We sit down on the steps again, and I catch my breath. “I didn’t know ‘bless your heart’ had a bougie sister.” He cocks his head. I lower my voice to an imitation of him, saying, “‘Not with your impeccable manners’!”
He grins. “She used to be a rotating member of the school committee, otherwise I would’ve used it on her a lot sooner.”
“I hope to bring it into the modern lexicon.” I sayaround a hearty bite of stew. “Like when your date eats with his mouth open and talks about crypto the entire time.”
“Sounds like a real example,” he says.
“Oh, it is.”
“How about when someone brings a tuna salad sandwich to a staff meeting?” he asks dryly. “Because that, too, is a real example.”
“Or, and I’m just spitballing here, when your younger-by-only-four-years sister says you’re too old for TikTok.”
Sawyer mock-gasps. “Withherimpeccable manners Mara said that to you?”
CHAPTER 39
BRIE
It’s Monday.I spent most of yesterday updating my spreadsheet as I frantically submitted more job applications, a little panicked that April’s already around the corner. Most schools start their hiring process for next school year around now.
Today after school pickup, Sawyer approached me, leaving a respectable three feet between us. He looked around, which prompted me to look around. Some parents were huddled near the fence while their children ravaged the playground, but no one was within earshot.
“I can’t stop thinking about you.” He kept his voice quiet. “Have dinner with me?”
A giddy smile spread across my face even as the thought of going out on the town again churned my stomach because with him, I can’t hide. The spotlight only shines brighter. “Okay, tonight?”
“Now.”
I couldn’t help smiling. “It’s, like, three-thirty in the afternoon.”
His lips quirked, and he shrugged. “I just want to spend time with you.”
My stomach flipped, and that’s how we came to stand outside Valley View Provisions at four in the afternoon. Sawyer opens the door, and I step inside. It’s a large, open space with clean lines and modern accents. Tables and chairs taking up most of the interior. Toward the back, comfy seating is arranged around a see-through fireplace, which separates a smaller dining area that overlooks Ormewood Mountain through the wall of windows. To one side of the counter are displays of artisanal meats and cheese, and against the wall are freezers with prepared meals and fridges full of fancy beverages. There’s a counter that, by the looks of it, offers coffee, deli meats, and fresh-to-order food.
“Is this place new?” I ask, picking up a small wheel of brie to get a whiff of its pungent tangy scent.
“A few years old,” he says, then points at the cheese in my hand and winks. “My favorite.”
I grin and shake my head as I put it back. Sawyer walks to the array of drinks in the fridge and picks up two cans before leading me to the counter.
“I’m surprised a place like this can survive in Blue Ridge,” I whisper.
He lowers his voice to match mine. “It’s no Jiffy’s, that’s for sure.”
Jiffy—known colloquially asJiffy’s—was the one general store we had in Blue Ridge when we were younger. At some point, theJhad fallen off the sign and for several years it simply readiffy, which was apt in every way.
“Man,” I say, “that place was great. Where else could you shop for groceries, a camo sundress,andbait?”
“You still can,” he tells me. “Except now, it’s a bar afterfive. They call it Old Bard’s because Brad Crenshaw couldn’t spell his name right on the form.”
My hand goes to my mouth. “Oh my god, I thought Mara was joking when she told me that. Does it smell like fish?”
He tilts his hand side to side. “Not like it used to. Speaking of fish, today is the weekly fish fry here.”
“Is that what I should get?”
“If you like fried fish, it’s the best you’ll ever have. We’re the only ones here now, but you’ll see, it’ll start getting really busy as dinnertime nears. When they run out, it’ll get rowdy.”
