“But in a fun way. People like him… Prom King, football star… Maybe people like that don’t change? That fuckingPamdidn’t. She’s even more of a nightmare now than she was back then.”
“I think I need to believe that people can change. If I don’t… Well, that’s really fucking depressing, isn’t it?” Her fingers ran through my red hair, and it felt relaxing. I really needed it.
“Why are you asking me? I live in a state of perpetual depression.”
“No, you don’t,” I laughed.
“Anxiety then.” She giggled.
“That I believe. Maybe he has. Do you think I should talk to him if he does come back like he said?” I caught my breath and waited for her to answer. I really needed her to tell me that it was okay. I needed permission, and that was utterly ridiculous. I knew it, but I still needed it.
“We don’t know his life any more than he now knows ours. Ten years, boo… A lot can change in ten years. If you want to, maybe you should.”
“You are truly a contradiction and a puzzle.”
“That’s what all the boys say. So?”
“We’ll see, I guess. He’s still handsome as shit.”
“Yeah, that polo looked like it would rip off his torso with a gentle flex. It’s not fair. His biceps got even more sexy.”
“No one ever said life was fair, Tammy Sue. If it was, he’d have lost his hair and had a big beer belly.”
“You can say that again. However, I really like a belly. God, I’m horny.”
“Aren’t we all?”
8
Percy
Isometimes feel that the Basin Grocery is like a second… er… third home to me. After the oven situation came to its trash fire conclusion, I had to pivot. At least the insurance accepted the claim, and I’m truly grateful for that. However, because the oven was so old, they would only cover a portion of the cost of the new oven.
Fuck my life.
I have slowly drained my savings since moving back here. Now, I have to dig deeper and pay up for a new oven that will help me keep the business open. It’s always something, and I should have understood that. The bakery hadn’t been updated in almost any way over the last thirty years. There’s so much that I would love to change, but for that to happen, I needed to be running in the black again. The bakery being closed for almost a year before I came back home hurt the bottom line. Now I’m digging my way back up.
Maybe this was all a mistake? Maybe I should just sign the papers and sell this place? Am I being an idiot? I thought of howBen made my stomach feel like butterflies and lead all at the same time – even after all these years.
“Yes,” I said to the peanut butter chips I was holding. “I am truly the world’s biggest idiot.”
“You’ve never struck me as an idiot.”
I froze like a deer in headlights.
“You were always smart and had a good head on your shoulders,” he said gently.
“Are you following me?” I started down at my peanut butter chips.
“I may be many things, Percy, but a stalker is not one of them.”
“Feels like it.” I snorted. “Last night and again today.”
“It’s a small town,” he chuckled, and I turned slowly to face him. Fuck… That smile broke me. “I’m staying at the Inn down the street. It’s really nice. This place has and hasn’t changed over the last ten years. But you surehave.”
“Have you?” I asked pointedly.
His shoulders slumped. “God, I hope so. I’m… I was… I’m sorry, Percy.” The force of his apology almost made me want to fall to my knees.
