Jesse
Joe followed me into the back. “Maybe you should have hired the kid on probation,” he said.
He didn’t say it loudly enough for Chance to overhear him, but I still gave him a look. “Everyone deserves a chance,” I said.
Joe snorted. “Chance deserves a chance,” he said. “That’s really funny, Jesse.”
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, get to work.”
“Aye aye, boss,” Joe said, saluting me, his eyes twinkling.
“Mixed metaphors,” I muttered under my breath, but I couldn’t help grinning as well.
We hadn’t done much when Chance came running back to find me. “There’s not enough cash for me to give change,” he said, sounding panicked.
I frowned. I had counted the drawer this morning, and unless someone was trying to pay with a really huge bill, there shouldn’t be any problem. Most people paid by card, so I doubted the drawer was already empty. We hadn’t had that many customers in there that morning, even.
Joe gave me a look like “can you believe this fucking kid”.
“I’ll be right back,” I told him, putting emphasis on the words to let him know that I wanted him to stay here and keep working while I went to figure out whatever the hell was wrong. Chance had already run off for the front of the store again, probably worried that if he left the customer alone for too long, they would just walk off without paying for their things.
This was a small town. I didn’t ever have to worry about things like that.
I paused for a moment when I saw who was up there at the register. Of course. Karen Wilcox.
Karen gave me a bright smile. “Well there you are!” she said in her most sugary tone. She giggled. “I’m so sorry to be such a bother, but I seem to have confused poor Chance here. I’m just trying to get a few things.”
I looked down at the pile of things waiting by the register, trying to figure it out. Karen Wilcox was the kind of pretty brunette who had probably never even used a hammer in her life. Hell, she probably didn’t even know how to hold a hammer. She was a couple of years younger than me, but I knew that she’d been homecoming queen, plus the winner of the county beauty pageant and a few other beauty competitions.
She might never have come into the hardware store before, but I seemed to run into her at least once a week around town, and every time, she flirted outrageously with me. I had taken to avoiding places wherever I saw her red car parked.
“What the hell do you need all of this for?” I asked, unable to stop myself.
“Well, you know, I just got to thinking about how nice it would be to have some shelves in my living room,” she said. “And when I looked online, I found all sorts of DIY sites that told me all about how to measure them. It can’t be too hard.” She frowned, leaning in toward me, no doubt so that I would have a better view of her cleavage down the low-cut blouse that she had on. “But I just can’t help thinking about how nice it would be to have a man around to help me with these kinds of things.”
I stared at her for a moment, feeling myself start to blush. Somewhere behind me, Joe was cackling. I swiped the fifty off the counter and punched in a couple of buttons to make the drawer pop open.
“How is there all that money in there?” Chance asked in surprise, and I tried not to wince. “We haven’t had any customers pay in cash today!” Like a little kid with a lemonade stand, he had apparently thought that the only way to make change was to use cash that other people paid you earlier in the day. We had a couple of hundred bucks in the drawer at any given time. I made sure of it.
It was definitely going to be a while before I trusted the kid to open up the shop on his own.
I ignored all of that now, though, quickly giving Karen her change and wishing her a good day.
Joe was laughing by the time the door closed behind her. “You should have seen your face, man. She’d just love to have a man around to help her put some shelves up. But I don’t think that was all she was looking for. I think she’s tired of DIY-ing it and wants you to lend a helping hand.”
“Get back to work,” I said uncomfortably, slamming the drawer shut and hurrying back to the paint cans that we’d been moving before, without even explaining to Chance what his error had been.
Joe’s laughter followed me into the back of the store, though.
AudreyWhen I got up on Sunday morning, I could smell breakfast cooking in the kitchen. Bacon, pancakes, orange juice, and who knew what else. Mom always liked to go big on Sunday morning breakfasts, and I was sure going to get big if I started eating like I used to. I’d never get back to dancing again. I really needed to talk to her about that.I was surprised when I wandered into the kitchen, though. Mom beamed at me when she saw me, gesturing toward a plate. “I remembered when we were in Paris that you always ate those egg white omelets and fruit for breakfast,” she said.I knew the omelet had probably been cooked in butter, but I was touched again by the effort that she was making, even though I had just shown up here out of the blue. “Thanks, Mom,” I said, sliding into my seat at the table across from where Annabelle was already seated.“How are you feeling this morning?” Mom asked. “Better?”I nodded, and in fact, I somehow was. I was getting used to the idea of being here, at l
Audrey“That sounds like fun,” Mom said. “I bet you really would love it, Audrey. Maybe you’d run into some of your old friends. You could probably show them a move or two.” She winked at me, and I had to fight not to roll my eyes.Show them a move or two? Did she think I was going to bust out a few of my ballet moves right there in the middle of some small-town bar? It just showed how much she really thought of me and my career.“I’m not in contact with any of my old friends,” I said, hoping that would be the end of the matter. The last thing I wanted to do was go to a bar by myself. I didn’t want to be that desperate stranger standing off to the side, trying to attach myself to a group.I felt another pang of homesickness for my life in Paris. I hadn’t gone out alone in all the time that I’d been there. The other dancers at the Global Traveling Dance Academy of Performing Arts, the ones who had been there for a while, had immediately taken me under their wings when I had arrived, sh
