Page 3 of Quintessentially

“I’ve heard rumors that this is the place many people have lost their virginity.”

My eyes open wide. “Kandace.”

“Where did you lose yours?” she asks.

“I haven’t.”

Her forehead falls to my shoulder. “Me either.”

ChapterTwo

Kandace

Six years ago

“Damn,” Chloe, my best friend, whispers, “Dax sure knows how to fill out a suit.”

I look over, seeing Dax Richards sitting with his parents and grandma in the front pew. My best friend is right about the way he fills out his suit. And while I know from experience how sexy he is beneath the suit, I can’t help but concentrate on the sadness in his expression. It makes me want to go to him, to hold him, and give him a reason to smile.

It’s been two years since I gave Dax my virginity. According to him, he’d given me the same gift. And yet we are what people might call friends-with-benefits. Geographically, we are only together during his visits to Riverbend and my few visits to IU. Although he’d tried to convince me to attend the large university, it only took me a couple of visits to realize that life on a big campus with a population five times that of our town isn’t for me.

Occasionally, he and I text and call one another, but neither of us has made a commitment. That doesn’t mean I want to be with anyone else. It means I know that while my body and heart became his even before our first time, my mind has come to grips that there will never be a future for us.

We both have one more year of undergraduate. While my plans include Riverbend, Daxton Richards has already been accepted to Indiana Law for a double master’s degree in law and business. His plans are to follow in his parents’ success. His mother is partner at a big law firm in Chicago, and his dad is a CFO of some gaming company that is doing very well. The days and nights of Dax in Riverbend are about to be history. The reason he is here now is further proof.

The minister completes the eulogy for John Richards, Dax’s grandfather, and asks us to bow our heads in prayer. With my chin down, my eyes stay fixed on Dax. Maybe it is because he thought no one would see or was watching, but during the prayer he wipes a tear from his cheek. His father sits on one side of Ruth, Dax’s grandmother, and Dax is sitting on the other.

While I don’t know his parents well, everyone in town loves his grandparents. They own a shop on Main Street called Quintessential Treasures. While finishing my classes, I’m working part time with his grandparents—now only Ruth.

After the service at the cemetery, we all go back to the church for a dinner in the basement. The large dining hall is filled with long tables and chairs. All of the ladies in town contributed to the potluck. By the time my parents, Chloe, and I get down to the hall, it appears there is enough food to feed all of Riverbend.

“Kandace,” Ruth calls, lifting her hand when she sees me.

My throat clogs and tears prick my eyes as I go to her. Even though she has to be in her seventies, Ruth is spry and full of energy. “I’m so sorry, Ruth,” I say.

She lifts her chin. “I had over fifty years with the love of my life. One day, we’ll be together through eternity. I know I’ll miss him every day, but I also know my Jack. He doesn’t want me sad. For him, I’ll smile until we meet again.”

I don’t understand how Jack is a nickname for John, but it is.

I wrap my arms around Ruth’s slender shoulders. “If you need anything.”

The church’s dining hall is filling up as more and more people arrive. As I hug Ruth, Dax steps closer.

Ruth reaches for my hand and Dax’s. She turns to her grandson, looking up at him with love and pride. “Did you know that Kandace is working for me?”

His sad golden eyes meet mine. “Thanks for helping Grandma.”

“I like the store.”

Ruth puts our hands together. “You two catch up, and remember, Jack doesn’t want tears. He wants you to remember him with a smile.”

Dax takes my hand and walks with me to the wall away from the food lines that are forming on both sides of a long buffet. When he looks down at me, I see the sadness Ruth said her husband wouldn’t want.

“Do you want some food?” I ask, looking at the gathering people.

He shakes his head. “I’d like to get out of here.”

“Will your parents mind?”

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