Page 59 of Keeping it Local

He lit up, puffing his chest slightly. “Yeah, I own several places in town. Used to own a bunch in Detroit but now in Port St. Clair. Took a while to get the hang of being in a tourist town, but I’m enjoying it.” Johnny nodded toward me. “In fact, Beth had an opportunity come up to be in the rental game in Port St. Clair, right Beth?”

I froze.

I felt the color drain from my face, and I stood there, not responding, my feet glued to the ground.

This couldn’t be happening.

This wasn’t happening.

I felt both my parents turn to look at me in what seemed like slow motion and tilt their heads as if to ask what this stranger was talking about. And he was a stranger to them.

What was Johnny thinking bringing this up?

“Yeah, it came up, but it’s obviously not happening,” I said, still unflinching in my reaction.

“What’s not happening?” Dad asked. “What is he talking about, Beth?”

As I looked up at Johnny, his eyes got big, and he must have realized what he’d done because something changed on his face. An oh, shit look.

Oh, shit was right.

I tried to compose myself quickly. Taking a deep breath, I decided to let them know. “Mary? You know, the owner of the rental shop I work for?”

“Yes, of course,” Dad said.

“She’s selling the shops this year. She already has an offer, but she wanted to let me know in case.”

“In case, what?”

“In case I wanted to put an offer in… myself.” I felt myself put my business face on as I spoke with my dad. I wanted to let them know, but I also didn’t want them to worry about what this could or would mean. It meant nothing. “Of course, I told her I wouldn’t put an offer in. But it was nice to hear. Obviously.”

“Obviously,” my dad said, still looking unsure of what was going on.

My mom just looked at me, cocking her head to the side, as if silently asking for my opinion in all this. As close as we were, we also had different ways we interacted with the world, and I didn’t want her or my dad getting upset. We were already on edge from earlier.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

My mind whirled. I fumed at Johnny for bringing this up to my parents. At the same time, I was frustrated with the entire situation regarding the shops—and Johnny just put a giant spotlight on it. I would love running them, and I had come to love Port St. Clair. At this point, I knew that it wasn’t a viable option—not with everything going on at home—especially with the recent news. I’d teased myself with everything over the last several weeks. I had tasted freedom and independence, and there wasn’t another option at this point.

I wished I could live my own life on my own terms, but that wasn’t a possibility. As much as I could wish it, it wouldn’t change reality, and the reality was I was going home in less than two weeks.

I looked over at Johnny, who was deep in thought looking down at his beer. His head popped up, and I nodded toward the door.

“I’ll be right back. Going to check on our table.”

“Uh, okay,” my mom said, taking a seat next to my dad.

Johnny trailed behind me as I weaved in and out of the crowd.

Once we got to the front of the restaurant, I led Johnny outside, away from most of the crowd and all the people waiting for a table. He still had his beer in hand, and once we had a moment to breathe, I just looked at him.

“Shit. I’m so sorry, Beth.”

“What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t, clearly. I saw you and your parents walk in, and I wasn’t expecting to see you guys, obviously. Then, your parents walked over, and I think I just blanked out. I don’t know what happened. I’m just so sorry.”

I took a deep breath. I had to go back in there shortly. Otherwise, my parents would wonder what was going on. “I just don’t know what to even say right now. I’ve been stressed out all week, knowing that they were coming into town.” I paused. “I knew I had to let them know, and you just blurted it out. You weren’t even supposed to be with us!”