Just friends.
CHAPTER TWENTY
NATALIE
I’ve always loved Lovers. It’s the perfect small town that does all the small-town things. The first time Tobias brought me here was the summer after we met. Grandma Betty had just moved here, and there was a festival happening that took up their entire main street. Mind you, it isn't very big. The population is a few hundred at the most. This town is known for Lovers Lodge. It brings in all the business. The food and the people throughout the rest of the town are what bring people back summer after summer.
Still, the first festival we attended was called the Fourth of July Recovery Festival. Of course, the town had just thrown a huge party for the Fourth, filled with tourists who were staying at the lodge, but the recovery festival was just for the town. Most of the tourists were gone after the holiday.
It’s no wonder people love this town.
This week, however, is the fall festival. It happens every September, and tonight is the first of the five nights, and they’re kicking the week off with a new event. About a year ago, a dance studio opened up. The woman who opened it used to be a backup dancer for multiple musicians and pop stars. She knows all genres of dancing. From what Grandma Betty has told me, not only do adults love it when they come here for a wedding at the lodge, but families love it because she offers day programs for kids. Parents can drop their kids off for a couple of hours at a time.
If I ever decide to leave Wind Valley, Lovers will be next on my list. It’s the kind of place I could see myself raising kids.
Tobias stopped into the local bakery to grab his grandma's favorite cookies, and I opted to wait outside. Now that my mind has drifted to kids, my eyes drift toward Lovers Lodge. It’s not right in town, but from the main street, you can see where it sits at the base of the mountain, with the lake behind it.
The first time I came here with Tobias, aside from the festival, we rented jet skis to take on Lovers Lake. I wasn’t convinced that a lake at the bottom of a mountain could be warm enough, but boy, was I wrong. Lovers is the little town that has exactly what you need even when you think it won't.
A little girl runs past me, giggling as a little boy chases her.
Kids were just around the corner for me and my life. Maybe only a year or two away, and now … I don’t know when that’s going to happen for me or if it ever will.
I scroll online more than I should admit these days, and the number of single adults out there who are my age is high. They don’t want to deal with the bullshit of dating, so they prefer to stay single. Is that what’s going to happen to me? Did I miss my window, and all the single ones who are left don't want a committed relationship?
“Got them,” Tobias says, stepping out into the sunshine and holding up the bag of cookies. “Now maybe I can get back on Grandma Betty's good side.”
We fall into step together.
“What made you decide that you don't want to commit to anyone?” I ask out of the blue—well, it was out of the blue for him.
He glances at me but keeps walking.
“I thought we talked about this that day in my office at home. I didn’t see the point in committing if it wasn’t the right girl.”
“But how did you know? How do you know you didn’t miss her?”
Our steps slow as we near the festival. It looks like the dance instructor is teaching a choreographed dance, and people are loving it.
I spot Quinn and some guy I don't know. Grandma Betty is right next to them with Mike, and they all seem to be having a good time.
“I know I didn’t,” Tobias says, pulling me back into our conversation.
“But how do you know?” I repeat.
“I just do. It’s a feeling I get.”
“A feeling?”
He nods.
“Care to elaborate?”
“Sure. But can I ask why you want to know?”
“I’m trying to figure out at what point in my life I’ll know that I’m going to be a bachelorette forever.”
“What?” He stops abruptly. “Why would you think that?”
