Chapter 13
Gia
“Idon’t understand how he makes this taste so fucking good.” I groan, wiping powdered sugar off my fingers from my last bite of carrot cake.
Gwen giggles, finishing off her brownie. “When Gage first opened his bakery, I came in every single morning before my shift. My bank account was not happy with me for that decision, so I had to stop, but it was hard.”
“I would absolutely have gone broke if I lived here.”
“Gage is one of Holt’s brothers. The youngest, actually.”
“He has like six of them, right?”
“Five. There are six Basil kids in total. All boys, if you can believe it, and all adopted. I’m sure you already know Holt’s the oldest.”
“Yeah, he told me a bit about his family. His parents must be saints.”
“Muriel and Stan are two of the best people I’ve ever met. They were some of the first to learn sign language when Charlie and I moved here.”
“Aw. That makes me like them even more, and I don’t even know them. All of Holt’s siblings live in Pine Creek Falls, right?”
“Yep. Nicholas, or Nix, is the next oldest. He teaches the high school art class. Reese and Camden are twins. They run the ranch now that Stan and Muriel have semi-retired.”
“How do you semi-retire, and what kind of ranch?”
“They refuse to stop helping, even though they have a ton of ranch hands now. They run mostly cattle, but they breed horses too.”
“All I’m imagining is Holt on a horse with his cowboy hat and chaps.” I groan at the fantasy.
“Keep it in your pants over there.”
I burst out laughing, which makes Gwen laugh too.
“The last two are Xander, who owns the mechanic shop, and Gage, who you’ve met already.”
“I come from a pretty large family, though we’re not all blood related, and I still can’t imagine growing up with that many siblings. Is it weird that I find Holt even sexier being the oldest of the bunch?”
“No, there’s something behind your birth order and how compatible you are with your partner.”
“Huh. I might have to look into that.”
“So are you two a thing now?” she asks. We walk side by side down Main Street toward a boutique Gwen told me we needed to explore. Apparently, it has the widest assortment of off-the-wall shit you could imagine.
“As much as we can be, I suppose.”
“What does that mean?”
“There’s an end date on this thing we’re doing. I’m supposed to leave in a couple of weeks.”
Gwen winces. “Right. I keep forgetting that you don’t actually live here. It feels like I’ve known you forever. Is that weird?”
“If it is, then I’m weird too for feeling the same way. I don’t make friends that easily. If you haven’t noticed, I can be a bit prickly.”
She laughs. “I actually like that about you. You’re straightforward without being mean about it.”
“God, I hate people who use ‘I’m just being honest’ as a way to be mean. Like, no. You’re being a jerk and trying to play it off like you’re telling the truth.”
“Yes! That drives me crazy. It’s the same thing when people start a sentence with ‘no offense, but.’ The next words out of their mouth are guaranteed to be offensive.”
“So true.”
Gwen stops in front of a shop called Curious Curios. From the outside, it looks like your average boutique with tchotchkes in the window to pique your interest.
The second we walk through the door, I know this store is nothing like what you’d normally find. There are shelves everywhere, interspersed with tables filled with the coolest—and the strangest—things.
Everything from retro-style children’s toys to local artwork to weird little stuffed critters.
I hold one up, making a face at Gwen. She rolls her lips between her teeth, her eyes widening as she holds back a laugh.
“That one’s one of my favorites,” a gravelly voice says from the shadows. I jump, almost dropping the stuffed mouse wearing a tuxedo.
“Hey, Tula. You doing all right?” Gwen asks.
“I’m doing wonderful,” Tula says before coughing several times in a row.
“That doesn’t sound so wonderful. You need to go see Elenore at the clinic.”
“Pish. No quack doctor is going to cure me. I’ve got a natural remedy that will do the trick.”
“First of all, Nore isn’t a quack, and secondly, modern medicine does have its uses sometimes. Don’t be stubborn if you don’t get better.”
Tula softens and pats Gwen on the arm. “You’re kind to worry, dear. I may not be fifty anymore, but I’m as healthy as a horse.”
I would really like to know Tula’s true age.
With stark-white hair and deep wrinkles that show a life well-lived, she could be anywhere from seventy to a hundred.
