Chapter 10
Felicity
Despite the fact that Ashford Creek tended to know a little bit too much about my personal life and wanted to know everybody’s business, I loved this town.
I loved the way that they took care of each other.
I loved the fact that you were technically never alone, and I just loved that open mountain air.
And I knew many of the full-timers didn’t appreciate that.
Ashford Creek had once been a full grid with north-to-south streets, as well as east-to-west streets.
Then, at some point, a road had been put in to go from the lake in the northeast part of town all the way down to Southwest Creek.
I had no idea when that road had been put in, but it bisected nearly every major road in town. It wasn’t Main Street, but it felt close to it.
A creek also bisected the town nearly in half.
Main Street was right on the east of it, but Ashford Street was on the left.
On the west. The fact that the diagonal street was named Lake Street made no sense to me.
You would think the street that bisected all of the northern streets that went to the actual two lakes that surrounded Ashford Creek would be Lake Street, but no.
So the eastern lake that didn’t feed into Ashford Creek.
There were no tributaries that led to it.
They were all part of the same mountain range, but still a little different.
The Western Lake fed into Ashford Creek, and the forest surrounded everything.
Main Street, east of the central creek, which did indeed lead to Ashford Creek south of us, had many of the main businesses.
The bar and grill was up north, where I spent most of my time since Rune owned it.
It had once been a different kind of restaurant until he had taken over and rebranded it.
Now, it actually had good food, and there weren’t fist fights with bikers out in the streets anymore.
Across the creek from the bar and grill was the bakery, which always led to my brother’s growling. After all, Fiona enjoyed annoying everybody who came near her. And I knew that probably wasn’t the kindest thing to say about her, but it was the truth.
North of the bakery, Sterling had opened his restaurant, The Range.
It was the nicest restaurant in town, and there were the usual nice meals that ranged from French to American to fusion.
And on Sundays, there was a different focus on a theme that was always a surprise.
Well, at least a surprise to me. People made betting games to guess which theme would be next.
Ashford Brews was to the west, closest to the main lake, while the bed and breakfast was a little south of that.
I happened to work slightly south of the bakery, though, across the street, right next to Ashford Creek’s outdoor equipment rentals.
Which was always helpful for tourists and locals alike because you could rent kayaking equipment, camping equipment, and so much more.
And they had an entire business for whitewater rafting and other things you could use on the rivers close by.
Across the street from all of us was the diner, flower shop, gift shop, coffee shop, and ice cream shop. There were plenty more places in town and even more coming, according to our mayor.
And I knew some of the town was excited to have more fresh blood, and the rest wanted the town to stay the same. There was never an in-between.
The schools were to the north and led into the residential areas, and the municipal buildings, firehouse, sheriff's station, and anything else that could possibly be needed for a small town were directly south of that.
Homes popped up everywhere, and our tiny town was not quite the one-horse town that it had once been. But I loved it.
It was home.
And yet, right now, the ridiculousness of people’s paperwork in this town was driving me batty.
“Gregory, why can’t people just remember to sign things that they give us?”
“I’m sure they signed it,” my boss and friend said as he came over, a frown on his face. “We went through this a few times with them. How did they keep forgetting?”
I sighed, knowing that he was trying his best, but things just took time. And frankly, knowing that it was frustrating him as much as me made me feel better.
After all, I was exhausted just thinking about all of the other things I had to deal with.
“We can’t file these on time until we have it done. I know they filed extensions, and I’m so glad that the main tax season is done, but my word, payroll is never going to happen with a couple of these businesses.”
“I know, dear. We’re working on it. Some people just aren’t the best at keeping up with things.”
“Well, I guess that’s where I come in. I’ll make sure that we keep up with things.”
“As long as you don’t overwork yourself. You’re allowed to have fun, Felicity, dear.”
I snorted. “I also have a full-time job with you. I really don’t mind doing this extra work.”
“Well, I know, and you’ll have time, but first, your friends are here.”
My heart fluttered, knowing it couldn’t be Keely because she was working all day at an event at the bed and breakfast, but maybe it was Callum. We were friends. Of a sort. And I really needed to talk to him.
