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“I’ve kept the secret this long!” I protested, and we laughed and continued walking.
Crossing the street, we stood in front of my parent’s diner. Similar to all the shops, it was all glass windows with cursive signage, welcoming patrons to “Millie & Mac’s Restaurant.” Most people around here knew the Mac portion of the name was all for show—it just happened to sound decent next to my mother’s name—but my father liked the gossip it would stir every so often when transplants would arrive in town. Peering inside the broad glass panes, you could make out the faded blue leather booths inside, and the long counter stretching along the back wall. Two swinging doors off to the right led back to the kitchen, where my mom and dad were. Watching people drink coffee and eat pie, I huffed out the same sigh Nora had earlier.
“I’m starting the delivery thing this weekend.”
“Shut up!” Nora laughed, pushing my shoulder.
“I’m serious!”
“I didn’t think you’d actually do it.” She laughed into her hand, clutching her stomach.
I hip-checked her. “It’s your fault…”
She wheezed, straightening. “You’re welcome. You wouldn’t have lasted much longer in that tiny apartment. You needed a reason to come.”
She wasn’t wrong, but I was still nervous about delivering up the mountain—not thathewas up there…nor would he likely use something like a delivery service, but still. My nerves frayed like the ends of a rope.
We stood in silence, watching the people bustle inside the diner.
“Maybe I should start doing Uber driving until my design business picks up,” Nora droned, clearly still pondering her future.
I elbowed her. “You won’t have time in between selling that infamous ‘local jam.’”
She elbowed me way harder than I did her.
“Ow!”
“Well, you did it first.”
We eyed one another for a second before the diner doors opened, letting out a glorious aroma.
“When do you start the delivery service again?” Nora asked, lifting her nose like a puppy smelling a steak.
“This weekend, but I think I should do a test run, like right now.”
Nora kept watching the store front, so I elbowed her again.
“Hey!”
“Call in an order and I’ll deliver it to us, and we can eat our weight in blueberry pie.”
She rubbed the sore spot on her arm. “Can’t you just get it for free?”
“Can you get me somelocal jamfor free?”
She deflated, pulling her cell free. “Touché.”
Holding the phone to her ear, she waited for the phone to connect before looking back at me. “I’m glad we’re back. This whole living in the same town thing is going to be awesome.”
I sipped the melted coffee water in my cup and smiled at her, but then the sound of a motorcycle echoed somewhere a few streets over, and it was like a dark thunder cloud rolling over me.
Chills swept up along my arms as the sound reverberated down the corridor, and I stood there, looking over my shoulder, terrified that the one reason I stayed away from this town was about to speed past me.
Within seconds, and in a gleam of chrome, I realized it didn’t matter that it wasn’t him. The memory of him would continue to haunt me as long as I lived in this town, which meant I couldn’t stay here.
This had to be temporary.
5
