AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks for celebrating with me about the job. I know it’s not much, but I’m excited,” Natalie said.
“Hey, it is a big deal. It’s amazing,” I said. “This weekend we can make a bigger deal of it.”
I definitely wanted to get her a present to celebrate, but I didn’t know what that would be.
“Sounds great,” Natalie said, holding her arms out for a hug. She held me for a moment, and I breathed in the scent of her hair. Was it mint? Something sharp, with just a hint of coconut.
“I’ll save you some chicken,” she said, and it took me a second to realize she was talking about leftovers.
“Sounds perfect,” I said.
* * *
“Gray could make something, he’d be happy to,” Linley said the next day, when I dropped into the bakery during lunch. I was here to pick up soup and salad, but I also needed her advice.
“He doesn’t have to do that, but it’s very sweet. Tell him I said thank you,” I said. Gray was the absolute best and if I was even remotely inclined to have a romantic attraction toward men, I would have a monster crush on him.
“I don’t know. I guess I need to think more about it.” Nothing seemed right. I’d already done a quick perusal of all the little shops in Castleton to see if anything reached out to me.
“She did say she wanted to start knitting,” I said.
“There you go. Why not get her a set of needles, or some cool yarn?” Linley said.
“I know absolutely nothing about knitting, so I probably need to do some research first. They have a club at the library, so I’ll swing over there tomorrow.”
Linley went to the walk-in refrigerator and pulled out the biggest box of strawberries I’d ever seen. Linley saw me eyeing them and pulled a few off the top and threw them on a little plate, pushing it toward me.
“Thank youuuuu,” I said. Linley was always giving her friends free food. It was her love language.
“Now I have a plan.” That was a relief. I hated not knowing what to get people for gifts.
Linley started slicing the berries and throwing them in a bowl for fresh strawberry pie.
“Can I order one for tomorrow night? I have dinner with my parents,” I said.
“Yeah, absolutely. You can pick it up, uhhhh,” she looked up at the ceiling and calculated, “around five. It’ll have to set in the fridge until tomorrow, though.”
That worked for me. I finished the strawberries, blew her a kiss, and then grabbed my order from her mom, Martha, in the front.
“I’ll be back to pick up a pie,” I told her as I walked through the door.
“You’d better,” she yelled. Linley’s mom was like her, in the sense that it was her life’s mission to feed everyone.
I was happy to let her.
* * *
I hadn’t seen Wyatt in a while, and it had been such a nice break, but that break was over.
I showed up at my parent’s house with a strawberry pie in one hand and a resigned smile on my face.
“Hey,” I said, walking in without knocking.
“Hey, sweetie,” Mom said, coming out to give me a hug. “It’s been so long, I feel like I’ve forgotten what you look like.” She stepped back and appraised me. “Just as beautiful as ever.”
I rolled my eyes and handed her the pie.
“Thanks so much, I’ll get that right in the fridge,” Mom said, taking me into the living room. Wyatt was already here, talking to dad about some sport thing, the TV blasting. Gretchen sat on Wyatt’s lap, pretending to be interested, but cheering just a second behind everyone else. Not the brightest tool in the shed, that one. Wyatt had gotten all the attractive genes in the family, with thick blond hair and a body that didn’t take too much work to look fit. Add a killer smile (courtesy of my parents paying for braces), and he was one of the best-looking guys in town. It bothered me how much Gretchen looked like Natalie in the face. Gretchen hadn’t gotten the curly hair gene, though, but pretended she had by getting perms and using curling irons.
