I can’t remember the last time I celebrated it. I’m not sure I want to, but somehow I know he’ll want to.
“Then I’ll definitely take you to thesaloon.”
“Great.”
That feels so normal. Like such a normal thing to look forward to. I can’t remember the last time I celebrated my birthday, and I guess I should celebrate turning twenty-one. I hear it’s supposed to be fun. But nothing in my life has ever been all that fun.
Now that Dallas is back in my life, though…
He leads the way into the shop, and I’m dazzled by the surroundings. It’s small, but lovely. There’s a girl about my age working behind the counter. “Welcome in,” she says.
Just then, a woman comes out from behind a curtain stretched over a doorway. She has long, curly blonde hair and a serene demeanor. “Hi. I’m Sammy. This is my store. Oh. Dallas,” she says, as soon as she recognizes him. “I think your mom said something about you coming back into town.”
“Here for a few months, anyway.”
“That’s great.”
He clears his throat. “This is my friend, Sarah. I think Daisy called about her?”
“Ah. Daisy. Yes. I’m in an entrepreneur group with her. She did mention someone who was looking for a job. Is that you?”
“Yes,” I say. I look down and notice that the woman has just the slightest baby bump. “I don’t have any experience working in a retail store like this. Mainly, I’ve waited tables. But I’m moving to town and –”
“She’s a good friend of mine,” Dallas says.
“I do need help. Ryder and I have three kids, and a fourth one on the way, and honestly, I’m just exhausted. Between making the jewelry, going to the different trade shows… running the storefront is a little bit much. I have Allison working most days, but she’s also going to school.”
“Yeah,” the girl says. “But I have my schedule worked pretty well around all of this.”
“What are you going to school for?” I ask.
“Oh. Nursing.”
“That’s cool,” I say, and then I’m not sure what else I should say. I don’t really know how to do pleasantries and small talk and making friends. I especially don’t know what to do right now when I feel a desperation for both the job and befriending Allison. So I look at Sammy. “Well, if you have a position, I would love to see if I’m a good fit.”
“I have a feeling you would be a great fit,” Sammy says, and I don’t know why she’s so confident in that, but that confidence makes me want to be certain that I don’t let her down. Maybe I can build connections. Maybe I can make myself a community. I started to do that in Sisters. I was making slow progress with it. Learning how to be less of a feral animal and trying to actually be friendly to the people around me.
Maybe that didn’t end up exactly the way I wanted it to, but maybe here… Maybe here it can be different.
“Can I get your details, your phone number? Then I can look at my schedule and get you set up for your first training day.”
“That’s perfect. Really, I so appreciate this.”
“Not at all.Iappreciate it.”
“So do I,” says Allison.
I wonder if maybe we can be friends. I did make some friends at the diner, but none of them were my age. I haven’t had the chance to make a lot of friends my age. I glossed over my high school experience when I talked to Dallas earlier. But the truth is… It wasn’t very happy. I struggled. I struggled to connect to people. A lot of it’s on me. But I was soangryabout everything that had happened to me.
I’ve started a few new lives in the years since then, and I’m not sure that I’ve been particularly successful at any of them.
I’m left feeling so behind where Dallas is.
And I try not to overthink that.
I leave my information with Sammy, and we walk back out onto the street. “Want to take a stroll through town?”
“Sure,” I say.
