Forgetting Yesterday (2 page)

The kitchen cupboards were a rich hickory. The flooring was comprised of large
, beige colored tile that matched the flooring in the entryway. The stainless steel appliances were shiny, obviously new as well. On the center island was a handwritten note asking me to call her as soon as I got up. A quick visual sweep across the room and I found a phone hanging on the wall beside the cabinets. I picked it up and punched Claire’s number in.

Her line rang so many times,
I was about to hang up. When Claire finally answered she sounded rushed.

“Sorry,
Dottie just left to make a deposit at the bank. I needed to finish up with a customer. How are you?” she asked by way of greeting.

“Okay,”
I said as I leaned against the countertop. “Better, I mean.”

She blew out a sigh. “I hope you really do mean that.”

“I do,” I assured her. It was the truth. Sleep and another dose of painkillers had done wonders.

“Did you sleep okay? I thought you’d sleep longer.”

“I’m not the best at sleeping in,” I admitted. I’d hoped to sleep longer but was actually surprised I’d slept as long as I had.

“Well, I was kind of restless this morning,”
Claire began. I knew the translation of that was
: I couldn’t get back to sleep after you showed up on my doorstep just before the crack of dawn
. But Claire was far too polite to point that out. “So,” she said, “I decided to start work early. I needed to put together a few dozen centerpieces for a retirement party tonight. I’ve got them almost done so I should be able to cut out of here a little early. Maybe around three? Dottie said she’d stick around and close for me.”

“Okay,”
I told her. “Is there anything you want me to do around here? I feel kind of strange sitting around your house, doing nothing.”

She let out a laugh at that, one without any humor. “I think you just need to sit and relax, recuperate, rest whatever. Help yourself to whatever you need. I’m a little low on groceries. We’ll order a pizza tonight and I’ll go shopping tomorrow. Feel free to dig through the
cupboards or freezer. You should be able to scrounge up something for lunch.” There was a slight pause before she tentatively asked, “Are you planning on staying for awhile?”

I
hesitated, wondering how best to answer that.

“Because I hope you are,”
Claire tacked on when I didn’t respond. “I’m sorry you’re here because of such crummy circumstances. At the same time, I’m so glad you
are
here. I’ve missed you so much. We have so much catching up to do. You can stay as long as you want. Who knows,” she said and I could tell by her tone that she was smiling, “you just might fall in love with this town. I sure have.”

I
couldn’t stop myself from smiling back. “If you don’t mind having me…yes, I think I’d like to stay for a while.” It was one of the many things that I’d had time to mull over while driving.

Claire
let out a girly squeal that floated over the line. “Awesome! The dresser in your room is mostly empty. Feel free to fill it up. I plan on working my ass off the rest of the afternoon so that I can get out of here. I’ll stop for a couple of bottles of wine and we can have a whole night filled with girl talk.”

I
cringed at that but being the best friend that she was—long lost, or not—Claire put me instantly at ease. “You don’t have to talk about anything that you don’t want to talk about. But girl, I’ve missed you so damn much. I’m sure we’ll both have plenty to say. We have
years
of catching up to do!”

“Sounds good,”
I told her, feeling relieved. “But…I was just wondering…does Sean live here? I don’t want to intrude on the two of you.”

“No,” she said
with a little laugh. “He stays a lot. Or we stay at his house, whichever seems the most convenient at the time. But we don’t officially live together. Not yet, anyway.” I let out a sigh of relief, only because I didn’t want to invade their privacy. “But we already talked this morning. He’s going to his house tonight. It’ll be just you and me. Although I’ll warn you, you will probably be seeing a whole lot of him, eventually.”

“Good,”
I told her. “It sounds like he makes you happy.”

Claire
was quiet for a second. I had a hunch she was thinking of Jason and feeling guilty. “He does,” she finally said. “Sean makes me very happy. He’s a good guy. I got damn lucky when I found him.”

We
disconnected and I stood there for a moment, relief washing over me. I didn’t want to take advantage of my friend and I didn’t intend to. However, for now, I was going to do exactly as Claire had instructed.

I
was in dire need of a shower. I desperately needed to more thoroughly wash away the grime and the emotional residue of the previous day. My stomach rumbled and I realized that after that, some lunch would be in order. And after that…I’d try to get the R&R my friend had suggested.

Getting some R&R was easier said than done.
I found it incredibly boring. Never mind that in someone else’s house, in a strange town, I had nothing to do. Not really. Still, it didn’t mean that I enjoyed just sitting around.

Even if
I was sitting in Claire’s gorgeous backyard, surrounded by tulips in full bloom.

It was hard not to think about
Jason when I was just sitting. Despite the agreement that I’d made with myself somewhere during that five hour drive. I was putting him in the past. He didn’t know where I’d gone. He couldn’t come looking for me, not that I thought he would anyway, but we were over.

We
were done.

In actuality, we’d been done for a very long time.

In fact, we never should’ve begun in the first place.

I only wish I’d seen it sooner.

Now, I was moving on.

