Page 53 of Best Friends, Tennessee

I scanned behind the counter, looking for a sign of Ori washing dishes in the back room. But I didn’t spot him.

“Crazy lunch rush, but we’ve been good ever since,” Patty said. She reached over toward the soda fountain, and I could tell she was making me one of their old-fashioned cream sodas even though I hadn’t asked. It had always been my favorite.

“Dad broke the espresso machine again,” Dani said as she came back over. She put a tray of dishes near the sink, lifting her eyebrows at me as she beelined back. “I’ve been on the phone with that repair guy so much I swear he’s my new therapist. Anyway. What’s up, Finn?”

I snorted. “Glad I’m not the only one who has to play therapist while I work.”

Dani grimaced. “Hot Mess again?”

“Hot Mess,” I said. “Although I’m starting to think he’s not exactly amess, he just… lets too many people in. He never focuses on whathereally needs, you know?”

“He was in a couple of nights ago,” Patty said. “He got in an hour-long conversation with an elderly woman about how to take care of orchids, then offered to volunteer at her flower nursery.”

“Guess that’s not the worst idea for him,” I offered. “If he’s going to do too many things in life, volunteering isn’t a bad thing to get caught up in.”

“He’ll grow out of it,” Patty said. “He’s still feeling the loss of his dad so strongly, and he’s healing by staying busy. He has a good heart, though. I’ve never seen Mason be anything but kind to anyone.”

“I think you’re right.”

The door jingled as it opened, and Danielle and her mom went to go help a big family who had just walked in. They sat them in the corner booth and got them started with drinks.

I still hadn’t seen any sign of Ori.

He would usually still be at work at this time, and he sure as hell hadn’t been at my house. When Dani got another quick break, I asked if Ori was on a break.

“You just missed him,” Dani said. “Went out with Thomas.”

I shifted on my seat. “He left with Thomas?”

Patty glanced over her shoulder at me from over by the flat-top grill. “It was really cute,” she said, a gleam in her eye.

“I’m off soon, though, and Dad’s with Olivia for another hour or two,” Dani told me. “You want to grab a drink?”

I wanted to ask about a million questions that I was afraid to ask.

Exactly how “cute” was it?

“Yeah,” I told Danielle. “I’ll take you up on those drinks.”

9

ORI

Just when you think it can’t… Tennessee pulls a fuckin 180 and surprises the hell out of you.

Thomas rolled his car to a stop outside Finn’s house.

“I’ll let you know what my friend says about that volunteer spot,” Thomas told me, giving me a nod from the driver’s seat. “He said it’s one of the best art museums in the state.”

“I’d kill for a position there,” I told him. “Thanks, Thomas.”

Thomas and I had gotten dinner and talked all night about working in the art world. It turned out that Thomas knew a handful of artists, and one of them worked at a small museum about 45 minutes from here.

“I’ll highly recommend you,” Thomas said. “Have a good night, Ori. Try not to have nightmares about espresso machines.”

“I’ll try my best.”

I got out of the car, shutting the door behind me as I stepped onto the sidewalk.

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