“Liar. You acted like you’d never seen him before,” she says.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I say, cutting her off. She must sense how entirely frustrating that scene was for me because she lets it go and changes the topic to something less awful.
The next hour goes by quickly as we order, then eat our Hawaiian pizza and drink our diet sodas. There’s not much to say. It’s mostly a sleepy job in a sleepy town. Not a whole lot happens in the office I work in, save for the occasional delinquent who’s called in to see the principal.
“I’d rather talk about your job. It’s bound to be a lot more interesting than mine,” I say then finish the last few bites of my slice.
“It’s really not,” she says. “I serve coffee and sometimes food. I clean counters and try to chat up customers for better tips.”
“Aunt Claire’s been telling my mom all about how much you like it there,” I say. “She goes on and on and on. So there must be more to it than just that.” It takes Mindy a few moments and me asking her a number of questions in different ways before I finally get something out of her.
“There is this one customer who keeps coming in. He’s tall and handsome and he is so well dressed. I don’t know what kind of job he has, but he comes into the shop at all times of day and always in a suit,” she says. Just like I knew she would, once she gets started, it’s hard to get her to stop. “Sometimes he orders his cappuccino and sits in the corner reading the newspaper for like an hour or so, like he’s got nothing better to do. And sometimes he just gets his coffee and goes. He’s either totally uninterested or shy, but either way, I hope if I just keep being friendly, he’ll warm up.”
“If he doesn’t, it just means he’s lame,” I say with a smile. “You make a killer cappuccino and anybody worth your time will appreciate your mad caffeine skills.”
“You have a serious problem with coffee, you know that?” she asks.
“Pretty much,” I admit.
As much as unknown variables make me nervous when it comes to Mindy, I am happy for her that she’s keeping her eyes open. Her life can’t have begun and ended with Heath.
We end the night on a positive note and the final words we speak to one another are after we’ve replaced the light bulb in my bedroom and get into our pajamas. Mindy draws me into a tight hug and says, “I’m so glad you’re home. I thought I lost you.”
“I love you, Minds,” I whisper and give her a firm squeeze.
We let go and as she’s walking away, she shouts over her shoulder, “Love you, too, but we’re still going to talk about Grady later!”
Chapter 5
IT’S AMAZING HOW you can spend so much time away from a place yet feel like you’ve never really left it. At least, that’s how it feels being in this space. Nothing’s changed here in decades. The furniture is made of aged wood whose varnish wore off well before I was born, and the walls are so dingy that the original paint color is no longer recognizable due to age and lack of upkeep. Like everything about this town, a dirty gray hue settles over the entire room.
High heels click against the linoleum floor hard and fast in their approach. I look up from my desk in front of the principal’s office to see Margot, Fort Bragg High School’s Senior Secretary, and my supervisor, rushing through the hallway and then flinging herself into her desk chair in front of me. Margot can’t be any younger than forty, but she’s got a wily spirit and bright red hair. As far as bosses go, she’s pretty awesome, and on occasion she’s been able to make my job close to interesting.
Margot shoves her purse in her right desk drawer and then spins around and places her hands on the edge of my desk. “Where’s Mr. Beck?”
With a quick look behind me to make sure Mr. Beck’s office door is still closed, I lean in toward Margot and whisper, “In his office. I think he’s napping. He’s been there all day.”