Page 4 of Surprised By Her

I couldn’t stop thinking about the stranger and what the hell had possessed her to just kiss me like that. Was she the kind of person who walked around kissing people? Had she done it as a joke? Was it part of some viral internet trend I didn’t know about?

All kinds of possibilities flitted through my mind as I came up with increasingly more outlandish and truly mean reasons for her to have kissed me.

If there was one sport I excelled at, it was jumping to the worst possible conclusion. Always.

I was going to have a lot to talk about with my therapist this week.

Chapter Two

I was jumpy for the next day at work. I couldn’t stop waiting and expecting the stranger to come back and explain herself. Every time the door opened, I would flinch and it was exhausting. Somehow, I made it through the day, but it was rough.

On Wednesday, a familiar face walked in with twin girls.

“Hey,” I said as Layne looked around and smiled when she saw me. The twins were glued to their phones and barely looked up.

“Hey, how are you doing managing all this by yourself?” Layne was one of the kindest people I’d met. The only other one who was kinder was her friend Joy, who worked a few shops down the street at Mainely Books. I’d already spent way too much of my meager paycheck there on books since I’d moved here.

“I’m surviving,” I said, trying to laugh.

“Hey, the place looks great, so that’s something,” she said, looking around. “We’re out and about today and I thought I’d check in.”

“Did Sydney ask you to?” I asked, a little suspicious. I didn’t like the idea that Sydney would send her friends in to look in on me to make sure I wasn’t fucking this up too badly.

“No, she’s too busy, I think,” Layne said. “If you know what I mean.”

I snorted, thinking about how Sydney and Lark were like. “Oh, I know exactly what you mean.”

“Honor is trying not to check up on them too much, but Lark has barely texted her since they got to the island,” Layne said, rolling her eyes. “One thing’s for sure, everyone knows who the strict mom is going to be between the two of us. Not that we’re ready for that, we need to get married first.” Layne looked down at her sparkling ring and smiled.

“Anyway, I actually have a reason for being here. Mark’s niece, Ryan, is visiting for a few months and I wanted to get her a little welcome gift, so I’m putting together a basket with lots of Arrowbridge things.” Layne was too sweet.

“What were you thinking?” I asked her.

“She definitely needs a lobster mug,” Layne said, grabbing one and setting it on the counter with the register. “Two mugs.” She added another lobster mug to the other one.

Layne fluttered around the shop and I just let her do her thing as she added more items to her collection.

The twins would look up every now and then and comment before going back to their phones.

“They’re at that age,” Layne said as I rung her up. “I know they’re bored, and they want to be with their friends, but I miss when they were younger and they would talk my ears off.” She sighed and shook her head. “Pretty soon they’ll be dating and getting jobs and driving and I’ll be obsolete.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. That had to be hard, taking care of the kids their whole lives and then just being out of a job.

Layne waved her hands. “It’s not your problem to worry about. Oh, I wanted to invite you over on Saturday. We’re having a little party partially to welcome Ryan, but also just because.”

The idea of a party made my stomach drop to my feet and I could feel the excuses clamoring at the back of my throat. It was pure muscle memory to start giving excuses for why I couldn’t come.

Instead of what I always did, I swallowed those words and gave myself a second. The panic continued to ramp up, but I forced myself to speak.

“I’d love to,” I gasped out, hiding my shaking hands behind my back. “What time?”

Layne either didn’t notice the chaos that was going on with me, or she pretended not to.

“Perfect. It’s at two, and you don’t need to bring anything, just your purple-haired self,” she said, grinning at me. “Girls, say goodbye to Everly,” Layne prompted.

“Bye,” they said in perfect unison before waving, also exactly the same way.

“I’m starving,” one of the twins said as they walked through the door.

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