Page 2 of Cozy Girl Fall
At the mention of the D-word, she’d given up on maintaining any integrity and instead hobbled toward the door with the eyes of the entire cafe heavy on her retreating back. She hadn’t even bothered to pick up the folder full of research she’d put together to show what the typical price of apple crates was versus the quote her mom had received. She’d clearly been gone for too long if she’d forgotten just how much her mother loved to meddle.
“Excuse me,” Penny muttered as she pushed past a startled barista and made a beeline for the paint-faded door. “Had to be wearing white.” She groaned as the door jingled cheerfully behind her and she emerged onto the sidewalk. But her white jeans were cute when she paired them with her favorite mossy green sweater and knock-off Uggs, perfect for the hint of fall in the early September air. Admittedly, they were less cute now that a brown stain covered her crotch and ran half-way down her thighs.
She’d hoped she might have hit her embarrassment quota for the day but, in true small-town style, of course she would run into one of the last people she’d want to see while covered in coffee and visibly flustered. She couldn’t say she’d have been particularly pleased to run intoanyoneshe knew in that moment, but Shelby Patterson was definitely one of the worst. They’d gone to high school together, and even though it had been ten years since they’d last seen each other, Pennyreallydidn’t want to run into the popular girl from school looking anything but her best—and thisdefinitelywasn’t Penny’s best.
The familiar blonde hair had appeared ahead of Penny as Shelby walked out of the local movie theater, head down as she focused on whatever was on her phone.
Gotta love small towns, Penny thought to herself as her eyes darted left and right, checking for anyone else she knew. If she was quick and careful, she might just be able to avoid having to actually speak to—
“Penny Larkin?” Shelby’s high-pitched drawl was unmistakable across the small square, and Penny sent a stream of curses skyward as she turned, plastering a smile onto her face. “Gosh, it really is you. What’s it been? Ten years? Figured you’d forgotten where our small town was at this point.”
“Shelby, hi! How are you?” Penny tried her hardest to sound sincere but there was no hiding the grimace behind her words.
“I’m fine … Better than you, by the looks of things,”Shelby responded with the hint of a smirk pulling at the corner of her lips as her eyes traveled down to the enormous coffee stain covering both of Penny’s thighs.
“Yep, well, you know me, clumsy as ever!” Penny garbled her words, desperate to escape to the safety of her car. “Anyway, sorry, Shelby, I’ve gotta run but it wassogood seeing you.”
“Mhmm,” Shelby barely responded, eyes already returning to her phone as she lost interest in torturing Penny any further.
What a bitch, Penny thought to herself as she hurried away, trying not to think about how uncomfortably cold her damp legs were becoming in the fall breeze. How had Shelby even recognized Penny anyway? They’d moved inverydifferent circles in high school and several long years had passed since then. Penny pushed the thoughts from her mind, focusing instead on avoiding any other awkward run-ins with ghosts from her past.
Her luck held and by the time Penny reached her trusty old Volkswagen Beetle, parked just opposite the old church, her racing heart had begun to find its normal rhythm. Luckily, she was pretty sure she had a spare grocery bag in the backseat of her Volkswagon Beetle that she could sit on to try and protect her fabric upholstery.
She knew better than most how difficult it could be to stay on your toes amid all the crap life threw at you, but she couldn’t quite believe how awful this first trip into town had been. It was just a relief that she’dmade it through this latest shit show without any critical casualties.
Well, mostly, she thought, glancing balefully down at the stained white jeans as she turned the ignition in her car. She was pretty sure it was going to take multiple washes to rescue those.
The roads were largely clear, what with it being the middle of the day. Most of Magnolia Springs’ residents were at school, work, or eating lunch around this time. Though a handful of retired older ladies could usually be found in the park doing tai chi on most weekday lunchtimes and, sure enough, she drove past them stretching under the shade of the magnolia trees on her way out of the old town, toward the bridge that would take her out to the sticks.
Also known as her parents’ place, along with the adjacent apple orchard they ran.
