Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
“ I always enjoy another lovely evening playing with talented musicians,” Kyra said as they pushed out the door together, each of them carrying their instruments. This was the time where Tris always felt like she had gotten the short end of the stick, since her instrument was the heaviest. But being able to play the cello was worth it. She just loved the tones, deep and rich and full and so mellow. She could get lost in them even back when her playing wasn’t that good.
“Same,” Sonny said, giving Tris a one-armed hug. “Maybe we’ll see each other around tomorrow when we’re packing boxes.”
“Sure. I’ll look for you,” Tris said, throwing her hand up as well and then turning and looking at the sky and breathing deep. It was a beautiful, late fall night. She loved this time of year. All the stars twinkled above her, and there weren’t enough lights in Mistletoe Meadows to dim them.
It was less than a mile to the B&B which was on the edge of town, and she had walked.
“Are you walking home?” a voice said from behind her, and she stopped, wondering if it could be Fisher, before she turned around.
It was.
“I did. And if you want to walk together, we’re going in the same direction.”
“That’s what I thought. And yeah, it’s kind of silly for me to walk ten feet behind you the whole time.”
“I can’t believe you walked.”
“Well, living in the city, I walk a lot of places, although Richmond is not exactly known for being a great city to walk in, they do have great trails for bikes.”
“Do you like it there?” she asked as he fell into step beside her.
“Yeah. Although, coming back to the mountains reminds me why I loved it here.”
“I think I would get homesick for them if I were to leave.”
“I did, for a while anyway, and then you get busy and you forget. And then you build a life there, and you forget how good life was here.”
“Is that the way it works?” She laughed a little. “I wouldn’t know. I never wanted to leave. And I still don’t, honestly. I know that’s sad. I’m just so happy working in my mom’s B&B.”
“You didn’t say parents?” he asked cautiously.
“No. They split up… Actually, just a few years ago, Dad left Mom and moved in with his girlfriend. It was a big thing in town. I can’t believe you didn’t hear about it.”
“Now that you mention it, I might have. But I guess I just have a tendency to be completely immersed in what I’m doing where I’m at, you know?”
“I think that’s smart. And I think it’s probably a good way to not be so stressed. Just live for the moment, no worry about stuff.”
He grunted, and she got the feeling that he didn’ t agree with her.
“No?”
“I don’t know. I guess my job is kind of high pressure, and even if I’m living in the moment, there’s a lot of stress from moment to moment. And I just got offered a big promotion.”
“Congratulations,” she said easily, appreciating the fact that her heart might be thumping, but she still seemed to be able to carry on a conversation.
“Thank you. I’ve worked for it for a while. Although, to be honest I wasn’t expecting to get it this soon.”
“Well then, double congratulations, on the unexpected surprise and for the fruitfulness of your hard work.”
“Yeah. It’s an honor,” he said, sounding like it was anything but.
“You don’t sound like you’re very happy.”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because my big sister is getting married, or maybe it’s because she just talked to me about how happy she was that she’d moved back here. I… Maybe I’m a little bit afraid of missing out?”
“Missing out on small-town life? It hasn’t changed any since high school. I promise you. You’re not missing out on anything, except people always in your business, wanting to know what you’re doing, where you’re going, who you’re doing it with, but…they care. They really do.” She knew that. She was kind of joking about them being busybodies. It was true, but it was also even more true that they cared.
“It sounds like you know what you’re talking about.”
“I actually am involved in a little bit of a town-wide plot to get Terry McBride married.”
“A town-wide plot? Wait a second, Terry McBride? She went to school… She was a little older than we were.”
“A few years. Yes.”
“Did she become a doctor? I think I heard that.”
“She did. And she’s been practicing in Richmond, so she’s been in your town for a while. ”
“You don’t know anybody in the city. We could live there for fifty years, and she and I would never cross paths.”
“Well, she’s coming back to town, so you won’t cross her path here yet. But, Amy, her sister, thinks that she would make a really good match with Judd Landis, who has agreed to go along with it, but I’m not sure if it’s because he likes Terry, or because he just…”
“Has been pressured by the small town long enough that he knows that there’s no point arguing and he might as well just give in or else he’s going to be nagged to death over it?”
“Yeah. Kind of like that,” she said, laughing.
“Poor man.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say so. Terry is a catch. And Amy is the sweetest. She’s really outgoing and friendly, and Terry is the same, only a little bit more reserved. Just a real woman of character. She’s opening up the clinic here in town.”
“The one that Dr. Vivik ran for years? What happened to him?”
“He was your pediatrician too?”
“Of course. Wasn’t he everyone’s?”
“He was mine.” She sobered. “His wife has cancer,” she said, sad to relay the news, because everyone loved her. “And he decided he was going to hang it up so he could spend more time with her.”
“So Terry’s leaving a practice in Richmond and coming here?”
“Yeah. She’s been looking to get out of the city for a while. In fact, she always wanted to open up a practice here in Mistletoe Meadows, and this was her chance.”
“Really? She became a doctor, and her lifelong dream was to open up a practice in this small town?”
He sounded like he couldn’t believe it.
“I know, crazy, right?”
“Maybe I’m the crazy one for not wanting to come home.”
“I thought you just said you did,” she pressed, not meaning to, but somehow it just happened.
Then, because her cello was heavy, she shifted it from one hand to the other.
As she moved, her hand brushed his.