Chapter 1 – Olivia
(Now)
At 7 p.m. on a Friday, the Locals Only bar in Gresham, Minnesota, was filling up with its regular barflies. Most of the patrons were fifty-something men staring with open-mouthed captivation at the flatscreen televisions pulling double duty as decor. The TV images rotated between colorful sports jerseys and the muted hues of cable news commentators.
Olivia Olsen hadn’t realized getting beers at Locals Only was what Ethan Wescott had in mind when he’d asked her on a date. Granted, he’d done it in the middle of the plumbing aisle at Hank’s Hardware, but he was the manager at Hank’s, and she’d been having issues with her irrigation system. However, for the hundredth time since accepting his invitation, her gut was telling her it was a mistake.
At thirty-one, the maturity gap between Olivia and the twenty-three-year-old man sitting across from her felt vast. By Gresham standards, it was downright inappropriate, and the thought of some townie telling Ethan’s big brother Aiden about their date made Olivia cringe.
Ever since Olivia left Seattle to move back to Gresham six months ago, her best friend, Jessa, had been pushing her to “hop on the rebound train.” But it wasn’t until Jessa told her she’d spotted Olivia’s ex-boyfriend, Sam, on a date in Seattle that Olivia finally caved and agreed to drinks with Ethan.
After accepting, she’d created a mantra of sorts. It’s just a drink. He’s cute. How bad can it be?
It’s just a drink. He’s cute. How bad can it be?
How bad could it be?
Well, she hadn’t anticipated going to Locals Only, and she certainly hadn’t expected to have her former high school physics teacher leering at her the whole time from a nearby table. Olivia suspected she needed to get off the Gresham rebound train as soon as possible because there weren’t enough boxcars, and it was definitely headed in the wrong direction.
To be fair to Ethan, he was behaving like a perfect gentleman, if a little clueless about where to bring a date. With his classic Wescott good looks–dark brown hair, glacial blue eyes, chiseled jaw, and full lips–he probably didn’t need to make much of an effort with other women. His looks and last name made him a big fish in the small pond that was their hometown .
She still had a hard time imagining him taking dates here, regardless of his catch-worthy status. But maybe he enjoyed saying hello to all of his Hank’s Hardware customers when they walked through the door. Maybe he thought it was good for business.
“So, is Locals Only really your scene?” Olivia asked after the waitress set a bottle of Budweiser and a pint of Blue Moon on their table.
“No, not so much. My friends and I usually hang out at The Whiskey Warden.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, but I thought we’d be more comfortable here.”
“Interesting. Why is that?” She might be older than the women he was used to dating, but there was no way he thought she fit in with this crowd. Right?
“Well, Aiden said he was meeting his buddy Jake at The Whiskey Warden tonight, and I didn’t want him giving me a hard time.”
Olivia’s heart pounded. “Wait. Aiden is in town? Aiden? Your brother , Aiden?”
She whipped her gaze toward the door and scanned the bar. The only thing worse than Aiden hearing about this unfortunate date through the town rumor mill would be him witnessing it in person.
Fortunately, Aiden must have stuck to his plan because the coast was clear.
“Well, yeah,” Ethan said, as if he were surprised by her reaction. “He just moved back to Saint Paul, so he came up for the weekend.”
“Aiden moved back to Minnesota? ”
“Yeah, he’s starting a Pediatric Fellowship on Monday. I thought I mentioned that.”
“Nope. Nope, you didn’t.”
Olivia grabbed the laminated menu off the table in front of her and fanned herself. She could feel her neck doing that ugly red splotchy thing. It used to happen every time she had to stand in front of a class to give a presentation.
After a few seconds pause, Ethan tilted his head to the side, narrowed his eyes, and grinned. “Wait, did you and Aiden hook up in high school?”
“No! No. Of course not.” The idea was beyond ridiculous. “But you know what? I think I’m going to call it a night. I’m tired, and I have to be up at five tomorrow for the farmers market. I should get to bed.” She spun on her bar stool and stood.
“Wait. Are you sure? We were just getting started. I mean, we haven’t even ordered cheese curds yet,” he said with a flirty smile, dimples appearing on his clean-shaven cheeks.
Jesus, he has the baby face of his youth while I'm over here counting crow’s feet every morning.
Olivia shook her head and grabbed her purse off the back of her chair.
True to her word, Aiden and Olivia had not hooked up in high school. Despite graduating together, they hadn’t even been friends. She had been shy and had taken every art class her high school offered. Eventually, the theater kids took her under their wing after her friend Maddy recruited her to help with the sets for Gresham High’s theater productions.
Aiden, meanwhile, had been the captain of the basketball team and their class’s prom king. Everyone in their school had followed the day-to-day drama of Aiden’s high school romance with Ashley Lund.
Regardless, Olivia hadn’t moved back to Gresham to connect with the past. She smiled and shrugged her shoulders apologetically. “I better go. But thanks again for the invite. I’ll see you at the hardware store next week. I’m still in a fight with my irrigation system.”
Ethan, affable as ever, returned her smile. “Okay, no worries. I think I’ll hang out and finish my beer. Drive safe.” He saluted her with his bottle and took a deep drink.
“Okay, bye!” Her voice was awkwardly upbeat.
Her body felt tight as she forced her legs to move toward the exit at a normal pace while doing her best to avoid eye contact.
Olivia stepped into the cool, damp evening. As was common in early June, it had rained hard all day. A deep breath brought in the clean smell of wet earth and washed away the lingering stench of stale beer. She let out a sigh, knowing in her gut she’d just dodged a bullet. She needed to be careful if she didn’t want to become the talk of the town, especially now that Aiden was living a mere two hours south of Gresham.
She paused under the buzzing yellow light illuminating the bar’s entrance and watched a lone car drive down the street. With its tail lights in view, Olivia walked across the empty road to her car.
As her seatbelt clicked into place, her phone buzzed.
Ethan : Let me know if you change your mind, I think we could have a lot of fun together. (Smiley winky face)
The text made Olivia want to point her car toward the setting sun and keep driving until she reached Seattle and the relative anonymity it had provided for the past thirteen years.