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“I figured. Has he said anything to you?”
“Besides calling me ma’am and an awkward exchange where we both offered to skip dinner at his mom’s house but ultimately decided we could handle it? No, it’s been silky smooth.”
“Easy, Sassy McAssy. Maybe if we can just get you two alone in a room, you can hash it out. Or let it go and move on.”
“I’m not sure it really matters. In three weeks, I’ll be out of here and my path will no longer cross with Jared.”
Olive frowned. “Really? You’d give up the snow and country charm for the bright lights of La La Land again? I always figured you lived there because of Ian and work. Can’t you write anywhere now that you don’t work for The Darcy’s?.”
“I can. Believe me, I do not want to go back to LA. I sold our house, per Ian’s instructions, but I’m not sure what’s next. I was thinking I’d try New York. Or maybe Ireland. We have friends there and it’s gorgeous.”
“You have friends here, too,” Olive said softly.
Anna Beth swallowed hard. As much as she loved Olive, she wasn’t sure Snowy Springs should be her final destination. Even though things with Sarah were better, there wasn’t anyone else besides Olive who’d miss her if she left again.
How did they keep ending up on all the tough subjects?
“Let’s talk about you,” Anna Beth said. “Seeing anyone?”
Olive smiled like the cat who caught the canary. “I have a casual something-something with Vance, but other than that, nope.”
Anna Beth stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Wait, Vance Shepard?”
“The very one. We’re keeping it on the down low though, so shhh.”
“But…you hate Vance.”
Olive winked. “I don’t have to like him to enjoy him, sunshine.”
“Seriously? What do the two of you even talk about?”
“We don’t talk. That is the beauty of it.”
Anna Beth couldn’t understand sleeping with someone you didn’t care about, but Olive seemed happy. “You couldn’t even be in the same room together in high school. You two ripped each other apart every chance you got.”
“Now we just rip each other’s clothes off,” Olive said, winking. “That is the whole point of casual relationships. We do the deed, he leaves, I grab a pint of ice cream and watch whatever the hell I want. You know why I don’t want a man? Because I don’t want his
action movies gumming up my que.”
“So, find someone with similar tastes. You don’t like having someone to cuddle with?”
“Not at all. Cuddling makes me hot and grouchy.” Olive waved her hand. “I get that being in a relationship worked for you but some of us enjoy being alone.” Anna Beth must have winced because Olive’s face fell and she squeezed her arm. “Ah, A.B. I’m sorry. I’m an insensitive prick.”
Anna Beth smiled a little too brightly. “You’re fine, and you’re right. You’re young and you should enjoy all the wonders being single in your twenties has to offer. I just want you to find someone worthy of you, instead of sleeping with someone you can’t stand just to scratch an itch.”
“Vance isn’t so bad, now that we’ve both grown up some. Eventually I will start thinking of a future with someone, but until then, I’m living large. Besides, Vance is an excellent scratcher.”
“Gross, no details, thanks” Anna Beth laughed.
“Suit yourself.” Olive’s expression turned serious. “You know, you can have some fun too. You are single in your twenties. Have you been out with anyone since Ian…passed?”
Anna Beth didn’t want to think about dating. After spending months in a writer’s room with six men in their late twenties to early thirties, she’d learned a lot about the way men think and she wasn’t interested in being a punchline.
She’d dated sporadically through high school, but until Ian, she’d never had a serious relationship. She wasn’t quite ready to swipe right yet.
“I’ll get there. It’s hard to date as a widow. You get the guys who are super creeped out about it and then there are the ones who ask really awkward questions or talk about their dead pets, as if that’s somehow the same. I figure, if it happens naturally, fine. But I’m not really interested in actively seeking someone. Not yet.”
“I completely understand, but...what about sex?
