Page 12 of Another June with You
He tilted his head and smirked, pushing the fridge door closed. He took the glass from her, avoiding her fingers in the exchange. Over the rim, he watched her as he drank. Her eyes were fixed on his, which made him self-conscious.
Her beauty overwhelmed him. Even more so than it used to. It felt like junior year of high school all over again. Her looks had intimidated him at first, but her warmth, kindness, and easygoing personality had quickly assuaged his nerves, and he’d never been anything but comfortable with her after that.
There was something different about her now—a standoffishness he hadn’t known in her before. Maybe it was because they hadn’t seen each other in ten years. Maybe it was the fact that he had a girlfriend. Or maybe she felt awkward about how they’d left things back then. How she’d left things, actually.
He set the glass on the counter and looked at the fridge again. “Seriously, that’s a lot of green in there.”
“I try to eat healthy, that’s all. I don’t cook big meals or anything, so …” She drifted off to somewhere far away for a few moments.
Micah wished he could invade her thoughts, know where she was, but it obviously wasn’t a place she wanted to share with him, so he motioned his head toward the bathroom. “Guess I should use the bathroom. That’s why we came up here, after all.”
“Right.”
He stepped into the little room, taking in the sea-foam colored towels and washcloths hanging over the bar and a vanilla candle on the counter by the sink. He looked at himself in the mirror and reached up to open the cabinet there, pushing aside what he knew her reaction would be—especially after snooping in her refrigerator. Lotion, nail polish, hair products—all the usual girly stuff. His eyes suddenly latched on to a round pink case on the bottom shelf. He took it in his hand before he could stop himself and popped the lid, already knowing what it was before he even saw the label inside. Why is Shannon on birth control?
His first reaction was to question her on it. Was one of those guys in the pictures her boyfriend? Was she sleeping with him? It was none of his business, really. But then why did he want to pummel somebody right now? He put it back and closed the cabinet, so flustered that he left the bathroom without using it.
“Let’s go.”
Once in the car, Shannon directed him to drive from her Kentwood apartment toward East Grand Rapids. He drove in silence, doing nothing to hide his agitation, while she pointed out buildings and houses that had been renovated or demolished. If she noticed the tension in his shoulders or how tightly he gripped the steering wheel, she ignored it.
Shannon pointed at a house they were passing. “Do you remember C.J. Doyle? He still lives there with his parents. Fired from yet another job, I heard.”
She mentioned a few more places along their route, but he couldn’t concentrate on what she was saying. That pink case in her bathroom was blocking out everything else.
“How often do you get back to Michigan?” she asked.
“I’ve been back a few times, but not for years.” Had she really not known that? Up until that moment, he thought maybe she’d wondered about him over the years—perhaps missed him—but now he doubted if she’d thought about him at all.
“I thought we could drive around and see how much this place has changed since you left.”
Micah drove up and down familiar streets from their high school days, and Shannon served as tour guide, sharing about local restaurants and businesses that had come and gone.
“Is something wrong?” she asked as they drove into Gaslight Village.
“Nothing.”
He wasn’t sure if she believed him or not, but she turned her attention back to the street.
“That building right there is where Jamie and I will soon have our own studio space.”
He looked at the old brick building with Simon Walker Photographer displayed in the window. “Very nice. Great location.”
“I know. We’re so excited. Simon relocated to Hastings to open a studio with his new wife, Maggie. They’re photographer friends of ours.”
“So, he’s giving you the space?”
“We’re meeting with the owner of the building this week to talk about taking over the space.”
“That’s exciting.”
“I know.” Her smile was the biggest he’d seen on her all day.
Micah drove past their old high school, and Shannon quieted with her hands clasped in her lap. She said nothing about the school. Despite their friendly conversation, he could tell she was holding back with him. Things were different now. They’d changed. They’d grown up, apart from each other. They were different people now. Weren’t they?
Being around her felt the same to him. But she was obviously different if she was sleeping with someone. He never thought she’d compromise her morals like that. Her purity was something she had held tightly to, something she planned to save for her future husband. Thinking she might not have waited brought on a myriad of emotions—jealousy, anger, insecurity, to name a few—and he wanted to say something, to confront her on it. But the words that kept trudging through his mind weren’t angry or confrontational, they were heavy with disappointment.
I wish she’d saved herself for me.
