6. Lila
Chapter six
Lila
“I can’t believe it’s over,” I say to Elise as we stand on the front lawn, staring at the little tan house that holds so many memories. Our parents were here yesterday, helping us pack things up after our graduation ceremony in the morning.
“I’m going to miss it,” Elise says, nodding toward the house.
“I’m going to miss you,” I reply.
“I may just miss you too. Luckily, we’re only going to be three hours away, so we can see each other all the time.”
“We better,” I threaten before looping my arms around her middle and pulling my tall friend into a tight hug.
After a long embrace where we both pretend not to notice the other one is tearing up, Elise lets go of me and climbs into her truck.
“See you later!” she calls through her open window.
“Bye!” I yell as I wave.
I climb into my navy blue SUV, and after a mental pep talk about how capable I am of pulling a trailer, I shift into gear and slowly creep out onto my street.
Luckily, traffic is fairly light, and I manage to navigate the city portion of my drive without incident. Once I’m on the highway, it’s practically a straight shot to Wild Bluffs, so I loosen my grip on the wheel and turn on my audiobook.
I’m just reaching the third act breakup when I pull into Wild Bluffs. With the help of my map app, I navigate to the single-story, square house with a cute wraparound porch I’ll be renting for the foreseeable future. There is a concrete driveway from the street to the attached garage, so I pull forward, intent on backing the trailer into the spot before I let Bryn’s sisters know I’m here. There is nothing more embarrassing than trying to back up a car into a spot with people watching.
After a few unsuccessful attempts at getting the trailer going the direction I need it to be, I finally give up and pull straight along the curb. What’s a few more feet to the house? I make my way to the porch, only to stop halfway there. Four people are sitting on chairs on the deck, drinking what appear to be beers.
“We didn’t want to interrupt your work,” Izzy Harper says, standing from her chair and heading down to me. I feel my cheeks turn pink with embarrassment as I realize they watched my horrible trailer parking.
Bryn’s other sister, Kelsey, who also is about to be my boss—yes, it does seem a bit awkward, but I’m told these types of complex relationships happen all the time in small towns—stands from her chair as well. “We brought help,” Kelsey says, gesturing to the man and woman making their way down to us. I wave, realizing the two middle-aged people must be their parents. I haven’t had a chance yet to meet Jen and Ken, but with names like those, I at least remember them from the stories I’ve heard.
“Hi,” I say. “Thanks so much for coming.”
“Of course. You’re practically family now,” Jen says.
“Mom,” Kelsey says in a warning tone.
“What? I know they are ‘just dating.’ But it just seems like they are going to get—”
“No.” Kelsey cuts her mom off as Ken chuckles from next to her.
“You know how kids are these days, Jen. They like to take their time. Let’s not put any carts before any horses.” He turns his full attention to me then. “Plus, we would be happy to help move in Kelsey’s employees even if they aren’t related to Jameson.”
I nod my head in thanks before Kelsey asks, “So where should we start?”
It takes the four of us just shy of an hour to move all my boxes into the garage. It shouldn’t have even taken that long, but Izzy insisted we stop halfway through to walk through the house and make a list of all the furniture I’m going to need to buy. While I knew I was moving into an unfurnished place, it hadn’t hit me just how much I was going to have to find to fill the place. Thankfully, Jen knows of a few families in town who have some of the bigger things in storage, so I won’t have to worry about somehow getting a table and chairs or a bed frame delivered out here. And, apparently, you can now get mattresses delivered directly to your house in a normal box, so that won’t be quite as big of a challenge as I worried it might be.
After we finish unloading, Ken invites me out for a bite to eat, and I almost jump for joy at the offer. Now that I’m here, heading out to Jameson’s house and eating dinner alone seems kinda…sad. Kelsey hops in my car with me and, on the way to the restaurant, we return the rental trailer to what is apparently a field behind someone’s house.
“How is this associated with a national moving-vehicle chain?” I ask.
“No idea,” she replies. “But it’s super handy for the few times that you need to move something out here from Denver but don’t want to have to drive the trailer all the way back to the city to return it. It’s why I suggested this company to you when you asked about moving out here. It’s the only one with a return spot in town.”
After unhooking the moving trailer, I navigate to Main Street, pleased by how much I remember from when I was here for my job interview. I park across the street from the two-story brick building that houses the bar and restaurant, and we head up the steep steps to the dining area on the second floor. Kelsey glances around, and I follow her to a long booth against the front windows where the rest of our group is waiting for us.
I slide in next to Kelsey, noting walls covered in neon beer signs and TVs turned to the sports channel before noticing the curious faces of people watching me. I accidentally meet eyes with a middle-aged woman across the room, and, to my horror, she takes it as an invitation to come over and say hello.
“Well, hello. You must be Lila. I’m Trish. My husband and I own the hardware store just a few buildings down from where you will be working. I just wanted to come over and introduce myself to a fellow Denver College alum.”
Um…what? Is this lady stalking me? I wouldn’t have guessed it with her slacks and polo, but maybe the quintessential-mom vibe is her sneaky way of staying under the radar.
Kelsey coughs pointedly, and I realize I’ve been staring at her. I quickly rearrange my face into what I hope is a friendly smile. “Hello. It’s so nice to meet you, Trish,” I say.
“Well, anyway, I should let you all get back to dinner, but I had to introduce myself, since we are practically working next door.”
“Oh, sure. Um, thanks.”
As Trish makes her way back to her table, I take in the table, each and every face trying to cover up a laugh.