I wouldn’t put it past her to be closer to ninety.
She seems like a woman who could live into her hundreds and still work like a normal person.
“I’ve been walking this Earth for almost eighty-five years, darling girl. I’ve plenty left to go.”
Did she read my mind?
Tula snorts. “No, I’m not reading your mind. I’m very good at reading people’s expressions.”
“Tula was a behavior analyst for the FBI for like twenty years,” Gwen explains.
“It was a bit of a career switch. After my partner died, I was a little lost and decided to go back to school at forty. The FBI recruited me after I graduated. I loved that job, but it was tough.”
“I think you’re my idol,” I say reverently.
Tula and Gwen laugh at me. I ask Tula a million questions about her job. She indulges me until my stomach growls loudly. Then she shoos Gwen and me out of her store to get lunch.
“Do you want us to bring you anything?” Gwen asks her.
“No, I’ve got plenty for the day. Go enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”
“It was really nice to meet you, Tula.”
“I’m glad to have met you too, Gia. I hope you stick around.”
I smile at her but don’t respond. I’m not even sure what I would say to her. Staying isn’t an option, but the longer I’m here, the more I wonder if I shouldn’t consider it.
I internally shake that thought away. That’s ridiculous. I’m just having one of those vacation feelings that you get when you’re having a great time and wish you could stay on the beach forever.
“Where do you want to eat?” Gwen asks once we’re back outside. The wind has picked up and bites at my cheeks.
“Wherever we can get out of this wind the fastest.”
“Agreed. Come on. We can go to Desi’s.”
We walk down an alleyway, cutting behind the Grind and coming out on the other side of Holt’s law office. I try to squint through the windows to see if he’s inside, but the glass is too dark.
We end up in front of a small diner with a cute little front porch.
It even has rocking chairs. I have a feeling a couple of gentlemen sit out here in the summer.
A big sign across the top says Desi’s Diner, and my stomach rumbles again with the smell of fries wafting through the room as we walk inside.
“Pick a spot anywhere,” a woman calls from across the room. When she turns, I realize it’s Farrah. She looks totally different out of her vibrant teacher clothes.
Gwen and I sit at one of the two top booths against the wall. Farrah comes over with a pot of coffee in her hand. “Hey, ladies. It’s Gia, right?”
“Yeah. It’s good to see you again, Farrah.”
She tilts her head with a self-deprecating smile. “A teacher’s salary doesn’t quite cut it, so I work here on the weekends.”
“You do what you have to, girl. I get it.”
“You want some coffee or something else?” Farrah asks.
Gwen asks for a Coke, and I get an iced tea. Farrah brings us some menus with our drinks and tells us she’ll be back in a bit to get our order.
“I hate that she has to work on her weekends,” I say to Gwen.
“Same. When did you meet Farrah? She’s become a good friend of mine since she moved to town last summer.”
“She’s Leah’s teacher. The girls asked me to go to their book fair, so I met Farrah there.”
“The girls asked you to go to their book fair?”
“Is that weird? I thought it was a little odd, but I was also kind of honored.”
Gwen shrugs. “Those girls are spitfires. They’re like grown women in little bodies. I wouldn’t put anything past them. It’s a big deal that they invited you to a school event though. ”
I grin. “I really like them. They’re strong and fiercely independent.”
“Holt’s done an incredible job of raising them by himself. We’re all a little in awe of him.”
“It’s one of the many reasons I couldn’t stay away from him despite knowing that dating him is a horrible idea.
” After our date the other night, we’ve been talking constantly.
We haven’t had a chance to go out again, but he calls me every evening.
We talk for hours about whatever comes to mind.
No one else has kept my interest for this long.
Normally, I’d be bored by now. Instead, I’m counting down the minutes until we talk again.
I feel like a silly schoolgirl with a crush.
“I’d never have been able to resist either.”
Farrah takes our orders a minute later, and Gwen and I chat the entire time we have lunch. Besides my sister, I’ve never connected with someone this fast. It feels like we were always meant to be friends, and I’m grateful I made the spontaneous decision to come to Pine Creek Falls.
It won’t be just Holt that I’ll be sad to leave when the time comes.