As We Touch (Strawberry Springs #4)

Theo

NINE YEARS AGO

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Kerry Winsor: Welcome everyone to our FIRST community group! Ever since the library shit down, I know we’ve all been looking for a place to connect, so I made this! Feel free to post whatever you want in here!

Comments:

Marjorie Brown: The library did WHAT?

Tammy Jane: What a way to welcome everyone into the group. Glad I made an account to join!

Kerry Winsor: SHUT! I MEANT SHUT!!!

No one had heard of Strawberry Springs, Tennessee.

Found down far too many aged and cracking highways, it was tucked away from any major cities.

There wasn’t a single stoplight, and only one car lingered in a parking spot in the downtown square.

Even the hub of the town was quiet, which meant it was the perfect place for me.

I imagined everyone who lived in Strawberry Springs had a reason to be here. Perhaps they were raised here, or their family was in the area. I had none of that. I was an outsider looking for a place to hide out.

It had everything that was on my list of towns to live in, making it my next stop.

For the last few years, I’d bounced around from place to place, never staying long enough for anyone to get to know me.

I would get a house, fix it up, and then sell it to whatever starry-eyed person thought small-town life was for them—if I were lucky.

Considering people never wanted to be in the places I lived, I only made enough money to survive.

But it was better than where I came from.

A sigh escaped me as I pulled into the place I would call home for a few months. The driveway had a pile of furniture left by the previous owner, and what I could park on was far more damaged than the old Strawberry Springs roads.

Most of the house was covered with some kind of ivy I’d have to tear down.

What part of the siding was visible didn’t look great either.

White paint was peeling off in various spots, exposing the wood underneath to the elements.

Time had taken its toll on this place. Even the porch was half collapsed.

I’d so overpaid. No wonder this house sat for way too long.

Oh well. There weren’t any refunds for bad decision-making. I had to see this through.

Grabbing my one bag, I headed for the door.

I’d bought this place without seeing it in person, and I had no doubts the inside would be as bad as the outside.

It would be a pain in the ass to fix it up, but I was no stranger to getting things done.

At least these days, I worked for me and not someone else.

When I walked in, the space was jam-packed to the ceiling with old furniture and various trash. It was tempting to walk right back out and pretend I’d never bought this place. For a second, I only saw the mess I had to fix.

I wound up having to take a walk around the perimeter of the house to calm down, eyeing the exterior the best I could. As I did, I finally saw some good. There were no cracks in the outer walls and the foundation looked solid. At least I had that going for me.

The bones were good. I just needed to fix it up.

There was no time to waste. The second I arrived, the timer had started. I needed to get the work done and get out.

And even if I wanted to sleep, there was no room to.

I started in the living room, clearing out junk that wasn’t mine. Sweat pooled immediately, but I had no idea if the HVAC even worked, much less where the thermostat was. All I could do was continue.

Once I had a path through the living room, I headed toward the back of the house. There were three bedrooms attached to a decent-sized living space and kitchen. It was far too much for me, but maybe I’d sell it to a family and they’d make memories that I never would.

Exhaustion made my eyelids heavy sometime late into the evening. The kitchen wasn’t functional, so I had to go in search of food.

The only place I found was Center Point Diner. The outside of it had the same cracked, worn look that the rest of the town square did, and I expected the same dilapidated look on the inside.

Instead, I found brightly colored tiled walls and a clean interior. The only sign of its age was the style. I blinked as I walked in.

Clearly, whoever owned this place cared about it a lot.

A lone woman sat at the front, reading a book. She was older with frizzy bleach-blonde hair and a name tag that said “Maisie.”

Her gaze dragged upward. When she noticed me, she blinked as if she was surprised to see anyone.

“A traveler,” she said in a rough voice. “Don’t get many of those around here.”

I shrugged. “Yeah. Probably not.”

“Just you?”

I nodded. She could easily tell I wasn’t in the mood to talk, and that was the way I wanted to keep things. The fewer people who noticed me, the better.

She sat me in the corner next to two older women playing cards. I didn’t give them a second glance. Once my drink order was taken, I was left alone.

Or so I thought.

“Those are some nice tattoos,” the woman behind me said. She craned her neck to check me out. “You must have started young.”

“Really, Marjorie,” the other woman hissed. “You’re not even gonna say hello before questioning him?”

