Page 55 of A Fine Line
Winnie kept talking as we bumped along the rest of the dirt roads, but her words drifted off into her own thoughts. There was a quiet understanding there, one she didn’t share out loud—that she used to want to escape this place, but now? Seeing the smile on her face? The way she blends in so perfectly here, how all of the stuff back home: the competition, the apartment seemed to just melt away from her. This place filed all of that stuff down to the core of who she was. And if I had a crush on the girl before, it had nothing on what I was feeling for her now.
“Wait, we can take this thing on actual roads?” I asked, motioning to the ATV as she turned down to main road.
She just laughed in response, pressing her foot into the gas pedal and taking us down the paved road into ‘downtown’. Which was pushing it for a two stoplight town. But there was a towns square and a strip of different stores and restaurants around it that had a fair amount of families and couples, young and old, trailing in and out of them.
She decided to first show me the small coffee shop/bookstore on the corner, the one where she used to work before she moved to Philly. She told me stories of her making croissants at the bakehouse in the early morning hours before the sun had raised, getting them ready for the patrons here.
“A friend from high school still works here,” she pulled into an open spot and parked, ignoring looks from anyone nearby.
“Does she know you’re coming?”
“Probably not,” she shrugged. “I haven’t talked to anyone much other than Lottie and occasionally some people who message me happy birthday on Facebook and stuff.”
I nodded. Winnie had this line that was dangerous to cross, one where I knew there was something else behind it. And yet when I pushed for more, she just receded. So, when it came to things like the story of her parents, or more details on this Marshall guy, I had to do the one thing I hated the most: be patient. I wasn’t a patient man, never had been, but when it came to her I was going to be. Well, as best as I could anyway.
I followed behind Winnie as she lead me into the coffee shop, very much enjoying those flared jeans that fell around her boots but tightened up against her backside.
What the cafe lacked in size, it made up for in its design. Exposed, vintage and cracked brick walls and the various art pieces strung about done by local artists.
It was almost like a touch of Philly, something more modern but still towing the line of vintage with the added detail they threw in there. For a second, it made me miss home. So, I took out my phone and grabbed a couple pictures to text in the family group chat.
Instantly Rachel replied back with you’re taking me with you next time, right?
Ahead of me, Winnie was already at the counter talking to a woman around our age with lavender hair and a bright smile. I couldn’t make out what they were saying but she was smiling bag, big and proud and in those flared jeans and her tiny sweater and those adorable boots she looked like she just found the last missing puzzle piece. She looked like she was an entirely different person from the girl I knew in Philly. One that I was desperate to learn more about. Craved more of.
The girl across the counter must have made a joke because Winnie’s head tilted back in laughter, her auburn waves bouncing in the movement and she looked like…sunshine poured into a bottle I wanted to carry with me everywhere.
“No way, little Red?” A man almost to my height, with curly blonde hair and golfing shirt on tucked into khaki’s approached behind her in line. Directly beside him was a woman with a short blonde bob wearing a jean jacket with a dentist logo on the back.
It couldn’t have been any of her family. She’d already told me what the rest of them looked like, or shown me pictures, and none of them fit this description. And then I saw the way Winnie froze. Her whole body tensed up at the sound of that voice and I didn’t need to be told who he was. The way she shrank back, all the light dimming in her, told me everything. This was Marshall.
No one should ever make this girl cower like that. It was like someone had snuffed out her flame, all that warmth and sunshine she carried around just shriveling up in a cold and dry instant.
The guy—Marshall—almost scoffed, standing there with the woman coming around his side to place a hand on his arm. He looked Winnie up and down like she was an afterthought. Like he pitied her?
“Well, look at you,” he said, turning to the woman beside him. “Babe, this is Winnifred.”
The blonde’s eyes widened, her lips pulling into a pout that looked genuinely like sympathy. “Ooohh, it’s so nice to meet you,” she cooed and stuck a hand out.
Winnie was stuck, caught between them and me, and I could see her struggling. I waited for it. The snappy comeback she had for everything, but right now, nothing was coming out. She was frozen solid, just staring at the blonde’s outreached hand with no way out and I knew this was something I couldn’t let her handle on her own.
I stepped in, sliding her ordered coffee sitting behind her into her hand and wrapping my arm around her waist, pulling her close. “Hey, Winnie girl.”
She looked up at me, relief flashing in her eyes. as her hands curled around the warm paper cup. “Oh, thanks. Uh, Crew, this is Marshall and his wife. And this is Crew, my—”
“Boyfriend,” I finished for her, sticking my hand out toward Marshall. He hesitated, his eyes flicking to mine before shaking it. We stood there, sizing each other up, shaking hands far longer than anyone who I actually cared for would.
He kept staring back at Winnie in belief and if he kept going it wasn’t going to end pretty. “Yeah, I’m not sure how I got this lucky either,” I said with a wolfish smirk, pulling her even closer. My fingers tapped against her waist. It’s okay, I’m here. You can let go of the reigns now. “I feel bad for the guy who let her go.”
Winnie took a deep breath and I could feel her relaxing against me.
“Oh, well, you know Winnie and I used to go out,” Marshall added, trying to reclaim some ground. His back straightened and even so, I squinted down at him.
“No shit? Sorry for the loss, man.”
Marshall narrowed his eyes at me before brushing it off with the shake of his head. Try me, I dare you.
“So, Winnie, how’s your cute little business going? I keep meaning to stop by, but, you know, newlywed life. And ever since the billboard went up, our office has been slammed.”