Chapter 21
twenty-one
. . .
Indi
Z ach has an appointment with a personal trainer at the gym, and I'm pleased there's a good reason to end our lunch outing. I found that we have even less in common now than when we were together in high school. I'm finding a renewed love of riding bikes as I pedal along the road that will lead me to Kinsley's house. Los Angeles is so crowded with cars; a bike ride is always a dangerous event. Rockhurst is considerably less choked with traffic, and the weather is cooler and the air is fresher than in the city. One thing the city definitely has more of is jobs. As much as I'm enjoying being back in my evergreen-filled coastal small town, I don't see how I can possibly make a go of things in a place that offers few opportunities.
There are two people standing on the sidewalk in front of Kinsley's house. The man is holding a camera, not a phone camera but an actual camera. I laugh to myself thinking how rare it is to see one these days. They're chatting about something until the woman spots me riding along the road. She flips up her sunglasses and says something to the man. He spins around with his camera and lifts it in front of his face. I glance back to see what he's taking a picture of. There's nothing behind me but houses and a few pigeons in the road. Something tells me they're not with National Birder's Weekly .
"Miss Nash, right?" The woman is holding her phone up like a microphone. She's recording this. "Miss Nash, is it true you broke Landon Arlo's heart and will you be going back to L.A. soon to be with him?"
I put my feet down to stop the bike before I roll right over them. The man is snapping photos. "I didn't break his heart, and no, I have no plans to return to L.A. Now, if you'll excuse me." I hop off the bike and hurry past them. They're at least not pushy enough to trespass on Kinsley's property. I park the bike and go inside.
Kinsley pulls back from the front window. "Who are those people? They've been standing out there for an hour."
"I guess they're from a news site or tabloid or something like that. They wanted to know about Landon." I laugh. "They wanted to know if I broke his heart."
"Well, did you?" Kinsley follows me into the kitchen where I'm filling a glass with water.
I scoff. "Please, Landon was far too in love with himself to have his heart broken."
Kinsley dashes back to the window. "Paparazzi on the sidewalk. Most exciting thing to happen around here since Mr. Gardner's chihuahua bit Mrs. Kendall's ankle. She made such an ordeal about it. You would have thought a giant grizzly came down from the mountains and chewed off her leg. What did you tell them?"
"I told them I didn't break his heart, and I'm not going back to L.A."
Kinsley claps and runs to me for an awkward hug around my glass of water. "That means you're staying in Rockhurst," she says.
"You smell like onions, and last I checked, there are a few more options on this planet other than L.A. and Rockhurst."
"Stop, you know what I mean." Kinsley grabs a banana from the fruit bowl and peels it.
"Kiki, I need to find a job. I don't think Rockhurst is rich in job openings." I stop at the window to look out. "Those people are gone."
"They'll be back, or it'll be someone different to take their place. Your face and name have been plastered all over social media as the mystery woman who broke Landon Arlo's heart. Haven't you seen it?" Kinsley pulls out her phone and starts scrolling.
"No, please, I don't want to see it, and it's a joke, one of those stupid rumors that someone started that took off like wildfire only because the algorithms ran with it. And I'm not exactly a mystery. Just plain old Indi Nash back in her hometown, homeless and jobless." I plop onto the couch next to her.
"Well, let's put together a resumé." Kinsley finishes the last bite of banana and drops the peel on the coffee table. "What type of job are you looking for? What are you qualified for? You have a what—a marketing degree?"
"Yes, I worked my ass off in high school to the point that I was losing hair over final exams and then I earned a marketing degree that got me, barely, into an assistant's position for an evil woman who had me spending my day buying coffee, probiotic-based salads and over-priced, impossible to find cosmetics. And as I say it out loud, I'm even more defeated by life in general. About the only time I made both good money and felt like I was doing something fun and creative was when I bartended at this little club near campus. Made some pretty impressive tips back then, and I got to talk to so many people, both sober and drunk. It was a great job."
Kinsley sits up straighter. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe this. I was talking to a guy in the sandwich shop. He used to bartend for Glenn's Pub in Bassett. Kind of a dive bar but it gets plenty of patrons. He said he was moving back east because his mom was sick, and Glenn is looking for a bartender."
I laugh but cut it short when I see she's serious. "But it's in Bassett," I remind her.
"And you are no longer head cheerleader for Rockhurst High, so who cares?"
I shrug. "Guess I could put together a resumé. In the meantime—I was thinking I might apply for the opening in Nev's shop. Unless you want to be the only girl in town who smells like onions?"
Her eyes round. "What a brilliant idea, and no I won't miss the onion perfume. We can talk to Nev when she gets home. Now, onto a different subject." The smile on her face vanishes. "Is it true Rio left with her mom? Jameson must be devastated."
