Page 32 of The Tomorrows After You
I shook my head to get rid of the image of her scrambling out of a second-floor window.
“Sorry,” I muttered again.
I loosened my grip, trying to push down the rage that image stirred up. Why did I have the overwhelming urge to be there to catch her?
“It’s okay. I’m fine,”she repeated.“I was stuck in Saudi Arabia with a broken toe riding around on a camel for half the summer once.”Her eyes dart to where I’m still holding her foot.“This is nothing.”Her words are bathed in reassurance like she’s trying to calm the caveman that reared its head inside me.
I rested her foot on my chair before moving toward the freezer and pulling out an ice pack. I wrapped it in a dish towel and made my way back to my seat. Carefully, I wrapped the ice pack around her, muttering,“Probably just a soft tissue strain.”
There was a bottle of ibuprofen in the junk drawer within my reach. I shook out two pills. She held her palm up, and I covered it with mine. Once again, my attention was snagged on those haunted gray eyes. A discernible energy passed between our fingers so quickly, I might have imagined it. She snatched her hand back, as if burned, and looked at the table.
“I met your girlfriend,”she said abruptly, pushing a pink piece of paper across the kitchen island. I recognized Katie’s Field Days committee meeting agenda.
“She’s not my girlfriend,”I grumbled. Nicolette took her foot back.“She roped you into the Field Days, huh?”
Nicolette scoffed, finishing the water and throwing back the pills.
“Quite the contrary,”she said but didn’t elaborate.“What’s the big deal with these Field Days?”She pulled a yogurt out of her bag and started scooping a small spoonful into her mouth. I tried not to stare at her tongue, darting out, licking the spoon.
“They started a couple years ago. It began as a little family fun competition. Tug of war, relay races…. It got bigger the next year, and they started adding more to it, shopping vendors, an artist village, local bands and musicians. Then last year Katie had the idea of adding a carnival to the Saturday after the family games and it was pretty huge. They were up for a tourism grant that the state gives out but lost it to the Lowville County Talent Showcase. They said if we proved that we could draw a crowd from peopleoutsideWest Virginia then we’d have a better chance of winning.” I shrugged.
“We’re thirty minutes from the border so that shouldn’t be too difficult.”
I shrugged again.“We don’t exactly have a lot of influence with neighboring cities.”
She was quiet for a long minute before a mischievous smile crossed her lips and I hated the way it reflected right off me, tugging at my own mouth. I cleared my throat, running a hand over my beard to straighten out my expression.
“This town issolucky I decided to stay for a while… I gotta get to work.”
“So… you’re staying for a bit then?”I tried, poorly, to mask the interest in my voice.
She spun around and looked at me with wide eyes.“Oh, um, yeah if that’s okay… I mean I know we didn’t put a timeframe on this.”She studied me.“I can check into a B and B—”
“No,”I said.“I mean… no,”I repeated softer and shrugged, hoping I looked cooler than I felt.“The farmer’s market opens in a week or two.”Her eyes danced in the dimly lit double-wide.“I’m really interested—”I cleared my throat.“I’m eager to see how that goes.”Her eyes glittered brighter with something unspoken.“Stay for however long you need to.”
Nicolette masked a smile.“Won’t be forever. Definitely until the Field Days.”Her eyes darted around.“But Godot isn’t my home anymore. I’m just here to get the information I came for...”I couldn’t place the expression on her face.“And then I need to be getting back to...”She drifted off and part of me was dying to know how that sentence ended.
Where was she going back to? What did her life look like there? Was someone back there waiting for her?
She rushed into the screen room, leaving the door ajar, but not before shooting me an appreciative smile that hit me square in the chest.
Fuck.
I hung my head in my hands. She was staying for a while. But then she was leaving.
And I don’t know which idea I disliked more.
Half an hour later I had taken a cold shower and was toweling off when a soft knock landed on the door.Shit.
That was Katie, right on time, as always. I hadn’t told her about Nicolette moving in yet. It only happened this morning. Also, I was an adult, who was semi-free to makemostof my own choices. Still, some part of me felt indebted to her and, in a way, I was. My brother and Aunt Jen were the only people who greeted me when I was released. I had tried applying for jobs, but no one would look me in the eye. At least until Katie heard I needed work. She was the reason I had official employment and her company was comforting, albeit a little overbearing.
I pulled the door open, rubbing my head on a towel, and greeted her.
“Hey!”She grinned ear-to-ear, standing on the top step, her arms overflowing with Tupperware.“How was your week—”
“Riot, can you write down your address? I need to mail out—”Nicolette emerged from the lanai just as I pulled my shirt on. Katie’s eyes went wide at Nicolette, who had changed into small sleep shorts and a tank top. I could make out the outline of her pert little nipples in the tank top and the image went right to my groin.
Katie’s mouth dropped to the floor, her eyes darting between the two of us.“Um,”she cleared her throat.“Can I please have a word with you, Riot?”Her glare yanked me outside and I had a distinct memory of being dragged to the principal’s office. She put the Tupperware on the steps and fixed her hands on her narrow hips.
