"Anything important?" I ask.
She shakes her head. "Nothing important."
"Is it your family looking for you?"
"Something like that," Abby says dismissively. "So, winter in Home is pretty cold," she says. "My cheeks were freezing the entire time I was walking Hijinx on the trail. You ever feel like you're freezing your butt off out here in the mountains?"
I laugh, but I’m still pretty aware that she's been changing the subject every time I try to talk about where she's come from, where she's headed. As much as I'm falling for this girl, I know Rye's right. I don't know much about her and I need to if I want to see this going anywhere. "So what are your plans, Abby? I mean, I know you said you came through here when you were younger and you always wanted to come back when you got a chance, but are you planning on settling down in Home?"
Her eyes meet mine as Cassidy brings us our lunch, my BLT and French fries, her grilled cheese and soup. "Thanks Cassidy," I say as she walks away.
"I think I could see myself here," Abby says apprehensively, picking up half of her sandwich and dipping it in the red soup. "I'd like to believe I could stay here. I need a job, and I need a place to live. Harold said I could talk to his son, Dale, about getting a car."
I nod, listening, wanting to believe she wants to settle down here. But I've known her a day. I don't want to get spun up in someone that might not be here tomorrow.
"What?" she asks. "You don't think I'm sticking around material?"
She's literally read my mind. I frown. "I didn't say that."
"I know you didn't say that," she presses, "but it's what you're thinking. I mean, you're Bartlett Rough. It's like Darla said at the station. You’re pretty much the epitome of the perfect package. Even Cassidy's looking at you like she wants you."
"Cassidy is nothing to me," I say. "I mean it. We never went to school together, and she’s a lot younger than me. We never–"
"Regardless," Abby says, cutting me off, "you and me, I don't know, Bart. It seems like a fantasy."
"Are you always like this?" he asks me. "Pushing away the good things before you've truly gotten a chance to experience them?"
She takes another bite of her sandwich, ignoring my question or maybe thinking it through. "Bartlett, I'm just scared. Scared of a place as perfect as Home."
After lunch, I head back to the hardware store and Abby goes over to Lemon's to pick up Hijinx. While I'm in the shop, Rye comes in.
"Abby around?" he asks.
I shake my head. "No, she's over at Lemon's. Why? You have something to say to her?"
He shrugs, his knuckles rapping on the counter. "Actually, I have something to say to you first. Look, you're not going to like this."
"What is it?" I ask, my patience already thin.
"Well, you know my buddy, Walker? He works over at the train station."
"Course I know Walker. We went to school with him, right?"
"Yeah. Well, he owed me a favor and he looked at the manifestos from yesterday's trains. There was no one with the name Abby on any of the trains."
"Well, maybe she didn't have a ticket."
"She's just catching trains up from California or wherever she comes from without a ticket? That's not how trains work anymore. This isn't 1943," Rye says with a snort. "Come on, think. You know who she is?"
"What? You think she's a liar? Fuck you, Rye. You think you know everything?"
"No. I just know Walker, who happens to run the train station, and I’m telling you, something’s up."
"Look, I'm not interested in your fucking interference, okay?"
Just then, the bells on the front door ring and Abby comes in with Hijinx, who begins to bark at my older brother. I can't help but smile at that. Even the dog knows Rye is bad news.
"This is ridiculous," Rye says. "You're going to get yourself in some real trouble, you know that?" Rye walks away, pushing open the hardware store door without a word.
Abby watches him go before coming over to me. "So what's that about?"
But right then, several customers enter the store asking for help. "Look, I can't talk right now," I say, turning to her. "I'm sorry, but I've got to help my customers. But I'll come find you when my employee, Luke, comes in. He'll be here in a half an hour."
"That's fine," Abby says. "We can meet up later. I'm going to take Hijinx to the park."
"Will you be warm enough?" I ask. “I have some hand warmers on aisle four.”
She smiles at that, kissing my cheek. "I'll be fine," Abby says, reaching for the gloves in her coat pocket. "Look, just take care of yourself and whatever's going on with your brother. We can meet up later, all right?"