“We didn’t know you were coming,” Marley said, beaming at the couple.
“Well, I wanted to bring my bride here, where I spent so many years.” At this, the man brought his companion forward to shake James’s and Marley’s hands. “This is Ellen. My love, this is Ms. Davis and Mr. Wymack.”
After they said hello, James turned to introduce me and Will to the couple. “This is Fred Bailey and his wife Ellen. Fred’s the teacher who retired so I could have a permanent place at the school.”
“That’s not exactly true,” Mr. Bailey corrected. “I took an early retirement so I could spend my golden years with the love of mylife, who I’d been foolishly apart from for far too long. Helping Mr. Wymack was merely a byproduct of that decision.”
James looked at the older man fondly. “Of course. That’s exactly how it happened.”
“Though I am slightly concerned about what’s become of the students in my absence,” Mr. Bailey continued. “I overheard two of them heatedly discussing ‘bags of beans’ and ‘sovereign glue.’ I swear the kids will never stop coming up with ridiculous code words for drugs.” He said it with a straight face, but there was a twinkle in his eye.
“Must be kids from the D&D Club.” Will chortled.
“That’s right.” James grinned. “Don’t let Mr. Bailey fool you into thinking he’s old and stodgy. He’s sent us postcards from three continents in the past year, plus pictures hiking in Japan and ziplining in Costa Rica.”
“The ocean was lovely there,” Ellen said wistfully. “So blue.”
“My Ellen was the most beautiful woman on the beach,” Mr. Bailey asserted. “For now, we are in town through the holidays, and we’ll be back in the summer for your wedding.”
“Good,” Marley said. “If it didn’t work with your schedule, we’d have had to cancel the whole thing.”
Mr. Bailey’s lip twitched.
I pulled out my phone and asked the older couple to do a quick interview about their travels and being in Coleman Creek for the holidays. Then I did a few Q&As with folks nearby. The sound quality would be terrible, but I’d learned some tricks over the years. I also had a mic attachment, which helped. If worse came to worst, I could always use subtitles.
Mr. Bailey and his wife talked about wishing they hadn’t waited so long to be together. Daniel didn’t want to talk on camera, but he let me film him playing the guitar while he tried not to glare. Fel and the other student council kids gleefully told me how they couldn’t wait to leave Coleman Creek aftergraduation. But they also spoke excitedly about the upcoming holiday talent show—agreeing no one could top last year, when Mr. Wymack declared his love for Ms. Davis—and they were eager to check out the rest of the carnival once their shift ended.
As Will and I walked away to explore some of the other booths, I held on to him with one arm while keeping my phone ready to capture more footage.
“I remember feeling exactly like Fel and his friends,” I said. “Thinking all this small-town stuff was dumb and wanting nothing more than to get out. Living here these past few months has really put that all in perspective.”
“You do seem to love it.” Will gazed around thoughtfully. “Although, to be fair, when we spent that night together in Seattle, you seemed at home there, too. You were in your element at Musicbox, and from everything you’ve said, you fit in at Kolya’s.”
“Fair. But it’s like we talked about the other day. With personas. It’s not that I don’t like the city. It’s that I have to work harder there. In Coleman Creek, I never feel like I’m putting on a show. I’m just me.”
“Will you be okay when you go back to Seattle? Or is that even still the plan?”
I loved that his question allowed for the possibility I might not return to Seattle—Will seemed to be the only person in my life who didn’t take it as a given. I needed to tell him I’d decided to move back home, but this wasn’t the time or the place for that discussion. Bren ought to be the first person I told, considering that, until a few months ago, I’d lived with her for a decade. Besides that, I wanted a few more days to sit with the decision solo, to conquer the small part of me which still viewed returning to Coleman Creek as an admission of defeat.
I replied with a partial answer.
“This whole time I’ve been thinking crashing with Marley was a stopover for me, a chance to regroup. But maybe what I need is to start over entirely, not just reset. I have a life in Seattle. All my business contacts are there. I have friends, including a best friend I’m used to seeing every day. Leaving all that would be huge.”
“I understand. When I left my family company and founded Yardhouse, I realized almost immediately I hadn’t gone far enough. Staying in the finance world had been safe, but it wasn’t where I wanted to be.”
“Do you think your future is in renovating apartment buildings?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m not sure I’d do it again, even though I loved the process. I don’t know what’s next, but I enjoy managing the apartments better than anything I’ve done before.”
Will laced our fingers together and sighed contentedly. That’s when I noticed Kasen twenty feet away, walking alone.
“Kasen—Hey!” I called out.
He glanced over, and I saw theI’m trying to figure a way out of this, but I can’texpression pass over his face before he waved back.
I knew Marley worried about her ex, worried she’d hurt him deeply when he’d asked to get back together last year, and she’d told him about James. I hoped Kasen could see everything had worked out for the best.
But I guessed knowing that didn’t automatically make things easier. And Kasen had been like family to me for the eight years he’d dated my sister. I wanted good things for him.
