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“How’s Thea’s nail?” Nora asked as I settled at the table next to her and started placing cooled treats into a plastic bag.
“Good. She was a good girl and left the bandage on for six days,” I said. “And thankfully her nail is growing in nicely. Sometimes they grow back twisted or at a weird angle.”
“Is it true Adam Barnes carried her to the clinic?” Stella asked.
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “Well, he carried her to the car and we drove to the clinic.”
“So you guys were on a hike together?”
Stella was a year ahead of Adam and me in school so we all knew each other.
“No. Thea and I went on our usual Sunday hike and Adam just happened to be there.”
“That was fortunate,” Aria Smith said as she pulled a fresh batch of biscuits out of the oven.
Aria isa nice woman and always helps out at the rescue, but she gossips like it’s her job. I made sure to keep my voice neutral when I answered.
“It really was,” I said. “Thea would have had to walk to the car, and probably would have caused more damage.”
Thankfully my answer put an end to the topic and we moved onto discussing the plan for the festival. I should pay attention, but while they discussed schedules, my mind drifted to Adam.
I haven’t seen him since Thea broke her nail. Granted, that’s partly because I’d been avoiding him like a cat avoids water.
When he asked me to go to dinner, my first thought washell no. But now that a couple weeks have passed, I’ve changed my mind about that. It might be nice to sit down andget caught upas he said. It might help get rid of some of the lingering feelings I’ve been having. Maybe the Adam I have feelings for doesn’t exist anymore.
Of course, since I’ve made that decision, I haven’t seen him. For more than a week, he sat on his back porch seemingly waiting for me to appear. I know that because I kept watch out my window and only let Thea out once he went inside.
I can only assume he’s changed his mind about wanting to get together.
* * *
Adam
I looked around the table,feeling a strong sense of déjà vu. Andrew and I have been friends with Liam, Ethan, Owen, Johnny, and Noah since kindergarten. We were our own little gang and experienced most of life’s milestones together. In fact, each of us had our first legal drink right here at the Rusty Skipper. The not-so-legal ones usually happened somewhere in the woods.
Back then, we rarely went more than a day or two without seeing each other. Yet here I sit having not seen them in person for nearly a decade.
“You’re not falling asleep over there, are you?”
I’d been so lost in my own thoughts, it took me a second to catch up and realize Johnny was talking to me.
“No, just taking it all in.”
“The man lives in Dublin and travels the world and he’s sitting here taking in the Skipper,” Noah said.
“But there’s no place like home, right?” Ethan added.
“That’s what they say.”
“Is it weird being back after so much time?” Liam asked.
“Yeah. I look around and everything seems the same as when I left, but obviously things have changed. People have changed,” I said. “But I’m glad we made this happen tonight. It’s been too long since we were all in the same room.”
They’ve visited me individually or a couple at a time, but that hasn’t happened in a long time. Once each got married, those trips stopped and we mostly stayed in touch via text. Occasionally we Zoom.
“And we have this clutz to thank for having you here in person,” Ethan said as he nodded his head toward Andrew
“I’m not the clutz, Vega is,” Andrew said. “She’s the one who misstepped.”
