Chapter 5
Jenna
He’s following me. He’s actually coming through the hall, going up the stairs behind me. I thought he would stop when he realized that we were going into my aunt’s private quarters and most likely her bedroom. Any normal person would have let me go, but not Nate.
This is the Nate I knew. He was the one who held onto me no matter what. That’s why his breakup on the eve of prom was so shocking and heartbreaking. I trusted him.
I try to tell myself it was eight years ago and remind myself that I’m not upset anymore, and maybe that’s true, but just because I’m not upset doesn’t mean that the trust is back. It’s not.
I rap softly on my aunt’s bedroom door and hear her murmur, “Come on in.”
I don’t really want to bother her with this, but I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know how to handle this on my own and don’t want to if there’s some angle that I don’t see.
But I don’t know how I can make any of the candy cane designs she sent me, when I don’t have any actual candy canes.
“You’re back already?” she says, opening her eyes and adjusting her pillow so she can sit up a bit.
I walk over to the bed and help her.
“I hate to bother you, but we have a problem,” I say.
Her eyes move behind me, and I realize I should have introduced Nate. But before I can, recognition enters her expression, and her eyes grow wide.
“Nate Black?” she says, shock in her voice, but the surprise soon gives way to a huge smile. My aunt and uncle loved Nate, and we spent so much time here in their shop. In fact, with Nate and I hanging out here, half the kids in school did too. We brought the shop business, and I have nothing but fond memories. I’m sure my aunt does too. Although she knows what Nate did to me.
Hence the surprise.
“That’s right, Aunt Janet. I’m back. This time to stay,” Nate says.
I’m the one who just came back, but he’s talking like he just arrived back in town too. Maybe he means back here with Aunt Janet at the train shop.
“Where’s Uncle Tim?” he asks before anyone can say anything else.
“He passed away last year,” I say softly and sadly. Uncle Tim was beloved by everyone, and I know that thoughts of him will make Aunt Janet sad. His heart attack was unexpected but mercifully quick. There was no hanging on, but also there was no hope. He was DOA at the hospital.
Sometimes I wish that he would have lingered for just a few days, so we could have held his hand and said goodbye.
Sometimes I think his quick passing was for the best.
Except, it has made this time of year sadder.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nate says, and I know he means it. He and Uncle Tim were especially close back in the day.
“I never thought I would see you two together again,” Aunt Janet says. “When you broke her heart, I thought the poor girl was going to starve herself to death. She didn’t eat anything for a week. She lost thirty pounds, and you know she was already a skeleton.”
I put my hand up. “That’s enough,” I say gently. I don’t want to hurt my aunt, and I definitely do not want to be rude and disrespectful, but I’ve heard enough of that. Nate doesn’t need to know how devastated I was. He doesn’t need to hear it. He already knows. He knew what he was doing to me when he did it, and yet he did it anyway.
His lips press together in a line, and I could be mistaken, but he looks guilty and sad, like he feels bad for what he did.
Maybe he does, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s done.
“I survived, and I’m stronger for it,” I say, words I told myself every day for a year. Or maybe two. It was hard. “But I have an issue. I don’t mean to put more on your plate. But the candy canes arrived, and they’re completely crushed. There isn’t a single intact candy cane in either of the two boxes, and I checked.”
I hate to give her this news, but like I said, I can’t handle this myself.
Her eyes fall, and her features do too.
“It’s too late to get anything more. They already arrived four days late.”
“They were routed to New Jersey before they came here. That’s probably how they ended up smashed, although I’m just guessing,” Nate says, regret and compassion in his tone.
He always was very considerate of other people. I want to say that’s another reason why his breakup was so surprising, because consideration and compassion were his strong suits, so unusual for a manly man the way Nate always was.
“Well then, that settles it. You’ll have to do some other display in the window. And I will have to withdraw from the contest this year. There’s just not enough time to get more candy canes.” Aunt Janet sounds tired. Weary. And in pain.
“That’s kind of what I thought, but I figured I’d come up and ask.”
“If you come up with any ideas, you’re welcome to try them out, but... I don’t expect you to do the contest without candy canes. It’s important to have them. And don’t blame yourself. Because I should have ordered them far earlier than what I did. It’s my fault that we don’t have time to figure out a plan B and pivot.”
I want to chat a little bit more, but she sounds tired, and so I say, “I’ll be up tomorrow to talk to you. We’re going to go grab some supper and talk about this. Maybe we can come up with something.”