7. Goldyn
“Ms. Ruby, I can’t take all these nectarines.”
“’Course you can, honeybee. There’s plenty where that came from and we’ll have even more next week,” she told me with a proud smile, not caring that my arms were weighed down with her offering.
I visited Ruby’s fruit stand at least twice a week, and she never failed to send me away with enough produce to feed a small family, even though she knew it was just me.
But today took the cake. It was officially nectarine season and she took one look at me when I got out of my van and shoved two baskets in my arms.
“You’re too sweet.”
“We take care of each other here. You ain’t used to it yet?” Her smile deepened as she fisted her hands at her chunky waist.
She reminded me of my grandmother, down to her aggressively kind demeanor and full figure. She was everything I wanted to be as I aged: firm, kind and someone who cared deeply for people even if they were strangers.
And that made me remember my run in from two days ago…
“Ms. Ruby, I have a question.”
“I got an answer, honeybee.”
I smiled at the pet name she’d given me right out the gate. She said my blonde hair reminded her of a bee and hadn’t stopped calling me that since. I wasn’t sure she actually knew my real name and I was okay with that.
“I met three men the other day and I was wondering if you’ve heard of them.” Of course, I knew she’d heard of them. Ruby knew everyone in Bliss Peak. She even knew of me before I ever made my first visit to her roadside fruit stand.
The other woman looked down the bridge of her nose at me, waiting for me to go on.
“Sincere, Lorenzo and Romeo. I don’t know their last names, but they live near the lake?—”
“In a house straight out of a magazine?” Ruby finished for me, nodding vigorously. She swatted a few flies away from her inventory and looked at me with a curious tilt of her head. “Yea, I know them. They keep to themselves out there in the woods. What you want with ’em?”
Her question made me giggle and I fought to readjust the fruit in my arms without spilling anything. “I don’t want anything with them, I’ve never seen them before and I guess I was feeling nosy.”
“They’re good men,” Ruby said, reverence coating her words. “They don’t bother a soul and they help me with anything I need during the wintertime since Pauly’s back has been messed up.”
The mention of her husband made me smile. I’d never seen the man without a tobacco pipe hanging precariously from the corner of his mouth or a smile on his face.
“Good boys,” she added fondly, rocking back and forth on her heels.
I nodded, not at all surprised Sincere, Lorenzo and Rome were good in Ruby’s book. Everybody in Bliss Peak was so damn nice it still gave me pause from time to time. Not that people were inherently cruel where I came from in New Hope, but they weren’t like this.
Then again, I guess Bliss Peak hadn’t earned its reputation as the safest place in the state for nothing, either. Before I arrived, the idea of a quaint, all-Black mountain town blew my mind. Especially since it was only five hours away from my hometown.
But life here felt like I’d been transported to another world.
I saw why my grandmother couldn’t shut up about the place my whole life. So much so that I thought it was some fictional land she thought up to keep me entertained with her countless bedtime tales. But it was very much real and the place was so enchanting I wanted to bottle some of its essence and keep it for a rainy day. In case I didn’t always live here. In case I ever forgot what it was like to be surrounded by love no matter what.
When I was growing up, money had been too tight for my grandmother and I to ever make the roadtrip to visit. And now that I had the money to travel wherever I wanted, she wasn’t here to enjoy it with me…
Funny how life worked.
“You a’ight, honeybee? Look like you thinking about something mighty serious,” Ruby called, breaking me out of my thoughts.
Her sweet, weathered voice broke my reverie and I looked around, remembering I was on the side of the road. I took a minute to recenter myself, taking in the familiar surroundings. The mountains served as a perfect backdrop for Ruby’s yellow pickup truck and a smile tugged at my lips.
“I’m okay,” I assured her. “I have a meeting to get to, so I’ll see you later.”
“You come around the house later if you want a plate. Pauly been waiting all year to pull out his grill and he ain’t stopped all week. And I’m thinking about making a cobbler with some of these nectarines.”
My mouth watered at the thought.
“Yes ma’am. I’ll come by.” I was fully aware she invited me over so often because she knew I didn’t have many friends here yet.
And as much as I loved my own company, I couldn’t resist basking in the older couple’s wisdom and friendship. There was something addicting and comforting about their presence and I made a mental note to pick up a bottle of wine or something after my meeting to bring to dinner with me.
