17. Beau
17
BEAU
A few days later, Beau headed into town for the evening, his heart aching at the sight he had just left behind.
He’d agreed to come out tonight for pizza with his old buddy Axel Williams. When it turned out that his mom had plans too, she suggested that he ask Quinn to watch Zandy.
He couldn’t exactly say no to that, since as far as she knew Quinn was about to be Zandy’s stepmom. But he hadn’t expected Quinn to be so excited when he asked her.
She brought over a big reusable shopping bag, and when Zandy asked what was in it, they unpacked it together, covering the dining room table of the little house with markers, crayons, colored paper, stickers, and old issues of Holiday House Magazine .
“I wondered if you might like to make Christmas cards with me,” Quinn said. “And maybe a letter to Santa Claus?”
“Art projects!” Zandy squeaked, hopping up and down in place.
All Beau had wanted in that moment was to sit down at the table and join them. But he sensed that Axel needed this talk.
Axel was freshly home from serving in the military too. And like Beau, he’d visited the new veterans center in town that was helping recently returned vets to reconnect with other locals who’d served and to find them jobs or at least ways to make themselves useful through volunteer work.
From what he’d heard, Axel had worked with the center to find a volunteer gig running a football program at the local elementary. Unlike Beau, Axel had invested his pay along with a couple of the other guys they knew and had come home sitting on a really nice nest egg. Which meant Axel didn’t really have to worry about finding a job, at least for a while.
But Beau got the sense that in spite of his financial situation, the other man was still restless and uncertain.
Of course, he would never say as much himself. Axel had always been kind of a big grump, and not much for talking things out. So, when he’d posted in the group chat today asking if anyone wanted to go to Mario’s Pizza, Beau had known his old friend must really need an ear.
Besides, all Beau seemed to be able to do lately was obsess over Quinn. He hadn’t even taken a pass at getting the old tractor running again, even though it was just sitting in the barn waiting for him.
He hoped that meeting up with an old friend would be great to get a break from his own thoughts and spend time focusing on someone else’s problems for a while.
He pulled into town, smiling at all the holiday finery. Every shop window boasted pretty lights and decorations, and even the apartments above were going all out in the spirit of the season.
Trinity Falls wasn’t the most exciting place on earth, but people here knew how to lean into the simple joys like the holidays. Beau had been to far-off places in his time in the service, but he honestly couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the world.
He parked by the pizza shop and stepped out into the cold, fresh air. Tiny snow flurries drifted down around him, catching the colors from the festive lights and making him feel like he was walking through a snow globe.
Pushing open the door to the shop he was met with the embrace of warm air and the familiar scent of savory things in the oven. The old television in the corner was playing the local news as usual, but he couldn’t hear a word of it over the sounds of people talking and laughing.
Beau and his friends had come here all the time as kids. It was nice to see that some things never changed. There were teens in some of the booths, a group of older men in the one by the window, and the owner, Lorenzo, was behind the counter, grabbing a pizza out of one of the ovens with a wooden paddle.
Zandy will be hanging out here with her friends one day, he thought to himself.
As a kid, he had lived for those summer days when Dad would drop him off in town in the morning and he and his friends would walk up to the pool for the day together, then come back here, ravenous for pizza before they all got picked up again.
It made him smile to think of Zandy walking or biking around the village, enjoying her taste of freedom under the watchful eyes of the town. In the city, maybe people minded their own business, but Beau had gotten scolded plenty by the grandmas sitting on their porches, looking out for kids being careless crossing the street or unkind to each other.
The knowledge that he really wanted to stay in Trinity Falls did make him feel better about his deal with Quinn. Realistically, it was his only shot at having a shop here in town.
But his heart still ached. They’d been having so much fun together over the past few weeks. And the clear bond she and Zandy had already formed tugged at his heartstrings every time they were together. Did she really want all of this to just end next Thanksgiving? A small part of him hoped that maybe she would change her mind by then.
On the other hand, how could you make a marriage work when one of the parties hadn’t entered it with any intention of staying?
“Beau Wilson,” Lorenzo said, smiling warmly at him from behind the counter. “It’s been a while. Are you getting a table, or do you want something to go?”
