AllFreeNovel
Share Us
So she made a phone call. And by noon, she was heading down the mountain toward the diner—her suggestion as a place to meet her best friend for lunch.
“Miss Ardmore!” Jackie, the owner and diner’s namesake, called out as she entered.
Charity smiled at him. “Good morning.”
She wondered if he knew which of the Ardmore sisters she was. The adults around town had always mixed up their names when they were younger. It wasn’t as bad now that her two sisters had left town, but Charity was still occasionally called Faith.
“Right over there,” Jackie said.
He pointed to his right, where Noelle sat in a booth, laptop in front of her. She wasn’t looking at the screen, though. She was waving at Charity.
They exchanged a big hug, then slid into their opposite seats. Charity had never been more grateful to have her best friend in town, even if it was only temporary. She needed her right now.
“I thought I could get some work done if I got here early.” Noelle looked around and leaned forward. “I’ve been here twenty minutes and four people have stopped by.”
At that, Charity smiled. No surprise. She wouldn’t dare try to work at one of the local businesses. That was something you did in a town where nobody knew your name.
A server approached, and Charity ordered a sweet tea while Noelle packed up her laptop and set her tote bag on the floor next to her. Once the server was gone, Charity took a deep breath and prepared to plunge in.
“I have so much to tell you,” Noelle said. “But first, what’s the deal with Nic being in town?”
Charity frowned at her friend. Her first sentence sounded like there was bigger news than Nic being in town.
“Why don’t you tell me what you have to tell me first?” Charity asked. “There’s not much to say about Nic.”
For a moment, Noelle seemed to struggle, but her excitement was obviously threatening to spill over. Her words came out in a big burst.
“I’m dating someone,” Noelle said.
Wait, what? They’d just seen each other at the parade. That wasn’t even twenty-four hours ago. How could she already be in a relationship? Or maybe she meant she had a date.
“Who?” Charity asked.
“Guess.” Smiling, Noelle crossed her arms over her chest.
Considering she hadn’t had even one date lately, Charity wasn’t even sure where to begin to guess. “Someone in this town?”
Charity looked around. Maybe scanning the half-empty diner would jar her memory somehow.
“Yep,” Noelle said.
“I know him?” Now Charity looked out the window. Still, no help to her memory. “Someone we grew up with?”
“You could say that.”
What did that mean? Charity mentally ran through the list of guys from high school. She narrowed down the list to the men who were still in town. Most were married with kids.
“You saw him yesterday,” Noelle prompted. “At the parade.”
That didn’t help much. The whole town had been there.
“Inthe parade or on the sidelines, watching?” Charity asked.
“On the float with me.”
Charity gasped. “Enzo Reeser?”
There was no denying it from the way Noelle’s face lit up at just the mention of his name. Wow. Her friend had it bad.
