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“Wow. This is not what I was expecting.” I shrugged out of my coat. We sat at a booth in the front of the building, with a frosty view of the action on Main Street.
Serena wrapped an elastic around her hair, pulling it back into a ponytail, and trained her eyes on me. “What should I tell them?”
“Tell who what?” I was confused.
“What are you doing here in Chance Rapids?” she asked.
I sighed and clasped my hands on the table in front of me. “There’s no use in making something up.”
Serena cast a glance around the room and then leaned in. “This sounds juicy.”
My laugh came out as a surprise. “It’s not. It’s just stupid.”
The waiter, a handsome man wearing a leather apron and sporting a beard and a man bun, rattled off some of the specials. Serena held up her hand. “Charlie. I’m going to stop you there. Julia and I are in the market for a bottle of wine, not beer.”
“Red or white?” Charlie asked.
Serena looked at me. “White.”
I liked both but preferred white in the afternoon.
“Chardonnay it is then.” Serena handed Charlie the drink menus and he disappeared into the crowd.
“That’s Charlie. Emma’s boyfriend.”
“Emma?” It took me a minute to remember everyone that Serena had pointed out on our walk-through town. “Of course, the flower shop girl.”
“You got it.” Serena nodded. “Now, spill.”
After having just met her, I felt surprisingly comfortable with Serena. I also felt like I needed to get the story off my chest. And, I wasn’t going to make up some lame excuse—the real reason I’d come to Chance Rapids was ridiculous. “I’m working on my thesis for school. I’m a philosophy Ph.D.”
“Wow.” Serena’s eyes widened. “That’s impressive.”
I was a thirty-five-year-old student who still waited tables; it didn’t seem that impressive at all. “I’m in the research phase and decided to get out of the city.”
“That’s not ridiculous.” Serena’s eyes were warm as she smiled at me. “Why Chance Rapids?”
“That’s the ridiculous part.” It was time to say it out loud. “I met a man here ten years ago. It felt like we were destined to meet, the craziest synchronicities kept happening. I didn’t believe in any of that stuff until I met him. But, as strong as the forces were that seemed to be bringing us together, they also were working to keep us apart.”
“Does he live here?” Serena asked. Her eyes were glued to mine.
I chuckled and shook my head. “That’s the crazy thing. We met at the ski hill ten years ago; we were both here on vacation. I’m not expecting to find him here, or try to rekindle something. I just feel like there is something special in this town, and I wanted to come back to see if it could happen to me again.”
Charlie arrived at the table with a bottle of Chardonnay on ice and poured Serena a taster, which she wordlessly approved with a smile and a nod. While he poured, Serena gestured to me. “This is Julia. She’s visiting for a little Chance Rapids magic.”
I wanted to crawl under the table, but Charlie gave me a knowing smile. “Nice to meet you, Julia. I’m sure that the magic will find you here.”
Serena held up her glass. “To a little small-town magic.”
I tapped my glass to hers. “To new friends.”
“That’s just as good.” Serena smiled and then sipped her wine.
“I’d say it’s better.” Already I’d felt more at home in Chance Rapids than I had anywhere else in the world, including the city block I’d called home for the past fifteen years.
I explained my thesis to Serena and she seemed genuinely interested, and as much as she was beautiful, she was equally as smart. If she wasn’t so kind, I would’ve hated her. After our first glasses were finished, I was feeling relaxed and fully enjoyed our conversation.
“More?” Serena held up the bottle.