“Good luck at your meeting, honeybee,” Ruby called as I climbed into my van. “I’m praying for you.”
I’d known Ruby long enough to know that her saying that was the extent of the prayer. And something about that made me happier than it should have. With my fruit haul secured on the passenger seat, I smiled out of the windshield at her until she was out of view.
Instead of heading straight to my appointment, I took a detour through the town square, intent on scoping out my dream storefront for good luck before going to the bank.
I slowed my van to a stop and perked up when I saw the empty commercial unit. It’d been my dream to convert it to a bookstore lounge since I moved here, and the fact that it was still empty made me feel like it’d been purposely set aside for me.
As always, I imagined the awning I would put up, the flower boxes I’d install and the little bistro table for two I’d place just outside the door on the sidewalk.
Before I could zone out too long, a now familiar violet BMW parallel parked in front of a shop, half a block up and caught my attention.
Romeo .
Had I conjured him up by asking Ms. Ruby about him? As many times as I’d been to his shop, I never saw him coming or going. And now…
Before I could second-guess myself, I threw my van in park, checked my reflection in the visor mirror and grabbed a basket of nectarines from the passenger seat before hopping down.
I still had half an hour before my meeting, and I knew how I was spending it.
I walked in Soulstice and immediately calmed when I inhaled the aromatherapy blend of the day. The calming scents of sandalwood, jasmine and lavender bathed the small shop.
Aside from the attendant at the register, I was the only person inside, and even though Romeo was at the forefront of my mind, he was mysteriously out of sight.
“Hi, Lottie,” I said to the pretty dark-skinned woman up front.
Her face split into a welcoming grin, putting all her teeth on display. “Hey, pretty girl. Weren’t you just here a few days ago? What you need?”
“Romeo,” I answered simply, smirking at the way her eyes swelled with my reply. I gestured toward my peace offering. “I have something for him.”
“Oop. I didn’t know you knew him. Hold on.” She pressed a few keys on her keyboard before an answering ping sounded a few seconds later. “He’ll be right out.”
“Thanks,” I exhaled, turning away from the counter to study the minimalistic aesthetic of the shop.
Wood flutes piped in through hidden speakers, a spotlight table for their herbal remedy of the week and a few shelves stocked with their signature tea blends, healing balms and smell goods.
“How do you two know each other?” Lottie asked when I spun back around.
“Um we?—”
“She robbed me,” Romeo’s deep voice cut in. He materialized from the back, dressed in all black with an unreadable look on his face.
I pursed my lips and fought an eye roll. “He’s exaggerating.”
“Am I, Goldy ?” He cocked his head, a barely there smirk teasing the corner of his mouth. I didn’t know what to make of this playful side of him, so I just gulped. Then the glint of diamonds caught my eye and I moved closer, transfixed by the jewelry adorning his smile.
“You didn’t have that the last time I saw you,” I pointed out.
Romeo didn’t blink. “I told you, you threw off my routine. Forgot to put it in.”
I didn’t miss the way Lottie’s eyes danced between the two of us, questions evident on her face.
“Right. Sorry. I brought a peace offering.” Scooping up the overflowing basket of nectarines, I held it over the counter. I’d even been generous enough to give him the basket with the most fruit.
Instead of taking it right away, he eyed my gift suspiciously.
“Why are you looking at them like that? I’m not the one out here concocting teas that put people in a coma.”
His eyes flickered up to mine and the piercing intensity of his dark orbs made my breath catch.
In the time since he’d walked out front, I’d become too aware of my heartbeat and the blood rushing in my ears.
Getting riled up was the last thing I needed before heading to the bank.
When Romeo continued to stare at me unflinchingly, I placed a hand over my erratic heart and opened and closed my mouth several times.
Got damn it, why did he get to walk around looking like that? I’d never met a man more infuriatingly attractive than the one looking at me right now.
Something about the all black attire against his already inky skin was sending my whole body into a panic.
When the words stuck in my throat saw fit to untangle themselves, I announced, “I’m leaving, see you around.”
Lottie said something to my back, but I was too focused on vacating the premises that I didn’t catch it.
Somehow, I still heard the low rumble of Romeo’s voice when he said, “Let me know the next time she comes in.”