“Sounds reasonable to me. I actually think you did the right thing.”
“You do? Because Beck is highly unlikely to change?”
“I do. But it has nothing to do with Beck. You have to figure yourself out first. We both know you adore each other, and now it’s pretty obvious you have the hots for each other too. So let’s pretend Beck really could show up emotionally for you as well.”
That was a perfect summation of everything, actually. Jules always did have a way with words. Her being a writer had always made sense.
“Okay.” The attendant came back with our wine. We thanked him for the refills as I looked out to the lake. It was always slow on a Monday, even in the spring. But this weekend, we’d be surrounded by people and those calm waters would teem with tourists. “I’m with you so far.”
“Best-case scenario, everything works out between the two of you. He buys the bar. Which is likely, right?”
“I think so. We didn’t talk about it much, for obvious reasons.”
“Let’s go with him buying the bar. That ties Beck to Cedar Falls. And now the two of you are in relationship bliss. Get where I’m going?”
“I do.”
“A pause button is a good idea, until you figure out what’s next. The last thing you want is for the two of you to work out but your dream job is in the city, or whatever.”
The idea of Beck and me “working out” seemed so far-fetched. He was more likely to break my heart than heal it.
“Problem with that is… what’s my dream job?”
“Are you asking me?”
“Maybe? I’ve asked myself and don’t have an answer.”
We polished off the bottle, and the charcuterie board, but eventually got hungry for real food. While Jules went up to the bathroom and texted Boo to pick us up, I closed my eyes and thought about our conversation.
Jules made a lot of sense. So maybe I had done the right thing? Problem was, that didn’t help clarify my life path. In the meantime, I completely forgot about Thursday.
“Speaking of wine,” I said when she sat back down. “I forgot to tell you. I ran into Thayle and Neo Grado at the festival. She invited us to a girls’ night at GVV on Thursday and even has an empty cottage… a bachelorette party canceled. What do you think?”
“I think, sign me up. A lakeside writer’s cottage? Sounds like a dream.”
“Only you would think of that first. Who works on a girls’ night?”
“Writing, at least the fiction, isn’t work for me.”
Jules wanted more than anything to make that her career. In the meantime she pieced together college writing courses and tutoring and all sorts of soul-sucking things while she worked on her own stuff on the side.
“I’m gonna ask Delaney and Pia. Who else?”
We chatted about Thursday, all talk of Beck and my future over. For now.
Problem was, my phone just buzzed in my pocket, and I reached for it more quickly than I should. When Beck’s name lit up and my heart did a little “pitter patter,” it was time to face reality.
Like it or not, pause or otherwise, I’d caught feelings for my best friend and would need to buckle up. It was about to be a bumpy ride.
25
BECK
“Yes, sir. No, sir.”
Speak of the devil. Mr. O’Malley had just asked about his daughter when the door opened. An unexpected surprise since she wasn’t due to work lunch.
“Actually,” I said, shifting my phone to the other ear as I put two sodas on a tray for Jenn, “she just walked in.”
