He was in a worn t-shirt and jeans with a beige beanie hat pulled stylishly over his light brown hair. His face was the same, but with scruff that added a roughness to him that wasn't unappealing.
None of that could hide the fact that he'd hurt her. It had taken a few weeks for her to come out of her post-relationship fog when he left.
"So, you're back?"
Please say no. Please say yes.
"I'm here for now," he answered with an easy shrug. And that was just like him.
Nothing was serious. Nothing was important. Certainly not her. And she needed to end this conversation and get back to her to-do list, which was the thing distracting from what was already a hard day.
"Well, I need to get going. Good to see you," she lied. She hoped it covered the truth of him putting her insides into turmoil.
"Yeah, I'll see you around. You still have my number, call me." He held up his hand in a phone motion to his ear and smiled that dopey smile.
"Mhmm, yeah," she replied noncommittally as she waved and he walked away. She sighed, closing her eyes, and felt the smile fall from her face. When she opened her eyes again, her heart kicked when she saw someone leaning against the SPD building, watching her from across the street. His tall frame looked like it alone could hold up the building. There was something about the way the chief held himself that intrigued her. Like he was comfortable in his skin, and the world molded around him when he needed. Sometimes stiff, but controlled. He lifted his coffee cup to his lips, his dark eyes never leaving her, and she had half a mind to march up to him and do...something. And the other half told her to keep away from him.
She would listen to the smart half.
When he lowered the coffee cup, her eyes followed his massive hand, making the cup look like a child's.
A loud pop made her jump, a hand flying to her chest, and a long breath left her when she realized it was one of the balloons giving way to the stress she was putting on it as she leaned on the car door. She closed her eyes again and pulled in a breath slowly to calm her nerves.
When she opened them again, he was gone.
She needed to get this thing to Jen's new shop before half of it was missing.
After she gingerly closed the door and prayed the whole five-minute drive to the shop, she cursed Ronnie for showing up on an already terrible day. The tarot card was working overtime with this misfortune.
She sent Jen a text telling her to get the door open for the balloon arch, and she determined to hunker down and help her friend, not wallow in her wheel of misfortune.
The evening was a beautiful and glossy affair with half the town coming in and out of the shop, checking out Jen's new offerings, and grabbing swag bags and plates of baked goods from The Black Cat.
Ursula had outdone herself with tall stems of bright red snapdragons, black dahlias, and giant marigolds that she dusted with the same gold leaf that decorated Eloise's blackberry and walnut tarts and Kelsea's black magic cake.
Carol covered the event for an article, the fire department cut a gold ribbon so large it was worn as a cape around Jen's shoulders after it fluttered to the ground in a graceful dance as applause erupted.
And then there was Jen. Her friend with her gold jumpsuit, showing off her strong arms and her hair in an intricate slick updo with streaks of gold. She was glorious, strong, creative, and pushing her dreams into a whole other realm. Cora, also their mayor, and one of Jen's best friends, gave the opening speech. A speech about women taking control of their bodies later in life.
Isla was there helping where she could, but she gave Tilly the impression of an overly anxious bird, flitting around from person to person and task to task.
Jen's maybe girlfriend, though it was still slow and complicated, had started with lies and hexes, which Tilly could imagine was not an easy road.
Jen didn't bring women around them often. When asked why, she shrugged and said, "You're my family. I only bring someone who I think can handle the fire and the joy."
Isla had not yet been brought around.
Still, watching her watch Jen at the opening ceremony had been like watching a character in a movie fall a little more in love, though an anxious love, as the woman hardly stood still, and she emitted a worried energy.
It felt like frantic sparrow wings in Tilly's belly.
When Jen waved Tilly up to help her pop the special bottle of strawberry champagne that the group surprised her with, Tilly leaned into this moment with her friend.
Cork popped, cheers bouncing off the walls and into the darkening streets, laughter and bubbly passed around in slender flutes.
It was one of those snapshot moments they would remember, each a little differently, a different angle, but still with the gilded shine of happiness and pride.
Isla was waved in by Jen and all of them, but she hung on the very edge with wariness.
