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After a lot of cursing, loud banging, and the eventual tossing of an entire coffee machine into the trash, Jake loudly announces he’s going to a hardware store to buy Caroline a new coffee machine.
The older guy heads up to his room and Jesse finally comes in from outside. He pulls off his jacket and rubs his hands together. They’re pink from the cold.
“Get it fixed?” I ask.
“For now. He’s going to need to go see Mikey, though. I basically put bubble gum and tape on it to get him up the hill a ways.”
“Mikey still has my car, right? Have you heard anything from him?”
Jesse frowns. “No. Maybe we should go pay him a visit.”
“Road trip!” I announce loudly.
Caroline sticks her head out from the kitchen. “Are you stealing Andi from me already?”
“Just for a little. We’re going to go see if Mikey is done with her car yet.”
Caroline’s eyes flick between the two of us. “So, when are you two going to tell people, exactly?”
“Tell them what?” Jesse asks.
Caroline puts her hands on her hips and rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Just bring Andi back when you’re done, please. The Frostival is going to start kicking off soon and we need to get our butts in gear if it’s going to be the best holiday season Frosty Harbor has ever seen. Which it is.”
“We’ll try to be quick. Come on.”
I set down Caroline’s laptop and trot after Jesse outside.
“Hey, Jesse?” I ask.
“Yeah?” He pulls open the passenger door of his truck for me, gesturing.
“Do you think it’d be easier if we just admit to people that we’re kind of casually dating?”
He visibly winces, then leans over a little like he has to use the truck’s door to keep upright. “I think this is all a hell of a lot simpler if we keep it in house.”
I press my lips into a smile. “Like we’re playing house together?”
“It’s just an expression.”
“Okay,” I say, still smiling.
He sighs and shakes his head. “Bad things happen when you tell people about your feelings. That’s all I know.”
I tilt my head at him. “I’m not sure that’s objectively true.”
“Well, I am.” There’s a note of finality in his voice, so I take the hint and act cool. Super cool. That’s me. I’m cool as a freaking cucumber. Sort of.
I twiddle my thumbs. “You could make an argument that keeping things bottled up is actually what makes bad things happen.”
“Or you could argue the opposite,” he snaps.
One step forward, two steps back, and now we’re dancing again.
I’m grinning as I stare out the window and watch the main street of Frosty Harbor pass by. I spot Mia heading into a cooking supply store with Nolan and frown. That’s odd. I know she’s Caroline’s friend, but I didn’t realize she knew Nolan. Maybe they’re running an errand for Caroline. She seems to always have everyone in town running her errands, so it wouldn’t be that big of a surprise.
As we drive, I feel just the slightest sinking in my stomach. Yes, I’m trying to tackle this whole thing with enough optimism to knock out an elephant, but beneath the face-blasting of good, happy thoughts, part of me wonders if I’m setting myself up for epic disappointment.
As crazy as it sounds, running away from my wedding wasn’t really heartbreaking. It was more like realizing my heart was just dozing off in a corner somewhere when it was supposed to be playing the lead role. When I understood what was happening, walking away made sense. It was almost easy.
