Chapter Seven #2
The garage door is slowly sliding open when Grandma returns from inside the house with her own key fob. She takes one look at Nash and the jogging group, helping to unload baby gifts and nursery furniture, and sighs. There’s no way a dozen people can keep their mouths shut.
Nash smiles as people shake his hand and slap him on the back. No doubt congratulating him.
“My boys can swim!” he shouts, to the sound of much jubilation.
“Is he referring to his sperm?” asks Grandma.
I just nod. “It would seem so.”
“You could tell them you were wrong about being pregnant.”
“Hmm. Would that get us more gossip or less?” I ask.
“They seem to have accepted him as your significant other and he’s getting his taste at an ordinary life,” she says. “The question of generating more or less gossip feels obsolete. He’s just someone people pay attention to.”
“Yeah.”
And Grandma sighs again. “You’re staring at him again.”
“He is my baby daddy.”
Grandma snorts. I guess it’s where I get it from. “June, I would say I hope you know what you’re doing…”
“It’s a bit too late for that.”
“Audrey said you wanted to yell at me.” He appears beside me in the fruit and vegetable section at the supermarket on Main Street at around midday. “Was it about anything in particular?”
“How was Fermenting With Friends?”
“I’m proud to say I am now a fermentalist. We’re learning how to make kombucha.”
“Sounds fun,” I say, selecting apples. “I ran into Carter at the coffee shop. Seems there was a sizeable anonymous donation made to the library.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“And also to the local women’s shelter, the middle school, and an animal rescue, too.”
“Wow,” he says. “Someone must be a really great person. Just a wonderful, gracious, kind human.”
“You forgot humble and so civil-minded. I wonder who it could be?”
He sighs dramatically. “I doubt we’ll ever really know for sure. This is all very interesting, but how about you tell me what upset you?”
“They gave me decaf at the café earlier.”
“Right.”
“And now I can’t buy a bottle of wine,” I say. “Why did you have to bring babies into this?”
“Congratulations, you two!” Kelita from the post office gives us a wave as she walks past.
He winces. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. Can I help with anything?”
I hand over the wire basket. “What am I supposed to do with the Volvo?”
“Keep it. Didn’t you say your car was acting up?”
“Yeah, but it’s a whole-ass luxury vehicle.”
“That is not something you should worry about. Bribing people with expensive presents is nothing to them,” he says. “They bought you one in the hope that you’d whisper sweet nothings about signing with them in my ear.”
“Apparently they’re working on a more family-friendly touring and recording schedule for you.”
He grunts. “Whatever. Do you think if we just stopped talking about our imaginary progeny people would forget?”
“I’ve started on some blankets,” shouts a middle-aged man from over by the baked goods. “They should be ready in plenty of time for the new arrivals!”
“Thanks, Wade.” Nash gives him a wave and then says to me, “Ignore that question.”
“Where did you meet him?”
“Knitting circle.”
“You knit?”
He shakes his head. “I was helping put away some of the chairs after the Fighting Book Bans meeting in the library and got invited. Did you know they have home-baked goods at those things?”
“Really?”
“Best thumbprint cookies ever. Don’t tell Audrey I said that though. She thinks hers are my favorite.”
“I’m glad you had a good day. The Fighting Book Bans group sounds interesting. Let me know when you’re going next time.”
“I thought you were only willing to leave the house for coffee, alcohol, or groceries.”
“Yeah. It might be time for me to expand on my range of experiences. This big, beautiful new life of yours is sort of inspiring me to go beyond, and dare to get out more.”
He smiles, and my knees go weak. “I’m glad to hear it. And I’m glad we’re friends.”
“Me too.” I smile back at him. “We should have a secret signal though. A sign for you to rescue and remove me from situations and conversations when I run out of steam.”
“That’s smart,” he says. “How about fake retching? You need to urgently go home and rest due to imaginary morning sickness.”
“Which brings us back to what I wanted to yell at you about earlier,” I say. “It’s going to eventually become obvious we’re not actually with child. And you’ve bought a house in town, which suggests you’re staying for a while. Share your future plans with me on this subject.”
“Bold of you to assume I know what I’m doing.”
“You have to have some idea.”
