Chapter 9 #2
“What are you up to now?” I ask.
Sliding into the seat across from me, Stacey sips at her coffee, swallowing before she answers.
“I teach, actually. Kindergarten and first grade. The kids are at gym class for another fifteen minutes, so I ran over here to grab a coffee to be able to make it through the rest of the day with those little monsters. I’m always here around this time. ”
She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. She clearly loves her job. I wonder what that’s like.
“What about you? I didn’t know you were back in town.”
“I’m not really, at least not permanently. Just up here for a couple weeks. Figured I’d come up for the reunion.” I shrug, avoiding the question of exactly what I’m up to.
I don’t actually know the answer to that one myself.
“Oh, the reunion! I’m so glad you decided to come!
I think Yvonne Parish had a large part in planning, so of course she sent out the invites last minute.
The only ones who knew about it with a reasonable lead time were her best friends.
Some things never change, right?” Stacey checks her watch.
“Shoot, I’ve got to run. But I’m so glad you’re here!
We need to get together while you’re up here.
It would be great to catch up. Do you have your phone? Let me give you my number.”
She dictates it while I enter it into my contacts then waits while I send her a text so she has mine.
“It was great to see you, Rory. I can’t wait to talk more when I’m not on a time crunch. I’ll text you!” She gives me a wave and heads toward the door.
Another perk to life in a very small town, I suppose. The elementary school is a few blocks from High Street, just like almost everything else. You can run out for coffee without having to drive, and it doesn’t take a minimum of twenty minutes to get somewhere like it does in Denver.
Smiling to myself, I save the contact in my phone. Another friend. Things are looking up.
“Here you go, love,” Marge says, placing a steaming mug in front of me.
I set my phone down on top of my still-closed laptop, trading it for the mug, and take a sip. It’s perfect—the coffee is rich and deep, complemented by the cream and the sweetness of the sugar. A million times better than anything I get from the chain stores down in Denver.
“This is great, Marge. Thanks. How much do I owe you?”
Marge waves her hand like she’s shooing away a fly. “Don’t worry about it. Now, tell me everything.”
She sinks into the chair opposite me.
Setting the mug back on the table in front of me, I wrap my fingers around the warm ceramic.
The temperature may be in the high seventies, but I love the feeling of a hot beverage in my hands, even when it’s not cold out.
Maybe it’s a holdover from being raised here, where it can stay in the negative digits for weeks at a time during the winter.
I shrug, trying to figure out what she wants to know when she says “everything.” She loves gossip, but my life doesn’t provide much fodder.
“I’m not sure there’s much to tell, Marge. I’m just here for a couple weeks for the reunion.”
Her sharp ears don’t miss a thing. “Two weeks is a long time to take off of work for most jobs.”
I wince. “Yeah. I, um…was let go from my job. Yesterday, actually. They had budget cuts at the shelter. And then things kind of fell into place to leave town for a couple weeks, and…” I spread my arms out. “Here I am.”
She taps a finger against her chin. “I can always use more help here at the shop.”
I give her a partial smile. “That’s sweet, Marge. Thanks. But I’m not planning to stay in High Lonesome. I need to find something down in Denver, where I live.”
One quick nod. “Makes sense. I remember those days.”
“What days?” I take a sip of coffee, wondering what she means.
“Those days when I had everything figured out.”
Someone calls her name, and she slips out from the table to head back to the counter.
“The offer is open any time you want, Rory,” she says over her shoulder.
I finish my coffee, musing over her words. Marge has always been in the habit of saying things like that, little nuggets of wisdom that make no sense at all until much later.
“So? Fill me in,” Allie says.
I hold my phone to my ear as I settle back on Nate’s couch, Spam on my lap. I know Nate said no dogs on the furniture, but he’s not really on the furniture. He’s on me. It’s completely different.
“How much time do you have?”
“For you, all the time in the world, girl. Spill.”
“Well, I’m in HiLo.”
“Yeah, I know. How is everything up there?”
I laugh as I let out a breath. “The same. It’s so familiar, you know?”
Her smile comes through in her voice. “Yeah. I miss it. I haven’t been up there since my parents moved to Albuquerque.”
“It’s too bad you couldn’t come up for the reunion. I can just imagine you and me running around this town. It would be just like high school.”
“Think we could get away with some of the things we did back then?” Allie laughs. “The cops kind of looked the other way when we had bonfires in the woods with beer we stole from our parents, but I feel like they’d frown on adults doing that.”
I tap a finger against my lips. “You never know. Maybe they’d be even more okay with it now since we’re all of legal drinking age.”
“Ah, the good old days.” Allie pauses. “Did you talk to Nate?”
I realize I didn’t update her on this little turn of events.
“Yeah. I’m…actually staying with him. No spare key at my parents’ house, and Dylan is remodeling something, so I couldn’t stay with him.
I was going to stay at the motel, but the dog…
” I can’t remember if I mentioned this part to Allie.
“I got a dog, too. So I’m staying with Nate for now, at least until my parents come home. ”
I can imagine Allie’s face right now. Eyes wide, lips in an O shape, green eyes sparkling, barely holding back her glee.
“Eek! I have to know everything. What’s he like? Is it weird?”
“It’s not weird, actually. I thought it would be. But it feels…comfortable.”
“Oh, man. Are you sharing a room?”
I snort at the ridiculousness of the idea, but I can’t deny that a spark of something leaps in my stomach at the idea of spending the night next to Nate. “No. You read too many romance novels. I’m staying in the guest bedroom.”
“Ooh. You could sneak into his bedroom one night and seduce him.”
I burst out laughing. “Who would do that? We’re just friends. If that.”
I’m not ready to admit that I’m still attracted to him after all these years, even to myself.
“Someone in a romance novel would do that. That’s why they have happy endings.”
Spam flies off my lap in a flurry of yips, racing toward the front door, and my pulse picks up.
“I have to go, Allie. Nate is home.”