Page 48 of Austen, Edited

“Do you know how long the meeting will last?”

The woman shook her head. “It’s a meeting with the board and several of the higher-ups. At least another hour or so.”

Abby nodded. “Will you tell him to call Abby? I’d really appreciate it.”

After watching the woman write down the message, Abby said goodbye and headed out of the building. She walked for a few blocks, close to the water, and saw the familiar food truck, Roll With It.

There was no line right now since the lunch rush was over, and she stepped up to the window, breathing in the smell of fresh baked goods. A familiar face stepped toward the window with a smile.

“Hey, Abby. What brings you here today?” Lexi asked, pulling on some plastic gloves.

“Just in the neighborhood. Can I get a piece of tres leches?” Abby asked, nodding her head in the direction of the cake.

“Of course. How are things?”

Abby shrugged her shoulders, trying to find the words to describe the mixture of frustration and worry that had kept her body tense throughout the day. “It’s going. I just stopped by to see Greyson, but he was in a meeting.”

“Are you two dating, then? I think you’d make a great couple.” Lexi leaned over the counter and handed Abby a paper plate with the cake on top. Abby tried to hand her a five-dollar bill, but Lexi shook her head. “This one’s on the house.”

Abby thought about her words, trying to decide what to say. “We’re not dating, even though I’ve wanted to date him for forever. We have a lot of history, but I think I’ll forever be in the friend zone. He’s just been weird lately, hasn’t been returning my texts like he usually does, and I’m worried he’s going to avoid me forever. I don’t even know what I’ve done to deserve it, really.”

She thought through all their past interactions, and the only thing she could think of was the dates with Jeff Summers. But she hadn’t told Greyson anything about that. Could he have found out somehow? It was something to ask him.

“Oh, girl, sometimes it takes a little longer to realize we like someone than we think. But don’t close the door on him completely. He might just surprise you.” Lexi smiled at her, her expression softening to almost a look of pity.

“Thank you,” Abby said, cutting a piece of the cake with a fork and sticking it in her mouth. Turning around, she saw a few people lining up behind her. “I’ll let you get back to work. Good luck.”

Abby sat on the bench where she and Greyson had shared several of the treats from Lexi’s truck a couple of weeks ago, wondering what to do about the whole situation.

Her phone rang, and she scrambled to get it out of her pocket in the hopes that it was Greyson. But the number was one she hadn’t seen in several years, and she first hesitated to answer, not sure she was quite ready for that.

“Hello?” she said, breathing in and out slowly.

“Abigail, this is your grandmother. Your mom would like to see you in the next few days. I just picked her up from prison yesterday. Will you come?” The rasp of her grandmother’s voice brought back several memories, mostly showcasing the woman’s anger. Abby had spent several nights falling asleep in the closet to avoid being punished for things she couldn’t have done as a young girl.

Hesitating, Abby wasn’t sure what to say. “I don’t know if I can do that.” Frustration seeped into her words, and as much as she wanted to just hang up on the woman who hadn’t tried to raise her, she was also grateful for it. The Hamiltons weren’t the most loving or caring people in the world, but she’d never had to worry about when or what she’d eat, never had to worry about the electricity being turned off or hiding the bruises she received from her mother and grandmother.

But part of her was curious, wondering what her mother would say if Abby decided to show up. Had she really changed that much over the past decade in jail? Abby had been so young when she’d been taken away that it seemed almost impossible for something like that to happen, but at the same time, she needed some kind of closure.

“I’ll come tomorrow, Grandma. But I won’t stay long. I have classes and work I have to schedule around.” Without waiting for the response, she hung up the phone and settled back into the bench.

She started a text message to Greyson, wanting him to be there when she saw her mother for the first time in years, but after typing a few sentences, she deleted them. Part of her wanted to know if he’d contact her later like he said he would. She’d done everything she could to talk to him, having texted a couple times.

If he was going to repeat his performance from his time dating Hannah, she wasn’t going to stick around and wait to be hurt again, no matter how long it would take to get over him.

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