Chapter 2
Brittani
Ipulled my hair up in a ponytail then fixed my postal shirt. It had already been a morning and running into Keith threw it for a loop that I wasn’t expecting.
It wasn’t even his cold personality that got to me, because I didn’t see him as cold. A grump, sure, but cold, nope. That wasn’t quite the case.
There was more underneath that skin of his that he kept hidden, and I had to respect him for that.
Sure, I moved to this town about six months ago and fell in love with it. The trees always called to me, so if I wasn’t working, I was out in nature. Going on walks or runs with my dogs. Have solo picnics. Take in trails alone.
It doesn’t really matter what I’m doing, as long as I get to enjoy all this beauty, even in the heart of winter, I’m happy.
And now that spring is rolling in, I certainly stop more often to smell the flowers.
See, what a lot of people don’t get about me is that I’ve done the fast pace of cities, the hustle and bustle, and I hated it. I felt like my soul was dying in places like that.
Yet here, I can feel it come back alive. Feel it thrive in a way it hadn’t before.
And I want more of that.
So, Keith, the town grump, can certainly keep his aloof manner, didn’t bother me.
And he might not wish for new people in town, but I sure wasn’t going anywhere.
In fact, if the amount of mail I sort in a day, and deliver, is any indication, we’re getting more people all the time, and he’s just going to have to suck it up.
“Chance, Bubbles, behave,” I told them, patting their heads as I leave, knowing that they’ll be laying down for the next four hours, because that’s just what they did.
I slung my purse over my shoulder and walked down the pathway of my little house and onto the main road, heading toward the post office.
I paused for just a second as I saw Kylie and Nick outside a bookstore, their body language telling me they were fighting yet again. Which, I found funny because as best friends, it would just be better for them to screw each other and get it over with, given how close they were.
“Nick, take the damn bet.”
“Kylie, I am not getting my nipples pierced if I lose!”
I lifted a brow, glancing at them.
“If that’s what you owe,” I told him, smiling, “then I would think twice about accepting too.”
Nick smiled in satisfaction at Kylie but then I turned to Kylie.
“And if that is the price, make sure the bet is something he can turn down.”
This time it was Kylie’s turn to smile.
“You are no help, Brittani,” Nick muttered.
“Oh, I’m sure of that. But you two shouldn’t be fighting on the main road. Especially about things getting down to your body parts. How about you all just get locked in a room and see what happens?”
“Oh, please! I do not see her like that,” Nick huffed and I just held up my hands. Let him claim that. I could see the truth far better.
“Suit yourself. I have to get to work. You two have fun.”
I walked away, smiling all the more at the bickering, knowing it was only a matter of time before something happened. They just didn’t see it because too many years of friendship was before them, blinding them. But ask anyone around town, and they’ll all say the same, it’s only a matter of time.
With a smile, I opened the door to the post office, smiling at Janice, the older lady that I was here to help out. Or, given that she was on the verge of retiring, I was here to replace her.
“Quiet day, Janice?” I asked, setting my purse behind the counter, grabbing the bin of mail to stick in my van.
“Sure. Did you hear the latest gossip?”
Did I mention that with the location of the post office, we could easily see the town’s people. And the gossip mills always seemed to come this way.
“Oh Janice, what did you happen to eavesdrop on this time?”
“It’s not my fault that the mayor was standing right outside my window, talking to some young thing. They seemed far too cozy to be relatives.”
I shook my head at her, loving her dearly, but she was always causing trouble. Her excuse was that she could at her tender age, that she deserved some fun.
“You’re horrible.”
“I am not. You like listening just like I like telling, so don’t go there.”
I rolled my eyes, but the smile on my lips betrayed my faux anger.
And I really couldn’t say that I was angry.
Or even annoyed. She was older and had her things to occupy her.
And so, what if I happened to do more work because of her not minding her own business?
I knew she had limited time left, so I let her be, as did most people around here.
“Was this all I had?” I asked, waving my hands at the few bins. Every day was something new when it came to delivering mail. Some days it was a lot and I was out past dark, or other days I was home far too early and wasn’t sure what to do with my evening.
“I think there’s some junk mail pieces in the back. I put them separately. But other than that, yes, that should be it.”
“Thanks Janice. I’ll get them loaded and then head out, unless it’s been super busy here and you need me for anything?”
Her gray eyebrow popped up in question and I snickered.
“Okay, I got the notice. I’ll leave you alone and go do my job.”
I grabbed the last of the bins, storing them in the van, making sure they were in order with all the businesses first.
“Let’s go,” I muttered, grabbing my water, my purse, and the keys to the van. “Bye Janice,” I hollered, heading out of the building.
She walked out and waved to me, then closed and locked the door behind me. The good thing about a small town, besides all the beauty, was that the crime was low and there wasn’t a lot of mail, which is why it was possible to have two mail clerks.
I stopped at my first business, took the mail out, and then ran inside, pausing for just a second as I felt a pair of eyes on me.
I looked around, seeing two men standing by the window, and waved to one of them, smiling at Keith.
“Hi Brittani,” someone called, and I turned to wave at them, that smile still on my face.
Let him be the grump he wanted to be, he wasn’t going to dim my smile.