He shrugged as he glanced away.“Life is easier in the city.No one knows me that I don’t want to know.I can walk down the street without anyone recognizing me or talking about me.”
“But when you need help, who do you call?”
He shrugged once more.“I take care of myself.”
“And when you want to celebrate, who do you invite to hang out with you?”Her questions seemed innocent on the surface, but underneath they were pointed and poking him in all of the wrong places.
He swallowed.“I’d invite the people I work with.”
“I noticed that you didn’t call them your friends.”
He really wanted to stop this conversation.He could feel her expectant gaze on him.“Reed is my best friend.”
“And the others you work with?Are they good friends?”
He never let them get that close to him.He’d learned as a kid that it was safer to keep people at arm’s length.Reed becoming his best friend hadn’t happened overnight.In fact, they didn’t like each other when they first found out they were going to be roommates their freshman year of college.
“What are you smiling about?”Her voice interrupted his memories.
“I was thinking about when I first got to know Reed.We were assigned to be roommates.He was all clean-cut with a pressed white collared shirt, Dockers and loafers.And I was there in holey jeans, a ratty old T-shirt, and flip-flops.”
She smiled.“So, you were opposites from the beginning?”
“Pretty much.He’s a total rule-follower.I don’t think life is black and white.I think it is shades of gray.”
“So, you like to color outside of the lines?”
“When circumstances require it.”He didn’t know what she would make of that, but when she didn’t say anything, he continued.“After the first day in the dorm room, I went to student services and requested to be reassigned.They turned me down.There were no rooms left.”
“So, what changed your mind about Reed?”
He sighed.“Well, there was a robbery in the dorm.Security eyed me up because of my messy hair and wardrobe choices.Reed actually came to my defense and gave me an alibi.I never expected that.Slowly, we began to see each other differently.And slowly, the chip on my shoulder lessened.”
She smiled.“And now you two are friends for life.”
“Pretty much.Though having him move to Bayberry is putting a crimp in things.”
“You should move to Bayberry too.”She must have seen the look on his face, because in the next breath, she said, “Sorry.I shouldn’t have said that.”
An awkward silence grew between them.This was not the way he wanted her visit to go.He had to say or do something to fix things.
“How about we go get something hot to drink?”When she nodded, he said, “We could go to a little place I found a while back.I think you might like it.”
“Sounds good to me.”
He smiled but inside he was worried.Falling for the small-town girl wasn’t something he’d planned.And now that he found himself hanging on her every word, he knew he should put on the brakes.After all, she was steadfast that she wasn’t leaving Bayberry.And he was just as determined not to move to a small town.But it felt as though the brake lines had been cut, and his heart was out of control.
So, where did that leave them?
Chapter Twenty-Four
Hehadbeenaperfect gentleman.
A half hour later, Brad opened the door to Work Zone Coffee.Abby stepped inside and inhaled.Mm...She loved the aroma of coffee.She always had.
This coffeeshop was definitely different from the Steaming Brew.This place was darker with an industrial style from corrugated metal on one of the walls and black paint on another wall to signs that were styled like highway signs.
And when she looked down, she noticed the concrete floor was painted with solid yellow lines on the edge of the aisle, and there was a dashed line in the center just like a highway.And in the corners, they mounted giant television screens with videos of scenery, as though it were filmed from a car zipping down a highway.
