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I scoff. “No thanks. I am not in the market for a husband, especially not in Fawn Creek. That’s the fastest way to get stuck here.”
Avery smiles just on one side of her mouth. “I know. That’s why I’m going to find you one, so you can’t leave me again.”
When my expression doesn’t change, Avery frowns. “Fawn Creek isn’t so bad, you know. And I really love having you here.”
I turn and face her, putting my hands on her shoulders. “Avery, I love that you love it here so much.” I pause. “But the small town life just isn’t for me.” I smile and change the subject. “Maybe we should find you a husband instead.”
“Fat chance,” Avery says, while she sets up her ring light in the living room. “Cory will make sure that I never have a normal dating life ever again.” She snickers. “He’s going to continue to run my life either until Juliet is grown or until he falls into the dam and drowns while his drunk ass is fishing.”
I frown and watch her get just the right angle with her phone camera. I wish I could say that Avery is joking, but sadly, she’s not. Cory is terrible. He’s controlling, abusive, manipulative… the list goes on. When Avery and Cory began dating, he seemed like a great guy. She was happy, and he was head over heels in love with her, at least as far as anyone could tell. They got engaged pretty quickly, but no one gave it a second thought. Avery was so happy. We just thought that she had finally found the right person. It all changed after she found out she was pregnant with Juliet. Suddenly, Cory didn’t have to put on a show anymore, because he had her under his thumb and he knew it. Quickly, he became controlling. He told her how to dress and what she was and wasn’t allowed to do. He dictated who she was and wasn’t allowed to be friends with. It was disheartening to watch my bubbly social butterfly of a best friend suddenly become a pile of mush that couldn’t make a decision for herself. I thought she would never come to her senses again, to be honest. It didn’t matter what I or anyone else said. She was just not herself anymore. She seemed to think she had no way out. That is until he hurt her. When she was six months pregnant, he lost control of his anger and she ended up in the hospital. He only spent one weekend in jail, but that was just enough time for her to pack her things and get out of his house.
She may not be with him anymore, but he still has her under his thumb. He still questions what she does, spies on her, and picks fights. Then suddenly he is begging for her to go back to him. I’m constantly living in fear that one day she will, but I think Juliet helps to keep her strong. Although she has made a lot of progress, I am looking forward to the day when she is finally free from him. When she’s ready. Hopefully that’ll be sooner rather than later.
“Come on.” She commands, breaking my concentration. “Let’s get a couple of pictures before we leave. We will post them on your Facebook and Elliott can eat his stupid heart out over what he’s missing.”
I frown. After all the time we spent together, you’d think that I wanted him to see that I’m happy and thriving. But, I don’t. I don’t care how he feels about my new life and honestly; I don’t care what he’s doing either. For so long, I thought he was my soulmate, but if that was the case, it wouldn’t be so easy to be away from him, would it?
* * *
I pause at the entrance while Cassidy attaches Avery’s wristband. Turns out, Cassidy’s a member of the Mayfest Committee that helps run the entire festival. I’m not sure when that woman ever takes a break. How could she possibly have time to run a business and help keep the tourism of Fawn Creek alive? I can hardly remember to move my clothes from the washer to the dryer before they mildew.
“Avery!” calls a voice out of nowhere. We both look over to see her daycare provider with a beer in each hand, flagging my friend down.
“I’ll go get us a couple of drinks,” I say, nodding towards the beer garden, happy to avoid standing around talking to people that I don’t know.
While in line, I take part in one of my favorite hobbies, people watching. It’s only 7:15 pm and the main act doesn’t take the stage until 8:30, but the concert is already in full swing. The city blocked the street off with caution tape and plastic fencing, creating a makeshift concert arena. The stage is at the end of Main Street, overlooking the entire downtown area. Most of the shops have stayed open for the show, and people are popping in and out of the stores, shopping bags in hand. The other end of the street is full of food trucks and a couple of beer gardens. Dozens of lawn chairs filled with people are lined up, waiting for the show to start. A handful of concert goers are already two stepping in the streets. From college aged couples to daddies and daughters, everyone appears to be having the time of their lives. While I’m watching the dancers, a couple of small kids come barreling towards the line and I step back quickly, just in time to avoid being run over. When I step back, my heel lands on top of something that I wasn’t expecting. Panicked, I turn my body in a complete circle and begin my apology to the unsuspecting victim.
