Page 41 of Take Me Home

Bri and I got out bright and early to set up for the barbecue, pulling out and cleaning tables and chairs from the barn.

We’d had a good day at the market the day before, selling completely out of our peaches, goodies, and flowers. Jake, being who he is, had loaded up the market truck for us before we even made it to the barn. He didn’t have to. It was a Saturday, and he wasn’t on the clock.

“He likes you, babe. No doubt about it,” Brianna had said. “He was half naked in your room. He’s been in your bed. He loads trucks for you. That’s not nothing.”

At the market, an unwelcome blast from the past came when we got to town and I had phone signal. Rob had texted me, kind of a lot. The time stamps were from the middle of the night, so essentially, when he was a drunk dumbass.

Rob

I miss u Dee

Where r u

Why do all my calls go straight to voicemail

The messages brought a wave of nausea over me. Funny that Rob would wonder where I was after months of not wondering where I was. It had taken him a good six weeks to notice I wasn’t in Raleigh anymore, and that was after two months of him not trying to reach me while Iwasthere. And his calls went to voicemail because 95% of the time, I had no phone signal.

To take my mind off Rob’s intrusions, Bri made me go watch Jake coach for a bit. His team was playing on a field by the market. I can’t say I didn’t get butterflies when his face lit up at seeing me on the sidelines. Rob, who?

The girl who babysat me as a kid was a parent for Jake’s team, and she talked up how good he was with the kids. She also assumed Jake and I were dating and called him a “nice catch.” The pro-Jake propaganda was coming from all sides.

My family was about to pile on to that in the way they do. But I didn’t want to get hurt when it turned out I was wrong about Jake’s intentions or lose Caleb or Becca because we made them uncomfortable. I didn’t want it to seem like I was playing favorites with him. And I definitely didn’t want to break his heart by fucking up his life with my messy, unpredictable one. He’d said he wanted stability in his family life. I was the walking definition of instability. He was, quite simply, out of my league.

After we got set up for the Fourth party, Bri and I hiked up the mountain, something I’d wanted to do but hadn’t found the time for all summer. We weaved through the overgrown brush. I made a note to come back with a scythe to cut some of it back from the walking paths.

We climbed quietly, taking in the lush green surrounding us. The air even smelled green, a smell I associated with home to the point that I thought it was part of my DNA. We sat on a rock at the top of the mountain, leaning into each other, panting and sweaty.

“I’ve really missed this. It feels like all of me is humming in tune with the rest of this place,” I said.

“There’s the writer I know,” Brianna said. “But I know what you mean. Makes it hard to leave.”

“I wish you didn’t have to go tomorrow,” I groaned. “Can’t you just take a sabbatical and spend the summer in limbo with me? It’s family medical leave because you’re my family and I medically need you here.”

“I wish I could. It’s been nice being unplugged out here.”

“Yeah, it’s been about six weeks and I still don’t miss social media,” I said. “I thought I’d miss it more.”

“Well, you’ve been surrounded by this.” Brianna extended her arms to the woods. “You’re strangely super busy and you’ve got a nice distraction living in a trailer down by the creek.”

I laughed. “It feels like summer camp, you know? I get all sweaty and gross all day, and at the end of the day, I still wonder if my crush likes me. Every action and emotion seems magnified because we’re all on top of each other all the time. If Becca didn’t come in and out every day, I’d feel like I crashed on a deserted island.”

“That is like summer camp,” Brianna affirmed. “But I think we’re going to have a good day today, darling. Humor me with a selfie?”

I threw my arm around her shoulder while Brianna held her phone at arm’s length. We were sweaty, makeup-free, and wild-haired, but I hadn’t seen my face look that happy in a while. I needed my best friend.

“Send that to me when you get back to civilization. I don’t have enough cute pics of us.”

“We haven’t been together since your engagement party!” Brianna said quickly, then visibly gagged. “Eesh, sorry. Shouldn’t have brought that up.”

I shrugged. “Eh, it’s okay.”

“Have you heard from him since the texts yesterday?”

“Not that I know of. But with shitty signal, who knows? I don’t follow him on social media, either.”

“I think I still follow him, so I’ll track any red flags for you. Why didn’t you tell him you were leaving Raleigh?”

I blew out a raspberry. “I was afraid he’d follow me or do something stupid to try to keep me there. Which he’d have no right to do. He hardly spoke to me while I was there after I broke it off. I didn’t need him knowing about my layoff and trying to give me money. Or convincing me that I need him when I don’t. I have you. I have my family,” I said, kinda ranting. “I know everything’s still up in the air but I’m okay, ya know? Or at least I am right this second. Ask me again at 3 a.m..”

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