Page 42 of Cherry Picked
My face went hot, and I couldn’t help thinking about potentially pornographic leaf emojis. “Not forever,” I hedged.
“You’re cute when you blush.” Simon grinned, showing a truly impressive number of very white teeth, and I was pretty sure that made me blush harder. “I triedPride and Prejudiceagain after you said it was your favorite. Mostly to impress you, I admit. But… are you gonna hate me if I say I didn’t like it?”
I fake-gasped and clutched my imaginary pearls, but I couldn’t keep up the pretense. “Kidding! Of course I won’t.”
“It was just…” He hesitated. “A bit unrealistic? I know it’s fiction, but the author was really dismissive of the Wickham character. He was so two-dimensional. Every villain has an origin story. If there was no Loki, there’d be no Thor.”
This time, my gasp was completely real. “Wickham? Are you serious? Dude. Some villains are just villains.Period.”
Simon let out an easy laugh. “Okay, maybe you’re right. Maybe I’ll give it another try.” He bumped his shoulder into mine. “Or… maybe I’ll let you explain it to me in person. What do you say, Hawk? Would you like to go out to dinner with me this week?”
ChapterNine
JACK
“She began now to comprehend that he was exactly the man who, in disposition and talents, would most suit her.” ~ Jane Austen
Usually I barely had time to breathe during the lunch rush, much less listen to town gossip, but three days after Hawk Sunday had stormed out of the diner and out of my life, it seemed like everyone was talking about the one thing I couldn’t ignore if I tried.
“Who would have thought a good-looking thing like Hawkins Sunday would still be holding on to his purity like that?” Ellie Walcott said with her hand over her bosom. The gold from her stacked bangle bracelets caught the sunlight coming through the plate glass window and sparkled around her like golden confetti. “What a sweet boy.”
Penny Chan wrinkled her nose. “I dunno. I heard from Van at the Tavern that Hawk actually slept with Trina Higgins in high school, and that’s why she was heartbroken when her parents moved the whole family to Nebraska.”
Norma Alvarez choked on her pancakes. “Hawkins and Trina? Nonsense. The boy is gay as the day is long. All the Sunday brothers have an eye for the gentlemen. My son Tonio and his sweet boyfriend have been together nearly seventeen years, which means I have asensefor these things.” She sniffed. “I wonder if Tonio has any single friends…”
I rolled my eyes but stopped myself from commenting as I delivered their food.
Two tables down, Emma Sunday sat with a few of her friends, idly scrolling through her phone, and didn’t glance up when I approached with their hummus appetizer. “…so I told Uncle Drew I think it’s pretty freaking cool. He’s been up there three days so far, and I think he should make it an even forty. You know, like that character in that book who wandered in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights.”
Her friend blinked at her. “You meanthe Bible?”
“What?” Em looked up from her phone and scowled. “No, Gracie, the John Krakauer book about Alaska.”
“Ohhh.” Gracie thought this over. “I hope Hawk doesn’t burn his cash to stay warm like that guy did. You could use it to get some new lacrosse gear. But yeah, I agree. It’s cool what he’s doing.”
Cool?That Hawk reminded her of a book where the main characterdied?
No. No, it definitely wasnotcool that Hawk had decided to park himself on Fogg Peak, all alone, to protest the development… as I’d told Webb several times with increasing frustration.
But because I’d somehow stumbled into the alternate-universe, opposite-land version of Little Pippin Hollow where my beloved, peace-loving Hawk Sunday had become an angry protestor who lived in a tent on a mountain, Webb was treating Hawk’s decision to go full-on Henry David Thoreau as a nonevent and refused to get involved.
“He’s fine, Jack,” Webb had informed me, barely glancing up from the trees he was inspecting for insects. “He’s camping twenty minutes from home, he has plenty of batteries, and nobody knows that mountain like he does. Weren’t you the one saying it was time to stop treating him like a kid?”He’d given me a sidelong glance I didn’t know how to interpret. “If you’re worried he’s starving, maybe youuuu should be the one to go check on him.Bring him a panini.”
I wasn’t only worried about Hawk’s physical survival, though. Did anyone know if he was lonely? Or angry? Or if he’d brought enough books to read? Were my calls to him going directly to voicemail due to the lack of cell reception on the ridge or due to his lack of reception of…me?
I plunked the heavy plate down in front of the teenagers with a grunt.
As I walked away, I heard Em say, “I bet Jack’s grumpy ’cause he’s shorthanded, and summer’s a busy season. I bet he’ll be hiring soon since Hawk is—oh my heck, Gracie, look at this Instagram post!”
My stomach rolled over. No, I was definitely not hiring Hawk’s replacement. Not now, not ever. Hawk had lost his temper due to… circumstances… but eventually, things would calm down. Or he would calm down. And then he’d be back. Talking to me. Teasing me. Making every part of my life feelrightagain.
Any minute now.
Probably.
I could not contemplate a future for me that didn’t have Hawk in it.
“Katey, table twelve looks ready for their bill,” I said, making my way into the kitchen to check on an order.
