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The truck rumbles beneath me, and a grin cracks across my face. Then just like Pop used to do, I put the truck into reverse and sling my arm over the back of the passenger seat headrest. After backing out of the garage and locking everything up, I get on my way, carefully maneuvering the familiar streets.
The town center is just like I remembered. A big dog park in the very center with a children’s playground to the right. The trees I remember planting during a school community project are as tall as mountains with bushy leaves covered in a thin layer of snow.
The stores line the opposite side of the road with parallel parking that I could never really wrap my head around. Getting into the space was fine, but I always messed up reversing out of it. Thinking about it as an adult, it seems so straightforward. I don’t know what I was so worried about. It probably goes hand in hand with the shed monster—irrational thoughts creating irrational fears.
Hardin’s Hardware is the first in line and probably the biggest store out of them all, and the only store in town that has its own private parking area, but I suppose if the guys with big trucks were always parking in the street, the traffic out here would be a nightmare. Next to that is the post office, and assuming everything is just as it’s always been, it’s run by Macey Lockwood—a stickler for the rules and one of the biggest pains in my ass. At least, she used to be. Who knows, maybe she’s not so bad anymore. Maybe she found herself a man to scratch that itch and she’s chilled right out.
Next up is the best coffee shop in town, and the typical first job for the teenagers in town. I worked there for three summers in a row before they realized I was stealing the cookies while on shift and fired me. But I didn’t need the job, I just enjoyed the extra shopping money at the end of the week to add something nice to my closet. Sometimes that something nice was for me, and sometimes . . . that something nice was for Nick.
I drive by the dollar store and Blushing’s version of Ikea, filled with cheap furniture. There’s a real estate office and then finally the grocery store. As I pull into the space outside the grocery store, I try to remember what stores are on the opposite side of the dog park. I know there was a diner and a bakery, but I’m not entirely sure what else this part of town can offer.
Putting Pop’s truck in park, I pull the key out of the ignition and make my way to the sidewalk, and just as I go to step toward the grocery store, my gaze flicks back to the real estate office next door. I should probably check if anyone is in today. After all, it’ll be good to get a professional’s opinion on the upgrades the property needs. Perhaps someone could come by and give me an idea about where the property would fit in the market.
Striding up to the door, a nervousness settles in the pit of my stomach that I don’t quite understand, but as I curl my fingers around the handles and find it locked, the nervousness fades away.
“Oh, thank fuck,” I mutter to myself, before shoving my hand into my pocket and pulling out my phone. I take a quick picture of the signage in the front window with the realtor’s number and their opening hours, and yet for some reason, I don’t think I’ll actually use it. Perhaps I’m moving too quickly. Maybe I’m not ready to sell the home I grew up in and part with all of those memories. But what other choice do I have? I might never be ready.
Not wanting to dwell on it, I make my way into the grocery store and grin, finding it just as it was six years ago, and for once, I’m glad that some things never change. As I make my way around the store, collecting things and dropping them into my cart, my phone rings, and I quickly bring it to my ear.
“Hey stranger,” I say, a smile playing on my lips.
“You’re still alive?” Rena asks. “I was worried when I didn’t hear from you last night.”
“I’m sorry. Yesterday was exhausting. I went to bed holding my phone with the intention of calling, but I think I passed out before I could even find your number.”
“That’s what I thought.” There’s a slight pause, and I can almost hear her convincing herself not to ask the one question that’s probably been driving her insane, but I’m not surprised when her self-control falters. “Have you seen him yet? Is he just as delicious as he is in all the pictures? Ah, shit. I bet he’s even hotter now that he’s gone from the boyish early twenties into a real man.”
I groan, rolling my eyes. “No. I haven’t seen him, and I’m hoping to keep it that way,” I say, reaching for a fresh carton of milk before deciding better on it and grabbing another. After all, if I’m going to spend the next few weeks of my life bringing Nana’s home into the twenty-first century, I’m going to need all the coffee my body can handle. “Though my driveway just happened to be freshly shoveled when I got up this morning, and while my new bestie who drove me home from the airport was possibly the coolest guy I’ve ever met, I doubt I left enough of an impression to warrant him plowing my driveway in the middle of the night.”
“New bestie?” Rena gasps. “Do I need to feel threatened or excited about the possibility of this guy plowing you?”
“Uggghhhh. Stop. It’s not like that. The only thing Oxley is plowing is his boyfriend, and as for the bestie status, I don’t know,” I tease. “He’s a strong contender. We’re already sharing all of our secrets, and tomorrow night, he’s braiding my hair.”
“You’re the worst,” she mutters before her tone hitches up. “Oh, shit, Airy-Blairy, I have to go. The new yoga instructor just arrived and he’s fucking ripped.”
“Oh God. Try not to scare this one away.”
Rena laughs. “Who knows? Maybe by the end of the session, I’ll be the one giving him a workout.”
“I’m hanging up,” I tell her, rolling my eyes.
The last thing I hear before the line goes dead is Rena’s howling laughter, and all too soon, I come back to reality, walking around Blushing’s only grocery store. I finish loading up my cart, getting enough things to keep me going for at least a week or two, and as I step up to the register and start unloading my groceries onto the conveyor belt, I find a familiar face, only she finds mine first.
“Well, if it isn’t little Blair Wilder,” Bessy, the owner of the store chimes with a beaming smile as she scans the groceries. “I haven’t seen you in years. How have you been, darlin’? It’s a shame to hear about your poor nana. I could hardly believe it.”
Did I mention she’s a chatterbox?
“It came as a shock to me too,” I say, offering her a small smile, not prepared to be bombarded by my own feelings and rampant emotions today.
Bessy mimics my smile and pauses scanning for just a moment to reach out and lay her hand over mine. “You know the whole town is here if you need anything. We all loved Olivia, and we know what a big job you’d be taking on trying to sort through her estate,” she tells me. “We missed you at her funeral.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I wish more than anything that I could have made it back. I feel as though I’ve let her down,” I say, a pang of guilt spreading through my chest. “As for her estate, it seems to be a bigger job than I realized. Nana and Pop sure collected a lot of things over the years. I need to go through everything and figure out what’s meant for safekeeping, what’s for donating, and what needs to be thrown away.”
“You’ve definitely got your work cut out for you. I remember your grandparents being in that house when I was just a little girl.” Bessy starts scanning my groceries again and I find myself wishing she’d go a little faster. “So, this means you’re staying for Christmas?”
“Looks that way.”
Bessy’s whole face lights up, and I see the scheming before a word has even come out of her mouth. “Oh, that’s marvelous news,” she says as the rhythmic beep of the scanned products sounds through the store. “We have our annual Christmas fair coming up, and I need a few young ladies for theCatch A Cowboyevent. Wait. You’re single, aren’t you? You didn’t bring a special someone along for the trip?”
