Page 55 of Chasing Home
18
AURORA
Despite winning our bet, Johnny left me Wanda’s number last night.
On the back of an old gas station receipt resting on my kitchen counter, I found her phone number scribbled in nearly illegible writing.
780-555-1829. Call her Rory. She’ll want to meet you.
Johnny, aka the pro sliver remover
It was too late to call her then and too early when I left the house this morning. I’ll call her later today. That’s what I tell myself, anyway. Every time I reached into my pocket and felt the paper there, I promised myself I’d call later. It’s a pathetic excuse for stalling.
Staring out the bakery window, I rub the thin paper between my fingers. The girls are staring at me, each one of them wanting to ask why I’m gripping a piece of trash like it’s a lifeline but holding themselves back.
They always do this.
Well, all except Bryce. Usually, she doesn’t care about holding back when she’s curious about something. It’s in her nature to be blunt and precise, without a care. I respect her for it.
But today, she’s quiet like Poppy and Anna are, choosing to dissect every slight change in my expression instead. That speaks to the magnitude of my inner struggles, I suppose. They’re obvious to everyone around me.
“Everyone is so glum today,” Poppy groans, obviously done with the silence but being the only one willing to do anything about it. She rips off a chunk of her chocolate croissant and brings it to her lips. “It’s Sunday. And we didn’t even get drunk last night, so nobody can claim to be hungover.”
“Especially not you, Aurora,” Bryce adds, continuing to sort through every emotion written on my face with her concentrated gaze.
I fist the receipt and drop my hand to my lap beneath the table. “What makes you think I wasn’t drinking myself silly last night?”
“Were you?” she asks.
“No.”
“I doubt Johnny would have wasted his first date with you getting drunk,” Anna adds.
I tighten my hold on the receipt and ignore the heat crawling up my throat. “Does everyone know we were together last night?”
Bryce takes a swig of her steaming black coffee. “Why? Was it supposed to be a secret?”
“Well, no.”
Anna tugs on the plastic straw in the lid of her iced coffee, creating a hair-raising screeching sound. “Then yes. We all know. It’s not often he misses a Saturday night at Peakside.”
“I told him to invite you out with us, but he was feeling selfish with your attention,” Poppy says, fiddling with the shoulder strap of her pale purple sundress before plucking a piece of animal hair off Bryce’s band tee.
All three women are dressed casually today, in a way that helps me feel even more comfortable around them. Blue jeans, T-shirts, the typical, flowy sundress that Poppy loves. There isn’t any pressure to be done up all the time in Cherry Peak. No high standards that I feel like I have to hold every time I leave the house. It’s comfortable, everyone non-judgmental for the most part. In my jean shorts and baggy tee, I feel accepted.
“Johnny wasn’t out blabbing if that’s what you’re worried about. He only told us three and Garrison, and of course, we told everyone else,” Poppy clarifies, looking at me now.
Anna reaches across the table for a napkin before starting to wipe her fingers free of the powdered sugar from her donut. “Would it be a bad thing if he had been out blabbing?”
The number of questions they’re asking makes my hackles rise, but I know they mean well. I have to remind myself of that as I try to keep my answers from being so defensive.
They invited me out today, even after I’ve stopped working at Thistle and Thorn. Without my job forcing them to spend time with me from time to time, I half expected them to cut their efforts to spend time with me. It wouldn’t have been surprising. I haven’t given them any reason to keep trying.
But no. A week after starting a new job, and here we are, chatting like old friends.
“Johnny is . . .” I start, releasing some of the tension in my fingers. “I don’t care if he talks about us. He’ll be the one that will have to deal with the curiosity once I’m gone.”
“If there’s one thing Johnny doesn’t care about, it’s the opinion of others, Rory,” Bryce says. “He’s too unapologetically himself to give a shit about that.”