“I think she’s half expecting that to be the surprise,” Giles said. “She told Mattie yesterday that if you parked at the base of the mountain and brought out another snowboard, she was walking home.”
That made me grin. “I should do that to mess with her.”
“She’ll like what you have planned. I’m glad you’re taking her out. She needs to loosen up a little. She’s constantly on her computer, obsessing over an interview or a rejection letter. It can’t be healthy.”
Giles had actually given me the idea of where to take Frankie.
“I’m happy to provide a distraction. It’s my specialty,” I said, not even kidding. That’s what I’d become known for—lightening the mood with a joke when things got too serious or planning a pointless day trip to distract someone from something heavy. It was the role I’d played my entire life.
“I should go,” I said, even though my only plans were to sit around alone in my apartment. “I’ll let you get to your night.”
We said our goodbyes, and Giles walked in the direction of his house while I turned toward my apartment.
When I strolled up the driveway to the stairs that led to my front door, Bev’s garage opened. I scooted out of the way as she backed her car up.
“Want me to pick you up anything from the store?” she called.
“Nah, I’m good, thanks.” I stopped at her window and leaned against my snowboard.
Bev shook her head in disapproval. “I don’t know how you exercise all day and hardly eat.”
I chuckled. “I eat. I just don’t cook.”
She brushed off my flippant response. “Fine. Whatever.”
“Have a good night, Bev.” I waved as she pulled out onto the street and drove away.
I took the stairs to my apartment two at a time and pushed open the door. The studio was a small square of a room, with a kitchen on one wall, a bed in the back corner, and a small living room setup taking up the rest of the space. It was cozy, though. Apparently, Mattie had lived here for a while when she’d first moved to Key Ridge. She’d joked with me that it was a rite of passage to falling in love with the town. I told her I had no intention of staying past the winter, but she’d just said, “We’ll see.”
I stripped off my clothes and hopped into the hot shower, cranking it up a few degrees hotter than I would normally deem tolerable. Once I’d properly seared myself, I pulled on some gray sweatpants and a worn navy-blue hoodie that saidOutdoor Adventureson it from the wilderness store I used to work at.
The small kitchen had barely been touched since I’d moved in, but I still pulled open the fridge door as if expecting food to magically appear. It was empty, except for the randomcondiments in the door and the one carton of eggs I’d purchased. The thought of scrambled eggs for dinner made me gag on the patheticness more than the taste. I slammed the fridge door shut and pulled out my phone to scroll for dinner ideas.
There was a sandwich shop at the edge of town that I’d yet to try. I’d do that.
But as soon as I put on my coat and my boots, I’d already changed my mind. Because a sandwich alone was equally as sad as staying in this apartment by myself.
There was only one place I could go to feel slightly less alone right now. I hustled down the stairs, and toward the entrance to Marie’s.
I was more than prepared to scarf down yet another salad just to see her.
TWELVE
Frankie
“Areyou finally going to tell me what we’re doing?” I asked, as Oliver stepped out of his SUV and slammed the door shut behind him.
“What are you doing out here?” He looked perplexed as he approached, offering a hand to help me up from the front step—the same one I’d been perched on for the past fifteen minutes. Nerves had kept me up all night and left me barely eating the day before. Spending time alone with a guy like Oliver? Definitely not something I did often. I’d felt the same jittery tension before our snowboarding lesson, and the fact that I hadn’t exactly impressed him that day did little to ease my discomfort.
“Waiting for you?” It came out like a question.
He tilted his head. “I would have come and knocked on the door. I’m not a complete degenerate.”
I hoped he didn’t notice the slight shake of my hands as I held up my coffee mug. “I figured this way, you wouldn’t have to wake Giles and Mattie. They’re sleeping in today.”
The three of us had gotten a little too wine drunkyesterday—well, mostly them. Like I said, bundle of nerves over here. Mattie had noticed that so she’d broken out our favorite childhood board game and we’d all gotten way too into playing it. They had continued to play for hours after I’d gone to bed. I could hear them as I tossed and turned and stared at the ceiling.
Oliver still looked a little displeased at the fact that I was waiting outside for him, but he shook it off and placed his hand on the small of my back, leading me to his car.
