Page 77 of Single-Minded
She made a face. “When you live in a small town, you end up knowing too much about everyone.”
I nodded. “That makes sense.”
Anna rejoined us, her eyes sparkling, obviously thriving on the social scene.
“How many new friends have you made?” Maeve asked her.
“There’s a lot of tourists here tonight,” Anna said, “but mostly I’ve been catching up with locals.”
“I think I’ve met every last one of them,” I said.
“Tourists or locals?” Maeve asked.
“Both,” I laughed. “I might need to do the names-on-the-cup thing at the shop so I can learn who’s who because I’m definitely not retaining it tonight.”
Girls’ night out had been novel and lots of fun at first. When the crowd quadrupled, the noise level exploded, and the needy guys came out of the woodwork, it was flattering for the first three or so pickup lines, but then the parade of guys, most of them younger than us by more than a year or two, lost its luster. I didn’t want to develop a reputation as the grumpy new girl, but my “too busy opening a business” excuse was getting a lot of wear and tear tonight.
“Hey, ladies,” a pretty woman with dark skin and a wide smile said as she came up to us.
“Tansy! Hi!” Anna replied. “Have you met Presley?”
“No, ma’am,” Tansy said, holding her hand out.
“Presley Holiday,” I told her as I shook her hand. “I just moved to town a few weeks ago.”
“You’re the coffee lady,” Tansy said. “I’ve heard about you. I’m Tansy Harrelson. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
“Tansy works at Oopsie Daisies,” Maeve said.
“So I’ll be seeing you often when you open,” Tansy said.
“I’ll look forward to it,” I said.
“Hey, Reggie,” Anna said to the tall guy behind Tansy. “I haven’t seen you out for ages.”
“What’s up, Anna?” he said.
My friends introduced me to Tansy’s husband. Then Tansy said, “It’s date night, and we got some crazy idea that it’d be fun to hit the Fly.” She leaned into her husband and peered up at him. “Then we remembered why we stay home most nights.”
“Did it used to be this loud and chaotic?” Reggie asked, grinning as if he knew he sounded sixty years old.
Hooking her arm through Reggie’s, Tansy said, “We decided to use the rest of our babysitter time tonight for a stroll across the square and maybe one drink on the Rusty Anchor patio. That sounds so much saner.”
“There’s zero sanity here,” Maeve said.
“You two have a nice rest of your evening,” Anna said. “It was good to see you.”
“You too. Nice to meet you, Presley.” Tansy touched my upper arm as she and her husband went by, and I wished them a good evening.
“Who’s up for another round?” Anna asked.
“The more I drink, the longer I can handle the noise level,” Maeve said.
“I’m in.” I glanced behind me and saw Tansy and Reggie go out the side door. He put his arm around her, and something inside me twinged. I’d just met them, but they seemed so close. Like a team. Them against the world. Them against the raucous Fly crowd. While the rest of us came out to meet people and not be alone, their refuge was at home with each other.
An unfamiliar longing for that kind of partnership reared up in me, taking me by surprise. I blew it off as Anna verified my drink request and left to order at the bar.
