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“You don’t think this place is depressing?”

She didn’t say anything as she slipped on her hat and made her way to his back door.

“Wait…you want to go into town? Like, right now?”

She nodded. “Right now.”

“But, there’s still daylight and there’s so much to do—”

“Archer, I finished six of those administrative tasks in a single morning. Grab your keys and get your ass to your truck.” She didn’t even wait for him to respond as she whipped open the door and stepped out.

He coughed a laugh, then shoved the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and followed, jogging after her as he reached for his car keys in the pocket of his shorts. He caught up to her right before she reached for the handle leading to his passenger seat, and pressed a hand to the door to stop her.

Her forehead creased. “What’s wrong?”

“Are you sure about this? We’ll have to sit in my car at a much closer distance than six feet.”

“We’ll keep our masks on, and open the windows.”

“Okay, but then we have to step into a grocery store, likely with people who aren’t wearing masks.”

“And so that means we can’t buy food and eat?” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll make a list as you drive so we can be quick.”

He shook his head. “Still as stubborn as ever.”

“Did you expect anything less?”

“You’re right, my mistake. I forgot who I’m working with.”

“Exactly. Now move.”

He hesitated, then stepped away, opening the car door for her. “After you.”

“Spring mix, goat cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, pecans, apples…” Tea scanned her list as she read it off. “Think you could grill some chicken for our salads?”

“You’re really going to make me eat salad?”

“My salads then. You can keep eating sad bologna sandwiches.”

“Hey, I like sad bologna sandwiches.”

She scribbled down more items on her list. “Oh, I know. You have for years.”

Archer tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Having Tea back in his life again felt equal parts easy and incredibly complicated. Being her friend was never hard, the two of them fell back into their usual rhythms quickly. She would frown and stare at him seriously while he made jokes until she cracked a smile that made his day.

Then she went and said things like that, things that reminded him how deeply she knew him and how royally fucked up it was between them, and his stomach churned. He asked himself dozens of times if befriending her again was a bad idea…until he realized how helpful it was to have her working for him, and how easy it was to do his job with an extra set of hands. The past three nights he was able to finish up work while the sun still remained above the horizon, giving him enough time to bother Jorge for Pisco sours. Twice.

He wound his way through the curving streets, heading into downtown Silver Falls. Tall pine trees blanketed the sides of the road, with promising peeks of the shining blue lake in between shaded trunks. He glanced over at Tea, noticing the way her brow furrowed as she made her list, a small crease folding at the center of her forehead. Seeing it was like déjà vu—a regular occurrence for Archer these days.

His stomach churned again as he fixed his eyes back on the road.

“You could at least make them more exciting,” Tea continued, oblivious to Archer’s tense shoulders and his death grip on the steering wheel. “Maybe add in some vegetables or cheese and toast it on the griddle?”

He shook his head quickly. Focus. He relaxed his hands. “I’ll grill chicken.”

She didn’t answer him. When they hit a red light he turned to face her, realizing that stern look with the crease in her forehead had zeroed in on him.

“That was way too easy,” she finally answered. “You never back down from a fight.”