Page 29 of Pictures in Blue
“You’re supposed to be out of your room, meeting people, hanging out, going hiking, going on some sort of big mountain adventure! Not reading—wait, what did you say?”
There it is. I was wondering how long it was going to take her to realize what I said. I fill her in on the bar hangout the town has every week and the more I say, the more her face lights up.
“I’m going out in…” I check the time on my phone, “an hour or so.”
“And you’re still in bed?” She asks, yelling at me.
“Yes?”
A sigh almost louder than her yelling left her lips as she throws her head back. “You said this is something the whole town goes to?”
“Yes.”
“Thewholetown?”
“I just said yes, Char.”
“And you’re laying in bed instead of getting ready?”
I’m not sure how many more times I can tell her I’m not moving from this spot until about thirty minutes before I plan to meet Sky downstairs in the lobby.
“And what if Lumberjack shows up?”
I’m not going to lie. I’ve been asking that question all day, but with the unanswered text still sitting in our thread, my answer is probably no. No, it’s definitely no. And suddenly, I am thrust back into my first day in town, Hudson behind the counter at Fran’s tinkering away with the espresso machine. The image moves in slow motion as he stands and I see his face for the first time, his eyes close as he runs a hand through his hair, the veins on his exposed forearms flex. My imagination takes over and he slowly tugs the ponytail from his hair, letting his long tresses cascade down to his shoulders. He shakes out his hair and levels his striking green eyes with mine, looking and looking until it feels like he’s staring into my soul and it’s all I can do to pry my gaze away. Except I don’t. I continue staring, unabashedly until he plants one hand on the countertop and somehow leaps over, landing right in front of me, chest to chest, breathless and staring.
“Are you done with your little fantasy there, Ave?”
Charlotte’s voice breaks me from my thoughts, which I desperately wish could go on. I look at her and a wry smile is plastered on her face. Covering mine with a pillow, I groan into it and she laughs at me.
“You liiiiiike him,” she teases.
“Shut up!” I yell so she can hear me through the muffled pillow. “I do not!”
“Liar, liar, something is on fire and I am one hundred percent sure it’s your loins.”
I remove the pillow and give her a disgusted look. “Please never use that phrase ever again in your life. That was horrid.”
Her sing-song laugh fills the air and a blush creeps up my cheeks and I let a small smile show, because she’s right and she knows she’s right. “Avery,” her tone is quiet, more serious now. “You look happy.”
“I am,” I admit. “This town is…I don’t know.”
“You do know.”
“It’s magic,” I say, cringing at myself at how cheesy it sounds, but it is. I feel at home here. The vacant space from this morning floats through my mind and I almost tell Charlotte about it, but decide not to. If I tell her about it and what I think I can do, she will immediately be on board and push me to do it. She’d be supportive and excited and would be the ultimate cheerleader, but the idea comes with sudden pressure. Anxiety presses heavy on my chest, a weight that if I lay under it long enough, I won’t be able to push it back up.
“Gross, that was the cheesiest thing you’ve ever said.”
“Better than telling me that my loins are on fire!” I yell in defense.
We both crumple into a fit of laughter until tears are streaking down our cheeks and we can’t breathe. When we finally catch our breaths she pushes me to get up and get ready for Sky. For once, I listen to her because if I didn’t get up now, I would stay in the cocoon I have created for myself in bed, another night passed with a book and a warm drink. Which really doesn’t sound all that bad. Better than dealing with the anxiety of socializing.
“I’m glad you’re doing this, Avery. I wish I could come with you tonight, but you’ll be just fine.”
“I do too, but I will see you soon.” We say our goodbyes and I press end on the call.
I do wish she was here with me for this. Charlotte is so much better at talking to people she doesn’t know. She always manages to break the tension with random topics to talk about and she isn’t afraid of small talk. Tonight would be easier with her there, but this is my thing and I have to do it by myself. Well, by myself with Sky.
I’m glad I walked into her shop when I did. A growing friendship wasn’t something I expected to find while here, but her brother wasn’t something I planned for either and, well, here we are. Suddenly, the interrupted fantasy of him comes back and I am hot all over, again, and my anxiety brain creeps in and I’m freaking out.
