Chapter 5 Rose
“Oh what a good boy, Wilfred!” I say as he happily preens his soft gray and white feathers. Wilfred and I have been working on a few tricks together and he’s getting close to being able to wave goodbye and hello with his sweet little claws. I pass him a treat through the brass bars of his enclosure and he hops over, happily chomping into it. Then he flutters back to his favorite perch to oversee all the shop visitors, his most favorite activity.
Lucy’s voice jabs me out of my Wilfred love fest. “Rose, would you mind peeking at this tea shipment? I can’t tell if it was sent with the wrong labels.” She looks over at me with a confused look, elbow deep in tea bags.
“Of course. Oh! I forgot to ask more about your trip, did you get to do anything fun in Duluth? Or just spend time with Jordan?” I ask.
Jordan is Elle’s brother. He moved away after high school was done and created a new life for himself there and also met his fiance, Ryan. We all love to visit him, and will never resist a reason to head into the nearest big city. Lucy and I hung out a lot with them in college, since we were also living there at the time. Glancing down, I sift through the packets of tea, checking each label to see what is in the packages.
“Actually, yes! I can’t believe I haven’t told you, I finally went to the alpine slide and oh my god, it was amazing.”
I can’t help the belly laugh that escapes my mouth. “You did the alpine slide? I have to see if Jordan has pictures of that! You’re officially a Raspberry Falls resident now, that’s a rite of passage. I can’t believe you finally did it after all these years.”
“I knew the go-cart-like contraption would be scary, but the concrete slide down the cliff was insane. It’s absolutely terrifying and amazing at the same time. And yes, I already made him sign an NDA on the picture front,” she jokes. “It was fun though, I didn’t think they’d go so fast.” Standing up, I hand one of the boxes back to Lucy as she animatedly acts out her time on the slide.
“I’m so glad you had fun, I’m still going to ask about those pictures though,” I say, winking at her. “Ugh, you were right, the teas look like the labels were mixed up. We can use them in the loose-leaf containers for bulk purchases though. Thanks for catching that!”
Just as I turn to clean a counter and ask for more stories of Lucy’s time with Jordan, I hear the familiar laugh of Mabel. She’s the Raspberry Falls matriarch who has lived here forever. Everyone loves her, and she loves to gossip about everyone. Mabel takes pride in knowing what’s what for our little community, and keeping the pulse on everything in town. While we’re a busy town, most of that is due to tourists, leaving our typical population in only the few thousands. Mabel has been here through our biggest growth and encouraged and helped along the way, as well as followed all the latest gossip, of course.
“Well hi there, dear,” she croons over the counter to me. A smile is plastered to her face and there’s a smudge of lipstick on her teeth, all framed by her perfectly coiffed, wavy, gray hair.
“Hi, Mabel. What can I get for you today?” I say, smiling up at her.
“Hmmm, I’ll take an Oolong with a little milk on top.” She slides me cash across the counter, her rings and jewelry clinking the whole way. Wilfred makes an excited trill at the sound and Mabel shushes him angrily. “I don’t understand why you insist on having that silly bird in here.” I furrow my eyebrows at her and will myself to ignore her last comment though and remind myself to be civil. I’ll give Wilfred a few extra treats later.
“Thank you, we’ll have that right out.” I wave her away. As I wash up and make Mabel’s tea, she moseys over to the corner booth where her crochet crew has set up today. They come in almost every Tuesday and will sit for hours, usually gobbling up the last of the day’s pastries and a couple of pots of tea. Although, hearing the whispers and back and forth of all the town’s gossip, and answering all of their questions on my love life, seem to be a small price to pay for their regular business and community. At least, that’s what I tell myself.
Pouring her water into the pot, I freeze as I hear, “He’s back. Did you hear? Lydia saw him on her walk at the park last week. Told me he looked pretty fine . . .”
“Do you think Rose knows?” asks another.
Ugh, they’re definitely talking about Wes.
“Does she care?” someone chimes in. “That was so long ago . . .”
Do I care?
“Oh, I’m sure she cares. That boy absolutely broke her heart. Her mama told me she cried herself to sleep for months after he left. They were so young . . .” At this, I hear a tsk and glance up to find them all staring at me—shaking their heads and looking sad through their long, batting eyelashes. Ugh, goodness me. I slam the kettle onto the counter a little harder than I mean to. What am I doing? Get a grip, Rose!
I force a smile and drop off the teapot at their table, muttering “excuse me” and head to the back room. How humiliating. But Mabel isn’t wrong. Why should him coming back change anything for me? I have my life, and he has his.
But, if that’s true, why have I not been able to stop thinking about him since Chloe said his name two nights ago?