“Oh, really?” I asked, my heart thudding in my chest.
“You know I’d never lie to you.” He winked. “Come say hi to them and actually take your late afternoon off like you should.”
“Them. Who on earth would be them?”
I frowned, saved my documents, put everything else in the safe place that they needed to be, and headed to the front of our tiny office building.
I froze, confusion settling in when I looked at the two near-strangers in front of me.
“Laurel? Lauren? What are you doing here?”
“Is that any way to say hello to your best friends that you’ve ignored for so long?” Laurel said as she threw her arms up and hugged me tightly.
She smelled of over-rich perfume and weed, but I hugged her back tightly.
“I didn’t know you’d be here.”
Or where she lived. What she did for a living.
If she was married. None of that. Because I didn’t use social media anymore, and they hadn’t reached out beyond the few times the group chat had been used.
I had tried at first, even though I still remembered the way both Laurel and Lauren had looked at me when the incident had happened.
The other two girls had been kinder, but not them.
Or maybe I was just thinking too much.
“I’m just surprised you’re here. It’s good to see you.” I reached out and hugged Lauren, who just winked at me.
“We’re on our way to see a few friends up north, but we stopped by your little town.
” She looked around my drab yet adorable office building and didn’t quite hide her sneer.
“I see things are going well with you. I just love that you decided to come back to your small town and stay where things are just good for you. You know? It’s good to find where you belong. ”
“You’re right. It is good to find where I belong. What do you guys do now?”
Lauren waved me off. “Oh, you know, this and that.”
I snorted. “Okay. That’s helpful.”
“She’s senior ad exec at Harleton and Carlton, while I just got promoted to VP of communication at Franklin’s.”
“It’s just one thing after another. You know. Oh, and…” Laurel held out her hand. The diamond practically had its own zip code.
“Oh, wow. Congratulations.”
“Yes, Tyler and I are really excited. He proposed to me when we were in Venice.”
“Venice? That sounds like a lovely vacation.”
“He takes me anywhere that I want, anywhere that we want.” She snorted, and I just blinked at her.
Had she been as bad as before? Probably. But I had been focusing on other things.
And while their titles sounded wonderful, each of them was technically working for their parents and hadn’t even applied for jobs once they got out of college. They had just walked into their family careers and called it a day.
And that sounded petty as fuck. And yet, their tones were just as fucking petty. Or maybe I was just tired.
“Anyway,” Lauren said as she clapped her hands.
“We thought we would take you out to an early dinner. There’s a place called The Range?
I don’t know how good it is, but it seems to be the best place in town.
Kind of hard to find a decent restaurant in tiny towns, but that’s sort of what you’re going for, right?
That at-home feeling. I just love it here. ”
“Yes, I know The Range. And it is wonderful. The head chef is a friend of mine.”
“I would think everybody’s a friend of yours in town.”
I just shook my head. “I really already have plans tonight, but I’m so glad you guys came by to visit.”
“Your plans are with us,” Laurel said with a laugh. “I mean, what else could you be doing?”
“And on that note, you guys have a wonderful day. I should get back to work here.”
“Here? Here.” Laurel just kept saying it as if it was going to change where I was at.
“Yes. Here. In a place that I love.”
“You’re a glorified bookkeeper. I thought you were actually going to do something with your career. You always talked up a big storm, and yet, you’re back in Ashford Creek. I just don’t understand you, Felicity. We had such high hopes for you.”
I blinked at both of them, wondering what the hell was going on.
“Are you guys serious right now?”
“What? Just because it didn’t work out with Bradley doesn’t mean you can push away all the opportunities we gave you.”
My throat went dry, and I wondered how the hell I could have ever been friends with these two.
Bradley.
Why would she even mention that name? I kept wondering why on earth these two were here.
Honestly, when these two were together, they brought out the worst in each other because they were bored.
They liked to find the worst ways to break others down, and I hadn’t caught on until it had nearly been too late.
“Bradley, the guy who tried to attack me?”