Page 24 of Second Chances
“This is the first time I’ve seen you like this since Erica.”
Josh sighed and looked at his friend. Even five years later people tried not to mention his ex’s name in front of him. “Well, it doesn’t matter. You know how they are on the other side of town.”
“What, you mean, rich?”
“I always said I wouldn’t get involved with one of them. They’re from a different world, I mean, you saw her, she has no idea what it’s like to deal with small-town life.”
“Well, from what I saw, maybe you should teach her.”
Josh finished off his beer and handed the empty bottle to Freddie. “How did that work for you?”
“Touché,” Freddie grabbed the bottle. “That was years ago.”
“And you’re not the first guy from town to get wrapped up with one of them. They always leave, they always go back to their fancy city life, back to their cocktails and cosmopolitans.”
“I think that those are the same thing.”
“Exactly. We have no place in their world, and they don’t have any place in ours. I mean, could you imagine taking a girl like that to one of the town events?” But as the words left Josh’s mouth, he knew that he didn’t believe them. The local ski team was holding a wine tasting fundraiser at the end of the month and he could see how beautiful Megan would look walking into the chalet in her designer dress and expensive shoes. He knew that she might look out of place, but the warmth that she exuded, her huge smile, could melt the hearts of any hardened locals. He could almost feel the softness of her hand in his as they entered the room.
“Yeah, she wouldn’t exactly fit in. Remember last year, Jen wore her snowmobile boots on the dance floor the whole night?”
“I didn’t go last year.”
Josh hadn’t gone to any of the snowflake fundraisers since Erica died. He had become a bit of a recluse. He hadn’t touched his skis or his climbing gear in so long that they were covered in several season’s worth of dust.
“Maybe it’s time for you to get back out there.”
Josh knew that Freddie wasn’t referring to the fundraiser, and even though people had been trying to get him to date for the past couple of years, he still felt like he wasn’t ready, until today.
