Loch General was beautiful. I’d never seen anything like it. I was barely inside the door, but I couldn’t go any further. There was just too much to see. Everything was wooden, but not so dark it was uncomfortable. Even though it was a huge grocery and goods store, it was quaint and charming. I could feel the history here. I could almost picture generation after generation working here side by side.
To be part of something like this, to have somewhere I’d always belong, I thought to myself. It was amazing, almost too good to be true. Way too good for you. I physically recoiled from the last thought. A pang of hurt pierced me when the words drifted through my head. What a horrible thought. What if it’s true?
“Hey,” Eddie said, coming up behind me. His voice was soft with concern, the warmth of his palm at the small of my back bringing me out of my head. Without thinking, I turned, stepping incredibly close, and buried my face in his chest.
“Hey now,” he murmured, folding me into his embrace. “What’s wrong?”
I just shook my head, pressing a little closer.
I felt his hand smooth over the back of my head, over my hair. It soothed me, and I took a breath. “Sorry,” I said, moving back.
He tugged me close again. “I’m not ready to let go yet,” he whispered against my ear.
My arms slipped back around him, holding him tight. I didn’t know why, but I felt as if my time with him was suddenly limited. Like I was just living in a fairy tale and soon I would wake back up to reality… and my reality was nothing at all like this idyllic lake life.
“Me either,” I whispered.
Eddie held me firmly, his body swaying a little, rocking me into a sense of calm. “You want me to take you back to Maggie’s?” he asked eventually.
“No!” I gasped, ripping away from him and shaking my head adamantly. “No way. Show me around.”
Amused, his eyes lit up. “You sure?”
I grabbed his hand and spun around, ready to wander through this amazing place. My feet faltered, though, when I saw we were being watched.
A few shoppers had literally stopped what they were doing to stare. I blinked, feeling like an attraction at the zoo.
“Hello.” I finally spoke out because the women were still standing there staring at me in shock.
My voice seemed to shake them, and all at once, everyone started moving around again.
I glanced back at Eddie, and he rolled his eyes. “Gossip hounds,” he whispered.
I made him show me every inch of the general store. I loved it. It was my favorite place I’d seen in town so far, and I told him so.
Eddie’s dad, Forest, heard me going on about it when we were behind the register, and he came around, chuckling. “Well, son, I guess if you ever decide you don’t like the old place, we know who to sell it to!”
Eddie smiled, his eyes turning thoughtful. “She was just saying she wanted to get a job.”
Forest raised his eyebrows. “So soon?”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I muttered. “I’m perfectly capable of getting a job.”
“A woman with work ethic.” Forest nodded. “I like it. I’m sure we could find something around here for you to do.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Eddie agreed.
“A job here?” I exclaimed. “Really?” I looked around again, gazing up at the old wooden beams and looking out the back windows to the lake in the distance.
“Sure. Maybe then Eddie here would want to come to work,” Forest said with a laugh.
Eddie made a rude sound. “I work all the time.”
I could see him every day. “I’ll take the job.” I agreed swiftly.
Forest laughed loudly. “You don’t even know what the job is!”
“I don’t care what it is,” I said, gazing at Eddie. “It’s here. That’s all that matters.”
Like two magnets, we sort of shifted, drawn closer to each other. The look in his eyes nearly melted me.
“You two are something else,” Forest muttered, then went off to help a customer.
Eddie’s hand slid around the back of my neck, my eyes closing just because his touch was like a warm blanket. “Oh, Am,” he murmured, pressing his lips to my hairline. “What am I going to do with you?”
After my heart settled back down, I tipped my chin up and squinted at him. “Show me around some more.”
“You’ve seen every inch of this place.” He chuckled.
“Out there?” I pointed toward Main Street.
“Let’s go,” he said, then called out a good-bye to his father.
Instead of going straight to the door, he pulled me along behind him, toward the back where there was a cooler filled with drinks. He reached behind the cold glass doors and pulled out two glass bottles of root beer that he told me was made right here in Maine.
“For the road.” He grinned.
“Oh, good, you’re still here,” Forest said, coming out of the storage room. “Can you give me a hand?”
“Sure.” Eddie agreed, handing me the two drinks. “Be right back.”
I walked to the next aisle, browsing at all the products, still pretty much in awe of this place. It made me proud there was so much of Eddie here, so much of his own work.
Hushed whispers from the other side of the aisle stopped me in my tracks.
“Looks just like her,” exclaimed a woman.
“I know. They said she did, but we all know it’s just not possible,” someone else answered.
I stepped closer to the shelves, tipping my head so I could hear the rest.
“Poor Eddie. That boy has been through enough. This is only going to set him back.”
“Poor Claire and Forest, their only son—”
Suddenly, I lost my balance and fell into the shelf. A few boxes dumped to the floor, making a loud banging sound.
Wincing, I hurried to pick them up, setting them back the way they’d been. When I was done, I listened for more of the women’s words, but they had moved on.
Still, the whispered conversation stuck with me. Haunted me even.
They said I looked familiar, implied I might be someone they knew. And Eddie… They acted like I was going to hurt him. That me being here was the last thing he needed.
I knew he said the people here liked to gossip, but this went beyond silly speculation. This seemed as if it were rooted in truth, a truth no one bothered to mention.
And Eddie was right in the center of it.
What wasn’t he telling me?
There were moments of affinity, moments of distance. Our relationship wasn’t so much a push and pull because neither of us pushed away, yet sometimes an invisible current swelled between us, carrying us apart.
I treaded the water, fighting against it and swimming up shore to stay next to her. I wouldn’t lose her again.
Never again.
Always, though, the current would shift and change, and we would find our way back to each other.
Cross my heart.
Hope to die.
You will be forever mine.
In this moment, we were drifting and I was swimming, trying to get back to her side. When I left her at the cooler, everything was fine, but when I returned just moments later, there was a noticeable partition between us.
“Well, you’ve seen the entire street,” I said, gazing out over the small “business” district of Lake Loch. “What next?”
Amnesia stood silently beside me for a moment. She was looking out over the street we’d just been up and down. I was worried she would say back to Maggie’s. If she did, that’s where I would take her, but that would mean saying good-bye for today. I wanted more time. I was always going to want more time.