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I force a smile. “Sure.”
Mr. Croft matches my smile, though his looks more authentic than mine. For a few moments, his razor-sharp blue eyes pierce into me, cutting into my façade. “Nervous?” he asks.
I shrug, but it’s not convincing. Thankfully, he doesn’t press the subject and asks me about work instead. It’s then I remember; I haven’t even told Wyatt about my retirement yet.
Before I can respond, a car pulls up and a delighted squeal pierces through the air like a siren.
“Well, look who it is, Wyatt Croft and Logan Black!”
The three of us turn to look at the blonde as she climbs out of her car with as much elegance as a deer on ice. A swish of golden locks catches the sunlight, near blinding me, then she walks up the drive, her heels clip-clopping like a horse. I clench my jaw.
“Shelly, nice to see you again.”
Shelly Bones is the last person I want to see. If she even gets a whiff of my news, it’ll be spread through the whole town within the hour. She has the unique ability to spread a scandalous rumor, tarnish somebody's name, and do it all with a pleasant smile on her face: as if butter wouldn’t melt. Before she can hit me with a round of twenty questions, a thump from across the street causes the perfect distraction.
“Wait a second, is that…” Shelly shields her eyes and points across the road. “Oh my gosh, it’s Josie Wosie!”
I freeze.
Shelly had nicknames for all the girls in high school. I haven’t heard the words Josie Wosie since Senior Prom, and there was only one Josie in my high school.
My Josie.
My stomach flips.
She’s not mine. She hasn’t been mine for years.
I squint and catch a flash of dark hair from behind a trash bin. Then a cute butt, clothed in blue denim, peeking out from the other side.
Shelly calls out and there’s a sudden movement, followed by a yelp, as the woman crashes to the ground. Then she scrambles up; limbs flailing and hair flowing wild past her shoulders like she can’t keep her balance.
“Oh hi! I didn’t see you there.” Her cheeks are flushed, and she waves a jolly arm in the air.
I have no idea what she’s doing hiding behind a trash bin, but I don’t care.
My body moves on autopilot, like she’s a magnet and I’ve got no choice but to zoom to be at her side. Shelly and Wyatt follow, and before I know it, I’m facing my former flame, the heat of her cheeks flooding me with warmth.
“What were you doing behind that garbage bin?” Shelly asks, not even trying to hide the disgust in her voice.
Josie tucks a lock of her hair behind an ear with a fake laugh. “Huh? Oh, I dropped an earring.”
I watch her squirm under our watch and notice the two sparkly earrings in her ears. It’s a lie. We all know it. Thankfully, Shelly doesn’t press.
“Right,” she says, giving Josie an odd look like she’s trying to measure her up.
My mouth is glued shut as Josie makes small talk with Shelly and Wyatt.
I use the moment to take in her appearance.
She’s smaller than I remember. Or maybe I’m bigger. My eyes travel down to her narrow waist, and flashes of memories cross my mind's eye of all the times I wrapped my arms around her.
Her hands are bony and slender, with pretty natural nails; a stark difference to Shelly’s claws.
She’s dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt, and it’s like she hasn’t spent a day away from Snowdrop Valley. I can just picture her climbing into the back of her dad’s pickup truck to go on a hunting trip.
I swallow and find that my lips are stuck to my teeth. When did it get so hot?
Every now and again, Josie’s sparkly eyes fly in my direction, but she keeps a polite smile on her face as Wyatt shares one too many Lord of The Rings facts that nobody wants to know.
