Page 15 of The Rebound
“By yourself?”
“With Sean.”
Sean. Sean… Sean Higgins?I have a faint memory of a tiny, dour boy doodling in the back of the classroom. “You two are friends?”
A faint smile appears on his face. “We’ve been best friends since we were kids.”
“Right,” I say quickly. “Duh.”
“Don’t worry. You didn’t pay much attention to us back then. I wouldn’t expect you to remember.”
“I paid attention,” I protest even though I know it’s a lie. There’s a reason I didn’t recognize Luke last night. It’s because even though we went to the same school, even though we were neighbors, I barely gave him a second thought for most of my teenage years.
It wasn’t personal. I barely thought about anyone but myself back then.
“Hey.” Luke frowns as though sensing the direction of my thoughts. “I mean it, Abby. Don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah.” I spear a green bean with my fork but can’t bring myself to eat it. “Sean’s still around then?”
He nods. “A couple of people are. Or they come back to visit during the summer when everything’s open.”
Unlike me. Would I recognize anyone if I saw them again? Would they recognize me? Or was I forgotten about as quickly as I forgot them?
“Rory comes back now and then,” he continues, and I start at the mention of my old friend’s name. Rory and I were stuck together like glue. I haven’t thought about him in years. “You should tell him you’re visiting.”
“I should,” I say, even though I have no idea how to contact him. Luke must realize this the same time I do because he swiftly changes the subject as he adds more salad to his plate.
“Of course, the most important thing you should know about is the new doughnut counter in Dessie’s place.”
“Now you’re lying to me.”
“I’m serious. He has three different kinds. Sugared, plain, and red.”
“Red?”
“That’s what he calls it. I’ll bring you down tomorrow,” he adds casually. “Or maybe we could—”
“I was sorry to hear about the job, Abby.”
I jerk back in my seat as Pat speaks. I hadn’t realized how close Luke and I had been leaning into each other.
“It was on the news over here,” Pat continues. “Awful stuff. I didn’t even realize it was yourself until Louise mentioned.”
“Thank you,” I say, hoping he doesn’t ask for any insider information. Most people just want to hear the gossip, as if a cog in the machine like me would have had a front seat in the boardroom when it all went down. “It was a shock to everyone.”
“Have you found somewhere else? A smart girl like you, they must be knocking down your door.”
“Dad,” Luke protests.
“What? She always was the best thing to come out of this town.”
“Not yet,” I say as Louise’s gaze falls to her plate. “I won’t lie, it’s pretty tough out there, but I’m sure things will calm down.”
Pat chews thoughtfully, a small frown on his face. “I’ll give my cousin in Dublin a ring. His neighbor has a son in your line of work. I remember him because he got caught having an affair with some young one a few years ago.”
I force a smile as Tomasz chokes on a potato. “Thank you, Pat.”
“Wife threw his electric scooter into the canal. The council weren’t too happy about that.”
