Far from Here by Nicole Baart

Author:Nicole Baart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howard Books

I never saw him again. Well, once or twice from a distance, but I started getting my supplies at the co-op on the edge of town. And though I nearly died of embarrassment every time I thought of Hazel’s confrontation, there was a part of me that was grateful that she had come into the hardware store that day. It was like a slap to the face, an unexpected blow that brought me to my senses. I didn’t have any feelings for him. He was an ego-boost. Nothing more.

But while I was secretly grateful for Hazel’s intervention with my hardware store fling, I resented her assessment of Benjamin. I saw the way he looked at you.

“That’s absurd,” I told her after my neighbor was long out of sight. “He has been our neighbor since the day we moved in. He’s Ell’s friend.” But that wasn’t entirely true. They didn’t dislike each other, but they didn’t have much in common either. “They respect one another,” I amended.

“Good for them,” Hazel snapped. “But I have eyes in my head. I know what I saw.”

A minute ago, I had been too weary to fight her, but the thought of what she was implying stoked me into a swift rage. I bristled. “What are you saying? Etsell’s been gone for a month. Do you think Benjamin . . . Do you think I . . . ?”

Hazel looked startled. “No. No, of course not.” She pursed her lips for a moment, considering me. Then she closed the space between us and gave me a clumsy hug, thumping my back with one awkward hand. “That look is reserved for Etsell. It took me by surprise, that’s all.”

I backed out of her embrace and rubbed my temple with the heel of my hand. “Fine, Hazel, whatever. Look, I’m really tired. I’m going to go lay down for a while, okay? Thanks for stopping by.”

It occurred to me that I didn’t even know why she had come, but my back was already turned and I simply didn’t have the grace to stick around and be polite.

“No problem,” Hazel said from behind me. “I understand. But I have something for you and I was wondering if you could spare two minutes to help me unload it from my truck.”

She sounded apologetic, but even if she had demanded my help, it would have been hard for me to just walk away. Hazel had something for me? Something that required both of us to move it? I paused, but she had already counted on my cooperation. “It’s a bit heavy, but even skinny as you are, I think you can manage it. We don’t have to transport it far.”

I was already looping back to the driveway when I saw Hazel hop up in the bed of the rusty pickup truck that typically held down a forgotten corner of earth at the airstrip. It belonged to the Blackhawk airport, but Hazel left the keys in the ignition and anyone who needed it could use it for hauling leaves or helping a friend on moving day.

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