* * *
“Here ya go.”I slip Hayden’s favorite meal in front of her, before having a seat opposite.
“This looks so good.” She rubs her hands together. “It’s been a crazy day so far.”
I groan. “Don’t I know it? Our lunch rush was busier than normal.”
“Because Mountainside BBQ isn’t open back up yet.” She mentions the restaurant located at the top of the mountain that was destroyed during the forest fire a few weeks ago. “I was up there the other day helping. They’re getting there, but the food truck they’ve been using isn’t going to cut it for very long. They’re selling out super early during the night because there isn’t a way for them to bulk produce. The quicker they get it done, the better.”
“That’s nice of you to go up there and help.” I take a bite of my sandwich and groan as the flavors hit my tongue. I haven’t had a chance to take a break since I got here and I didn’t have time to eat before I showed up.
Her cheeks pinken. “It’s the place where Danny and I had our first date. It holds a special place in my heart.”
“Then by all means.” I grin. “Help get your love nest back up and running.”
She laughs. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a love nest, smart ass. But ya know, it’s important to the community too. Anyway, enough about me. So what happened with Cameron this morning?”
It’s my turn to blush. “I told you.” I mess with the straw in my cup. “He saw me with nothing but a towel on.”
“How did it feel?” She squeals. You’d think she has no romantic life to speak of the way she gets so excited for mine.
That’s a good question. To avoid it, I make a huge production of eating my chips and sandwich. “Like my skin was too tight,” I whisper. “Like I wanted him to come over, pull it down, and have his way with me.”
“You’ve got it bad.” She giggles.
“Like you don’t have it bad for Danny?”
“The only difference is, he has it bad for me too,” she quips.
That’s harsh. A fact I absolutely don’t want to admit. It’s easier for me to live in my pretend world where Cam feels the same about me, but is scared to say anything. Falling back on self-deprecation is the comfortable thing to do. “Yeah and we both know Cam will never be able to love someone else again. Not after the way Rebecca hurt him.”
Hayden seems to understand how her words hurt me. “Nat, you know I didn’t mean it like that.”
“No.” I push my sandwich away. “You’re right. The problem is, I don’t even know the ghost between us.”
“You never met her? I’m younger and I didn’t know either one of them previously, other than to sayheywhen I went to the fire station.”
“I met her, kinda.” I confess. It’s hard for me to remember what she looked like, but what stands out are the glares she gave me when I’d hang out with the group as a whole. “I was working hard, trying to further my softball career. The only thing I had time for was practice, eating, sleeping, and more practice. And let’s be honest. Gauge really didn’t love his younger sister tagging along. Even if he never said it.”
“Well, ya know what they say.” Hayden smirks. “You got a question? You got to ask it.”
“It can’t be that easy,” I scoff.
“You’re not gonna know until you try it.”
CHAPTERFOUR
Cameron
My alarm buzzeson my bedside table, breaking the haze of deep sleep I’ve managed to slip into. Rolling over, I slap at my phone and cup it in my palm. Sighing, I stretch before situating myself on my back. Fighting to get the fog of sleep out of my brain, I prop my elbow on the pillow next to mine and start to scroll through social media.
It’s not the best habit to have, but it’s how I allow my brain to come back online after working such a stressful job. Pushing my blanket off, I kick my legs free and continue to scroll.
Natalie.
Photo dump from the last few days…
The post is captioned.