Page 19 of No More Hiding

“That’s a compliment for sure,” she said. If she hadn’t seen him before the makeover she might not have said she could see him in his career.

“Have you lived here your whole life? I never leave my house it seems so it doesn’t matter where I live.”

Which was odd to her and she was curious where he was from. When people asked her, she never lied, she only omitted timelines. “I moved here from Chicago,” she said. “A big change of pace, you could say.”

“That’s for sure. How long have you been here?”

“About two and a half years.”

“And what made you come here? Friends? Family?”

This was what happened when you started talking to people. When you asked questions, they did the same. She found it was best to answer them rather than skirt around and make people wonder. The more open she seemed, the less anyone would think she was hiding anything.

“After my grandfather passed I was on my own. So no family to speak of. You could say I was running in order to heal from the loss, but it’s more like I needed to start over.”

She’d never admitted the running part to anyone before and wasn’t sure why she did this time.

“Same,” he said. “I was living in White Plains with my best friend. He was killed in the line of duty. I’d had enough and decided to hole up here. Anything different than where I was.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” she said. “That had to be horrible.”

“It was. It is. He saved me once from losing myself. Sorry, I’m running at the mouth and never do. Ever. Never mind.”

“No worries. Since you’re new to the area, did you go to the Paradise Place picnic this summer?”

“What?” he asked.

She smiled softly, like she knew something he didn’t. Well, she most likely did. “The builders of the development have had a summer picnic for years. They do all the meats and the residents bring the sides. It’s a lot of fun. But I’m guessing you didn’t go?”

“No,” he said.

“Hannah, who owns the shop, lives here with her fiancé too.”

“Oh,” he said. “As I said, I don’t get out too much. I’m not sure who anyone is.” He looked down at his dog. “Sammie, are you ready to go now?”

She was dying to know what he’d meant by that but told herself it was best not to ask.

Sammie got up on all fours and stretched, then appeared as if she got her second wind. “Looks like she’s ready to go,” she said.

“We’ll see if she makes it home or not. At least it’s not too far. Thanks for the water and the conversation. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

“You too,” she said, wishing she wasn’t going back to work alone on her flowers.

7

Needed A Change

“What’s with the red nose?” Cat asked Vivian on Monday morning.

She turned to look in the mirror. Her dirty blonde hair was styled beautifully as always, the front braided along the top like a crown, the rest falling across her back in soft waves.

She’d applied foundation twice and wiped it off both times, not happy with the way it looked.

Yes, she had a red nose and a little more color on her cheeks than normal. The foundation didn’t do a good enough job blending it without it looking as if she was hiding something.

She’d rather not hide too many things in her life since there were much bigger ones to worry about.

“I was gardening yesterday and it was bright and sunny,” she said.