Elliott
I’m not pursuing it
Liv
She’s amazing
Able
She seems pretty cool to me
I’ll be there
Elliott
Fine. I’ll go
Able sent a kissy-face emoji, and Elliott flipped off his phone before turning it face down on the coffee table. Two substantial hits later, he revisited the conversation to catch up on the plan, then shuffled off to the shower, his mind in shambles.
8
Fern goes to the pond.
Atelevenonthedot Fern stood on her stoop with her backpack on, feeling for all the world like she was waiting for the bus on a field trip day. The old bell tower capping the one-room schoolhouse across the street blocked the sun from roasting her as she peered up at the building. Liv hadtwelvestudents, and they all lived within walking distance of the school. Those kids would never experience catching the bus. They might have field trips, though; she’d have to ask.
“Hellooo!” Noa’s cheery voice rang out as she turned up the sidewalk from Main Street. “I got sick of waiting at my place and decided to walk over.”
“Where’s Liv?”
Noa shrugged, then paused to wave at someone inside Reads & Roasts. A horn honked behind Fern, and she jumped, startled. Noa pointed up the road, over Fern’s shoulder. “Right there.”
“Swim day?” Liv called out her open window as she rolled up beside them.
“Hey, Mama,” Fern greeted her with a wink and a wave, earning herself a middle finger in return.
“Swim day!” Noa cheered, swinging her own bag through the air and nearly taking out a red-headed guy who’d just walked out of the shop, acoffee balanced on his rotund stomach.
He lifted his chin in greeting to Olivia, then asked, “Heading up to Pella’s?”
People really did knoweveryone’sbusiness in this town. Noa and Liv had only invited her to swim late last night.
“We’re on our way now. We’ll let you know how it goes,” Olivia replied.
Fern tossed a questioning glance at Noa, who explained, “The cabin up there is in the town’s trust, just gotta make sure it’s in good shape. You want shotgun?”
“No, you take it, I want to sprawl out.”
They hopped in the car and waved goodbye to the man, who sent them off with a wink. Fern found that odd, but Liv and Noa didn’t comment on it, and they would’ve if they thought he was creepy.
With a shrug, Fern got comfy and tried to orient herself in town as they made their way through the village and down the ridge. To get to the pond, Liv drove along the river a ways, toward the waterfalls, toward Elliott’s place. But she slowed to take a right before they reached Potter’s Lane.
Fern swiveled her head, peering up the road as it disappeared from view, and wondering what Elliott was up to that morning. Did he have a standard Sunday schedule? Cooking? Cleaning? Maybe he liked to fish or something. She had a feeling he kept a dad-like routine sans children. That guy had it all figured out—except the socializing.
Sighing, she stared at the scenery. The lower valley or gorge, whatever it was, was beautiful in the daylight: Craggy stone walls hugged the sparse forest spread over low hills. The river ran down its middle, and Liv drove them along it again, doubling back on the opposite side of the water before they climbed a steep hill, the trees growing thicker around them.
“It’s so gorgeous out here, I don’t understand why your town isn’t crawling with tourists all summer.”
“It’s your town too, now,” Olivia said, grinning at her in the rearview mirror.
