Page 19 of Someday

She’s right about that. This right here is what kept me avoiding town, that and not wanting to see Theo with a girlfriend, but it’s time to deal with it. All of it.

“It was a surprise to me too,” I say.

“Well, we’re so happy you’re here now,” Lar says. “How long have you been back?”

“Uh…” I stall, hesitant to admit how long it’s been.

“Let’s not grill the girl, she won’t want to come back,” Mar says, grinning at me. “Do you see anything that looks good? I think there are some apple fritters left. Are they still your favorite?”

I don’t have the heart to tell her that anything with baked apples has been forever wrecked for me since the night I left Landmark.

“Those cream cheese danishes look amazing and the chocolate croissants…you’ve gone all fancy on me.” I laugh and they do too.

“Trying toelevate,” Lar says in a fancy British accent, giving the couple in front of me their orders.

“Well done.” I laugh again and peer down at all the pastry goodness. “I think I’m going to have to get a sample of a bunch of things and coffee with room for cream. Let’s do a couple of cream cheese danishes, two chocolate croissants…and can I get one of those fruit tarts? And a few of those muffin tops…yes, one of each.” I nod at the ones she points out. “And an eclair.”

Mar’s face is split wide with her grin as she fills a couple of boxes. “You can come again tomorrow, you know,” she says, laughing as she takes my cash.

“Maybe I will.” I smirk and turn when the bell on the door rings.

Grinny Landmark walks in and she looks just as beautiful as I remember. I barely see any hints of the years that have passed. She looks healthy and vibrant just like she always has. She’s looking at me with the same assessing eyes and I nearly weep with relief when she smiles at me. I should’ve known she would treat me with kindness.

“Hello, Sofie,” she says softly.

“Hi, Grinny. It’s wonderful to see you. You look…so lovely.”

She walks toward me and puts her hands on either side of my arms, looking into my eyes before she wraps me in a hug.

“So do you, my dear. So do you.”

My eyes fill with tears, and I try to rein it in before she steps back. I hold up one of the boxes waiting for me.

“You’re not going to believe this, but I was bringing some treats over to your house…I hoped I might catch you at home.” I laugh awkwardly and Grinny’s head falls back as she laughs, looking delighted.

“I believe it…because I was on my way to see you today too,” she says.

My eyebrows shoot to the ceiling, and I grab the other box of treats. “Well, this is…

“Serendipitous,” Lar says.

Mar shakes her head with her hand on her chest, smiling but also looking like she might cry. “Oh. Should I get your regular to go, Grinny?”

“Yes, please.”

I turn back to Grinny. “Where shall we go?”

“It’s a beautiful day out there. Want to go see if we can find a bench at the park?”

“That sounds perfect. Did you drive? If not, I can take you.” The words are flying out of me all of a sudden, nerves hitting me hard.

Her smile is serene. One day I’d love to possess that level of calm.

“I drove too, so I’ll meet you over there. I’ll race you to the caboose.” She winks and I laugh, nodding.

After a prolonged goodbye with Lar and Mar, we exit Happy Cow together with our coffees and boxes of pastries and head to our cars. She’s parked in front of my SUV, and I let her pull out before I do, following her to the little park just a couple blocks over. The ride is brief, so I don’t have enough time to go into a panic attack over seeing Grinny again. She looked happy to see me. Shewantedto see me. That must be a good sign, right?

I grin when I see the caboose. Theo and I loved playing here as kids. We’d peek through the windows and sneak in, and when we were older, we’d swing on the swings nearby and talk for hours.

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