Elsie
Chapter Ten
Somehow, even under the fluorescent lights of the hardware store, Ava Hughes looked flawless.
But despite agreeing to accompany me on the extremely crucial mission of (checks notes) buying a carbon monoxide detector, there was a decidedly icy air filling the space between us.
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I existed solely in faded jeans and oversized sweaters. I could see my fashion sense being offensive to a woman who looked as if she belonged on a New York City runway. Or maybe she just didn’t like me, which I also decided to be fine with.
I wasn’t what you would call a people pleaser, exactly. I was social, sure. But I realized from an early age that my personality was not for everyone.
After a few too many teachers pinned me with the ‘talks too much in class’ line in the comments on my report cards, I discovered something crucial about myself and the world around me.
Just because I had the urge to utter every possible thought occurring in my brain didn’t mean anyone wanted to hear it.
And sometimes, my energy was just too much for some people, which is what I deduced must be the case with Ava.
So, for the sake of getting through the shopping trip in one piece, I resigned myself to try to behave like a normal, adult woman would when walking through a hardware store.
Which meant stifling down a verse of the Bob the Builder theme when we passed the tool section, ignoring the urge to admit I never learned the difference between a Phillip’s head and an Allen wrench and not blurting out my crush on the Brawny paper towel guy who I could totally imagine shopping at a store like this.
Suffice to say, it was an outing of immense self-restraint.
Ava, for her part, said very little.
To me, at least.
Apparently, though, she was the golden girl of the town, and running into her in the store was practically the equivalent of finding a penny lucky side up, only to find out it was actually a million dollars.
After a run in with several gentlemen of all ages, Ava had been forced to reluctantly introduce me to them as ‘Elsie. The new girl.’
We didn’t make it to the aisle we were there for until I’d been acquainted with the mailman, the fire chief, and Ava’s fourth grade teacher—all of whom sang her praises for showing me around town. Helping me settle in. Being her warm and friendly self, they insisted she’d always been.
“You should run for mayor of the town,” I told her with an impressed nod. “You’d win by popularity alone.”
She waved it off. “That’s just how people here are. Friendly.”
“Right.” I smiled tightly.
Friendly.
“Well, I really appreciate you bringing me to the store,” I told her, waiting for her to cash in on her opportunity to flee.
She said nothing, just stood across from me in the aisle like some type of standoff.
“Anyway, I should be good to go now—” I said, grabbing a product off the shelf and waving it at her in proof. “So, you can—”
“That’s a Ring doorbell.”
“Is it?” I frowned down at it.
Damn.
“I can see why Will didn’t trust you to come on your own.”
I scoffed. “I don’t see why he even cares.”
“He doesn’t,” she was quick to add. “It’s just…him.”
I stared at her, waiting for her to explain.
“Will has an over-inflated sense of responsibility,” she said, fingers skimming the products on the shelf. “He thinks it’s his job to take care of everyone and everything.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. It’s what he’s always done. But it got worse after Matthew died.”
“That’s his brother?” I asked gently. “Your husband?”
She turned, inhaling deeply as she nodded.
“Can I ask what happened?”
“A car accident. It was late, and it was raining and…” She shrugged. “Will was never the same after.”
“I’m sorry,” I told her. “I can’t imagine it was any easier on you.”
She paused, eyeing me suspiciously, as if sizing up how real my sympathy was or wasn’t. I felt a pang of hurt that she had to wonder, before deciding she must not have very good friends if her natural instinct was to be so mistrustful.
I held her gaze, hoping to convey to her that I wasn’t trying to pull a fast one on her or whatever other ill-intentions she was trying to find in me.
A moment passed, then another, and then she deflated.
“He wasn’t just my husband,” she said, sounding exhausted. “He was my best friend. Probably the best man anyone could ever meet. I didn’t deserve him.”
I didn’t know what to say. Sometimes, even for me, there weren’t words.
“Anyway,” Ava continued, recomposing herself, “I think Will has some sort of bizarre sense of guilt about it all. And thinks he can make up for it by taking care of everyone else. Even if he doesn’t want to. That’s why I try to take the load off whenever I can.”
