Chapter Five
Nate
Thanksgiving at the Kemp home had always been a large affair, but this year was bigger than ever with an additional three people at the table on top of Willa having joined them last year for the first time.Autumn, Felix’s girlfriend, had been a mainstay for years, but this was the first in which she and Nate’s younger brother were openly affectionate, kissing each other when they thought no one was looking and holding hands everywhere they went.The long dining table was filled with couples, leaving Nate and Kit as the sole singles at the table.At least she had the excuse of being only eight years old.The only reason Nate was alone at the holiday table was because he’d chosen to be, a decision he was regretting more and more with each passing day.
When he’d kissed Lottie and then told her to stay away from him, Nate fully expected her to give no credence to his words just as she always had, but then she had to go and actually listen to him for once in her life.Not since the years he spent at U-Dub had Nate gone more than two days without either spotting or interacting with her in some way, but as it stood in that moment, he hadn’t seen her for three weeks, five days, and eighteen hours.Not that he was counting.
Even when he was in college, Nate would sometimes come home on the weekends and end up seeing Lottie as she walked around town, home from Florida after a year of school.The reason for her leaving college early was something he’d heard about through the town grapevine, and while he’d known she was close with their kindergarten teacher, Mrs.Griffin, Nate hadn’t known how much until the woman passed and Lottie felt the need to come home.He’d never been to her house before and now, it seemed as though he probably never would.
It was what he’d asked for, what he’d wanted, so Nate should be celebrating his lack of diversion from the project he’d pinned his mayoral legacy on, but he found the feat even harder to accomplish than it had been before.Nate’s mind flashed back to one his first campaign events, a meet and greet held at Branch and Brew.Most of the town came, probably for the free food and drinks Felix had provided, but even that didn’t seem to put people in a good enough mood to support his most ambitious project.
“I don’t just don’t know, Nate.”Ms.Meyer’s eyes darted between her now empty plate and the buffet table filled with hors d'oeuvres.“The square has been one of the things in this town that’s never changed.People need to count on something.”
Nate stifled an exasperated sigh.He’s heard the same thing a dozen times already that night and was getting a little tired of repeating himself, but he was in this for the long haul and would need to get used to that.
“People also need to embrace change, Ms.Meyer.”Nate smiled and remembered his top selling point.“According to the survey of data I’ve gathered from other towns similar in size to Applewood, beautification of the downtown areas lead to economic and population growth, two things this town needs to survive.”
Ms.Meyer, pat Nate’s shoulder as if he were the little boy in her grade school art class.“This town has done just fine for over a hundred years, Nate.When you’re older, you’ll understand that newer doesn’t always mean better.”
Nate opened his mouth to refute that claim with some of his talking points but was prevented from doing so by Lottie sweeping up to Ms.Meyers and hooking their arms together.“Ms.Meyer, how are you this evening?”Before the woman could reply, Lottie spoke again.“I see you’re out of food and could use a refresh on your drink, how about the two of us talk a walk over to the buffet and remedy that.”
Nate tried not to stare at the woman who starred in his dreams on a nightly basis.The fat curls in her mahogany hair were perfectly styled and her swing dress hugged every curve.She was lovely, of course, she always was and always would be, but her presence always threw him off, and in a moment when he was already losing ground with someone, he needed her gone.
“Charlotte, Ms.Meyer and I were just discussing my ideas for the town square.”He glared at her and nodded to the side, but Lottie never listened to him and probably never would.He didn’t blame her.He’d been a complete dick for most of the time they’d known each other, but he wished just this once she would let up.
“You know, I had some thoughts on that.”She turned to Ms.Meyer.“Should we discuss it more over some of those little brie and cheery pastry cups?I know they seem pretentious, but they’re pretty good once you look past all that.”She winked at Nate, a move that melted his knees and pissed him off at the same time because she’d always been better with people than he was, and she was stealing his thunder once again.
“What do you think you’re doing?”He whispered.
Lottie ignored his ire and smiled.“Helping you, like I always do.”