Just talking about it makes my stomach knot. "He is but I'm sure he's going to take her to court for custody."
I sit back with a sigh. "God, Kiki, I've been such an idiot. Zach brought up that big fight after homecoming."
Kinsley shakes her head. "Best timed cold I've ever had. What brought that up?"
"I can't remember. I think we were talking about the fight at the Gold Rush, and Zach switched to that topic."
Kinsley crinkles up her face. "Doesn't that bonehead know you hate talking about it? I still say you should have reported that asshole from Bassett to the police."
I wave her off. "That's over now, but I finally allowed my mind back into that memory."
"Guess it was repressed or whatever they call it." She wrinkles her forehead in worry. "Did you bring anything important to the surface? They say that's the best way to deal with those repressed memories."
"Not sure if it was repressed. More just hidden out of plain view. I guess I was far more traumatized by those few scary moments in the diner than I realized. After closing it off, I'd tied a nice little bow around the ending, only it was a completely false ending. I assumed Zach got that pig off me and that he carried me to safety. I blacked out for a few minutes, so I never really knew who got me out of there. But as I revisited the whole nightmare, I discovered it wasn't Zach at all. Jameson carried me out of that diner. It would also explain why that guy who attacked me left the diner with a flattened nose."
Kinsley slips off her sandals and folds up her legs pretzel-style, like we used to do in school at the reading rug. "I think I heard something about that, but since both teams had to sit out a two-game suspension that season, it wasn't an event that people liked to talk about. Still, it doesn't surprise me. That boy was always rescuing you or defending your honor. Just like prom night."
My face snaps her direction. "Prom night? You mean the fight between Zach and Jameson?"
"Yeah, of course. I mean Jameson threw the first punch because he was so mad at Zach."
"Mad about what? Do you mean all this time you knew why they were fighting?" I twist to look straight at her. "Everyone has kept it from me as if it was some great secret."
"Well, I didn't know for a long time, but a few years ago Emily was in town visiting some friends. We ran into each other at the market, and somehow that whole disastrous prom ending came up." Kinsley slows her story and looks at me. "Do you mean you seriously have no idea why they were fighting?"
"No idea at all."
Kinsley tightens her pretzel legs and pulls a throw pillow into her lap to hug with enthusiasm. "Your boyfriend, Zach, and our squad-mate, Emily, were messing around in Zach's truck. Jameson saw them. From what Emily told me, Jameson yanked open the door and dragged Zach out by the shirt collar. Hit him right in the jaw."
I stare at her as I try and process everything she said. "Zach and Emily?"
Kinsley fidgets with the tassels on the pillow. "I don't think it was the first time either."
"What an asshole," I say. "And Emily—well, we were never friends, so I guess there was no loyalty broken there."
"No, there was only one very loyal person in that scenario, and that was Jameson Wilde."
I sit back almost as if someone pushed me. "But why? He was always angry and scowling when I was hanging around."
Kinsley laughs quietly. "Yes, you mean like the olden days when the boys dipped the pigtails of the girl in front of them in the inkwell because of a crush? Trust me, those of us standing just outside that twisted circle of you, your brother and his two best friends had a much better view of the whole thing. It's like being too close to the mountains. You get a better view from a distance. Jameson Wilde was angry because he had to stand by and watch his friend, Zach, be with the girl he loved. I think having Zach cheat on you with Emily was the final straw for him."
Nev walks in the door. "Hey, what's going on?" she asks as she places her keys on the small entry table.
Kinsley shoots me a sly wink, but I'm so stunned by our conversation I can't return one. "We were just discussing how Indi would make a fine assistant in the sandwich shop."
Nev chuckles lightly as she walks to the kitchen. She sticks a cup of this morning's coffee in the microwave and turns to talk to us over the kitchen counter. She sees our faces and her eyes round. "Wait. You're serious? You had this big, important job in L.A., and now you want to slice tomatoes in my sandwich shop?"
I smile at her. "What do you say? By the way, I know the difference between cheddar and jack cheese."
The microwave dings, but Nev ignores it. "I would love to have you, but think on it for a few days. You might change your mind. It's only part-time work."
"Then you can work at Glenn's Pub the other hours," Kinsley says. My friend is persistent when she's looking for a certain outcome, and having me stay in town is that end result she's pursuing.
"I'll think on it just to make sure, Nev. Thanks." I get up from the couch. "Does anyone else need the shower? I've got sand in all the wrong places."
"Go ahead. I can smell like a deli for a few more minutes," Nev says.
I head into the bathroom to get showered. Then I'm heading over to Jameson's house to check on him and to ask him why the hell he kept so many damn secrets from me.