Page 23 of Love Like Lightning

“Right.”

“Is there a reason you wouldn’t want to date her?” Hank asks, snatching a cookie from the small plate on the coffee table.

“No…” But would she have any reason to date me?

And do I even want to date at all? I’m so busy that I barely have time for afternoon tea most days. Well, pretty busy, but I also make my alone time a priority.

“You know, you probably could use a friend or two your own age.” Betty purses her lips and tilts her head.

“Well sure, maybe. But you two know how focused I’ve been on growing my business. Half the time I’m running around this town and the next. I’m busy. I can barely carve out time to have tea with you two. I wouldn’t want to sacrifice that.” I joke, but internally I wonder if she’s right. I haven’t had too many friends in the last few years. I haven’t made the time. Yeah, I’m friendly with everyone and their mother in town, but since I graduated, I haven’t made an effort to spend time with anyone except my family. And of course, Betty and Hank.

“Live a little, Henry.” Hank shoots me a wink before pouring himself some more of the apple tea.

Both Betty and Hank used to call me Hammer, like everyone else in town, until I asked them one day if they would mind using my real name. The only thing Hank had to say was that I’d better not start calling him the same. He was mostly joking, but I hadn’t even known that we shared a first name before he said that. Other than that, they were both very cool about my request. They haven’t called me anything else since.

It’s a small thing, but it never ceases to make me smile.

“I live plenty,” I argue for no reason other than I don’t really know what else to say.

“You’re sitting here having tea with your elderly landlords, Henry. There’s more to life,” Betty advises me with a slow nod before turning a soft smile on her husband.

The look she gives him makes a knot form in my throat. Every once in a while, I’ll be sitting here watching them interact and think, wouldn’t it be nice?

“You’re not old.” Okay, they are old-er, but I don’t care. They’re great landlords and even better friends. “And she’s technically older than me too.”

“Oh. You skipped out on that small detail all those times you brought her up. And what do you mean, technically?” Betty finishes her own tea and pours herself some more, topping my cup off as well.

“Well, she is. She’s twenty-seven. Actually, she mentioned she was turning twenty-eight soon a few months ago, so that might have already happened.” I make a mental note to ask her the next time we see each other.

“That’s only a few years older. That’s nothing.” Hank waves a dismissive hand with a laugh.

Picking my tea up again, I savor the slightly sweet flavor of apple and the subtle warmth sliding down my throat. Betty and Hank have always treated me like an adult, expecting more from me than even my parents sometimes.

They don’t put unreachable expectations on me, but they believe I can do whatever I want if I put my mind to it. They believe I’m not just the youngest Wright. They don’t see the shadow that’s been over me since I was born.

It’s not my parents’ fault, or my siblings, really. I don’t think that they even realize they do it, but I find myself constantly trying to fade into the background to avoid comments that stick to me like sap.

“Are you sure you can handle that kind of workload?”

“Be serious, Hammer. That’s a steep goal.”

“Why don’t you come work for the business? Working for yourself is a lot to handle.”

“What is it that you even do all day?”

I know none of them mean any harm, I do. They’re my family, and they love me. But fuck if it doesn’t hurt, regardless.

“All right, enough about me. Give me the gossip. What’s new at the diner?” I steer the conversation back to a more normal topic; town gossip. I let a ridiculous anecdote about the kitchen staff at Daisy’s distract me from thinking about the girl from Boston.

It works for all of three and a half minutes.

10

Gianna

Taking a sip of the coffee I just bought at the local coffee shop, Books N’ Brew, I breathe in the sweet mountain air and try to figure out what I should do for dinner. Cam, reliably, bailed, saying he picked up a sandwich from a small eatery at the end of Main Street.

“Gia!”

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