“Hey, now. That wasn’t supposed to make you cry.”
Megan gave a wet laugh and wafted air toward her face. “Sorry. I get emotional at the drop of a hat these days. Hormones. And believe me, I understand why you cut ties. I never held it against you. Though I did wonder how you were doing, out in New York. Whether you... recovered or not.”
Well, that was as diplomatic a way of asking about Nick as any, Aubrey supposed. She reclaimed her hands and fiddled with the swizzle stick in her cinnamon latte. “It took a while. Losing Nick was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Especially because ofhowit happened. But then I went and did all the things I’d dreamed about. Got my doctorate, got a job doing something meaningful. Now I actually make a living doing math all day.”
“So it all worked out.” Megan heaved a contented sigh. “And you’re going back to New York soon?”
“Yeah.” Aubrey summoned a smile. Shewould, come hell or high water. Already, she’d made decent headway on her manifesto. “I’m only here for a couple months. But enough aboutme. What about you? You’re married. You’re pregnant! Tell me everything.”
Megan’s inner light threatened to boil over as she gushed about meeting her husband, Kenzo, at a concert in Indianapolis a decade prior. They’d been married seven years and were expecting their baby girl in the spring.
“I work at the steel mill, these days.” Megan patted her barely there belly. “Not on the line, obviously, but in HR. I like it just fine, but honestly, Ilivefor Harvest Days. There’s nothing like seeing the festival come together and knowing I made it happen.”
Aubrey chuckled. This was the Megan she remembered, who relished nothing more than putting her mark on things.
Megan leaned in. “And honestly, as volunteer coordinator, I do more than just organize the parade. I get to play fairy godmother, too.”
Aubrey gave a puzzled smile. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I’m the one who assigns volunteers to each project, which is a lot more influential than it sounds. Last year, I paired up Trina Nguyen and Melanie Farrow.”
“What?” Aubrey rocked back in her seat. “No way. Haven’t they hated each other since kindergarten?”
“They have.” Megan’s eyes gleamed. “Or should I sayhad. Now they’re inseparable. They’re even going into business together. Some kind of mineral cosmetics company.”
Aubrey blinked through her shock.
Megan pressed eager palms together. “And do you remember Pippa Huntington and Josh Bristol?”
“The shyest kids in school?”
“Yup. They’re married now,finally, after being secretly in love with each other for, I don’t know... twenty years? They were both too scared to make the first move. Until I put them on float-painting duty together.” She exhaled against manicuredfingernails and polished them on her sweater. “Thank you very much, Megan Shimamoto.”
A laugh worked loose from Aubrey’s throat. “Wow. But how do you decide? Who to pair up?”
“It’s a small town, you know? And I’m in HR. I hear things. Get to know people. See things in them they sometimes miss themselves.”
Aubrey shook her head in wonderment. She shouldn’t ask but couldn’t seem to help herself. “Does Nick work at the mill, still?”
“Mm-hmm.” Megan’s mouth curled on one side. “He’s usually down in the blast furnaces, so I don’t see him much. But I come in contact with everyone, from time to time.”
Aubrey fiddled with her cup. God, she should really change the subject. But this was simple curiosity, now. A mere gathering of data. “And what do you see in him? Is he... happy?”
The gleam in Megan’s eyes sharpened. “About as happy as you remember. Which is to say thatverylittle about that man has changed since high school, except for the whole tall-dark-and-handsome thing he’s got going on now. But I’m about ninety-nine percent sure he wants exactly the same thing he always did.”
Aubrey puzzled that over. It wasn’t really an answer.
“Why?” Megan’s look turned sly. “You aren’t still carrying a torch, are you?”
Aubrey spluttered into her drink. “No. What? No. I just... wish him well.”
One of Megan’s lacquered fingernails tapped out a rhythm against her mug. “That’s it?”
Aubrey fought the heat spreading up her neck. It wasn’t, not really, but she had no desire to add her hang-ups to Megan’s mental catalog of Henderson drama. “That’s it. At this point, he’s no different to me than anyone else in this town.”
“Oh. Well, good to know.” Megan sipped her latte and licked away the foamy mustache. “But enough about him. Tell me about you. Having dinner at Sea and Be Seen with Gallant? That seems... serious.”
Aubrey occupied herself with her drink. A few days ago, she would’ve downplayed the date. But that had been before she’d spent Thursday evening drinking wine with Gallant and staring into eyes almost too blue to be real. It was funny—in person, he seemed different from the man who reminisced so poetically on paper. But now that she knew that side of him existed, it made the real live person so much more compelling.
