Page 14 of Between the Shady Groves
Nine
“It was really nice of you to meet us,” Grace said, standing up from the bench underneath the grove of trees and walking forward to wrap her arms around Lauren.
The other lady must be Claire. Lauren could kind of see the resemblance to her teenage friend.
She also stood and waited her turn to give Lauren a hug. Lauren hugged them both back, feeling like she had stepped back in time.
Why had she waited so long to reconnect with her friends?
But she knew why. The tragedy that lay between them had split them apart, even if the fault line hadn’t been obvious at first. It was why they didn’t get back together after high school, and they’d all gone their own separate ways, getting out of Raspberry Ridge just as fast as they possibly could.
“I’m sorry, I can’t stay too long. I have my cheese bread rising.”
“You’re making cheese bread?” Grace said, her hands clasped to her chest. “We should lay siege to your shop later!”
“Are you opening it again?” Claire asked, her eyes lighting up at the prospect.
“I’ve thought about it, but… I don’t really know if I can make a go of it, you know?”
“I guess that’s the risk of being a business owner. That’s why there’s a big payoff. Versus just being an employee, you know?”
She nodded.
She supposed that was true. The risk, the amount of time it took that a person had to spend to baby their business along until it was big enough to grow on its own.
That’s what Cannon had been busy doing. And what she had supported him in, for so long. It just got…old, when the business always took first place.
“Anyway. Enough about that. How have you been?” Grace asked, truly wanting to know.
“I guess I’m hanging in there. You know I lost my mom, we talked about that, and that’s just been hard.”
“Yeah. I was a little worried about you after seeing you yesterday. I’m so glad we were able to get together today.”
“Me too. I just lost my gram, which I know is not the same thing, but it’s still tough.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry. I hadn’t heard. She was such a sweet woman. I have so many good memories of hanging out at her farm and playing. I also remember that truth or dare game. You and Josiah. That kiss. He couldn’t stop talking about it for months afterward.”
“Well, I gotta say, he was a good kisser then, and he’s even better now.”
They laughed together, and Lauren honestly started to feel like she was coming home.
“I know that this is a hard time for you, but if you want to talk about what happened with Yolanda, Claire and I tried to hash it out, and?—”
“No. I’m definitely not ready for that. Too many other things. And I don’t care if I never talk about that again.”
The other ladies nodded, but she got the feeling they disagreed with her. Maybe they were right. Maybe it was better to talk about things rather than hide them, but she always figured that there wasn’t really a Bible verse for that. Maybe just sharing it with the Lord. And working through it that way. But to actually talk about it with other people… She didn’t need to.
Still, maybe it wouldn’t hurt. Maybe they would be able to say some things that would assuage her guilt. But she didn’t want platitudes. She didn’t want to not have guilt that she deserved to carry around. After all, she could have stopped the whole thing. And Yolanda would still be alive.
“That’s totally up to you. No one can force you into it. Still, I feel better after talking to Claire about it.” Grace spoke, and then she totally changed the subject. “I heard there’s a new bookshop opening up right beside the bakery. That is fortuitous, isn’t it?” she said, wiping her eyes and looking excited.
“I heard the guy that’s opening it is retired military. I haven’t actually seen him, but you know how gossip travels in this town.”
“I’ve seen him. And I believe it. He looks like he worked in intel or something. His eyes scan constantly, and while he seems very laid-back, there is an alertness around him that’s disconcerting at times.” Lauren figured that was a safe subject.
Grace jumped on that immediately. “You’ve seen him?”
“Yeah. He said he followed his nose into the bakery yesterday when I was making Nutella banana bread.”
