Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Ezra
“Whoa!” The tall blonde shoves herself in front of the little brunette.
The woman that strangely resembles Autumn Green— my Autumn Green.
“Jokes! Such a kidder.” The blonde waves a hand my way. She’s so tall I can’t see the person behind her at all. She’s making me second-guess what it is I’ve seen. Because the little brunette behind her cannot be my ex.
The girl who couldn’t wait to get out of Love and dropped my heart into the garbage disposal would not still be living in this town. I block out Phil’s voice ringing in my head—telling me that she’s the reason I came, to see if just maybe she’s moved back home.
The woman peeks her head around the blonde, eyes crazed, like she can’t believe what she’s seeing either.
Oh yeah, that’s Autumn.
I swallow down every ounce of trepidation I have. My therapist always said I needed to talk to her again. I needed closure. I ignored her of course, but the woman I paid a tremendous amount of money to did advise me to see her again. Well, I’m looking at her, Dr. Lorna Appleby. Now what?
I find my voice and keep it steady because I am a champ at acting okay when actually I am far from it. I’ve been practicing that skill my whole life. “Hello, Autumn.”
The blonde blinks, her brows furrowed. “Wait. You know—” She peers back at Autumn and steps to the side, giving me a full view of the girl who sent me away all those years ago.
“Ezra,” Autumn says, her voice so much smaller than it should be.
“Whoa. Wait. Ezra. As in Ezra Ezra?” The blonde looks from me to Autumn and back again.
I cross my arms over my chest, feeling the slightest high that this girl knows who I am. She’s heard of me. That’s got to be a point for me, right? I need the point with Autumn standing there in her cute flannel shirt, tight jeans, and tennis shoes.
This whole time I’ve imagined her as that eighteen-year-old girl who stole my heart and then broke it into pieces. That girl who told me her plans had changed without any kind of explanation or warning. One day we were graduating together , packing for a life together , getting ready for the biggest adventure of our lives— together . The next, Autumn was breaking up with me. Telling me it was foolish of us to think our high school romance would make it through college. She said her plans had changed—plans that we’d finalized just hours earlier. Her plans no longer involved New York or me. And that, suddenly, her father no longer approved of me.
But she’s not that girl anymore. She’s all grown up and dang it, adulthood looks good on Green.
“What are you doing here?” she says, crossing her arms, her tone strong. The initial shock is over and she’s recovered with nonchalance.
“Dessie hired me—as an architect . I’m designing a building for her. A restaurant for the farm. What are you doing here? ”
Her jaw clenches just like it used to whenever someone made Autumn uncomfortable. “Dessie didn’t hire you. I’m doing the hiring.” She drops her arms from their fold.
The blonde blows out a poof of air, momentarily distracting me. “Oh boy.” She rocks on her heels, front then back, hands on her hips. A breath exhales through her nostrils before her eyes land on me again. “You’re Ezra . Autumn’s Ezra.”
"He's not mine!" Autumn says, whacking the girl on the shoulder with the back of her hand.
“Ouch!” The blonde rubs one hand up and down her shoulder.
Autumn’s arms return to their tight fold. She is all closed up. Everything about her body says so. She’s not giving out any answers today.
“Umm, hello,” the blonde says to me, her mouth in a flat line. “I’m Meg. Autumn’s best friend.”
The last time I saw Autumn, that was my title.
“Shhh,” Autumn hisses, her cheeks blooming red.
It looks as if my presence is getting right under Autumn Green’s skin. It may be petty, but she’s caused a lot of heartache in my life. So, maybe I don’t mind being the thorn in her side for once. “It’s nice to meet you,” I say, holding out my hand to Autumn’s new BFF.
Meg reaches out to take mine, but Autumn slaps her hand away.
Shaking out her fingers, Meg shoots Autumn a glare. "Ow," she growls, complaining twice in two minutes. "So," she says, eyes wide on Autumn as if to dare her to smack her one more time. "Ezra. You said Dessie already hired you?"
“She did not!” Autumn protests.
“Except that she did,” I tell her. “She said she had a special job that needed a special touch and couldn’t be trusted to just anyone.”
“That’s not true!” Autumn huffs as if we were lifelong enemies rather than people who had once planned out their entire lives around the other.
“Of the two of us,” I say, playing it cool. I am earning an Oscar for this performance. “We both know I’m not the one who tells lies.”
“I’m not a liar,” she spouts.
I just bounce my brows once—because we both know her plans didn’t change. We both know she never confessed the whole truth.
“I’m going to call Dessie!” Oof— clench and grind , the girl is pissed. “You”—she points at me—“stay outside. Or feel free to go back to New York."
I’m tempted to leave. But I won’t. And I’d love to lie to myself and say I stay for Don and Dessie. But how can I leave when Autumn is finally in front of me, after all this time? So, I wait outside with Meg, Autumn’s new, very tall bestie.
“How long have you lived here?” I ask her. We didn’t go to school with her.
"Um," she hums as if she's unsure she should be talking to me. I am the enemy. "I don't live here anymore, actually. My husband is from Hawaii. We moved back there."
I flick my chin up. “That makes sense. Love never had much going for it.”
"I like Love," she says, and I think maybe I've offended her. I don't want to do that—she may be my only key to learning anything about Autumn. And in the last ten seconds, I've become determined. I'm not leaving without the truth.
“It’s not bad,” I say, though Autumn and I always planned to get out.
“Her family’s still around?” I ask, keeping up my cool visage. Maybe that’s why Autumn’s moved back—to be close to family. Or maybe being a chef in a big city didn’t work out.
Meg holds her purse to her chest, folding her arms over the soft leather bag. “Just her mom. Summer’s in Utah now. ”
“Just her mom?” I repeat. I shake my head, more confused than ever. Mr. Green never would have left his family. Mrs. Green, April, depended on him. He was her rock. “Her dad…” I start, hoping not-so-tight-lipped Meg will give me just a little more.
Now that I’m here, I’m a sponge, sucking in all the info I can get.
“I never met Autumn’s dad. He died before I moved here—” Her lips press in on one another while she thinks. “I think Autumn said five years ago.”
Mr. Green is… gone ?
“Summer said the two of you were inseparable,” Meg says, speaking again while I’m still trying to process.
“That was a long time ago. But yeah. We were.”
“And then you left,” she says. And there are so many accusations in those few words. They bring me back to the present.
“Is that what she told you? Because we were supposed to go together.”
She studies me, almost making me uncomfortable. “She didn’t say that. She doesn’t talk about you. Ever .”