Chapter 5
Nick
Her cheeks flare with so much color that they rival the artificial leaves the decorating committee has wrapped around the light posts in town.
When I started up the sidewalk to get myself a cup of coffee before sitting down to sketch for the day, I knew exactly who I was coming up behind.
I didn’t even need to see her face to know it was her.
She’s always had this energy about her that I recognize any time she’s close.
Our grandmothers liked to say we were soulmates before I was a complete ass and broke her heart.
Still to this day it’s one of the biggest regrets of my life.
“What do you say, sugar? Care to share all your dirty little secrets with me?” I tease, trying to be funny. Calling her the nickname I gave her so many years ago the first time was a slip. The second time, though, is completely intentional.
Her brain seems to catch up with her mouth which she snaps shut before distorting her face into a scowl.
“I’d say you’re no longer privy to that sort of information anymore,” she bites. I’ve got a handful of inches on her so she has to tip her chin up to look at me. While I understand why she’s mad, I can’t help but notice how cute she looks with her arms crossed in front of her as she glares at me.
She takes a step back to bend over and pick up the coffee cup she dropped and kicks some of the spilt coffee off of her shoes.
“Here, let me buy you another one,” I offer, trying to sound sincere. She pulls her arm away before I can touch her.
“I’m good, thanks.” She slips off one of her shoes that got the brunt of her coffee dumped on it and wipes the top of her off with her hand.
I stifle a laugh when I see that under her shoes, she’s wearing Halloween–themed socks with smiling pumpkins on them.
Wiping her hands on the back of her pants, she sighs heavily before putting her shoe back on.
“One problem solved just for another to arise. Perfect, just fucking perfect,” she mutters with a shake of her head.
My eyebrows stitch together. “Problem? What problem? Are you in some sort of trouble?”
She brings her eyes back to me and my mind almost gets lost in them. Blue like the lake we used to swim in over the summer, they remind me of all the moments we shared when we were younger.
“Again, that information is none of your concern. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go home and change since someone caused me to wear my drink instead of enjoy it.”
She wipes her hands on her pants once more for good measure before storming off down the sidewalk. Before she’s out of reach, I turn and grab her carefully by the arm to stop her. She spins around and looks at me, surprise written all over her face.
“Aren’t you going to ask what I’m doing here?” I say, needing to know how she feels about seeing me for the first time in more than ten years.
Again, she pulls her arm away from me as if I have just branded her. “No, Nick, I’m not. I don’t care why you’re here. Honestly, I only care about how soon you’ll be leaving. You were the one who said Evergreen could ‘be mine,’ remember?”
With that, she starts to storm away again.
“I’m home for the holidays,” I call out in her direction. I see her pause in the middle of the street but she doesn’t turn around. After a moment, she keeps walking and I watch her figure move further and further away until I can’t make out her shape anymore.
Several hours and three double shots of espresso later, I drop my pencil on the sketching table I had delivered yesterday and look up from my current project.
Numbers and perfectly straight lines look back at me after hours of being hunched over the wooden easel.
After running into Noelle outside of the coffee shop, I immediately came home and threw myself into work as a distraction from what she said to me.
‘I don’t care why you’re here. Honestly, I only care about how soon you’ll be leaving.’
I know how much I hurt her when I broke us up but I didn’t think she’d still be this pissed at me all this time later. I guess I wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw her again but it certainly wasn’t the welcome home she gave me today.
Rolling my neck, I push up from my stool and wobble a little as the blood rushes back into my legs.
My left foot is half asleep from how I’d been leaning over the table and putting all my weight on it.
Shaking it out, I look around the tiny cabin trying to decide what to do when a knock comes at my door.
Limping to open it, I smile widely when I’m met with the face of one of my oldest friends.
“I’m not interrupting some sort of creative outburst, am I?” Chris asks, raising a pack of beers up to eye-level from his hip.
“Not at all, come on in,” I offer, stepping to one side so he can enter.
He and I have been friends for as long as I can remember.
His family owns the largest Christmas tree farm on this side of Vermont.
Having worked on the farm his entire life, he had no issue getting me set up in one of the cabin rentals they have on the property tucked away amongst the trees.
He’s a lifer of Evergreen—one of those people who’s never left, even if he’s wanted to for years.
He didn’t even leave when it was time for us to go to college.
He opted to get his associate’s degree online instead so he could help his old man run the business.
I always thought it was crazy how he refused to leave this place.
Especially when I saw how badly he wanted to so many times over the years.
He seems happy enough, though, which is what matters.
Stepping inside, he leans over to peer at my work in progress. He pushes his eyebrows up and frowns at the sketch as if he has any idea what he’s supposed to be looking at.
“What do you think?”
“Meh, I could do that if I needed to,” he replies nonchalantly. “You aren’t as special as people like to think you are.”
“I’m so glad I have a friend like you who always knocks my ego down a few pegs when I need it,” I say, taking the beer he’s offering me. We laugh and move to the living room, taking a seat on the couch and small lovechair respectively.
“So, how’s it feel being back in Evergreen? I bet you can count on one hand everything that’s changed,” he starts before taking a pull of his beer.
I scoff. “I can’t count a single thing that’s changed because nothing has changed.”
“That’s not true,” he argues, pointing a finger at me. “The twinkle lights this year run off of solar power and are a soft yellow instead of the usual LED lights we used to use.”
“I’m sure that was the talk of the town for a few days.”
“Try a few weeks,” he deadpans. “All this stupid town does is decorate and celebrate obscure holidays,” he murmurs.
“Then why do you stay?” My hand waves out to the side of me as I ask the question I’ve been wondering the answer to for far too long.
He pauses and drops his eyes to the floor before shrugging. “Because where else would I go?”
We exchange a glance for a moment as a thought pops into my head.
One that I’m safe to think about but would never say out loud.
That the real reason Chris has never left isn’t because he doesn’t have anywhere to go but because he’s afraid of what’s out there.
Evergreen is safe, sheltered, and he’s too afraid to leave that comfort.
“I saw Noelle today,” I offer, breaking the awkward tension that’s filled the space between us. “In town.”
He groans loudly and drops his head behind him.
“What?” I cry out.
“Please don’t tell me you’re thinking about going there? You broke that girl’s heart when you both left for college and I still don’t think she’s put it back together yet.” He gives me a stern look from the chair he’s sitting in.
“I didn’t say anything about going there, I only said that I saw her in town,” I try to explain. Okay, so maybe part of me hoped I would be able to go there before I saw her today. Now I’m pretty sure I’ll be lucky if I run into her again at all.
“Yeah, but I know you, Nick. You were going to say that you saw her, and how she looks good, and then you were going to ask me if I know if she’s seeing anyone.
Well I don’t know if she is or not, but what I do know is that you’re not going to be the one she’s seeing while you’re home.
You leave her alone; just stay away from her entirely. ”
“It’s a small town, there’s only so much I can do to avoid people around here,” I remind him, suddenly feeling defensive.
“Then use your fucking eyes and when you see her around, you turn around and go the opposite way. Got it?” He’s pointing a finger at me, the rest of his fingers wrapped around the neck of his beer bottle. He’s never sounded so serious about something in his life it’s almost concerning.
Swallowing hard, I look around the room before bringing my gaze back to him.
“You don’t think she’s still not over things, do you?” I ask as the sinking feeling of guilt creeps into my gut.
“Just stay away from her,” he says sternly.
I chew my bottom lip and take a quick pull of my drink. “She did seem pretty pissed when I ran into her today.”
He blinks at me a couple of times before shaking his head in pure disbelief. “Yeah, I wonder fucking why.”