Before he could reply that he neither needed nor wanted her help, Lottie led the potential voter away and that was that.The same thing would happen over and over again, at every campaign event, Nate would give people the talking points and they would grumble about there being no need for change.Whatever spell the town fell under to vote him in and fund his project must have really been a curse because it felt like he was stuck spinning his wheels for the rest of his term.Previously, people weren’t a fan of his idea for redoing the town square, but as his mood got increasingly more hostile, undoubtedly due to his lack of Lottie time, they became downright opposed to anything Nate proposed for Applewood.In the hopes of making his life easier, he’d made it significantly harder, and that was just his job.
Nate thought it had been difficult before, seeing Lottie while not allowing himself to be with her, but that had been child’s play compared to what he felt now.Going without even a glimpse of her chocolatey waves, the polka dot dresses that hugged her every curve, and the crimson lips that formed the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen was pure torture.He knew that she was out there somewhere, existing in all of her bubbly goodness, probably making her way through the town and gathering intelligence for her next newsletter, but he never saw her.Nate had never been able to bring himself to read one of the papers she put out and as tempting as it had been over the last month, he’d been able to still resist the urge.
The other urge Nate had resisted was taking himself in hand again as he thought about the kiss they shared nearly a month ago.It was a kiss that took him apart from the inside and seemed to turn him into a completely different person, a person who was apparently incapable of doing anything other than barking at others before wandering back to his apartment to sulk in the misery he’d brought on himself.Branch and Brew wasn’t even a place he could go to for solace anymore.Respite from the Lottie-less existence he’d come to know was not available in the space anymore because she was no longer there.
A few nights after the kiss, Nate had gone over to the bar to meet up with his brothers, frowning when he noticed that they all had drinks in their hands and his had yet to appear.“What the hell, Felix?”He’d asked.“Why didn’t you get my regular?”
Felix had stared at him, a bit of contempt in his gaze if Nate hadn’t been mistaken.“I don’t know your order.”At Nate’s confused expression, Felix proceeded to explain the situation to Nate as if he were the younger of the two when the opposite was true.“You think that drink that was always in front of you appeared out of nowhere, or that I had anything to do with it?That was all Lottie, and as she no longer works here, you’ll have to get whatever it is you want for yourself.”
Nate had sat back, wondering just how much he’d missed during his attempts to not notice her presence.Did Lottie conjure that basket of pretzel bites or the mustard before him at the bar?What about the extra napkins that always found their way next to his arm when he inevitably spilled mustard on his tie?He’d heard talk that Lottie was psychic, and while Nate put no stock in those rumors, he wondered if maybe she hadn’t just been as keenly observant of him as he had been of her.Unlike him, however, she’d used that knowledge to take care of him where he’d squirreled it away while making no effort to show her anything but not-so-polite indifference if not outright disdain.
Over the three weeks since the night at the bar, Nate had taken notice of other things he’d thought were the result of living a charmed life only to discover that they actually had everything to do with the woman he’d driven away.The weekly flower delivery to his office had stopped, meaning that the vase of irises he’d gotten used to seeing on the conference table in his office were no longer there for him to smile at.At two in the afternoon, a cupcake or cookie from the bakery no longer made its miraculous appearance on his desk to pick him up from his post-lunch slump, and the occasional friendly note Nate would find under his windshield wiper at the end of the day, the ones he always figured were random acts of kindness by the town, were nowhere to be found.Lottie had been touching his life in a hundred tiny ways in addition to the larger ones, and he’d let them go by unnoticed and unappreciated, and yet she’d kept doing them anyway until he’d finally pushed her too far.
Nate could hardly blame Lottie for giving up on him, and yet somewhere deep inside he’d believed her too tenacious to ever do so.She was still that same determined woman, only now she was determined to stay away from him like he’d asked, to keep her promise.Feeling like a fool and overall horrible human being, Nate stared at the table in front of him, unable to enjoy the beautiful bounty put out by his eldest brother, his wife Nicole, and their mom.Knowing that it would all taste like ash in his mouth anyway, he didn’t bother putting more than the barest amount of food on his plate before passing the dishes along to the little girl next to him.
