Page 4 of Home Between Homes

We spent the next fifteen minutes taking a quick tour of the house.

It was much more modern than the outside would’ve suggested. Just behind the main door was a white leather couch facing a wooden sideboard with a large television on top. To the left was a Christmas tree as tall as the room, strung with lights, and to the right was a modern fireplace that could be reached from both the kitchen and the living room. The wooden kitchen in the back harbored a dining table for four people and hid a pantry that you had to walk through to get to the mudroom and the backyard. Under the stairs was the guest bathroom. Mr. McCormac took me upstairs. To the left was the main bedroom, and to the right was a small guest room where I was to stay.

They showed me where they kept Maggie’s ear drops and dog food (in the kitchen, under the sink, behind the only childproof door in the house) and explained that Maggie would try to get into the cabinet every chance she got but that she was fine with being left alone for a few hours if I wanted to explore town or buy food.

Mr. McCormac showed me the key box by their front door, next to a bulletin board filled with business cards and photos. They hung over a shoe closet that also housed a landline phone. He tried to find the key they wanted to give me, but then he couldn’t remember which one was the right one. So Mrs. McCormac shoved her key chain into my hands and rushed out the door because they‘really had to go now. The plane wasn’t waiting.’

I wished them a good time in Aruba and waved as they got into their car. It felt weird, but something told me it would have been weirder if I hadn’t waved at them.

Maggie's eyes followed the car as it drove away, and when it was out of sight, she pressed her head into my leg. I patted her.“We’re going to have a good time, Maggie. I promise. I will take good care of you for the next nine days.”

I wandered through the house for a minute and let out a deep, relaxing sigh. Finally, my vacation could begin. I walked back outside, pulled my car into the driveway, and brought my backpack and duffel bag inside, all under the watchful eyes of Maggie, who had decided not to leave my side as if I needed her help (except when I walked to the car because the snow wasn’t to her liking). After taking my things upstairs, I let myself fall onto the couch. I hadn't sat down for ten seconds when my stomach rumbled. Maggie barked as if she knew the sound and ran into the kitchen, wagging her tail as she stared at the cabinet under the sink.

“You’re not supposed to eat for another two hours,” I said, following her. “Do you want to get fat? Believe me, the boys don’t like it when you get too chubby.”

She bellowed as if she thought that was stupid—or as if that kind of thinking was something I needed to work on.

“Yeah, I hear you. But you still have to wait a little.”

However,Ididn't have to. My last meal had been six hours ago and only consisted of a microwaved gas station burrito. I opened the fridge, and my dog-sitting experience from college led me to expect it to be stocked. Boy, was I wrong—nothing but a few condiments and homemade pickles.

“Guess I’ll have to wait, too, after all.” I sighed.

Maggie barked as if she understood the sentiment.

I crouched down and patted her fluffy head. “Can you hold down the fort for thirty minutes without me? Uncle Noah has to go to the store.”

She barked again and plodded over to her bed, which was neatly placed near the kitchen fireplace, letting me know it wouldn’t be a problem.

The black buildingwas embedded in the mountain as if it only pretended to be a grocery store but actually concealed a secret underground tunnel leading deep into the Appalachian Mountains. The parking lot had room for about thirty cars, and half of the spaces were occupied. It was the most crowded place I had seen in Seastone so far, although it was still only a fraction of the people I was used to in the South. But at least it felt a little less sketchy. I parked in the first available spot right next to the street, and it was only when I got out of my car that I realized I had seen the light blue pickup truck next to me before.

A minute later, my suspicion was confirmed. Right behind the door in the produce section, I found Jack comparing two nets of tangerines.

When he noticed me, his smile grew bigger than it had been an hour ago. “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

“Well, if it isn’t the Home Service Expert,” I said, tightening my grip on the black shopping basket I had picked up in the front.

“HomeSer-vic-esss, with ans. I can help withmanythings around the house.”

He had no idea what kind of thoughts his explanation was causing in my head, and I had no intention of telling him. But that didn’t stop me from letting my eyes wander from the fruits and vegetables to the lower half of his body, just to fire up my imagination a little more.

“Admit it. You followed me here,” he laughed, putting the net in his right hand into his overflowing cart and the other one back on the display. “I’m just kidding.” He turned around and pushed his cart another foot, giving me a better view of his ass. His jeansfit it so perfectly that it left little to the imagination. He walked past the potato rack and loaded four ten-pound sacks onto the bottom half of his cart.

“You must have a large and hungry family,” I noted. The sheer amount of food he was about to buy would last for months, even if he had four children.

“That’s a nice way of putting it,” he replied, and for the first time, I thought it would have been helpful if he’d explained more. But since he hadn’t pressed me to talk about why I was in Seastone earlier, I figured it wasn’t my place to question him any further now.

If only I could recall what he looked like in college. It was a miracle to me that he still remembered who I was, considering it had been five years.

I walked over to the pile of bananas in the middle of the aisle. Most of them were either super green or had dark spots around the edges. My eyes kept wandering to Jack as he went through the shopping list he had whipped out of his jacket. His brown eyes were mesmerizing. His dark hair flowed seamlessly into his beard.The beard!A face flashed through my mind. The same eyes and smile. The same protruding ears, only shorter hair, butno beard.

That’s why I didn’t recognize him.

All the memories came flooding back—the group project, hanging out with others before class, and a few lunches together in the cafeteria. I remembered noticing him my freshman year, but it wasn’t until we were seniors that we started talking. And only because we accidentally sat next to each other on the first day of classes after the summer break. He wanted to be a veterinarian as much as I did. His eyes would light up when someone showed pictures of their family pets. He listened attentively to the lectures but didn’t take many notes, which led to me lending him mine. I thought he was cute, but I didnothing about it because we were only a few months away from graduation. I had already been through two failed relationships because I was so involved in my studies that my boyfriends got tired of me rarely having time to meet and mostly talking about animals. So Jack and I never met, just the two of us. We never talked about anything outside of class. I remember searching for his face after our midterms, but now that I see him like this, I have an idea why I never saw him again.

But talk about a glow-up.

I grabbed a single banana and put it in my basket.

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