“Hey, Lorenzo,” Beau said. “I’m meeting a friend, actually.”
“Then have a seat,” Lorenzo said. “Welcome home.”
Beau had to smile. It did feel like home here in the cozy warmth of the pizza shop, even more than most of the other places he’d visited since coming back to Trinity Falls.
He had barely taken a seat when the front door opened, letting in a swirl of cold air along with his friend. Axel scanned the tiny restaurant and nodded when he spotted Beau.
Beau stood and extended his hand. The two shook and clapped each other on the back before sitting.
“Two Cokes, please,” Axel told Lorenzo, who had headed over with his pad and pen. “Still like the pepperoni, Beau?”
“Yup,” Beau agreed. “You?”
“Oh yeah,” Axel said. “Large pepperoni?”
“You’ve got it,” Lorenzo said.
One of the other guys was already pouring their drinks from the machine. A moment later, they each had an ice-cold soda in front of them, which even in the frigid weather, still seemed like the only correct thing to drink in the pizza shop.
“How are you?” Beau asked Axel, wondering if he would get the truth on the first try.
“All right,” Axel said, nodding to himself.
Beau waited, but his friend didn’t elaborate at all .
This was typical Axel, asking to get together and then not being able to get the ball rolling. He was just sort of sitting there, watching the bubbles in his drink.
Axel would give you the shirt off his back, and drop everything to help a friend in need. But he clearly had trouble expressing his own feelings.
In Beau’s experience, it was best to give Axel a little space to work things out. They sat quietly until Lorenzo set a steaming hot pizza on the table in front of them.
“Order up,” Lorenzo said with a smile.
“Thanks,” Beau said, looking down at the delicious treat.
The cheese was melty and golden, and each perfect circle of pepperoni held a glistening drop of grease in the center.
“This is great, man,” he said to Axel. “I’m really glad you thought of it.”
“Glad you came,” Axel said gruffly.
Beau almost winced. He was the only one who had responded to the group text.
“I think a lot of the guys are wrapped up volunteering with the Christmas Campfire stuff,” Beau said. “And Wolf and Grayson have… a lot on their plates.”
That was probably the understatement of the year.
“For sure,” Axel said, nodding.
Satisfied that his friend’s feelings weren’t too badly bruised, Beau grabbed a slice of pizza, lifting it carefully and watching the mozzarella stretch temptingly.
“Dig in, man,” he said, when he caught Axel’s eyes fixed on the cheese, the same way they’d been set on his own drink before.
What is going on with him?
If Beau had been entertaining even the slightest idea of confiding in his old friend, he knew now there was no way Axel had the bandwidth for that. There was no need to bring up Quinn at all, which was honestly going to make this a much more pleasant dinner.
“Right,” Axel said, shaking himself out of it and grabbing a slice of pizza. “So, you and Quinn, huh?”
Like he was reading my mind…
“Yeah,” Beau said, wondering how in the world he was supposed to follow up.
Before he could overthink it, he folded his slice of pizza long-ways and shoved half of it in his mouth at once.
Axel’s brows shot up in surprise.
There was nothing for Beau to do but chew his absurdly large bite and pray his friend would change the subject before he was finished.
“I think it’s great,” Axel said after a moment. “When you know you know. Or… so I’m told.”
Axel frowned suddenly and clamped his mouth shut.
Interesting.
Beau swallowed at last and leaned in.
“Are you seeing anyone?” he asked Axel as casually as he could.
“Nah,” Axel said. “I’m still figuring things out.”
That made sense. Axel had come home to help his aunt and uncle out on the Williams Homestead. He probably didn’t have a lot of time right now for dating. But something was clearly on his mind.
Taking a deep breath, Beau focused his energy on Axel, feeling relieved again to worry about a friend’s situation instead of his own.
As they relaxed, ate pizza, and caught up, Beau couldn’t help feeling more like himself.
Things will work out, he told himself. They always do, somehow. I never thought I’d be running a shop, and that seems like it’s going to happen…
But he still couldn’t quiet the small voice in the back of his mind asking how he was going to bear it when Quinn walked away.