Page 46 of Gone With the Wine

She’s not wrong.

“Sorry,” I mutter.

“You made your decision, you have to live with it.”

Yeah, yeah.Control your emotions. Don’t let them get to you. Toughen up. “I’m doing fine, Mom.”

“Are you making friends there? Dating anyone?”

“No. I mean, yeah, I’ve met a few people. I’m not interested in dating anyone. It’s a small town, it’s different here.”

“I’m sure it is.”

“Hey, I’m just on an errand. Can we talk later?” I pull up in front of the shoe store on Laurel Street.

After a brief silence, she says, “Of course.

“I’m fine. And things are going well here.” More or less.

I end the call. Well. Some day I’ll show them that this wasn’t an epic mistake.

I hope.

I head inside to find new footwear, but I should have gone farther than Oak Creek Canyon to do this errand. As I’m trying on boots, Miles and Nolan walk in.

“Hey, Becky,” Miles says with a big grin.

Becky. That’s the nickname my teammates called me when I played hockey. I narrow my eyes at him.

“Uh…not cool?” He holds up his hands.

Am I the asshole here? Probably. My mom’s right. “Becky’s fine, Razor.”

“Razor?”

I smile. “I worked with a guy named Raymond. We called him Razor.”

“Ha,” Nolan says. “That’s good.”

“Thank, Murrdawg.”

They both laugh.

“What are you up to?” Nolan’s gaze drops to my feet. “Boots. Yeah, you’ll need those in the vineyard.”

I stand to try out the new footwear. I take a few steps and assess the fit. They’re pretty damn comfortable, actually.

“These are good for a lot of walking,” the saleswoman says. “Especially outdoors.”

“That’s what I need.” I look down at them. They don’t look that much different than the athletic sneakers I wear when I’m working out. “I’ll take them.”

“Great!”

I sit and pull the boots off. The saleswoman takes them and places them back in the box.

“What are you two doing here?” I ask Miles and Nolan.

“I need new shoes for running,” Miles says. “But I’m easy. I just get the same thing every time.” He looks at the saleswoman. “I need a new pair of ASICS when you’re done with Mr. Beck, here.”

---