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That last statement of his hits me a little harder than I expected it to. Am I just another statistic? Just another person who couldn’t break away from her small town roots? No. That will not be my story. This is just a blip. A pause, if you will. I look to my side and see Andrew studying me while I battle my internal crisis on the wooden porch swing next to him.
“So, what’s your story?” I ask, although I already know part of it. The last thing I’m going to do is admit I’ve talked to anyone else about him. Unlike him, I don’t want to look like a stalker.
“I live in Texas and I own a construction business there.” He motions his head towards the house next door. “My grandpa used to live next door to Hazel. He raised me and my little brother.” Andrew smiles softly, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “He passed away earlier this year, and he left the house to me. This is the first opportunity I’ve had to come back here and get the place ready to list.”
“Wait.” I turn to him. “You grew up next door? I practically lived with my grandma growing up. How do I not remember you?”
He chuckles. “Oh no, we grew up on a farm outside of town. Grandpa didn’t move here until my brother and I grew up and moved away.” He pauses to look up at the sky. “Grandma passed and then the farm became too much for him to handle, so he sold it off and moved to town. He and Hazel were close friends. She was always checking in on him and baking him pies.” He says with a smile.
I grin. “Hazel was such a good person. I miss her.” I say with a sigh.
He nods. “She really was.”
“Well, how much longer until your house is ready to list?” I ask, changing the subject before I start crying for the second time tonight.
“Realistically, if I really worked at it, I could have it ready next week.” He stands and yawns, stretching his arms above his body. His shirt rides up and gives me a glimpse of the abs I saw during our last encounter. I quickly look away, hoping he didn’t catch me staring. He doesn’t, as far as I can tell. “I don’t know, though. I’ve been kind of taking my time and enjoying being back home. It’s been nice to slow down and get back to my roots of handyman service, like by helping Cassidy at the coffee shop.”
I nod. “Who’s running your business while you’re here?”
“I scheduled a break between jobs so I could come do this. Took three weeks off, the longest vacation I’ve ever had.” He laughs. “I have some great guys back home to help me out, and I found them plenty of work for the time I’m gone, so they aren’t going without pay.”
I laugh. “You know, most people vacation at the beach or the mountains, not in Southeast Kansas.”
He just offers me a shrug. “Well, I better be getting home. It’s late.”
“Wait, I have to ask you something.” I say, with a raised brow. “Why did you call me a Karen? And why did you say I think I’m better than everyone else?” I frown. “That’s really not me at all.”
He scrunches his nose at me. “I was kind of hoping you had forgotten about all of that.”
I scoff, “No way. It actually kind of hurt my feelings, to be honest.”
He frowns. “It really was a dick move. I’m sorry.” I nod in agreement and he continues on. “Honestly, I didn’t know who you were when I saw you at the coffee shop. I just saw that you were all dressed up and wearing heels and carrying an expensive purse, so…”
“So you just assumed that I was a snob?”
He pauses. “I might have assumed that you weren’t from around here. I was so nervous that day.” He shakes his head. “I had spent all day trying to psych myself up to go from business to business, introducing myself as a licensed and bonded contractor, hoping to make some business connections and do some side work while I’m in town. And when we collided, you covered my only nice button up I brought with me in milky coffee.”
I raise a brow. “So you freaked out, ran out the door and..”
“And ran home to wash my shirt.” He laughs.
I shake my head. “Why were you nervous? If you have your own successful contracting business, that should speak for itself, shouldn’t it?”
He nods. “You’d sure think so. But, I was a bit of a wild child when I was a teen and I’ve found that people in small towns don’t tend to forget that stuff easily.” He shrugs. “So basically, I’m starting from scratch, trying to make a name for myself all over again.” He smirks. “I asked Cassidy who you were when I went back, and she told me you were Hazel’s granddaughter, who was visiting from the city. Grandpa Charlie had told me a lot of stuff about your mom. Mostly, he said she likes to pretend to be a little more uppity than she is. I assumed the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree, and I let my assumptions take over when you confronted me.”
My face reddens and I stare down the street, avoiding eye contact with him.
“But.” He says, breaking the silence. “I was wrong. You are nothing at all like I thought you were. You’re the exact opposite, actually.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “You should probably know I didn’t buy that expensive purse. It was a gift from my ex-boyfriend’s mom. It wasn’t my style, but I carried it to make her happy. I left it there when I left him.” I say with a shrug. “Also, I might have judged you a little, too. I was secretly calling you the Asshole of Fawn Creek.”
He chuckles. “I deserved it.” He pauses for a second, but then turns to make his way towards the stairs. “I better get home. It’s late.”
I nod and watch him walk across my yard before I call out. “Hey, Andrew?”
“Yeah?” He says, turning back towards me.
“I was wrong about you, too.”
