No, there was only one car available in the area and it wouldn’t arrive for forty-five to sixty minutes. I requested the car and stared at the screen for a moment, waiting for confirmation. It didn’t come.
“I could’ve been in bed,” I grumbled to myself. “Instead of talking about the freshest drama in girls’ volleyball all night.”
I opened my text messages, scrolled past Jaime, Audrey, Grace, and Emme. Even if they wanted to help me, they were more than forty-five to sixty minutes away. I stopped at Noah. We didn’t text each other often. Hell, we didn’t speak to each other often. Part of that was changing Gennie’s schedule and the start of school. The other part was we hadn’t figured out our relationship yet.
Not that we had a relationship.
We were married but only as a technicality.
And we were friends but more like old friends who didn’t know how to pick up where they’d left off. There were moments when we slipped right into old familiarity and they were the best moments. It felt like I had my friend back. But there were moments when we stumbled over each other and we couldn’t find our way through time and misunderstandings.
I tapped his name and read the last message he’d sent. It was from Wednesday, saying he was running a few minutes late at the dairy and would I mind hanging with Gennie a bit longer? Of course I didn’t mind.
I started typing.
Shay:Why is it that car services are nonexistent in this part of the world?
Shay:I just think it’s really rude that I have to wait 45–60 minutes for a ride.
Shay:You’re always telling me that this town has changed but where the hell are the car services? What about food delivery? We are still in the backwoods as far as the important things are concerned.
Noah:Where are you right now?
Shay:I don’t know.
Noah:I need you to do better than that. Where the hell are you?
Shay:I’m at a bar with sticky surfaces and axe throwing.
Noah:Have you been drinking?
Shay:Only a little bit.
Noah:Define little bit.
Shay:I started with a gin and tonic but that was heinous so I switched over to vodka cranberries because even the grossest bars have to be able to get that right.
Noah:And you don’t know where you are?
Shay:Not a clue.
Noah:How did you get there?
Shay:With a lacrosse coach.
Noah:Can you ask someone the name of the bar? Or look around for a sign?
I waved to the bartender.“What is the name of this place?”
He smiled as he ran a glance over my maple leaf earrings and down my navy t-shirt dress. “Billy’s,” he said. “That’s what everyone calls it. Officially, it’s Woodchuckers.” He pointed toward the axe-throwing lanes. “Are you up for a round?”
“Hmm.” I shook my head. “Maybe later.”
“Holler if you change your mind,” he said, stepping away. “I’ll set you up.”
Shay:The cute bartender said it’s Billy’s but also Woodchuckers.
Shay:He says I can throw some axes if I want. He’ll set me up.