After
I’d ended my call with Claire, I’d showered and then eaten a can of chicken noodle soup. After that, I’d gone out to my car and lugged in the suitcases and two small boxes from my trunk. I’d unpacked them into the dresser. I’d placed a few meager decorations around my new room, pictures of Mom and whatnot, to personalize it a bit. I hoped I wasn’t taking it too far. I wasn’t sure if my definition of sticking around for a while was the same as Claire’s, though I thought it was.

I
would find out soon enough.

I
was glad that we would have the evening free to discuss things. What I wanted to discuss most was whether or not Claire was open to having a roommate long-term. Meaning I was hoping to find a job so I could stay in the area. The sooner I found a job, the better. I had some money in my savings, but not a lot. If I was staying, I was obviously going to pay rent.

I
had a newly minted degree in business. My college graduation had been this past weekend. I had started to come around a while ago, as far as my relationship with Jason went. But with only months left before I had my degree in hand, I’d decided to stick it out. After nearly two years of being together, what were a few more months? I’d walked through the line on Saturday afternoon. We’d spent a tense evening together. In hindsight, I should’ve just left right after the ceremony. My belongings had been packed safely in my trunk, ready to go. I’d wanted to give him the courtesy of telling him goodbye.

Mistake.

Big mistake.

Before
I could talk to him, before I could reason things out, he’d noticed my side of the closet was empty. My dresser too. From there, things had just gotten worse.

I
shifted uncomfortably in the lawn chair I was sprawled out on. The day was hot and humid. I didn’t mind it one bit. The heat actually felt good on my achy, sore body. I had decided if I was going to sit, I was at least going to sit in the sunshine, soaking up some Vitamin D.

I
also had Claire’s laptop fired up. I needed a job. The problem? Obviously my battered face wouldn’t make the best first impression. But I knew I needed to start somewhere. I wanted to at least have some idea of what might be available in the area.

The town was of average size. Unfortunately, the list of job openings that
I’d found online was pitifully short.

I
found myself feeling envious of Claire. For as long as I had known her, Claire had wanted to be a florist, like her own mom was. For most of her life, Claire had hung around her mom’s shop. When she was in her early teens, she had begun helping her mom put arrangements together.

After high school, she’d gone to a technical college. She completed a Small Business Degree in two years.
To Claire, spending the two years on that degree had felt like a necessary evil. Like paying taxes. She felt she knew enough about running a shop on her own. But her parents were adamant that she get some formal schooling. So she had opted for the quickest route possible.

That was half the time it had taken
me. Once Claire’s degree was completed, she’d moved on to the next step of the plan she’d made for herself while we were still a juniors in high school. That was the year her grandma had passed away, leaving her a decent sized inheritance. Claire had known exactly what she wanted to use that money for someday.

She bought a business.

The reason Claire had chosen Grafton was simple. She’d found a flower shop that was up for sale. She had realized early on that she might be better off buying into a current business rather than trying to start her own from the ground up. So that’s what she’d done.

She’d used
the inheritance as her down payment. A year later, she had what I assumed to be a rather successful business.

Now here
I
was. I had a four year degree. I’d also gotten my degree in business. Whole lot of good it did me when I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with it. That was why I was envious of Claire.

I had
decided to go into business because it seemed like such a
marketable
degree. There were so many areas that it could be used in. At the start of my education I’d thought it didn’t matter much that I really didn’t know what I wanted to use it for. I figured by the time I was done, I’d know.

Then
my mom had gotten sick. I’d set aside thoughts of what I wanted to do with my life. It was a daily struggle to get through each day. Planning ahead? It just didn’t happen.

I
glanced at the computer again, then the notebook in my lap. There was a feed store that needed a bookkeeper. A hotel was looking for an overnight manager. A grocery store was seeking someone to head their recently expanded meat department.

From there, it went downhill: Fast food help. Hotel room cleaning. Waitressing.

My stomach twisted at the realization. If I couldn’t find something to sustain me financially, I might have to rethink my current plan.

Waitressing was a valid option, something to get me by for a while. I’d done a little bit of waitressing in high school. I hadn’t been good at it. But beggars can’t be too choosy.

I sighed, disappointed that the options were so severely limited.

I
was so tangled up in this unfortunate epiphany that I didn’t realize that the sound of gravel crunching was coming from the driveway. There had been some traffic on the road, though it had been infrequent. But now, this sound was much closer. I glanced at the time displayed at the bottom of the computer screen. It was only a little after one. Claire had said she was going to hustle.

I decided
she must’ve meant it. I closed the laptop and placed it on the chair once I’d eased myself out of it.

Claire
’s backyard was huge and private, sheltered by the pines. I had made myself comfortable on the backside of the house. I heard a vehicle door slam shut as I circled to the front to see what Claire was up to.

“Damn!” a male voice said
as I rounded the corner and slammed into his chest. I bounced off of him and his hands flew to my hips to steady me. My first thought was that it was Sean stopping by.

It wasn’t.

