Page 7 of My Heart To Heal

‘He is, but he’s Jonah’s dad.’

But he’s Jonah’s dad.How many times have I said those words as an excuse for Bax’s behavior? I’ve lost count. I also can’t remember what my excuse was before Jonah came along, but I know I must have had one or fifty.

‘You were amazing last night.’ Bree changes the subject, and I smile at her gratefully.

‘Thank you.’

‘I can’t believe you sing like a goddam angel when you have such a potty mouth.’ I cackle loudly. ‘I’m serious. I was shocked. Too stunned to speak.’

‘Shut up, idiot.’ I giggle.

‘Did you enjoy it?’

‘Yeah, it was a beautiful wedding.’

‘You know you’re a part of Forest Falls now, right? Everyone was so proud of you.’

I smile. That means so much. Then I think about the people who were there, and I land on him.

‘What’s up with Nick?’

‘What do you mean?’ Bree bites into another slice, and I reflect on my interactions with him. First, at the barbecue, when he seemed to actively avoid being introduced to me, then, last night, he seemed chatty enough at first, but the way healmost blocked me into the bathroom while he sloppily tried to chat me up was weird.

‘I don’t know. I thought he was a nice guy, and he is fine as hell, but he seems kind of,’ I think about it and shrug, certain Bree and Zoe, Doug and Leo would not be good friends with someone who was as I was about to describe, ‘sleazy.’

‘Nick?’ Bree shrieks, almost choking on her pizza.

‘Yeah, he was wasted, and like, I don’t know, he just seemed off.’

‘Trust me, Miss, Nick is the furthest thing from sleazy. He’s a good guy, a really good guy. He’s just adapting to being back here.’

‘I thought he always was here.’

‘No, he left town for college and came back about four years ago. He’s going through some shit, but give him another shot at a first impression. He’s a good man, I swear.’

It doesn’t matter, not really. I don’t live here, and it’s not like Nick hangs out all that much with my new circle, so we don’t really need to come into contact again. Just a shame… he really is nice to look at.

‘Let me know yougethome safely,’ Bree says as I climb into my car outside her house.

‘I will. Tell the others I said bye.’

Bree rolls her eyes, and I laugh. We already commented on Cara and Zoe being too busy having sex with their men to come and hang with us.

‘Go on, go and get your boy.’

I pull away from Bree’s little cottage and head down Main Street. I really love this town. It’s so damn cute.

I love the little colored awnings on the buildings and the way people wave and smile at each other. They stop and talk to each other, not caring about timescales or appointments, instead, putting each other over chores and errands. Nobody ever seems in a rush here, and they always have time for each other.

I’m about to drive past Zoe’s bar when a car door opens before I have a chance to swerve, and I hit it, or rather, it hits me. The sound of metal scraping metal goes through me as I hit my brakes and climb out of my car in time to see, oh,him.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ he shouts, and then I see the moment he realizes it’s me. His attention flickers, his shoulders drop a little, and I think if I wasn’t pissed and was able to talk calmly, we could resolve this like adults, but that isn’t happening.

‘Me?Nobody ever told you to look before opening your door into oncoming traffic?’

‘It’s hardly traffic.’

‘I was driving a moving car down the street. I was traffic.’

---