“Like now?” I asked, pulling a package off the shelf. “I doubt helping me pick out a carbon monoxide alarm is how you wanted to spend your day.”
“I don’t mind,” she said. “Sometimes it’s nice to have a little change in routine. And like I said, Will would’ve felt obligated to go himself if I didn’t.”
Obligated. Right.
I nodded, thinking I had to do whatever I could to show him I was self-sufficient enough to handle myself.
I couldn’t have him thinking I was some pitiful, lonely girl who needed his help all the time. Not when he clearly already had so many other priorities. Namely, a booming business and a hurting sister-in-law to take care of.
She was lucky, I thought, to have someone like Will to watch out for her. From the little I knew of him, he seemed like the type of guy anyone would want in their corner.
Reliable and capable and strong—
“Ava?” A voice tugged me from my thoughts, and I almost fell to my knees thanking them because why the hell did I start thinking about the arms of the man who hated me right as his sister-in-law was divulging their tragic backstory?
“Theo!” Ava beamed. “Hi.”
The man in question was tall and lean, with a Carhartt jacket and a shadow of stubble darkening the lower half of his face.
“What are you doing in the hardware store?” He looked at her with amusement.
“Oh, you know,” she said with a grin. “Sephora was closed, so I came to the next best place.”
He rolled his eyes and let out a laugh before turning to introduce himself to me, pausing momentarily as his eyes settled on me. I shuffled my feet self-consciously.
“Hi,” he said, extending a hand. “I’m Theo. I don’t think we’ve met.”
“Or maybe we did, and I’m just entirely forgettable.” I shrugged.
He quirked a brow, letting out a laugh. “I doubt that.”
Theo was handsome, I noted unbiasedly. He was tall, like Will, but where Will was solid and broad shouldered, Theo was lean—the type of guy you could imagine probably did track in high school. He had that distinct vibe about him.
Not like Will’s, at all. I bet he didn’t even do sports. Not team ones, at least. He was too much of a loner for that. But he probably would be the type who was good at all of them, regardless. Just another infuriating quality that could be added to the list.
Why are you thinking about Will when you’re supposed to be introducing yourself to the man in front of you?
“I’m Elsie.” I shook his hand, embarrassed by my inner thoughts and irritated at my brain’s less than adorable tendency to maneuver off into unrelated thoughts at any given moment. “I—”
“Elsie just got here a few days ago,” Ava cut in. “She’s staying in town for a while. Over at Mr. Briggs’s place.”
To my surprise, Ava was smiling warmly between us, her territory considerably less threatened than I thought she’d take it to be when meeting her handsome friend.
“Oh, really?” he said. “I live just around the corner from you, then.”
“It’s Colbridge, Theo.” Ava rolled her eyes, but everything about it was good-natured. “Everyone lives around the corner from everyone.”
“How close are we talking?” I asked. “Would we be able to talk through one of those long strings with two cups attached to each side?”
He considered it. “Depends on the length of the string.”
“We’ll have to try it out sometime,” I joked. “Somehow the opportunity never came up during science class.”
“I got a C in science, but we can definitely try.” He grinned.
“I’ll look forward to it,” I told him with a solemn nod. “Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, you too,” he returned enthusiastically. “I guess I’ll see you around?”
“Seems unavoidable, since we’re neighbors and all.”
He laughed, and I felt like an utterly normal person again, engaging in slightly flirtatious banner with a cute, friendly guy.
This was the whole reason I had to leave home. I couldn’t have this type of anonymity there. Here, I was free. No labels. No lingering looks of sympathy from everyone who knew my business.
It was a relief.
“Hopefully you won’t try,” he said and then turned to Ava. “Bye, Aves.”
“Bye, Theo,” she said, smiling wide.
“He’s cute, huh?” Ava said, eyeing me with a look of comaraderie.
I nodded, because he was and because it seemed she so badly wanted me to agree, and I really needed a friend in town.
“I think you guys would really hit it off.”
The idea excited her so much, I couldn’t help but agree.
And somehow, that was all it took to smoothe over whatever unspoken barrier existed between us.
Who knew, I thought with a smile, that the way to Ava’s heart was through flirting with random men?