Page 4 of Where You Belong

“This is such a cute place,” she gushes. “I’ve been looking forward to the day we welcome more people our age to the neighborhood. It’s overrun with retired folks, which is great when raising a family in a quiet area, but like I said, it’s so quiet.”

“You only say that because you’re still ticked at Mary Jean for calling Corbin when you were playing your music so loud.”

She rolled her eyes. “It was the Fourth of July!”

Alex chuckled, squeezing her shoulder, and muttered, “I know, Penny girl. I know.”

She smirked back at him and turned back toward me. “If you’re not playing music, grilling out in your backyard, and lighting some sparklers, are you even American?”

I grinned, recalling all the memories of us doing the same growing up.

“She’s got a point.”

“You’ll have to come over and hang with us sometime. Are you from the area originally?”

Over the years, I started to lose touch with the friends I had when I was younger. The thought of making new ones, especially so close by, has me thinking about what my mom said on the phone a little bit ago.

“My mom is from the area, but she moved out of town when she was pregnant with me. I was raised near Chicago but moved back to Everton a few years ago with my ex-husband to raise our son closer to family.”

It is the first time I have spoken the word “ex” out loud to anyone since our separation. It feels strange rolling off my tongue.

She nodded, a look of sympathy passing over her face. “I’m from the area myself, but only moved in here with this guy a couple of months ago.”

“It took a lot of cajoling, but I persuaded her to give me a chance. Once she did, she didn’t want to let me go, so I convinced her to move in with me. I’ve got too much space for one person anyway.” Alex chuckled.

“Yeah, it took a lot of persuasion.” Madelyn smirks.

Something about the devilish smiles on their faces has me thinking they enjoyed whatever that entailed.

“I recently opened a photo studio in town, just down off Fallon Street. If you and Huxton would like family photos, I’ll hook you up with a good deal.”

My heart warmed at the thought of getting pictures taken with Huxton, just the two of us.

The mention of a photo studio in town spurred a thought after perusing job postings last night.

“Photo studio? You wouldn’t happen to be talking about the one…” I pause, snapping my fingers in hopes it will help me remember the name of the place I bookmarked to my favorites. “Is it Memories and Moments?”

She smiles. “That’s me!”

“I saw the posting online for an assistant. I was planning on applying this weekend.”

“Are you kidding? What a small world.” She smiles, her eyes lighting up. “I’ll give you my number and when things settle down this weekend, shoot me a text message and we can chat more about the position. I’m looking to have someone start soon, so if you’re interested, the sooner the better.”

“That would be perfect. Huxton starts school next week, and I’m ready to get myself back out there.”

She grins. “We can make that happen!”

Alex ducks out a few minutes later after assuring me he’ll be around if I need a handyman. Madelyn stuck around after he left, chatting with me and lending a hand while we unpacked the kitchen.

She talked about how she and Alex met. He was from a small town in Wisconsin but met through mutual friends when he came to visit for a few weeks over the summer. They had spent every available second together, but when the time came for him to go back home, she wasn’t ready to let him go.

Atlas and I did the long-distance thing for a while when he moved back to Everton and I was still in school. I know how hard it can be on a relationship, especially when you don’t have your future all mapped out together.

Chatting with Madelyn brings back memories of my friends from Chicago. I made a mental note to reach out to them.

I can’t shake how early this morning I had a good feeling things were around the corner. In a span of a couple of hours, not only did I make a new friend but I also had a job opportunity all but fall in my lap.

This is the start of the next chapter in my life, and for the first time in a long time, I’m excited about what the future has in store.

---