Love is Where We Left It (Blue Hill) by Yvette de Oro

Author:Yvette de Oro [de Oro, Yvette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2023-08-16T16:00:00+00:00

Graham

Unsettled, I reached for the strainer, glad to have something to do. It was the strangest déjà vu of old and new worlds colliding out front of the grocery store. The same one we used to go to to pick up things for our parents. And then it occurred to me how I might’ve looked talking on the phone like that. I would’ve wondered who she was talking to. Had I made it seem like it was another woman and didn’t have time for her? Did it matter? Would she even care? Then I’d rushed, forgotten the dough, and had to text her and go back, which left her waiting longer for me. Shit. Perpetually unbalanced. I needed a reset. Alcohol would help. Rye the hell not.

“What are you making?” she asked.

“A vieux carré.”

“Oh, you have benedictine?”

I arched an eyebrow back at her, and she pointed to herself. “Bartender. Dives to swanky bars through and after college. Bills don’t pay themselves, ya know.”

I tilted my head. “Well, hell, Sunny. Help a guy out over here.”

“I’ll have a sip of yours first.”

I narrowed my eyes on her. “Now I’m being tested.”

“Yep.”

Tested in more ways than one.

“Great,” I muttered and continued making the drink, picturing her as a bartender. Beautiful. Friendly. Everybody loving her. I bet she’d made a shit-ton of money.

“So, how was your senior year of high school?” I lifted the glass to my lips and turned to face her, catching her thinking about how she’d reverted and called me by my old nickname again.

She was embarrassed. She had a wall now, and I watched her withdraw behind it. It didn’t matter that I could still see through it. I hated it was me that had made that wall. And I kinda hated more that it was more likely not anything to do with me at all.

I had to stop thinking like I knew her. What had I asked?

“Um, high school.” She looked up to the ceiling, “Well, I kept my internship at city hall and played volleyball and softball. We won State in softball. I had a run-in with the second baseman in the final, got knocked out, and had to get stitches.” She lifted the hair from her forehead, revealing the scar. “My double scored the winning run, though.”

She got knocked out? I stifled the rush of questions and raised a hand for a high five instead, and she leaned forward to hit it.

See, everything was cool. Reset.

“Uh, let’s see.” She scraped her teeth over her bottom lip. “I worked, volunteered at the library. Anything I could think of to get my application to look good for UT that first semester.”

I nodded, taking a sip of my drink.

“What else?” She shrugged. “In case you forgot, not much happens around these parts. I went to homecoming as a group with everyone you know. A fun night. A lot of us ended up at Jack’s house. Same for Halloween—we watched scary movies all night. The Wilson twins played pranks. You know how they are.

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