There was no stone left unturned, no back alley left unchecked.
We’d woven ourselves into these streets and left pieces behind when we both eventually moved on and never looked back.
Being brought back here on a date was fucking me up in a way I hadn’t considered before agreeing to do this in the first place.
A complete oversight on my part.
Before this, I figured what was the harm in going to a local music festival that had a bunch of kids running around and stalls where you could get things like your face painted or henna.
Coming here was the perfect opportunity to get to know someone on a neutral playing field, and instead, I was too busy wasting my time reminiscing on days long since passed. To the complete detriment of getting to know someone outside of my small scope of regulars.
Was that at all fair to someone like Max who seemed like he was trying his damned best to keep up the conversation while I lagged behind pretending like I wasn’t being absolutely haunted by every step we took?
Fuck me, honestly.
“The crowds are fine. It’s been a while since I’ve been back here, is all,” I said, trying to force myself back into the present.
Bypassing a small stand with lemonade and freshly popped kettle corn that smelled divine, I wished I was actually in the mood to be walking around getting to know Max while we played the twenty questions game like he’d suggested when we first got here.
He wasn’t a bad looking guy and, so far, seemed to have a nice enough personality. If I wasn’t so hung up on the past, I could see myself exploring something with him. Instead, I felt like we were killing time until he eventually got sick of trying to engage with me.
“Oh, that’s right. Your sister mentioned to the matchmaker that you used to hang out with a friend over here.” Max smiled.
Of course she did.
“Yeah, it wasn’t as bad. The lifestyle over here isn’t much different from what I grew up in. People are just more fast-paced and eager to make a lot of money, whereas Edgewood values quality over quantity. At least, in my opinion.”
“True. Although, I’m native to East City.” He let out a laugh. “So I can’t exactly say I get the rivalry.”
Rivalry was an odd choice of words to use, though I don’t suppose he was exactly wrong in his observations. WhileIpersonally never saw it that way, I’d also been spoiled in terms of having someone from Ellington Heights as a close confidant for much of my pivotal years.
The same couldn’t be said for others, such as my brothers, who had stuck together for the most part. Being the youngest, I’d had the unique pleasure of fending for myself.
As we passed by a small gathering of kids dancing around in a circle, I turned to him. “Can I ask you something?”
He flashed me a warm, dimpled smile. “Anything.”
“Why a matchmaker? You seem like you wouldn’t have any trouble finding someone to date. You’re friendly and outgoing. So, I’m curious why you decided to go that route.”
To my surprise, Max suddenly turned bashful. “It’s kind of hard with my job. I travel around the state a lot, so not much time to settle down and go out and meet people. I figured that doing the legwork was the hard part and if I could hire someone to do that for me, nailing the rest wouldn’t be so bad. Thank you, by the way, for the compliment.”
“How often do you travel for work?”
“Out of the year? I’m gone a collective of about four months. That’s obviously not all in one go, but for a lot of people, the time away can be a lot.”
Hm. Not the best kind of environment to be raising kids in.
Unless, of course, I also began to travel with him.
Giving up my shop was a difficult thing to think about.
I hardly knew this man, but if I continued to date him and did eventually develop feelings for him, how would any of that work?
Him traveling so often wasn’t exactly the kind of untethered relationship I was looking for. But at the same time, was myrefusal to see past my own shit forcing me to miss out on something that I may regret passing up in the future?
Something that could turn out to be a beautiful partnership if given the chance to explore?
I’d worked hard to get to where I was in life. Dreamed of teaching my kids the ins and outs of the car business while my spouse encouraged us along the way.