“What? I’m just making casual conversation, Henrietta. It’s what we do around here.”

This had happened to me before. Small towns were usually tight-knit in ways my birthplace wasn’t.

I figured I’d use a trick I’d developed over the last few years. It wasn’t the kindest thing, but people got the message when I simply didn’t answer their questions and went about my day.

This woman did not, however. She stood right up and plopped down on the other side of my booth.

“Hello? Did you hear me?”

I blinked and managed a nod.

“Good.” She blew a piece of long, gray hair out of her face. She’d been the first one to speak, and her companion had called her Marjorie. I had a feeling she was the kind of woman who wasn’t forgettable. “So, which wrong highway did you take to get here?”

“Uh, the main one.”

“He can talk,” she replied. “Henrietta, get over here. We made ourselves a new friend!”

Henrietta sighed. “You should’ve kept ignoring her, kid. She’s bored and doesn’t know when to quit.”

“I take people ignoring me as a challenge. Everyone gives in eventually.” She scoffed and turned to me. “I like to bother the people around here. The town just made a Facebook group that I plan on trolling. Do you know about Facebook?”

Yes. “Nope.”

“I bet you’re lying.” She leaned in, eyes narrowed. “You young people live on that social media crap.”

“I’m not lying.”

Marjorie hummed and leaned in closer. “I think you are, though, you seem pretty good at it. Like you’re a pro.”

My body tensed as I tried to pull away. No one had gotten a read on me so quickly before, and that meant I was in the wrong place.

“You’re making him uncomfortable,” Henrietta said. “Not everyone wants to spill their life story, dear.”

“I don’t mean anything by it,” Marjorie replied, but with a second glance, she sat back. “Sorry, kid. I didn’t mean to pry. I’m just curious about you.”

“I’m not . . . I’m just a guy. Nothing interesting about me.”

“All right, I’ll pretend to believe you.

As long as you keep talking to me.” Marjorie winked.

“Are you just passing through? Or did you get lost?” She lifted a finger and tapped her temple.

“This thing’s a steel trap, you know. I can get you to where you need to go without one of those GPS thingies. ”

“Don’t you dare lie,” Henrietta said. She fully turned around in her seat. “You tried to take me to Mammoth Cave and we ended up in Alabama!”

“Roll Tide.” Marjorie shrugged.

“You hate football! You say it’s too straight.”

“Well, pardon me for trying to make the best out of a bad situation while traveling with my wife.” Marjorie looked back at me. “I swear she loves me. We just spend too much time together.”

“Far too much. Of all the people I had to fall in love with, it had to be you.”

Marjorie laughed. “Stop flirting with me.”

There was something endearing about them that I couldn’t explain. They bickered more than most people I’d ever seen, but when I turned to look at Henrietta, she had the smallest of smiles on her face.

She enjoyed this.

My life before hadn’t been like this. Bickering turned into real fights, mostly over if my family’s business would be busted by the cops. There was no warmth in my home, only things to do and secrets to keep.

And ever since I left, I kept to myself. No one thought twice about me.

“How long have you two been together?” I asked before I could stop myself. My fists tightened. I shouldn’t be doing this. No good would come from asking about these people. The questions would only come back around to me, and I would never be able to answer them.

“The better question is how long haven’t we been together,” Marjorie said.

Right after, Henrietta added, “We’ve been together about forty years.”

“Damn, you remember?”

“You don’t?” Henrietta frowned.

“I lost track after twenty.”

“Keep better track then.” Henrietta’s voice was sharp.

Marjorie winced and looked at me again. “Well, looks like I’m in the doghouse. I’ll have to find some flowers somewhere.”

“You better not get roses again. That’s what you did last time.”

“And here I thought roses were romantic.” Marjorie shook her head at me. “Do you know anything about flowers?”

“Not a thing. Sorry.”

“Well, I’m sure you’re good for other things. Speaking of which, you never answered my question. You passing through?”

I was hoping she had forgotten that. “Kind of. But slowly. I’ll be here for a bit before moving on.”

“That’s an oddly vague answer.”

“I’m an oddly vague man.”

She rolled her eyes. “You can try to be. We’ll figure it out eventually. I know someone who works at the hotel. She owes me a favor, and I’d be happy to cash in.”

I shook my head. “I’m not staying at the hotel.”