The stranger’s eyes widened, taking in the state of my face. I was instantly self-conscious. My right eye was badly bruised and swollen. I was infinitely grateful that my sunglasses covered part of it. Or at least, I hoped they did. My lip was split. I was, essentially, a mess.

I
reflexively hung my head, forgetting that my hair was pulled up and therefore, wouldn’t be falling forward to act as a shield.

“Are you alright?” he demanded.

I wasn’t sure if he was referring to our collision or my obvious injuries.

“I’m fine,”
I said.

Curiosity got the best of
me and I looked up at him again. He was tall, broad shouldered with delightfully defined arms. Not overdone, but clearly sculpted. He wore worn jeans and a plain gray t-shirt that stretched nicely over his chest. His hair was a rich, espresso brown and his eyes matched.

He was gorgeous.

And staring at me.

“Car accident,”
I quickly lied, motioning to my face. It was obvious he was wondering.

His eyebrows shot up. “Oh. Oh wow. But you’re okay?”

I was, more or less. So I nodded as I shoved away the slight tinge of guilt I felt over the lie.

“I bet the car didn’t make it,” he said with a grimace.

“Um,” I hedged, “I’m not sure. Probably not. I was with a friend. It was her car and I haven’t heard if it was totaled or not.”

“Okay, well…uh,” he stammered. His gaze flew over
me. I felt extremely underdressed in my short cotton shorts and tank top. I’d dressed for comfort, not company. He clearly wanted to ask more but refrained from doing so. “Is Claire around?” he finally asked as he pulled his eyes back to mine again.

“
Claire? Uh, no. She’s working. Can I help you with something? Was she expecting you?”

Surely she would’ve told
me if she was expecting someone,
anyone
, let alone this…this…this unbelievably perfect creature.

Then again,
my arrival had obviously been a surprise. I couldn’t blame Claire if she’d forgotten to mention to me that she was expecting someone.

He stuck his hand out to
me and I took it as he pumped it up and down. His grip was firm, professional and the handshake was over in seconds. “I’m Alex Carmichael,” he said.

“
Zoey Bennett.”

“Nice to meet you,
Zoey. Pretty name,” he replied. Before I could respond he continued on. “I own Carmichael Roofing.” He pointed up toward what I now saw were peeling, curling, weathered shingles. Clearly, Clair’s remodeling wasn’t yet complete. “Claire hired me to do her roof. I was supposed to start next week but this week’s job canceled on me. I was hoping to get started today. I’ve got enough time to get about half a day’s work in.”

He gave
me a questioning look. Was he asking my permission to start on my friend’s roof?

I
shrugged. “I could call her to check.”

“I tried giving her a call.
That gal that works for her said she was making a delivery. I tried her cell phone and it went straight to voicemail. I’m sure she won’t mind. In fact, I know she’s anxious to get it done. The shingles are in. She’s already put half down and has a signed contract. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t coming at a bad time.”

He looked at
me again. Apparently, my presence could possibly be construed as making this a “bad time.”

“As long as you’re sure
Claire won’t mind, I sure don’t,” I told him.

“Good,” he said, looking visibly relieved. “I’ve got so much work lined up this summer that I’m afraid I’m going to fall behind. But hers is the only one that I’ve got the materials for. I appreciate you letting me work. I’ll warn you though it might get a bit noisy.”

“That’s okay. I’m not really doing much anyway.” This was an understatement, for sure.

“Are you visiting?” he wondered.

I shrugged again. “I’m not sure yet. I’m staying with Claire for a while at least. Probably the summer for sure and then we’ll see.” I’d come to that conclusion as I was looking for a job. I was fresh out of college. I could tolerate a mediocre job—even if it was only waitressing—for the summer. But if something decent didn’t come along by fall, I would have to consider moving on. I didn’t bore him with the details of that revelation.

A smile spread across his face. “Good, then maybe I’ll be seeing you around.”

I smiled back, momentarily forgetting what a fright I must be.

“Well,” he sa
id as he moved to step around me, “I better get to work. I can get at least a few hours in today.”

“Okay, well, I’ll see you l
ater,” I said as I let him pass by. He gave me a short, perfunctory wave as he headed off.

I
made my way to the front of the house. There was a new, red Chevy truck in the driveway. “Carmichael Roofing”, along with its logo of a roofline, adorned the driver’s door—and probably the passenger one too, I assumed—in white.

I
let myself into the chilly, air-conditioned house and immediately dialed Claire’s number.

“Are you okay?” she asked after the fifth ring.

“Other than having a minor coronary, yes. You’ve got company,” I told her.

“Aside from you?” she sounded confused.

“Are you planning on having your roof redone?” I asked, giving her a hint.

I
could hear the smile in Claire’s voice. “Alex is there?”

I
reiterated everything he’d said to me. I also tossed in the embarrassing little fact that I’d crashed right into him.

“Oh,”
Claire moaned. “Dottie always leaves messages on my desk because her memory is bad. Mine is just as bad. I never remember to look on my desk.”

“Just how old is Dottie?”
I wondered.