Page 1 of To Bring You Back
1
At the sight of the food trailer’s next customer, Adeline Green coughed on the bacon-scented air. Tattooed Middle Eastern script ran down the inside of the man’s left forearm. Half visible beneath his sleeve, an elaborately inked lion roared on his biceps.
She’d know those tattoos anywhere. In other contexts, half the nation would, since Gannon Vaughn and his band, Awestruck, had spent the last few years releasing one hit album after another. But only someone who had known him long before he’d grown famous, someone whose thoughts for him reached beyond his songs to a tragic shared history, would dare to imagine he would surface here, in a small tourist town in northern Wisconsin.
Was it really him?
Yes. His tattered baseball cap featured the mascot of their high school, two hours south of here. The numbers stitched on the side matched the year they’d graduated.
More than a decade had passed, but the events of those days remained painfully fresh.
At five-five, she had to look up at most men, but standing inside Superior Dogs gave her the height advantage. The added stature, combined with his hat’s visor, blocked eye contact while allowing her to study the man she never should’ve loved.
Though his hat wouldn’t earn a penny at a garage sale, Gannon’s T-shirt and jeans fit better than they had business doing, somehow looking expensive and out of place in Lakeshore, Wisconsin.
What was he doing here?
Maybe his mom had dragged him up for a quiet vacation. The food trailer dominated three of the parallel parking stalls along the curb on Main Street, serving customers who stood on the sidewalk. Adeline scanned the pedestrians but didn’t spot Mrs. Vaughn.
Gannon stepped closer to the window and pulled out his wallet.
Her face burned as if she’d pressed her cheek to the grill. When she’d imagined their next encounter, she’d hoped to prove how well she was doing without him. To that end, she’d never planned to let on that she served hotdogs for a living. Or half a living, anyway.
Maybe if she played it cool, he wouldn’t recognize her, and whenever they crossed paths in the future, she wouldn’t smell like a beef frank. She gripped the metal windowsill of the food trailer, willing him not to place her. “What can I get you?”
The baseball cap’s brim pointed toward the menu. “What do you recommend?”
His voice. She’d forgotten the way it resonated through her. Recoiling, she bumped into Asher, the owner who manned the grill in the cramped space behind her.
Ever the willing salesman, Asher braced an arm against the top of the window. “The Super Superior is our namesake. Hotdog—local, natural casing—topped with barbecue pork, cheesy macaroni, and bacon. Can’t go wrong.” He projected the description, and a few more tourists slowed.
Gannon glanced up. His hazel eyes seemed to note her in the dim corner between the grill and cooler, but he focused on Asher. “Sold.”
Of course he wouldn’t recognize her. Photos of her weren’t plastered everywhere like pictures of him were.
If only the images had been wrong when they’d showed how well he’d grown up and filled out.
“And a water, please.” Gannon lifted a twenty as a group of three lined up behind him.
Asher’s plastic gloves crinkled when he removed them to take the payment. Handling money was her job. Any moment, he’d ask her to take over, forcing her from the shadows.
That couldn’t happen. Gannon couldn’t see her. Not now. Not like this. “I need a quick break.”
Asher shot her a questioning look, the faint wrinkles on his forehead creasing. The line behind Gannon had grown to five people. Hundreds had come for today’s event. The shops and art galleries along both sides of the quaint Main Street had coordinated special, lake-themed displays. Superior Dogs, which didn’t operate in the cold, snowy months, depended on days like today.
“I’ll be back soon.” She’d make good on the promise right after Asher had cooked Gannon’s order and sent him packing.
Asher waved permission, so she popped open the door opposite the serving window and hopped onto Main Street. No sooner had she shut the door and stepped away to cross the street than a blaring horn backed her against the side of the trailer. She pressed her hand to her chest as the car swerved past.
The trailer door clunked open, and Asher stuck his head out. “You okay?”
She gulped to return her heart to its place in her chest. People exiting the souvenir shop across the street peered in her direction, probably wondering why a grown woman didn’t know better than to step into traffic. Beyond them, visible between buildings, the serene blue of Lake Superior beckoned her.
“So it’s that bad.”
Her eyes sank closed at the timbre of the million-dollar voice.
Multi-million.
