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“Listen, just let me figure it out, okay? Promise you won’t say anything to Knox, his mother, or anyone else in this town.”
She hesitated but then nodded her agreement. “Fine, but I’m not letting this go.”
She was telling the truth.
I wasn’t turning a blind eye to what Simone said, and I hated to admit it, but saying that Knox was my one true love really resonated with me. What if it was true? If he was actually the only man I’d ever love, what did that mean for me?
It wasn’t something I wanted to think about.
“Hey,” she said as we were walking past Kalili Jewels. “You mind if I pop in for just a minute? I hired some high school girl part-time and want to make sure she’s doing okay.”
I nodded my head and followed her inside. It was just past ten and the shop already had a few customers. While Simone made her way to the cash register, I busied myself with straightening up one of the displays, admiring the fact that my friend paid such close attention to detail on every piece she made.
“Never in a million years did I think Abby Ashford would show her ugly mug around here again.”
I turned at the sound of a man’s voice, one that wasn’t quite familiar but wasn’t completely unfamiliar either. “Excuse me, but who the fu-” I paused and squinted at the man behind the voice. “Caleb? Caleb Bishop?”
He smiled a lopsided grin and lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “Yeah, I guess the facial hair doesn’t do much to make me look like a grown man.”
I launched myself at him with a shriek, wrapping my arms around him and bouncing on the balls of my feet. “Look at you! Caleb Bishop… wow.”
From somewhere in the store I heard Simone laugh.
“I haven’t seen you since, what? Graduation?” I said, awestruck at the transformation that was Caleb Bishop.
Gone were the geeky, wire rimmed glasses that he wore all through school and were replaced by chic, black rimmed hipster glasses. His brown hair was slicked back in a perpetually tousled kind of way and the scruff on his face gave him a bit of an edge. But one thing was certain: Caleb looked damn good.
“You look great,” he gestured up and down with his hand and then almost immediately shook his head. “I wasn’t checking you out or anything. You just… you look good.”
I smiled. Good to know at least one thing didn’t change. He was still just as shy now as he was in high school.
Caleb and I had worked on the school paper together all four years of high school. It was fun and we always gave each other the best feedback. He really had been a good friend, always offering me an ear when my parents were stressing me out or if I was having issues with Knox. I appreciated his quiet demeanor and his writing skills. After graduation and after leaving the state we lost touch the way some high school friends do. But I still thought of him from time to time and hoped he was doing well.
High school hadn't been easy for Caleb. Being skinny and awkward had made him an easy target for bullies and he’d often come into class with a ripped shirt or snapped glasses, sometimes with sopping wet school books because some asshole poured soda on them.
“You do, too. How are you? Catch me up. Girlfriend? Boyfriend? I hear your dream came true, Mr. Port James Tribune.”
“I’m good. No girlfriend, definitely no boyfriend. Working there is crazy, but I’m loving every second of it.
In high school, he’d always talked about his goal of becoming a journalist in town. It was his endgame. The Port James Tribune was a good gig and one of the most popular newspapers on the south shore. “Wow, th
ings really went your way, huh?”
He nodded. “Yeah, surprisingly. I’m still living in town over by The Pelican. I wanted to stay close to my dad, you know?”
I remembered hearing that Caleb’s dad was still owning and operating The Pelican, a popular bar among the Port James locals. I’d met Joseph Bishop a few times and he was always supportive of his son’s dream of being a journalist. The two seemed to be two peas in a pod.
We made small talk for a while and I filled him in on my career in New York and he told me about his journey through college and finally landing a job at the PJT. It felt good to connect with him again and I felt guilty for not reaching out sooner, but I’d been so preoccupied with finding a new normal that I didn’t think to get in touch.
“So,” he said after a bit. “I’m assuming you spoke to your mom.”
I nodded my head, knowing what was coming next. “She may have mentioned something about an interview.”
“My boss is pretty adamant about it. Everyone wants to hear from you, Abby. You’re the town’s golden girl. I’m not here to pressure you into it, but I’d really love to hear from you.”
“I don’t know…” I trailed off, unsure. Did I want that kind of attention? I’d been radio silent on social media because of what happened in New York and I didn’t want to risk stirring the pot. But if my stalker was all the way back in New York how would he know about a small newspaper article in another state?
“Just consider it,” he said as we stepped outside of the shop and onto the back deck. Business was picking up and I could barely hear him over the raised voices of customers who wanted to know if it was sterling silver or nickel.
