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“Better now.” God, I sounded like a middle schooler stammering in front of my crush. But if she noticed, she didn’t let on and sent me a beaming grin.

“I was just asking someone about you and then I saw Romeo earlier.”

I sat forward at that information. Why was I jealous of my best friend when I was sitting here in front of Goldyn now? “You saw Rome?”

“Yea, I went by his shop.” Her voice was light and airy, giving nothing away about their visit.

For a while, I sat there watching her pick at the cheese fries before I found my voice again. “I can’t believe I ran into you here.”

Goldyn’s warm smile was still in place when she picked up her drink and took a long sip through her straw. “Well I’m here every Friday. So now you know where to find me.”

I paused for a minute to take in her lightly made up face and the silk button up and slacks she had on. When she’d asked us what we did for a living, I’d failed to do the same in return. Now I tried to imagine a career that fit her carefree demeanor and was coming up short.

So I just asked. “Where are you coming from?”

“The bank,” she replied in a glum tone. For the first time since I’d walked in, her smile slipped. “I went to check on a business loan and they basically turned me away, saying I wasn’t theiridealborrower.”

“Shit.” The dejected look on her face made my heart sink. “I’m sorry, Goldyn.”

“It is what it is.” She pushed her plate away from her. “But the crazy part is that I spent the past three years paying off debt and saving money and it still doesn’t matter. My business isn’t old enough and my personal credit report doesn’t have enough open accounts to make them trust me. They said I’d need a guarantor or something…” Her voice trailed and I could tell she was trying to keep it light, but it was impossible to miss the disappointment clinging to everything she did.

The subtle slump of her shoulders, the downturn of her pouty lips at the corner, and the faraway look in her eyes. She looked sad and that fucked with me more than it should. I wasn’t responsible for the sadness, and yet, I wanted to play a part in fixing it.

“What was the loan for? If you want to talk about it…” I tried cautiously.

Luckily, Goldyn latched on to the question and launched into an explanation of her dream.

In a matter of minutes, I was swept up in her world and the way she spun words to tell her story. The crowd in the bar thinned out and the quiet that followed allowed me to hear every word falling from those pretty lips.

“I didn’t graduate college until I was twenty-four,” she divulged, sighing. “It took me a while to even want to go after my grandma passed right after I graduated highschool. I deferred my admission as long as they would let me, but when I finally went, it was worth it.

“All through college, I was a bottle girl. Then a bartender. I stayed in the dorms until junior year because I didn’t want to spend money on rent.” A laugh bubbled out of her and just like that I was addicted to the sound. “But by then, I was three to four years older than everybody else, so I got an apartment. When I graduated, I spent the summer using the money I saved from the club to convert a van that had been sitting in my grandma’s backyard for ages.”

Goldyn paused, a fond glint entering her eyes.

“She left it to me and I thought it would be perfect for what I wanted to do. So after I converted it, I hit the road and traveled around the States for two years. I danced for cash at clubs that allowed visitors and then I moved on to the next place. Bliss Peak was the last stop on my “tour.” I had no idea where I was going once I left here, but it’s been a year so I guess I’m here for a while. Not just passing through…”

Looking away, she heaved a sigh that let me know she was done talking for now.

We sat in silence. Me processing everything she’d told me, and Goldyn surveying the bar like it was the first time she was really seeing it.

I knew nostalgia and grief had a unique effect on everyone so I let the moment linger as long as it needed to.

When she finally met my eyes again, I didn’t hide the smile that bloomed on my face.

Lorenzo’s words from a few days ago rang true. Goldy definitely had some self-preservation skills.

“You’re the most fascinating woman I’ve ever met. I love how brave you are.”

“Thank you.” I loved that she didn’t shy away from the compliment. Even if she looked shy accepting it, sheacceptedit.

Somehow in the time she’d been talking, we’d inched closer and closer to each other until we were sitting side by side. Elbows and shoulders brushing as we fell deeper into the conversation. “So, your van…do you sleep in it during the winter too?” Winters were cold in Bliss Peak. We got a lot of snow and thinking about her shivering in a van didn’t sit right with me.

Goldyn shook her head, mindlessly pressing the home button on her iPhone 8 screen over and over.

Snapped out of her trance, she turned her head to look at me, and notes of cherry and vanilla plagued my senses.

The more I breathed her in, the harder I got and I hoped against hope she didn’t make the wrong move and notice that shit.