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How the heck am I supposed to reply to that? I’m surely not going to tell him that my eyes are welling up with tears. Instead, I lamely like the message. Hank raved about my performance, even though all I saw were the ways it fell short. But seeing this from Tommy versus my boss? It hits differently. It’s not the first time he’s told me that I did something great, but it’s like he knows what my brain needs to shut off the doubts that always creep in.

I walk into the kitchen to refill my water bottle that has three stickers stuck to the metal. The first that I put on was one I got the day I started working for this small town: a holographic Greenstone sticker. Avery, who I’m guessing will officially be Tommy’s sister-in-law before the end of the year, gave me a tour of Barnett Farms and afterwards, I placed an order for one of their stickers that has a bundle of veggies with BF in the corner. The tour felt like an official turning point for us and we’ve been becoming friends after a semi-rocky start. And then Tommy, not Jackson, who was my fake-dating-buddy when I first arrived, which was the likely reason for Avery’s initial frostiness towards me, brought me a black-and-white Landen Acres sticker saying that my water bottle needed to be “better aesthetically balanced” since the first two stickers were too close together.

All three have made me feel more and more welcome here. I’ll always be a “transplant” as newcomers are called, but I really have been treated with more kindness here than any other city, and I mean big city, I’ve lived in. Which only means I feel a whole new type of pressure to do well. I’ve never wanted to belong to a place as badly as Greenstone. There’s something that calls to me here and it’s not just because it’s a small community. This is a place where everyone truly knows each other and supports everyone. I’ve always wanted to be part of something that changes lives for the better and be seen for exactly who I am.

Another vibration gets my attention.

Tommy: A few of us are getting drinks after the meeting tonight, so this is a multi-part question, I hope you’re ready for it! Part I - Would you like to come out with us? Part II - Would you be okay if I drove you? Part III - Would you like me to pick you up from your place to go to the meeting and drinks? (I won’t have more than one beer and won’t have any if you’re at all uncomfortable with me driving. We usually hang out for about two hours and get apps and I’ll eat and drink a ton of water either way.)

Oh my.

Did he just ask me out?

No, this is a group thing.

Hank mentioned it earlier this week in passing. Can’t be a date.

But he wants to pick me up so we can go together?

No, he’s not asking me out. He just wants me to be comfortable with being able to have a drink myself.

Yes, that’s what he’s offering.

I need to stop reading into things that aren’t there.

Chapter 2: Tommy

Chewing the inside of my cheek, I wait for Sam’s brain to stop running scenario after scenario. I’m still really intentional with my word choice ever since we started texting regularly. She can stress over what seems like the simplest detail and I want tonight to feel fun.

I’ll ask her out on a proper date, eventually, but I want her to feel completely comfortable around me. Something inside me says that her past relationships have been centered around what her boyfriend wanted. She drops little hints about her past when her guard is down and she doesn’t feel like she has to be perfect for everyone. I honestly think she doesn’t realize she’s let something slip when it happens.

Samantha Davies is incredible, plain and simple. She’s smart, caring, thoughtful, organized, gorgeous, and funny. I just hope that she can see it one day.

Well, I hope that I get to be there with her when she realizes it.

Three dots appear on my screen.

Then disappear.

Then reappear.

My mind tries to look for something that I might be missing about why she hasn’t responded, yet, but I remind myself that she’s an over-thinker who always needs to work through her words.

Sam: That sounds like fun and it would be nice to not drive myself home after dark, so thank you. Is there a dress code?

Smiling, I type my reply while telling off that little voice in my head looking for trouble.

Tommy: Whatever you’re wearing now will be plenty dressed up, I promise. It’s a bar with great apps, including buffalo chicken wings. So don’t wear white.

Tommy: I’ll pick you up at 5:45?

She likes the first text and is quick to respond that she’ll be ready.

“Tommy! Can you remember to get more pepper flakes from Mark at the meeting tonight?” Matt calls from the kitchen, immediately pulling me out of the fantasy to reply telling her it’s a date. I’m not taking her out on a date that’s linked to a work function. It would feel like a cheapened experience after all the time I’ve taken to get to know her. And I want her to feel seen and special. Tacking a date to one of the most boring meetings this town has ever known would be the opposite of making her feel special.

The smell of garlic, tomatoes, and fresh basil draws me to the kitchen where Matt is cooking a massive pot of marinara. I dip a clean spoon in, spinning away from him as he tries to swat me out of the way.

“You had to yell instead of walking the ten steps through an open doorway to the office?” I ask, blowing across the spoon.