisper is so soft, I’m sure no one else heard.?
This can’t be happening.Seriously.Did he nottell them?“I’ll go grab that order for you.”I hurry inside, place the boxes inside a to-go bag and walk them out myself.The sooner we can get rid of Nicholas and his parents, the better.?
Apparently, Emily agrees because the mayor is already putting his wallet back in his pocket.I practically shove the bag into Mrs.Cunningham’s hands, eager to get rid of them.I should have known better.Nicholas’s mom manages to grab my wrist before I can let go of their order.“Do you know Aubrey Aimes?Deputy Aimes’s daughter?”?
“Of course.”I tilt my head and greet the girl in question.She’s standing behind the mayor, sandwiched between Nicholas and… Richard.What’s he doing here?
Whatever.Deputy Aimes is a regular and Aubrey has always been kind.“Hi, Aubrey.”??
“Hi.”She shrugs, almost as if she’s apologizing.But for what?She’s a lovely human, as far as I have been able to tell.Deputy Aimes, the stern faced scowler the town not-so-lovingly refers to as Smiley, brings her into our shop at least once a month on a father-daughter date.She was a year or two ahead of me in school.I’ve known her for years.??
I tug my arm, but Mrs.Cunningham doesn’t let go of me.What the hell??
When I look up into her calculating face, I know things are about to go from bad to worse.“I guess you haven’t heard, dear.Aubrey and Nicholas are together now.Don’t they make a beautiful couple?”?
“Excuse me?”Did I just hallucinate the most bizarre sentence this old bitch could have spoken?Nicholas is gay.Nicholas is in a long-term, serious relationship with Richard, his best friend, the god damn best man at our wedding.I glare at Nicholas, who I now notice is holding Aubrey’s hand.“Is this a joke?You didn’t tell them?”?
“Tell us what, dear?How dare you embarrass us that way?Leaving our boy at the altar.Did you think your little escapade would hurt our family?Did you think he would wait for you?Take you back?”Her tsk-tsk makes me want to slap her.?
