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“If the berries look good next year. I got an everbearing kind that should produce a medium harvest its first year.”
“You sound so professional when you talk like that. Iloveit. And strawberries. Oh! I should make more of the candles for the spring!”
“You should,” I said. “But now I’m just working the day job, which is slowly killing any happiness I have.”
“You sound like you need to do something fun.”
“You took the words right out of my mouth.”
“Are you open to suggestions?”
“Please,” I said. “What does Strawberry Springs do for fun?”
“That’s different depending on who you ask, but me? I go to the bar.”
“A bar? Like, to drink?”
“Some do. I go on nights when my friend comes into town and plays. They set up a dance floor. It’s so fun.”
“I forgot there was a bar.”
“Of course you would. You’re hanging around Cain Smith all the time. Bell’s Brews is the social center of the town. He’s gonna avoid it like the plague.”
It was unfortunately true. I couldn’t see him at a bar.
“When’s the next time the band plays?”
“Next week,” she said. “They used to come more when they still had Gab—” She stopped herself. “When they had another local with them.”
“Another local?”
She shook her head. “He moved away some time ago, saying he’d never come back. Small-town life wasn’t for him, apparently.”
I raised an eyebrow. There was more of a story there, but judging by the way her shoulders hunched, it was a tough thing for her to talk about.
Everyone here had a story, one that I didn’t know. I wanted to know, though. They all knew everything about one another, and I felt left out just by being in their orbit.
“If you ever wanna talk about it, I’m here.”
She looked up and sighed. “I forget that some people don’t already know. He was my best friend, and the whole town thought we would be more, but ... obviously not.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. He always talked about it. No one thought he would do it. Now he’s happy in California. Made a successful video game too. He’s living his dream. Who can be mad about that?”
“Mad might not be the right word. Sad?”
“Yeah. But it gets easier each year he’s gone.”
“And he’ll never come back?”
She huffed out a laugh. “He hasn’t even visited. He flies his family out occasionally. And with the way we ended things, he doesn’t wanna see me.”
“Have you found anyone else?”
“In town? God, no. I’ve known these people too long. Sometimes, I’ll hook up with a stranger from the bar, but they all need a world map to find my clitoris.”
I laughed. “That must be the female experience. My ex ...” Now it was my turn to trail off. I hadn’t mentioned Trevor since coming here.