Page 28 of The Grumpy Side of Paradise

“Not really shed season right now.” Her words swing up and down with a glee I don’t appreciate.

“It’s notnotshed season.” I keep sorting through the built-in drawers full of old coats until I find a thin parka that will work. I hold it up. It looks about Evie’s size and isn’t too old-lady looking. “I can point her to a few places she can go back to once the bucks start shedding.”

“In April? That’s thinking ahead.” Sarcasm drips off her like stink off a rutting elk.

“I know some places to look that other people may not have found since shed season.” I pull a pair of pink hiking boots from one drawer and hold them up for Britta to see. “These yours?”

She purses her lips and sends one eyebrow higher than the other. Britta is sister to three brothers and daughter to a dad who didn’t let her get away with acting like a princess, no matter how hard Mom tried to treat her like one. We teased her enough as a kid about wearing pink that now she hates it. But that never stopped Mom from trying to get her to wear it.

“Not any that I ever wore willingly. Did you ask Evie what size shoe she wears?”

I shake my head. “She looks about the same size as you.”

Britta takes the boots from me and drops them in the drawer. “I’ve got a few inches on her. Even if I didn’t, that doesn’t mean we have the same shoe size. And her feet definitely aren’t as small as mine were when I was twelve, which is when Mom gave me those boots.” She rifles through the drawer, then pulls out a much more worn pair and a thick pair of socks. “Try these. They’re broken in and will probably work.”

“Thanks.” I take them, then grab the parka I’d set aside. “You think this will work?”

Britta nods, then smiles. “I’m really glad you’re taking her out. It’s time to put Dakota in the past where she belongs.”

I brush past my sister and open the door to leave. “I’m not taking her out. I’m doing her a favor.”

I shut the door before she can say anything else about asking Evie out. If I don’t, she’ll get out of me that the real “date” I asked Evie on was going to church with me.Church.That was dumb. I don’t know what I was thinking. Other than she seems to know a lot about Adam and Eve, so she’s obviously been to church before. But the bigger reason is, it’s easier for me to witness to a congregation than to make conversation with someone one on one. I don’t have anything interesting to say.

On the drive from my parents’ place back to my own, I pass the piece of land I own. The plan was to build a place for Dakota and me. There are amazing views of the lake from that spot. I dreamed of sitting out on the porch watching the sunset with Dakota, a few kids playing in the yard.

Even though my chest tightens, I take my foot off the gas and slowly drive by. It’s a habit I can’t break. The dream had been so real for so long that I still have trouble not seeing the large house that I’d been building in my mind since the first time I kissed Dakota. Steep pitched roof, giant windows, open beams. When we lived in New York and things got too hectic, I’d picture this spot. I only had to see it in my mind to quiet the anxiousness swirling in my gut.

A car behind me honks, and I speed up, leaving behind the spot where I thought I’d spend the rest of my life. I wish it were as easy to drive away from the dream, but it chases me wherever I go. It’s relentless. I can’t shake the hope that Dakota will come back and tell me she’s changed her mind. She wants me back. She wants the life we’d always planned. Those thoughts are the background music to my life, always playing.

Except, I realize, during the few times I’ve talked to Evie. Looking in her eyes quieted all my thoughts about Dakota.

Maybe Britta is right. No, not maybe. She’s definitely right. It’s time to move forward instead of holding onto the past and a dream that’s dead. The fact a woman I barely know can distract me from the woman that’s been occupying every corner of my mind for over a decade has to be a good sign. It’s possible I’m ready to move on.

But is it possible to move on to a woman who smiles too much and will move on soon herself?

Chapter 15

Evie

It’s five to three when I hear a knock at my door. I open it, expecting to see Adam, and for a second I think the man standing there is him. But there’s no hint of sadness in this man’s eyes, and Rosie is still barking. Also, he’s smiling.

“Hi, Zach.”

What is this squeezing sensation in my stomach? It feels like disappointment, but why would I be disappointed to see the brother who doesn’t greet me with a scowl?

“Hi, Evie. Adam not here yet?” His eyes sweep over my head, scanning the inside of my duplex. “How do you like the place?”

“It’s nice.” I open the door and wave him inside. “You can wait in here for Adam.”

He follows me inside, then sprawls across the couch like he owns the place—which, technically, he does—his arm over the back cushions and his legs stretched out in front of him.

“This place is great. I love how you renovated it.” I take the seat opposite him, a modern thing that’s not particularly comfortable. But the couch is currently occupied.

Zach nods. “Thanks. It sat here empty for a long time. A lot of people didn’t like that I subdivided it instead of restoring it, but there was no money in that. It’s a great summer rental. A little higher end than most of the places around here. I’ll build more rentals on Georgia’s land if she gets the TV deal.”

I tuck my foot under my opposite thigh, considering whether to ask the question that’s been on my mind since I crested the mountain and drove into this valley. “Do you worry about Paradise losing its small-town charm if a lot of new people move here?”

Zach’s shoulders lift in a slow show of resignation. “I don’t know. Probably. But the town will die if we don’t make some changes. More young people are leaving than staying. They go to college and don’t come back. There’s no work for them.”

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