“Spill it.”
“He bought me some nice yarn in my favorite color… and I think he smiled at me.”
“He smiled?” Shannon exclaimed. Gina clapped happily nodding - and then froze.
“Wait - two smiles? Or just the one?” Gina hesitated before looking at Shannon again. The disbelief before focusing on Nettie again made her feel weirdly defensive. Gina just stared at her, waiting, before Shannon spoke again.
“Again? Or was this last time? Has he smiled at you twice, or are you saying his face weirdly cracked? Was he baring his teeth like a rabid dog? Maybe he was having a seizure or…” Shannon paused, looking at them both. “How did you know it was a smile. How many of these strange ‘smiles’ happened? I mean, we all know the guy and Tate’s not capable – or I didn’t think he was.”
“He is,” Gina replied, but didn’t pull her eyes away from Nettie.
“He smiled at me,” Nettie began hesitantly, feeling almost weird. “I’m pretty sure of it, but please don’t say anything. Just let it go. I can’t put myself out there again – you know? If it was a smile, if there is anything, then it’s gonna have to be him trying. I refuse to go after him again, and even if it ends up with me being an old maid alone with thirty cats, I cannot put myself out there again for him to break my heart… again.”
Nettie paused her impassioned plea, looking at their faces alight with understanding. Her fork clinked softly against her plate as she set it down, the weight in her chest pressing heavier with each word she spoke.
“I’m not going to chase him, so if he’s interested, it’s got to be his idea, on his terms, because I’m not hard to find. I live in the same place, the same town, work in one location, and have always been a creature of habit. Same shops, same patterns, same everything.”
Her voice wavered even as she tried to sound firm. The truth stung. Tate had always known exactly where to find her. He just hadn’t bothered.
“Nettie…” Shannon’s soft murmur was part caution, part sympathy.
“No.” Nettie cut her off quickly, sharper than she intended. “I won’t put myself out there again because he crushed my feelings…”
“Nettie…”
The repetition of her name made her nerves prickle. Her throat tightened, and she pressed her palms flat against her napkin in her lap, trying to anchor herself. She needed her friends to understand that they needed to leave whatever this was alone.
“Tate has never shown any interest except an intensedislikeof me,” Nettie said openly, voice catching on the word dislike. Just saying it out loud hurt. “And while you might ask out men, Shannon… I just can’t do it. The one time I actually tried to come onto someone—it ended up being Tate. I can deal with ‘tolerable’ but ‘nice’ isn’t in his vocabulary – just like throwing myself at someone isn’t in mine.”
There. Out in the open. The confession felt like tearing a bandage off a wound that had never healed.
“Tate… don’t,” Gina’s voice interrupted, suddenly urgent.
Nettie froze. Every muscle in her body went taut like a bowstring. Gina wasn’t looking at her anymore, but past her.
Past her…?
Dread churned low in Nettie’s stomach. With a sinking feeling, she turned her head, every heartbeat a thunderous drum in her ears. And there he was.
Tate.
His fathomless dark eyes met hers, shuttered and unreadable, like twin storm clouds on the verge of breaking.
“I’m not,” he said simply, voice cool and clipped, before turning away. He didn’t argue, didn’t fight. His expression gave away nothing and before she could react, he just walked off.
Nettie whirled back around in horror, her pulse galloping. “WHY IS HE HERE?” she began, her panic and anxiety exploding.
“I had no idea he was coming!” Gina’s voice was thin, too quick, like she knew it sounded like an excuse.
“Oh my gosh, Nettie—follow him,” Shannon blurted, her hands flying up as if flapping them wildly like a chicken could somehow propel Nettie after him. When Nettie didn’t move, Shannon latched onto her arm, tugging her bodily out of her seat. “If you ever wanted something, needed a hand from Fate, or a sign from Above—this is it. Follow him!”
“I can’t…” Nettie’s protest came out weak, unconvincing even to her own ears.
“Do it! And hurry!” Shannon urged.
Gina’s wide, stricken eyes caught Nettie’s, her expression a complicated mix of worry and hope. She tilted her chin toward the door, voice barely above a whisper. “She’s right -go!”
That single word pushed Nettie’s trembling legs into motion.
