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“Hey girl!” I say as she approaches me. She has a menu in her hands but her eyes never meet mine. Instead of her usual smile, her mouth is set in a straight line.
“Hey, normal seat?”
“Uh… yeah, that would be great.”
I have no idea what’s going on, but I really don’t like it.
I follow Sally as she leads me to my favorite people-watching booth. The hustle and bustle of the season is definitely here in Winterberry, and I can’t get enough.
As I slide into the booth, Sally hands me the menu. “Do you want your usual sandwich? Or do you want to check out the menu for something different?”
“I’m going to go for your famous BLT,” I say with a laugh. But she doesn’t even crack a smile.
“Sounds good,” she says and walks away without another word.
Now that I’m alone, I notice people are still eyeing me as they eat. Hushed whispers go up around the diner, but I can’t make out what anyone is saying.
No one could have found out about who I really am, right? I haven’t noticed anyone taking photos of me. Wracking my brain, I try to figure out if it’s possible someone recognized me and just didn’t come up to me.
“Here ya go,” Sally says a few minutes later, placing my sandwich in front of me.
Before she can turn to leave, I say, “Hey, is everything okay? I feel like everyone is staring at me.”
“We all know, Penelope.” She says it so seriously, so matter-of-factly, that my heart stops beating.
Oh my God. I try to swallow but feel like there is something stuck in my throat. Someone recognized me and now everyone knows I’m not Penelope Smith.
“What does everyone know?” I whisper, fidgeting with my napkin.
“Your last name isn’t Smith and you’ve been lying to every single one of us.” She crosses her arms.
Instantly, my cheeks get hot, my breath hitches in my throat, and my hands start sweating. How does she know?
“Sally… I can explain…”
“I can’t wait to hear this one,” she whispers.
“Can you sit for a minute? I’ll tell you everything.”
She hesitates for a moment before slowly lowering into the seat across from me and resting her hands on the table. There’s a sadness in her eyes as they fill with tears. I need to come clean.
I wasn’t ready for this. I was hoping I’d be able to tell her on my own timeline, and I wanted Brent to be the first to know. I wish I knew how she found out, even though that really isn’t important.
“My name is Penelope Maxwell and I’m an actress,” I start, swallowing hard to try and dislodge the lump sitting in my throat. “When I broke down on Main Street, when Brent found me in my car, I had come straight from Manhattan. The morning after Thanksgiving, I was having coffee at my table when I saw the cover of a tabloid with my fiancé’s picture on the front. He was kissing someone else.”
I stop, trying to get a handle on my emotions. I feel like I could either sob, throw up, or pass out at this very moment. But Sally is my friend, and she deserves to know the full story, so I continue.
“I was heartbroken and embarrassed. I made the rash decision to pack my bags, put my phone and laptop in my closet, get in my car, and drive until I ran out of gas. Little did I know, my car would stop working and break down right here in Winterberry.”
She doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, and I fully expect her to get up and walk away from me, just like most people in my life have done.
“Why didn’t you say anything when Brent met you?” she eventually asks. “Why did you lie?”
“To be honest, I panicked. Not a lot of people want to deal with someone who has paparazzi following them all the time, and for once in forever, I wanted to feel normal. Like everyone else. So, I told him my last name was Smith. And I have been scared to tell him the truth since.”
“What did you think would happen if you did?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think I’d love it here, that I'd even be here past the night, and that I’d feel like I was home in Winterberry. Or that I would have feelings for Brent and that they would grow.” I pause, catching my breath before continuing. “And then, it never felt like the right time to say anything. I was scared I’d lose him, and you, and Nora. I was scared you’d look at me the way you are now.”
