Page 22 of Fall Twice

I roll my eyes, but I can’t deny that his observation is true. Stopping us, I angle my body to him and slide my hands into my pockets. “No dates. We’re just friends.”

Johnny waves off my statement. “They all say that.”

“Our history and current circumstances really do make us just friends.”

“For now,” he corrects me. “Have some faith in fate, kid.”

I gently shake my head. “Believe it or not, I do. But in this instance, I’m not exactly clear on my thoughts. Plus, I really want to respect the fact that she could use a friend now. She divorced earlier in the year and has a little boy.”

“But she also has a history with you, no?”

She does. She really does. And the more I see her, the more it comes back to me, but in a way where I’m watching a movie. I’m not reliving it, only now realizing that it was another time. This time isn’t the same, but I haven’t figured out why.

“I think we need to find you that magazine, and please tell me it’s about history or politics. I don’t need to be buying you something that I wouldn’t want my sister to know about.” I touch his arm and guide him in the direction of the bookstore.

Opening the door, we walk in and it’s fairly busy. We head to the magazine shelf, but halfway there a little boy nearly runs Johnny over, causing the book in the child’s hand to fall to the ground. I quickly lean down to help pick up the book.

“Oscar, there you are.” I already recognize Lena’s voice. The voice I haven’t heard since a few days ago.

When I look up at the little boy, I see a pair of blue eyes staring at me curiously and a wave of dark hair on his little head. I recognize him from a photo that Lena showed me.

“Oh, hey,” she sounds surprised.

Slowly, I stand and hold out the book. “Small world, small town, even smaller bookstore.”

My eyes connect with Lena’s then bounce back to Oscar.

“Sorry he ran into you, he’s a tad excited,” she mentions. She pulls him close to her body, and she has a few children’s books in her hands.

Johnny clears his throat, clearly eager for an introduction.

“Lena, this is my neighbor Johnny. Johnny this is Lena, my old friend I was telling you about.” I can’t stop staring at her, my brain witnessing her in all her mom glory. A different kind of glow graces her face today.

“Ah, so you’re not fictional. Nice to meet you.” She gives Johnny a little wave. “This is my son, Oscar.”

Johnny slaps my back. “You didn’t tell me she was breathtaking,” he mumbles.

Clearly, Lena heard, as her eyes dart to me, and she blushes softly.

I awkwardly smile this situation off and pat Johnny’s shoulder. “He’s a talker.”

Lena looks down at Oscar who is watching his mom with interest. “This is Reid, he’s a friend of mine, and we went to school together when I was younger.”

The boy looks at me, studies me, then returns his gaze to Lena.

She rubs his shoulder and smiles tightly at me. “Shy at first sometimes.”

“Understandable.” Remembering that I have a book in my hand, I offer it to Oscar. “Think you dropped this.” He reluctantly takes it from me and mumbles thanks. “Looks like you both found something.”

“Yeah, we came in because there was a reading hour about magical scarecrows, and I told Oscar that he could pick some books for his new room.” She gushes over her son because he is the light of her life, a fact I realized within five minutes of our reunion last month.

“Magical scarecrows? That’s… new.” I chuckle and scrub a hand across my face because I can’t stop looking at them. I swear her eyes sparkle at me, and I seem to have lost my ability to talk.

A fact supported by Johnny who pipes in, “Have you tried the hot chocolate at Ginger & Co.? I know we have Count of Choc, but Ginger’s is so much better.”

Oscar’s eyes light up, and he speaks in hushed tones to his mother. She smiles as if she was expecting his question. “Looks like that’s our next stop,” she announces.

“Funny, we were just heading there so this one…” Johnny points his thumb at me, “could buy me a coffee.”

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