The only other thing that was just as far out of town were the stables across the way from the orchard which old man Colton had owned since she was little. When she was a kid, she’d often strolled across the field and fed the horses any apples they’d picked that were a little too bruised to sell. During her childhood, fall was always filled with the scent of sweet apples, grass and horses, and the occasional vanilla milkshake at Cathy’s Diner in town, which had been like a second home when she was a teenager.
It was funny how quickly time passed.
The trees outside of the window were familiar asshe drove by, the leaves still largely green even as a few edged toward turning yellow. San Francisco was an altogether different kind of beast to the small town she’d grown up in; she’d always felt an edge of unfamiliarity to the city, even after she’d lived there for ten years. In comparison, she hadn’t realized just how much of Magnolia Springs was ingrained on her heart and memories until she was driving past old haunts, able to recognize familiar turnings by the shape of tree branches alone as they flanked either side of the bridge up ahead.
In truth, she hadn’t expected that returning to Magnolia Springs would feel quite so nostalgic. Familiar, but not. Small and subtle changes made the town feel slightly off-kilter, like looking in the mirror the morning after you dye your hair and being slightly surprised by what you find—same, but different.
Penny could probably categorize herself that way too.
She knew she’d changed in the ten years she’d been gone, but being back here … it was hard not to fall into familiar patterns. Waking up early for a cup of coffee with her dad, taking extra-long showers now she didn’t have to worry about her water bill, suddenly wanting to rewatch old TV shows that she’d been obsessed with as a kid but had hardly thought about since then (Gilmore Girlswas, unsurprisingly, top of the list at this time of year). Clearly her mom was having the same problem, given that she was already sniffing around Penny’s love life.
The car jolted as she made her way up and onto the bridge over the river, the space only big enough for one vehicle at a time. A groan from her car made her wince, the suspension having forgotten the country roads around here after its time in the city. The sound unexpectedly shoved her into a not-so-fond memory of her first driving lesson once she’d got her permit. It had been late summer; the heat was starting to ease off in favor of the cool evenings that marked the approach of fall, so they’d had the windows rolled down. The sound of the water beneath the bridge had been soothing. So soothing, she must have relaxed a little too much. She’d nearly driven off the bridge after applying the gas a little too heavily. The car had lurched forward, her instructor had shrieked and that had made Penny shriek too until they crossed the small bridge and came off the other side, still screaming.
Now, the drive was so familiar it felt like she was on autopilot, like at any moment she’d be turning into her high-school best friend Tasha’s drive to go to the movies or out to the springs at the top of town. Lost in the memory, the rest of the drive back to the orchard passed quickly until she was turning into the narrow dirt lane that led to her parents’ cottage and parking on the pebbles by the side door.
“That was fast,” her mom called out of the kitchen window as Penny slammed the car door closed. “Did you get what—” Her eyes widened and suds flew through the air, splattering against the window as herhands flew up to cover her mouth. She choked on the soapy water as she took in the state of Penny’s pants. “What happened to you?”
Penny raised one eyebrow as she ducked under the low-hanging frame and pushed the door closed behind her. Angie Larkin looked a great deal like her daughter, their hair the same shade of chocolate brown, and the heart shape of their faces matching one another. But where her mom’s eyes were brown, Penny’s were a green-gray that changed depending on the light.
Water dripped from her mom’s hands, a puddle quickly forming on the wooden floor as suds continued to slip down the pane of glass that overlooked the garden and makeshift carport.
“I wore white and God laughed,” she muttered and her mom clucked sympathetically as she reached for a cloth to dry her hands and mop up the mess. “Andweneed to have words.”
“Oh dear, well, go ahead and get changed, honey. Then I want to hear all about your date with Jake.”
Penny bit back her groan and instead nudged off her Uggs before heading for the stairs to her left. The creak under her feet was as familiar to her as the freckle on the back of her hand and she didn’t even wobble when she neared the top and the second-to-last step bent and gave under her foot—the warped wood had been that way ever since she could remember.
