Page 128 of As They Are
But she didn’t.
“Sorry, I forgot.” She slowly got up. “Up for grabbing something with me?”
It was tempting to offer to cook for her, to bring her back to my place and do this all over again.
But that was against the rules.
“Center Point is still open,” I said. “As long as we hurry.”
“I could go for diner food.” She grabbed her pants. “Let’s do it. After we wash up. At least the library bathrooms are mostly working again.”
Washing my hands in the bathroom of the library was a little like washing up with a fire hydrant, but it did the job.
Wren met me outside and we made the walk to Center Point. Tammy was sitting at a booth reading when we walked in. She did a double take.
“You just made it,” she said with a smile. “I was thinking about closing early.”
“If you still are, we can go,” I replied. “I know we’re here right before you’re done for the day.”
“No need. I wouldn’t mind someone to talk to. Ron’s quiet today.”
“I’m tired!” a gruff voice said in the back. I’d lived in this town for years and barely knew what he looked like. Tammy was definitely the face of the couple.
“Been a long one,” she said. “With the people filtering in and out because of the show, we’re busy. I finally got a few girls from the high school to take over some shifts. After they get fully trained, I’m going to thebeach.”
“Too hot,” Ron called out. It was the most I’d heard him talk in years.
“You can stay here alone, then! I deserve some time in the sun.”
“There’s always the fall,” I said. “Might be a good middle ground.”
“You might be onto something,” Tammy replied. “Sit wherever you like. What are you having to drink?”
“Water,” Wren said. “I’m so dehydrated.”
My eyes slid to hers. I could see why, after what we’d done. Her cheeks turned a beautiful shade of pink, like the roses in front of my house.
“Same for me.” I sat beside Wren; it felt so natural to be close to her. Plus, it gave Tammy space to join us if she wanted to.
But I was only doing this because we were in public. Or at least that was what I told myself. We were dating here, and when we were alone, we were friends with benefits.
“How’s the library going?” Tammy asked as she brought us two ice-cold waters. “It looks like you guys are working hard.”
“We’re putting it back together,” Wren said. “Replacing the floors and making sure everything is in working order. Then we’ll be ordering books and opening it up.”
“It’s all Marjorie and Henrietta can talk about,” Tammy said. “It’s allanyonecan talk about. We’re excited to have a piece of the town back.”
“Hopefully it lives up to the hype.”
“Oh, it will.” Tammy liked Wren. That much was obvious. She was friendly with everyone in town, even Hugh—when he was being nice. But I could tell by the way she perked up whenever Wren was in a room that she was excited to see her. “What are you two having?”
“The apple pecan salad,” I replied.
“I want the biggest plate of chicken tenders you have.”
I immediately regretted my choice. Chicken tenders were my food of choice before I realized that I needed to eat vegetables too.
“Sounds good.” Tammy turned and yelled out the order to Ron before sitting with us. “Now, I’ve got some opinions on books to stock it with, by the way. Can we get an erotica section?”
