Our exchange hangs in the air as he takes out two glass bottles of Coke and an assortment of snacks. I replay our exchange a few times, trying to figure out what part of it went wrong. I’m not going to be there after our divorce—something Inever thought I’d have and that feels wrong to consider—and I was just trying to be respectful of his space.
But maybe it’s important to Hartley that I feel comfortable in his home. That would be on par for him.
“You know what?” I say, taking a slice of a pinwheel from a container. “It’s impossible to know what I’d like her to do until I move in. And I’m sure she’ll be helpful in getting to know your routine a little better.”
I knock his shoulder with mine, making him smile.
“Hey! Can I have one?” A little red-haired boy stops in front of us. A ball is tucked under his arm as he smiles a wide, toothless smile at Hartley. “I love sandwiches.”
“Sure.” He takes two pieces and hands them to the boy. “Is that enough?”
“Yup! Thanks!” He runs off, shoving both pieces into his mouth with his dirty little hands.
“I guess stranger danger isn’t a thing here anymore,” I say, laughing. “I remember getting that beat into us when we were little kids.”
“I know that kid. That’s Cody.” He looks up in the direction the boy ran and nods. “His dad works at the feed store. Tucker Lewis. Remember him? He was a grade ahead of us in school.”
A light bulb goes off in my head. “Oh, yeah. I do remember him. He always wore that big belt buckle, and everyone called him Bucky.”
Hartley laughs. “I forgot about that.”
“A bunch of memories are coming back to me. Do you remember the night we all went out to the train trestle? And Brooks was trying to get someone to bet him that he could run across it without falling into the river.”
“I forgot about that. What an idiot.”
I giggle, remembering all the shenanigans from the past. I haven’t thought about these things in such a long time that italmost feels like a different lifetime. The people, the places—I had a whole life here at one point, and now I hardly know anyone, it seems.Why does that feel so weird?
“Oh, my goodness,” Wendy Watters says, stopping in front of us. I rememberherwell. Class president, cheerleader, and altogether good person. I always liked Wendy. “It’s so good to see you, Mira. How have you been?” She glances at Hartley and smirks. “Aside from the obvious, of course.”
I shrug happily. “I’m good. Things are good. How are you? You look fantastic.”
Her smile stretches from ear to ear. “Thank you. I had my last birthday and gained ten pounds and acne. How is that fair?” She sighs. “Add in two kids and a husband, and I have a few gray hairs, too.”
“I’ve heard gray hairs come with the husband and kids’ territory.”
“From what I hear,” she says, like we’re sharing a secret, “you’re about to find out all about that.”
That’s a segue if I’ve ever heard one.
Hartley lazily places a hand behind me, so it appears like I’m tucked against his side. I am closer, the distance between our bodies wide enough to maybe slide a piece of paper through. My heart pounds beneath my ribs as I breathe him in. He, on the other hand, feels as steady as ever.
“You heard right,” I say, resting my head against Hartley’s shoulder. “We’re getting married this week.”
“Let me see your ring. I’m sure you had fun choosing that.”
Oh. Shit.I ball my fingers into the blankets, not wanting her to see my bare hand.
“I’m picking it up tomorrow,” Hartley says coolly. “We had to have it sized.”
“Of course,” Wendy says. “Well, I bet it’s stunning. But I’ll leave you two alone. I just wanted to come over and say hi to you,Mira, and tell you both congratulations. I think I speak for the whole town when I say that we’ve been waiting on this.”
What do you mean you’ve been waiting on this? I haven’t been in town for more than a couple of days in years. How could you possibly have been waiting on it?
“It was good to see you,” I say, confused but trying hard not to show it.
“Thanks, Wendy,” Hartley says before she heads toward the monkey bars.
Once she’s out of earshot, I sigh and sit upright. “That was some nice quick thinking about the ring. I haven’t thought about what to say if someone asked about that. Think we can just say it’s being sized for a year?”
