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"Ah, small town life," Laney said with a shrug, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Gotta love how everyone's all up in each other's business. But hey, at least they all seem to agree that Natasha's bad news for Jake."
I nodded in agreement as we strolled through downtown, sipping our iced coffees. It was a much-needed pick-me-up after that snooze-fest of an end-of-year meeting. I mean, seriously, who decides to have a lecture on upcoming changes for the next school year on a Tuesday a couple weeks before school is out for the summer? It's like they wanted us to forget everything by the time September rolled around.
The real hot topic of the day was the latest addition to Patsy's Page, the online gossip hub of Sycamore Valley. Apparently, Patsy had nothing better to do than create a poll asking people whether they thought Jake would stay with me or go running back to Natasha. Because that's totally a normal thing for a sixty-six-year-old woman to do, right? "She's been gone for ten years!" one person commented.
"Yeah, she can't just waltz back in like she didn't abandon her daughter," another chimed in.
"And her husband," another added.
"Ex-husband," several corrected.
“I’m all for true love prevailing.” Well, who was Jake’s true love in this situation?. Me or Natasha? I hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty sure Jake's true love, or at least current love, is standing right here, and it sure as heck isn't Natasha.
I tried to focus on the positive comments, the ones that were rooting for me and Jake, but the constant reminders of Natasha's return and her history with him were starting to wear me down. It was like I couldn't escape her, even in the digital world.
Laney covered my phone with her hand. "Don't give that page your time of day. Patsy is a sixty-six-year-old woman. She shouldn't be meddling in peoples' private lives the way she does."
I let out a shaky breath, realizing just how tense I had become. "I know, I know. It's just so damn frustrating." I dropped my phone into the black hole that was my purse, making a mental note to clean that thing out before it developed its own ecosystem.
Laney nodded sipping her coffee and chewing on the straw."I can only imagine."
I shrugged, kicking a pebble with the toe of my shoe. "A little. He doesn't seem too worried. Says it's all nonsense and it'll blow over. Plus, Natasha hasn't been around much this past week."
Laney let out a laugh, shaking her head. "Yeah, he's probably right. Small towns, small minds, and all that jazz. But what about you? Are you okay?"
I plastered on my best 'I'm totally fine' smile, even though I knew Laney could see right through it. "Yeah, I'm good. Just trying to ignore it all, you know?"
She gave me a sympathetic look, bumping her shoulder against mine. "Good luck with that, honey. But if you ever need to vent, you know I'm here for you. And I've got a bottle of wine with our names on it."
I grinned, feeling a rush of gratitude for my friend. "Thanks, Laney.”
Deciding to move on from my hot gossip to someone else’s I said, “So Becca and Coach Jim are really hitting it off huh?” I asked, elbowing Laney. She laughed.
“Seems that way.”
“What about you? You don’t talk much about your love life,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows.
She sighed. “That’s because all the men I love are hybrids who don’t exist in our realm.”
“Yeah, interdimensional romances never work. I had thought you and Dan seemed to hit it off a little.”
She blushed and it made me smile. “Maybe. We’ve been texting, but it’s nothing serious. I might see him at the fire on Friday.”
“We’re going too. I’ll try to not make googly eyes at you two the way you and Becca made eyes at Jake and I.”
“You can’t blame us. That whole thing came out of nowhere.”
She wasn’t wrong.
As I was browsing through a rack of questionable sweaters, Laney held up a burnt orange cardigan that looked like it had seen better days. "Are you happy to be back in your cottage?" she asked, her eyes still glued to the offending garment.
I sighed, trying to find the right words. "The cottage is great, don't get me wrong. And in some ways, yeah, I'm happy to be back. But if I'm being honest? I miss being next door to Jake."
Laney put the cardigan back on the rack (thank goodness) and gave me one of her patented knowing looks. "Yeah, I bet. Have you thought about asking him about moving in together?"
I nearly choked on my own spit. "What? Laney, we've been together for less than two months. That's like, barely enough time to decide on a couple's Halloween costume, let alone move in together."
She arched her brow, and I could practically hear the gears turning in her head. "Look, Molly, when you date someone with a kid, things tend to move faster. Parents want stability for their little ones, and they need someone who's all in, you know?"