He groans. “I guess I do have one…”
“What?”
“Just off the top of my head.” He steps closer. “What if we had a bunch of sex and made some babies? Then we’d never have to tell anyone the truth. Brilliant, right?”
“Go find the fixings for a salad before I slap you.”
“How are your threats of violence such a turn on? It’s right up there with food on your gorgeous face. Makes me just want to fall at your feet and worship, you know?” He hesitates. “Hey, quick question, what do you put in a salad?”
“Rise to the challenge, Nash.”
“Will do.” He nods and peruses the store. “Audrey’s sure in a mood.”
“The news about you moving next door made my grandma go on a bender.”
“Heard she was at the bar doing shots with Rose late last night.” He smiles. “Don’t assume it was all about me moving in next door. Or not exactly in the way you’re thinking.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t reveal more,” he says, giving me side eye. “It’s not something she’d appreciate me talking about. And then there’s my healthy ongoing fear of the stick to consider.”
“I’m not convinced you’re as afraid of the stick as you make yourself out to be. And you can’t just allude to secrets and then not tell me what’s going on.”
“Are you going to threaten me again?” he asks. “Violent tendencies sure run in your family.”
“Please tell me.”
“No can do, my sunshine. You said something about a salad….” He makes straight for his new knitting friend Wade, who maybe knows how to make such a thing.
Nash’s rear is still sadly perfection. The new blue jeans display it just right as he walks away.
Getting to watch such things up close and personal is both an honor and a privilege for my humble hormones.
I can’t believe he’s keeping secrets from me about my own family. How rude. This is absolutely something I’m going to harass him about later. I wonder if the secret has to do with the man Grandma mentioned. The one she thought might turn into something serious. It’s worth some thought.
In the meantime, I head for the meat section to pick out some steak. Warm summer nights demand outdoor cooking. And it’s while I’m perusing the goods that I make a new friend. Sort of.
“You must be June,” says a pretty and petite young woman with white skin and a blonde ponytail. She looks to be in her early twenties and is wearing a cool tee with craft hard written on it. “My name’s Amy. I work at Yarn and Co. and I know your grandmother.”
“Hi.” I smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“Audrey was the model for a life studies art class I went to last year. Of course, everyone knows everyone around here. It’s so nice that you’re visiting.”
I pause. “Grandma posed nude?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh. She never mentioned that. How cool.”
“I wish I had half her confidence,” says Amy.
“You and me both.”
Her smile seems twitchy. Like she’s nervous about something. “Nash happened to stop by the knitting circle today, and wow. He’s just so much fun.”
“Yes, he is.”
“And we loved having him there. He had some of the older participants blushing so bright. The man is very good-looking.”
“I’m sure he will attend again sometime soon. He said he thoroughly enjoyed it.” I mean, he said he thoroughly enjoyed the baked goods, which is close enough.
Then Amy takes a breath and says, “The thing is…he and I really hit it off.”
And I don’t know what to say.
“I heard about your good news,” she continues. “When are you due?”
“Oh, that’s a while off still.”
She nods and just sort of stares at me. Her mouth opens and closes with no words coming out. This is so fucking weird.
“Was there something else?” I ask with a polite smile.
“Meeting new people in a small town is hard.”
“I can imagine.”
“What with all of the rumors around town, I was wondering about something.” She pauses again.
“Are you two together just for the purposes of parenting or…you know. I don’t want to step on any toes.
But some people in the bar last night seemed to think you were done with him while others thought you were giving him another chance. ”
My eyes feel as wide as dinner plates. “Huh.”
“You guys are the tea.”
“So, it seems,” I say. “Nash really made an impact on you, huh?”
And her smile is so strained. As it should be. Because what the fuck even is this?
“I think Nash is probably the best person to answer these questions,” I say.
The woman stops and blinks.
“It was nice to meet you,” I say, which is such a lie. Standing in any other section of the grocery store would be a good thing. I don’t wait to hear anything further from her. She’s attracted to my fake boyfriend, and fair enough. He’s hot and funny and all the things. The woman has great taste.
“You didn’t get any meat?” he asks from behind a shopping cart. Guess he decided a basket was insufficient.
“We’re going vegetarian for the good of the climate.”