Page 9 of Finding Happily Ever After
So much for professional.
ChapterFour
It had beentwo days since Natalie’s first-aid class at the high school and, to her surprise, she was actually looking forward to going back to teach it again. And no, she told herself again, it had nothing to do with the sexy Outdoor Ed teacher with the dark eyes and smooth voice. And even if it did, she had no business dating a man like that. Not that she knew anything about him. At all.
And hehadasked her to join him on a hike.
Them,she reminded herself. He’d invited her to join the class. Not him. It wasn’t a date.
Which was probably a good thing. Natalie hadn’t been on a date since…well, had sheeverbeen on a date?
Not unless you counted her freshman year with Brandon Ryan when he took her to the Fall In school dance. And she didn’t. Because that had been the night that ruined her life—at least, her high school life. She’d been so excited for that dance. So sure it would change her life. She’d been right. Her life had changed. But not for the better.
Still. Things were different now. She was older and she was over it.
Mostly.
But she’d never forget the whispers, the rumors, the lies, and, worst of all, the way all of her friends believed Brandon’s word over hers and cast her out.
Yeah, high school was not fun. Natalie groaned, just thinking about those days.
“Oh no!” Katie Banks, whom she’d only met once or twice, stopped next to her in front of the dairy case where she’d been lost in her daydreams. “Don’t tell me they’re out of coconut yogurt again,” Katie said with a groan of her own. “If I bring lemon home again, Damon will…well, he’ll just have to do the shopping himself.” She laughed and it was contagious. “Hi. It’s Natalie, right?”
Natalie grinned and nodded. She’d liked the outspoken brunette the few times she’d met her at the Hub, Katie’s new adventure store that rented and sold all kinds of gear for the myriad outdoor activities that Glacier Falls offered. “And you’re in luck.” She reached into the dairy case. “They have coconut.” She handed the other woman the yogurt.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Katie put it in her cart. “But I don’t understand. If they have coconut, why the groaning? Are you okay?” Instantly, her smiled dimmed and she looked at Natalie with genuine concern. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me, but I can’t help but ask when I see a friend looking so…” She waved her hand in the air. “Well, so conflicted.”
“Friend?” Natalie couldn’t help herself. She instantly felt like a fool for asking, but…it had been a long time since she’d made a new friend. Co-workers didn’t count. But a real friend…
“I hope I’m not being too forward,” Katie said. “But Glacier Falls is kind of a small town, and I know you’re new and then after the way you helped out Hope and the baby, well, you just seem like my kind of people.”
“No,” Natalie said quickly. “No. You’re not being too forward at all. And the baby, well… I was just—”
“Do not tell me that you were just doing your job.” Katie held up a hand, stopping her from saying just that. “Because yes, you were doing your job, but from what I understand, you did it with such compassion and care that you really helped to calm Hope down. I’ve known those girls long enough to know that that is no small feat. So that makes you a hero on a completely different kind of level.” She laughed and Natalie blushed. “And besides, the Turner twins are some of my best friends, and so by default that makes you my friend, too.”
Natalie couldn’t help but laugh right along with her. If Katie was going to force friendship upon her, she’d be more than happy to accept it.
“So anyway…” Katie changed the subject quickly. “You okay? You looked a bit…concerned when I walked up.”
A million things that shecouldsay raced through Natalie’s head, but ultimately, she went with the truth. Well, part of the truth. After all, it wasn’t usually considered good form to lie to a new friend. “It’s just that I was asked to go on a hike with a group of students at Glacier Falls High and quite honestly, I don’t—”
“Say no more.” Katie grabbed her hand and started to pull her away from her cart. “Let’s get you to the shop and—oh, wait.” She turned and shrugged. “Maybe we should finish up with groceries first andthenlet’s meet at my shop. Let’s say an hour?”
“Sounds good.” And it did. Natalie felt drawn to Katie in a way she couldn’t remember ever feeling with another female since early on in high school. Before the girls she’d thought were her best friends in the whole world all turned out to be back-stabbing gossips set to destroy her entire life.
But Katie wasn’t like that. She watched her newfriendmove away down the aisle with the promise of seeing her shortly.
Maybe Glacier Falls really would be the new start she’d been looking for.
Just over an hour later, as promised, Katie was waiting for Natalie in the Hub. As soon as she’d told her about the hike or snowshoe, or whatever it was—which she hadn’t even formally been invited to, or actually accepted—Katie went to work, pulling appropriate winter boots off the shelves and piling them up in front of where Natalie sat, trying on pair after pair.
“These seem okay.” She wiggled her toes in the boots. “I mean, they fit.”
“But are they warm enough?” Katie turned from where she stood at the shelf, another pair of much bigger boots in her hands. “You said you were goinghiking? Not snowshoeing?”
Natalie shrugged. “That’s what he said. A hike.Ora snowshoe. He wasn’t actually very clear on what it was.”
“Hmm…” Katie put the big boots down and moved to a different part of the store, hollering over her shoulder as she went. “Who did you say the teacher was? It’s not Doug Ivar, is it? Because I usually know about his trips.”
