Chapter 2
Nate
I can’t believe it. My high school sweetheart, Jenna, the girl I’ve never been able to forget, is standing in front of me.
“I thought you left. I never thought I’d see you again.” I know there is disbelief in my voice.
“Well, I’m back,” she says, wishing she was anywhere else. You can’t date someone for over three years and not know their tells. I can read that as easily as I know what I’m thinking myself.
I’ve never known anyone like her. Breaking up with her was the stupidest thing I’d ever done. My parents convinced me that I was better off not having an entanglement when I went to college, and at the same time, Abby was chasing me mercilessly. I got some bad advice, and I followed it, and I’ve been forever wishing that I wouldn’t have.
“Are you back to stay?” I ask, forgetting about the box I’m holding that sits between the two of us, and I feel like I’m picking right back up from high school. Maybe not quite where we left off, since when we left off, I was walking away while she cried.
I regret that, so much.
“Yes. I’m taking over my aunt’s shop, eventually. Right now, we’re working together, except she broke her leg, so it’s all me.”
“So these must be your candy canes. Your windows are not decorated, and the contest is the day after tomorrow.” I know a thing or two about Christmas Tree. I’ve lived here most of my life.
“Yeah. Thank you. Um, I guess you could set them over there,” she says, pointing to the floor right in front of one of the windows.
“I have another box. I’ll go get it. They were supposed to be delivered a couple of days ago, but they apparently got missorted and ended up in New Jersey before coming back.”
“My aunt’s been busy dealing with her accident and her broken leg, or else she might have known that. I’m sure she can track the packages,” Jenna says, and I can feel the distance that she put between us. Seeing me shocked her, and now she’s put up walls.
I don’t blame her, because I hurt her. I knew I was going to, and I didn’t want to. But I thought I was doing what was best for both of us. Truly I did. I knew dating Abby wasn’t going to be a long-term thing. She’s not a long-term girl. She’s a short fling kind of girl, whereas Jenna, she’s the kind of girl you spend the rest of your life with. You put down roots, have kids, you grow old together. That’s Jenna. Plus, you’re going to have all of that and laugh while you’re doing it, because that’s Jenna too. She’s not silly or goofy, but she’s got a sense of humor that will have you laughing at the oddest times, and anytime I was with her, I was never down.
It was after I left her that I wondered what in the world I was going to do with my life. It just seems so empty and quiet and deserted.
I set the box down, and it rattles. I don’t think it should.
The box looks a little beat up, but I would have expected that, considering the detour it took.
I go back out to my truck, grateful that this is my last delivery of the day, and pick up the second box.
Maybe the rattle was normal, because this box has it too.
I walk into the shop and see her sitting at the first box with a pair of scissors, cutting it open.
I turn to the other window, assuming that she wants this box in front of it, and set it down. Candy canes don’t weigh much, but I bet there is a pile of them in there, since the boxes are huge.
I walk over, not wanting to leave. I...want to apologize, or acknowledge the past between us, and ask if she’s with someone. I don’t see any rings as she opens the flaps on the box. She hasn’t changed at all since high school. She still looks like she’s eighteen, rather than twenty-six. I can remember when her birthday was, remember celebrating when she turned sixteen and was able to get her driver’s license. I was a little older but not old enough to be the adult in the car while she learned to drive. That didn’t stop us from taking the back roads and “practicing” together. I smile at the memories and want to feel that connection again. I wrack my brain for something to say.
“Oh no,” Jenna says before I can say anything.