JesseI mounted the sign back where it was meant to go and climbed back down, to applause from Tristan’s daughter. “You fixed it!” she said excitedly as she peered up at it.I grinned in spite of myself. “Wasn’t too difficult,” I told her, but I accepted the high five that she gave me anyway. I straightened back up and turned to Tristan. “That wind last night was pretty crazy, huh?”“Yeah, came up out of nowhere, too,” Tristan said, looking worried. “I’m afraid what that means for storms this year.” Then, his worry cleared as he clapped me on the shoulder. “At least I’m lucky enough to work right next door to the town handyman. You want to come inside for a piece of pie?”“God, that sounds great,” I said. I’d been going since dawn that morning. Not only did I have the hardware store to open, but I’d gotten calls from half a dozen people in town who all wanted to know if there was any way that I could help them with storm damage that they had suffered overnight.I’d left Tristan’s dine
AudreyI dug through my bag, trying to find some sort of outfit that would be suitable for a bar in Aberdeen. Annabelle and I had snuck out to go to shows in town when we were teenagers, with more or less success, depending on the night. What the hell had we worn back then? Jeans? I didn’t think that I had worn jeans in years now. Surely not in all the time that I’d lived in Paris.When we went out there, I was usually in a dress or slacks and a button-up blouse. But both of those things seemed too formal for wearing around Aberdeen. I didn’t really care about what everyone here thought of me, but I wanted to be comfortable and not look like a snooty rich girl out of her element. If this really was about research, that wasn’t going to help me one bit.“God, I wish I were as skinny as you,” Annabelle said as she came back into the bedroom after her shower with just a towel wrapped around her.I snorted. “You look amazing, and you know it,” I chided. “But if you want to give up on all t
Audrey“I’m in flat shoes,” I reminded her. Her shoes. She shouldn’t need reminding.Annabelle shrugged. “Come on, get in,” she said, walking over to the van.I stared at the door that she held open for me. I wanted to argue, but the words wouldn’t come. And anyway, I could tell that this was the kind of battle that I just wouldn’t win.I slipped inside. When Clayton put it in drive, the van lurched, and I winced. It made a terrible sound as it drove through town, and I felt more and more embarrassed. Finally, we came to a sputtering stop outside the bar. People were definitely staring as Annabelle and I got out.I cringed, but I was surprised to see that Annabelle didn’t seem to care about the attention. Instead, she smiled and chatted to a few people she knew, talking about how nice the evening was and how good it was to be done with winter finally.We headed inside. Gabby’s was nicer than Finnegan’s, but it was still definitely a dive bar by anyone’s reckoning. You would never find
JesseI glanced around as I walked into Gabby’s with Joe. I still couldn’t believe that I had let him talk me into coming out with him. The Long Blue or not, was it really worth it? Sure, this place wasn’t too terrible, all things considered. A bit loud. And probably only going to get louder as the night went on. I recognized nearly everyone in there. It was a pretty good crowd, though, especially for a Sunday night. Not like anyone had anything else to do on a Sunday night in Aberdeen.But I couldn’t help remembering what Joe had said about getting me to dance with someone pretty. I was so not interested in that tonight.We grabbed drinks first and chatted for a minute with Annabelle Buchanan. God, when had she gotten old enough to serve drinks behind the bar? I’d known her back when she was a kid, but she’d been so much younger than me that I’d known her sister better. But Audrey disappeared when she went off to further her ballet career, and I doubted we’d ever see her around town
JesseAudrey cracked a smile at that. “Sounds great,” she said. “Thanks.”I got her drink ordered and then sat back, unable to tear my eyes away from her. “So how long have you been back in town for?”She grinned again as she took a sip of her drink. “Long enough to have lunch at the Sub & Surf, but not long enough to run into anyone I know, I guess.” I laughed. “So, what, ten hours? The sub shop was probably the first place you hit on the way into town, wasn’t it?”“Nah, I went by Mom’s first,” Audrey said, laughing. “I got here yesterday evening, but I was pretty exhausted. Long flight.”“Yeah, I’ll bet,” I said.“Wouldn’t have expected you to still be bumming around here,” Audrey said, peering at me. “Weren’t you voted most likely to, what was it? Get involved in an international bank heist and flee to a remote island with the authorities on your tail?”I gave a surprised laugh. “You remember that?” I asked. “I don’t even know how the hell that got into the nomination pool.”Audre
AudreyOf all the people to run into at Gabby’s, Jesse Miller was probably the last person I would have expected. I had never expected him to hang out around Aberdeen for as long as he had. I would have thought he would be long gone by now. But when he mentioned his dad dying and the fact that he had taken over the hardware store, it suddenly all made sense. Jesse had always been the sort of guy that you could rely on.And plans had a tendency to change.I tried not to be too gloomy, but I couldn’t keep thinking about my own change in plans. If I were back in Paris right now, I’d be asleep, just waiting for the next morning. Then I would get up, eat a light breakfast, do my stretches, and train like I did every morning. Part of why I felt so out of place here in North Carolina was because I was missing my routine. When had I become one of those people who couldn’t live without their routine? Where had my spontaneity gone?When Jesse asked me to dance with him, I leaped at the chance t