Page 38 of The Second Dance
Andy
The day passes in a whirlwind.
We park in the Hay Market downtown and I pause by the bed of the truck.
The truck bed is packed completely full. Some of the plants shifted when we drove across town. I try to slide them back, but I’m way too short to reach.
It’s a little like a kid trying to look over a tall countertop.
Bo comes around behind me and boosts me up unexpectedly. I yelp, but my sneaker finds the top of the tire and I perch there, tucking in all the little plant babies.
I survey the burlap covered roots. The neat rows of shrubs and trees. The serviceberry will provide food for birds in the summer, the hackberry in fall and winter.
We’re going to have a nice habitat by the time we’re done. And Bo is surprising me by putting an actual effort into it.
He grasps my waist and helps me back down. I try to keep a serene face, even though his touch makes my heart flutter.
Just a little.
I wanted to take him to one of my favorite places before we went home. It’s a local brewery with a gigantic wood-fire oven. My friends and I have clocked more hours here than are strictly beneficial for waistlines or bank accounts.
The second we step inside, the smell of charred wood, of brewing yeast, fills my nose and I feel grounded.
Being back in Silver Bend is throwing my world off its axis. I feel like I’m tilted to the side, spinning awkwardly.It’s been strange to be back around people that have known me since I was a little kid.
In some ways, they know me better than anyone else. But in all the ways that count, they don’t know me at all.
Not themeI’ve grown into.
I spot Will behind the bar and wave, leading Bo to the corner of the bar where I usually sit. It’s a big, horseshoe-shaped bar made of sparkling granite with fascinating veins of black and gold.
Will saunters over, his dark eyes scanning Bo with open curiosity. “Well, if it isn’t Anne Diana. Back to the land of the living.”
I wrinkle my nose at him.
He leans on the bar top. “Where’ve you been?”
“Out west. In a little town called Silver Bend. I’m working on a Songbird habitat out there.” I glance up at Bo. “With this guy, actually. This is one of my high school classmates, Bo Thomas.”
Will holds out his hand and they shake hands. Bo gives him an easy, charming grin, but when Will takes his hand back, he shakes it out behind the bar, wincing slightly. I order Bo a flight of beer and get myself the vanilla stout.
Bo waits until Will is out of hearing range to turn to me. “Anne Diana?”
“Ugh. I was hoping you wouldn’t catch that.”
He grins. “Is that your real name?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Anne Diana. Anne D.”
“Wow. Mind. Blown.”
“You can just stick to Andy. Thank you very much.”
Bo smiles at me. “I see how it is. Old Willy over there is allowed to call you by your real name, but I’m not?”
“He’s only doing it to fuck with me.”
“He’s flirting.”