Page 127 of Where Roads Lead

“And,” he continued, “I’d bet money you can’t remember a single thing he told you about his personal interpretation of the true meaning of Fight Club.”

His eyes blazed, daring me to prove him wrong. But again, I came up short.

Being me, I felt like I had to say something, if only to prove to him that he couldn’t get away with acting so superior over matters he had nothing to do with.

“Again I ask, how the hell would you know what I find interesting or not anyway?”

“Because I know you, Elsie. And he doesn’t.”

Hazel eyes bore into mine, waiting for me to deny it. But it turned out that he did know me.

At least, he knew me well enough to know I wasn’t a liar, and not very good at pretending, either. So, he didn’t wait long before he shrugged, put his hands in his pockets and left me to dwell on things I’d already realized.

I’d never seen a fire so big in person (aside from the one currently consuming my personal life), and didn’t know how close I was supposed to get.

I’d never been to any event like this before. A bonfire like the one in front of me was enough to break at least a thousand fire codes back in Boston. But I guess since the sheriff was here, looking untroubled with a beer in his hand as he chatted up the locals, I figured it must be safe enough by Colbridge’s standards.

“So, what do you think?” Theo asked, sitting beside me on a massive log. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“I’m definitely not cold anymore,” I agreed, wondering if the sparks that kept flickering out from the base of the fire might set me ablaze any second.

The fire let out a thundering crackle, and I flinched. Theo picked up on it with an easy laugh.

“So, you’re not much of a camper, then?”

“I wasn’t allowed to be much of a camper,” I specified. “My parents and the woods? Not a combination that would ever happen, even if my very existence relied solely on them becoming besties with Smokey the Bear.”

“Noted.” He nodded with a smile that would make any dentist proud. “But what about the rest of the night? I know it’s just a lame local fest, but—”

“Colbridge isn’t lame,” I said defensively, somehow protective of this town I’d only been in for two months. “It’s wonderful.”

“Wonderful?” He laughed. “I don’t know about that.”

“Why not? You have a community. Families who’ve been here for decades. You can walk anywhere you need to get to. You get to see your neighbors every day—”

“That’s just it,” he said. “It’s almost as if we’re in a bubble. We see the same people. Go to the same places. Live the same lives our parents lived. Nothing new ever happens.”

“If nothing ever changes here, you could always change. Go somewhere new, I mean. Start a life from the ground up in some foreign, exciting city.”

“I guess I could.” He shrugged halfheartedly. “It’s just…Colbridge is all I know. I know that sounds stupid—”

“No.” I shook my head. “It’s not at all. It’s hard to leave what you’re used to, even if it’s familiar in the worst way.”

He laughed, taking a sip of beer.

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

“Maybe I am.” I sighed. “I never said it was easy to uproot my life and come here.”

“I doubt that it was,” he said in a way that endeared me toward him more than ever before. “But whatever it cost, I’m glad you were brave enough to do it anyway. This town has been different since you got here. I think we all needed a change of pace.”

“Yeah?” I asked hopefully.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I mean, you were like this brand new hurricane that rolled into town. You gave everyone something new to talk about. Hell, you even got Will to drop the chip off his shoulder.”

At the mention, we both turned to stare in his direction from across the fire, where he was glowering into the flames while someone sat beside him, trying to engage him in what seemed to be a one sided conversation.

“I mean, at least some of the time,” Theo amended.