“Oh, gosh I am so….” But I stop short when I find myself face to face with none other than my neighbor, Andrew. “Sorry….” My smile falls and I feel my face grow warm with embarrassment.
“Seriously.” He sighs. “I’m beginning to think that you have no spacial awareness.”
I scoff. “Maybe you shouldn’t have been standing so close to me and you wouldn’t have been stepped on.” I say, crossing my arms over my chest, but with a small smirk on my face to show that I’m not angry. What I don’t quite expect is this new flirtatious tone in my voice.
He leans in towards me and whispers. “Believe me, I would have stood back, but this dude behind me has been breathing down the back of my shirt since we got in this line. I don’t know why he thinks he needs to be so close to me, but his breath is hot and sticky. I’d way rather be close to you than be close to him.”
I snicker and look over the back of his head to see who he is talking about. The heavy breather behind him has to be over six and a half feet tall, has long greasy hair and is definitely standing six inches too close. His beer belly, which is not completely covered by his Metallica shirt, is nearly smashing into Andrew’s back.
“Okay.” I say in a low voice, “I’ll forgive you for being in my bubble if you forgive me for smashing your toe.”
“Deal.” He says, slightly leaning into me. It’s not lost on me that I really don’t mind the proximity of his mouth to mine. “Does this mean we’re friends now?” He raises a brow at me and shifts his eyes from side to side.
I offer him a shrug. “I mean, I don’t know if I would go that far.” I say with a smirk. “But you saved me from a snake, so maybe we are just no longer mortal enemies?”
“Okay, I’ll take what I can get.” He laughs. “I’m Andrew. I don’t think we’ve officially met yet.” He sticks his hand out to shake mine.
I smirk and shake his hand. “I’m Tyler. It’s nice to meet you.” I move forward in the line to order my drinks, thankful for the chance to start again. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around.” I say with a wave once I have my drinks in hand.
“I’m sure you will.” He winks.
* * *
The night draws on while I sit on the curb next to Avery, sipping on my seltzer and enjoying dinner from the taco truck while we take in the festivities. I’ll admit one thing: Fawn Creek knows how to throw a festival. Everywhere you look, people are laughing, singing, dancing and just spending time together. The entire scene warms my heart and makes me realize a bit of what I have been missing all this time. I can’t believe these concerts have been occurring for the last few years and I have never come back for one.
“Are y’all ready for Jordan Johnson?” The announcer calls out to the crowd. All of Main Street is suddenly filled with the sounds of excitement. We all yell and clap as loud as we can while Jordan walks onto the stage. We inch closer, but by the time he strums the chords for the second song, Avery finds herself a distraction.
“Hey, I’ll be back.” She says into my ear while she grips my forearm. A tall, handsome cowboy is standing a few feet from her, waiting. I watch as they move to the middle of the street and begin to two step. The smile plastered on her face gives me a little bit of hope that maybe she will be okay after all. She deserves happiness more than anyone else in the world.
While she’s dancing, I turn back towards the stage and lose myself in the music once again. I sing along to every word, never taking my eyes off of Jordan. This is exactly what my soul needed. I’ve needed to feel connected to something, anything. For months, hell, maybe even years, I feel like I have just been floating through life. Not actually enjoying anything, but merely participating, just being. I can’t remember the last time I actually did something that I enjoyed doing, rather than just going through the motions. It hasn’t been a priority for a long time, but now I can feel what I was missing. I was missing out on life. I was missing out on joy and merely settling for good enough. The reality of it is, I had settled. All this time, I thought I was living the life I wanted. Now, I think I’m starting to see that I was forcing myself to want the life I had.