“Is she stalking me?” I whisper, and the Harper family loses their battles against the amusement they’ve been trying to suppress.
“You’ve been the hot gossip for a couple of weeks now,” Izzy says when the laughter dies down, leaning forward so she can see me around Kelsey. “Not to worry, though. They’re just excited because you’re a new, young, single person moving to town. You’ll be old news in like a week.” She pauses to consider. “Well, you moving here will be old news in a week. You never know what kind of gossip may or may not follow after.”
“How do they even know about me?” I ask.
“Kelsey is the biggest gossip in town.”
The sister in question levels Izzy with a glare that could take out a small hippo, but clearly this isn’t the first time Izzy has been the subject of Kelsey’s ire. Instead of cowering like I would, Izzy’s face transforms into a shit-eating grin, and the entire table devolves into laughter.
“Small-town gossip is like a big game of telephone,” Ken explains after we order our drinks.
“The coffee men are the worst gossips in town, Lila,” Jen cuts in. “So you’re really getting the lowdown from an expert.”
Ken shoots a good-natured glare at his wife. “The information spread starts out fine and with the best of intentions. People are excited and truly want to know what is happening in the lives of others. But then the speculation and judgment start. And that’s what gives small towns a bad rap. People start wondering why you would move here or if you are single and want to date their nephew. And because the information is passed from person to person just like in the game of telephone, people hear the speculation and think it’s the truth, and then that’s what gets passed around town. Before you know it, you’re a vagabond from South Africa who is living in Tim’s house and buying Kelsey’s business.”
Kelsey takes a long drink from the glass of white wine the waiter delivered during Ken’s monologue. “That was surprisingly accurate.”
With the complexities of small-town gossip solved for the night, the Harpers fall into a relaxed conversation about their lives, what’s going on at work, a couple of relatives I’ve never met, and so on. Finally, when we’re mostly done with our food, Jen turns the conversation back to me.
“So, are you dating anyone, Lila?”
“Mommm,” Izzy and Kelsey both groan.
“What? It’s a valid question.”
“It’s an inappropriate question,” Kelsey says. “Especially considering she’s my employee.”
“She’s not my employee,” Jen replies with a shrug. “And I’m curious.”
“She does this on planes too,” Izzy offers with an eye roll. “She really can’t help but pry into the lives of others.”
“I like to get to know people,” Jen says as she snags one of the two remaining french fries from her eldest daughter’s plate.
“That’s okay,” I say. “Nope. Not dating anyone.” I catch a look that passes between Izzy and Kelsey, but I don’t speak Harper sister well enough to know what it’s about. Probably just typical daughter exasperation about their mom.
“Really?” asks Jen. “That surprises me. You seem like such an outgoing, lovely girl—”
“Mom,” Kelsey groans again. “Maybe Lila doesn’t want to be dating someone. How many times have I told you that not everyone wants to be in a relationship?”
Well, this is awkward. I don’t necessarily want to contradict Kelsey, because that is definitely a true statement, but it’s also not me.
“Well…” I say. “I do agree with Kelsey. I have some friends who say they won’t even consider dating someone seriously until they are in their thirties. I am, it turns out, just not one of them. I’ve maybe read one too many romance novels, but I’m a sucker for love. It just didn’t end up working out for me at school.” I shrug as if my soul isn’t crushed by the knowledge that I may not ever find someone who likes me enough to be with me.
You’re worthy of love, I remind myself. There is someone out there who loves you for you. I read somewhere that positive affirmations are supposed to help with anxiety and mental wellness, and I have embraced these two over the last six months. Okay, fine. I heard it in a Snoop Dogg song for kids, but it doesn’t change the fact that sometimes when I say them enough, I can revert to the na?ve version of myself who believed I wasn’t actively repelling men with my personality.
We wrap up dinner, and Ken insists on paying even though his daughters and I all offer and even suggest we split the bill. So, with a full stomach and a to-go carton to use as my lunch tomorrow, we head back downstairs. Kelsey and I finalize our plans to meet up at Izzy’s office in the morning to get me settled at my new workspace. I may not be exactly where I want to be with my love life, but I am so excited about my job. I will never admit it, but I do owe my brother a big thank you for connecting me with the Harper sisters.
With that thought, I climb into my car and then carefully navigate to my home for the next six weeks. Wild Bluffs Country Club isn’t too far out of town, but it’s dark out, and with no streetlights, it’s easy to miss the turn onto the country roads. Luckily, I’ve been out to visit Jameson a few times, so I manage to find the first turn without much trouble.
I’m surprised when the headlights of the car that has been following me since town also turn onto the dirt road, but I tell myself to stop being paranoid. There are a lot of people who live out here, even if their houses aren’t visible from the road after all. As I turn into the golf course road itself, the dark vehicle behind me turns as well, always staying just far enough behind me that I can’t see the driver’s face inside. Okay, now this is getting creepy. I consider calling Elise just to be safe, but then I remember she’s likely out to dinner with her parents tonight. It’s all right, Lila . You can do this. Be brave.
I pull into the driveway in front of Jameson’s house, forcing myself to stay calm and think as the pickup pulls into the spot in front of Jameo’s garage.
Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. I frantically search my car for anything I can use to protect myself, somehow deciding on the small flashlight I keep in my center console. Unsure if I should wait in the car or try to make a mad dash for the house, I grip my keys with the pointy ends sticking out between my fingers like I saw in a movie one time and push open my door.