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“His personal assistant says he is too busy.” He squeezed the hand he was still holding.
“She sounds awful.” Ruth bit her lip to stop the smile.
“She’s very nice.” He rested his arm on the back of the couch and touched a lock of her hair. “How long have you lived up here?”
Sighing, she said, “Twelve years this summer.”
“Does anyone live across the hall? Since you leave your coats and boots in the hallway.”
“No, that one is mine also. I like my privacy.” She noticed the shades were closed. With her free hand, she grabbed her phone and opened them with an app.
“Privacy when you want it?” He watched the shades go up, but then his eyes came back to her.
“Yes,” she admitted, realizing that it had started to snow again.
“Why do you stay? Why not buy a house? Move away from town?”
“Let’s see. It’s complicated, my mom, and I don’t want to mow the yard.” She smiled as she answered,
“Complicated? Do you like it here?”
“Some of it. I like my job. I like the book club. I like that I don’t need to drive. I also like the predictability of the town. I know Mia will be at the café all the time, I know the ladies at the bank, and I know when celebrations are. I know that when Luke Wyatt comes in, the football team needs donations, that when snow starts to pile up in town, kids will start playing on that snow hill once school is out. Predictability.” She leaned her head against the back of the couch and tucked her foot under her leg.
“What don’t you like about it?” His fingers were still playing with her hair.
“That everybody knows my business, and I know all of theirs. A few months ago, if you told me I would be going to a party with Mia Lawson, I would have called you a liar. I still don’t really believe it.”
“You and Mia were not friends? But you went to the café every day.”
“I did, I do. We were acquaintances. We know a lot about each other, but we didn’t know each other very well. Growing up in a small town is like that. How many kids did you graduate with?”
“Around three hundred and fifty.”
“I graduated with twenty-four, eighteen of which had been there since kindergarten.” It had been twelve years, and she could tell you the six that had come later and when they had arrived.
“Was Rafferty one of them?” he asked.
“Yes, your friend Rafferty was in my class. We are only a week apart in age. He is older.” She remembered that her mom always sent a cake for treats for her birthday and Rafferty always claimed them as his. Now looking back, she realized it was because his own mother hadn’t ever any treats.
“Is Mia your age?”
“No, Mia is younger by a year and a half, but two in school. So, you had so many kids in your class, and you didn’t know many of them. I knew them all for years before I graduated. Mia was a cheerleader, and Rafferty played sports.”
“Did they hang out together back then?”
“No, not really. I hung out more with Rafferty than Mia ever did in high school.”
“Wait. You and Rafferty were friends in high school?” he asked in confusion.
She laughed at his reaction. “Yes, we were both a part of the same friend group. I have many fond memories of young Rafferty.”
“So, were you a ballplayer? Cheerleader? Nerd?” Smiling, he settled back into the couch.
“None of the above. I was a girlfriend. I did everything Franky did, and nothing he did not. I was pretty dull,” she mumbled, feeling ashamed of the stupidity of her youth.
“How long did you date him?”
“Six years.”
