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“Oh...”
“C’mon, woman. Let’s get going.”
His mood mellowed once they were outside and headed toward the park and the gazebo. Though town had been busy on Monday and Tuesday, the crowds were markedly larger today.
They made one circuit all the way around the quad, stopping now and again to look in a shop window. Cate’s store—that’s the way she thought of it now—looked forlorn, as if it was sad to be missing all the excitement.
Harry stood beside her as she pressed her face to the glass. “Do you want to go inside?” he asked.
“No. I left the key at home. But it’s okay. Nothing has changed since we were here last.”
“Have you decided when you’ll want to have a grand opening?”
“I was hoping for Labor Day weekend. What do you think? There’s a lot still to be done.”
“It’s doable,” he said, “barring any surprises when we start ripping things out. These old buildings can break your heart.”
“Thanks for the pep talk.”
He kissed her square on the mouth, totally ignoring the people milling around them. “Your store will be wonderful, Cate. Just like you.”
When he said things like that, her heart squeezed. But she wouldn’t let herself go there. Harry could be affectionate without meaning anything by it. Cate was his temporary project. That’s all...
“Let’s go see the school,” she said.
The original Blossom Branch Elementary was two streets over behind the ice cream shop. Though a fancy new consolidated school had been built on the edge of the county closer to the interstate, this building was still used for board offices and other related departments.
Cate stood close to the shiny chain-link fence. It hadn’t been there when she was young. The single-story white brick building with the green tin roof was long and squat. A center corridor with classrooms, one deep on either side, meandered from one side of the property to the other.
Pine trees, lots of them, offered shade and a surface of needles where kids used to swing and slide and play kickball.
Cate sighed. “I spent six years of my life here, seven if you count kindergarten.”
“Is that why you and Leah and Gabby are such good friends?”
“No. We knew each other, played together at recess, but our families weren’t close. It was only when we arrived at UGA as freshmen that we met up again. I think we were all feeling a little shaky about being away from home. Picking up the Blossom Branch connection bonded us. And then I dragged both of them into sorority life. I like to think they enjoyed it.”
“But you and Jason go way back.”
She searched his tone for hidden meanings but found none. “Yes. We were in elementary school together. My dad moved us to Atlanta after that. Jason’s family made the same choice, but it was two years later, right before he started high school. He and I reconnected and started dating in college.”
“I remember that his parents wanted him to go to a prestigious prep school.”
“Exactly.” Cate knew she would never get a more organic opportunity. “So how did you and Jason get so close?”
Harry pushed on a gate. “This padlock isn’t locked,” he said. “You want to go sit on that bench in the shade?”
“Sure.”
There might be people working inside the building, but Cate doubted anyone would care enough to run them off. The respite from the July sun was welcome. She sat down and dabbed her forehead with the back of her arm. “Harry?” she said, prompting him to answer her question.
He leaned back and extended his legs, crossing them at the ankle. His expression was relaxed. “Jason and I aren’t first cousins. I knewofhim, of course, but I didn’t really meet him until a family reunion when he was six years old. I was sixteen and pissed because my parents made me go. Jason was either oblivious to my bad mood or was savvy enough to charm me. He followed me around the whole day.”
“That’s sweet.”
“It didn’t feel that way in the moment. I was already worried that one of my parents was going to cause a scene.”
“And did they?”
