walk into the small market.
There’s one checkout line open. The girl working the lane has to be fresh out of high school. She looks at me, much to her current customer’s dismay, before giving me a wide, warm smile as a welcome.
I wave, chuckling to myself that I beat her to it, and grab a cart.
The place is quiet. There are random shoppers here and there as I walk the length of the store. Country music from the nineties trickles through speakers nestled somewhere overhead as I try to locate a deli counter or a sandwich.
“Can I help you find anything?” A man crouched at the base of the cereal display takes off his hat.
“I’m just looking for a sandwich. I didn’t realize there wasn’t any fast food in this town until now. And the café is closed.”
He grins, getting to his feet. “A burger chain tried to come in here a couple of years ago, but the town council ran them off. Said it would hurt local businesses, which I suppose meant the café and Mucker’s, as that’s all we have.”
“Mucker’s looked busy. Good food?”
“Yeah. Kinda famous for their pizza around here. And the Rocket Razzle, but those’ll put you on your behind if you don’t watch out.”
“Good to know,” I say. “So sandwich? I’m not picky. Just starving.”
He nods. “Yeah. Sorry. Keep going down until you get to the dairy section, then swing a left. There’ll be something over there to get you to morning.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey, no problem.”
He goes back to stocking shelves as I head toward the dairy case. I spy a cooler loaded with sandwiches. A turkey and cheese appears to be my best option. Swiping a bag of chips and a stick of beef jerky, I make my way back to the front.
A jet-black ponytail sticks up above the candy rack in front of me—a ponytail I recognize.
My skin warms as I approach her quietly. Her hair is swishing back and forth, a phone to her ear, and I bet dimes to doughnuts she’s giving someone else hell. I’m kind of jealous.
I quell a laugh as I take a wide berth around a frozen foods display. As I come up behind her, a smile instantly graces my lips.
“No,” she says into the phone that’s sandwiched between her ear and shoulder. “I had dinner with Dane and Neely. And Penn, actually.” She shifts her weight on her sneakers as she listens. “No. I’m not sure, but there are always options.” She listens again. “Well, that probably would be the best option, but the chance of that is zero.”
Her laugh rolls straight to me, like she emitted the sound for my own personal enjoyment. It lifts the sides of my mouth as I listen to her rattle on.
“The answer is no,” she says. “Now I gotta go. Someone is waiting on me.” She laughs again, joggling her items in her arms. “No. Not him. I’m at Graber’s. Goodbye, Claire.”
She slips her phone off her shoulder and shoves it in the pocket of her hoodie.
I stand still, biting back a grin. There’s something about the way she said that that makes me think she might have been talking about me. If Jake were here, he’d call it narcissism, but I’ll take my chances.
“Not him who?” I ask.
She whirls around, her ponytail almost hitting me in the face. A look of shock flits across her face before it’s replaced with a tongue-in-cheek smile. “It’s you.”
“It’s me that’s ‘not him,’ or it’s me standing here?” I grin. “Because, clearly, this is me. But am I him?”
“You’re kind of annoying. You know that?”
“I’ve heard that a time or two.”
Her shoulders rise and fall. “They say if more than two people tell you something, it’s probably true.”
“Really? I’ve never heard that.”
“Yeah, really. Maybe you should give it some thought.”
“Like the thought you’re giving . . . him? Whoever him might be?”
She places her items on the conveyor belt. “I love that you hear me talking about a guy and you immediately assume it’s you.”
“So you’re saying I’m wrong?”
I shouldn’t prod. I know better. It’s futile, anyway, since I know the answer. If I weren’t sure, the way she masks the nerves in her voice would tell me all I need to know. I’m him. And for reasons I don’t care to ponder, I like it.
“Yes, you’re wrong,” she says. “I wasn’t talking about you.”
“Who were you talking about then?”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “If you must know, I was talking about