The startled look in her eyes made his chest
ache. He knew then he needed to ask. Yes, it was not his concern as
her ex, but it was as the mayor of the town. Blake tried to respond
in a soft voice.
“
Did he hurt you, Veronica?
I heard about the marks on your face?” As he spoke, he found it
hard to keep the anger out of his voice.
She said nothing. Her eyes were fixed on his
hand still frozen midair. The color drained from her face. Veronica
took another step back and seemed relieved their conversation was
interrupted, when Leo returned with her order.
“
Here you go, Ms. Klark. I
hope your fiancé likes it.” Leo then turned his attention to Blake.
“Let me guess what you would like today. Your mother’s favorite
bread?”
“
Yes, Leo. Can you make it
two loaves, please?”
Leo went back into the back room. The rain
was coming down harder now and Blake didn’t need to turn to know
that Veronica was still in the bakery. If she stepped out, she
would be drenched in a matter of moments. She still hadn’t answered
his question. Blake needed to know. Moving away from the counter he
approached her.
“
Veronica, you didn’t
answer my question.”
He lightly touched her arm, and she jumped.
As she whipped around, he saw fire in her eyes.
“
For your information, a
box fell on me. And what goes on between me and Arthur is none of
your business.”
Veronica’s nostrils flared. Blake knew the
stance well. With raised hands, he took a surrendering step
back.
“
I’m sorry. You’re right.
Your life is none of my business. I-well, I just hope you and I can
be friends. If you need anything, even just to talk, I’m
here.”
In response Veronica mumbled, “Thank you,
Mr. Mayor,” before fixing her sight back on the window.
Leo walked back out with the bread Blake
ordered. After paying, Blake, too, was stuck waiting for the rain
to let up. He sensed Veronica was still upset with him, so he let
the sound of the rain fill the air.
As they stood there, Blake had a flashback.
He laughed and stepped closer to Veronica, so Leo couldn’t hear
what he was saying.
“
Do you remember the time
we were on Hideaway Hill, and out of nowhere it rained like
this?”
Her back was still to him, but he could see
her shoulders relax a little. Shaking her head softly, she laughed
too.
“
Yes, I remember. Your
house was the closest, so we ran there for shelter.”
“
By the time we got to the
house we were soaked to the bone.”
“
And I had to borrow some
of Parker’s clothes until mine dried. But mine didn’t dry in time
for me to be home. So I wore Parker’s home. My dad was in the
living room and I saw the look on his face the moment I opened the
door. I don’t think I’ve ever talked so fast in my life. My foot
hadn’t made it completely through the door before I had explained
why I was wearing guy clothes. I made it a point to let him know
they weren’t yours.”
They both laughed and Blake saw Veronica
relax a little.
“
Parker never did take
those clothes back. I washed them and everything. He said if I
could fit in them, then they were too girly for him.”
“
Oh, yeah! I remember he
tried to ruin all of his clothes after that, so mom would buy him
new ones. That’s when he went through his gothic stage.”
“
Didn’t that last for about
two weeks, until he realized the three other gothic kids in town
really didn’t want to hang out with him?”
“
Yup, it was the best two
weeks ever. He didn’t follow me around once during that
time.”
Veronica laughed again and finally looked at
Blake.
“
Thanks, I needed
that.”
She seemed happier. Most of
the anger had fled her face, and her gorgeous brown eyes beamed.
Blake’s heart leapt.
Why couldn’t it
always be this easy?
He smiled and shook
his head.
“
I didn’t do
anything.”
He was just glad it finally appeared they
could at least be friends. He still worried about the marks the
others had seen on her face, but he came to a resolution that the
past they shared was all they had. The choices she made were her
own. He had his life—the one he worked hard to get after she
left—and she had hers. If and when the time called for her to need
a friend, he would be there. Otherwise, he needed to concentrate on
what was right in front of him-his family and town. As he finished
speaking, the rain let up enough for them to finally leave. Holding
the door open for her, Veronica waved and headed down Main Street,
back towards the library, and he headed back to Town Hall.
H
aving lunch at Tiny’s Sandwich Pub, Arthur and Andy,
co-founder of A and R Accounting, sat at a two-seater near the
window. Andy and Ronald had both taken the time to get to know
Arthur. They figured the best way to do so was to take him out for
lunch a few times during his first month. This was his second time
out with Andy. Arthur could have cared less about making friends in
the silly little town, but he knew it probably wasn’t wise to turn
down the boss. Plus, Andy seemed to talk a lot anyway, so it was
less he had to reveal about himself during their lunch breaks. It
was a nice day and there were a lot of people walking the streets
during the lunch hour. Getting up to go to the restroom, gave
Arthur the excuse to free himself from listening to Andy drone on
about how wonderful the stupid hole-in-the-wall town was. When he
rejoined Andy at the table, Arthur noticed it was raining.
Actually, it was pouring. Andy, too, was looking out the window,
but he seemed to be focused on something else. Arthur cleared his
throat, snapping Andy back to attention at the table.
“
Oh, hey. Sorry. I guess I
wasn’t sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me,” he said, tilting
his head towards the glass.
Arthur followed the movement. At first, he
didn’t see anything but rain. When he looked harder, he spotted
what looked like Veronica in the bakery across the street. He knew
she was going to be making a stop there. She promised him the best
cinnamon buns from the little shop and wanted to pick some up for
the weekend. He figured she was on her lunch break.
“
Yeah, so, what about
it?”
When he applied for the job, he never
mentioned the fact that his fiancé used to live in Surpatch. He
didn’t think it was anyone’s business. So assuming Andy was talking
about something else, he wished his boss would hurry up his
mindless story. Andy shook his head, and adjusted his chair to have
a better look out the window.
“
I forget you’re not from
here. See those two?”
His finger pointed directly at Veronica and
some man standing closer to her than Arthur wanted. Arthur had to
take a deep breath. He wanted to know what Andy was going to say,
before he went across the street and broke the man’s arm for
letting it brush against Veronica. Giving one stiff nod, Andy
looked back out the window.
“
Back in the day, they were
the hottest duo to grace Surpatch. We all went to school together,
and Blake and Veronica were the “it” couple. When they would enter
a room together, some of the kids would say ‘here come the Mr. and
Mrs.’”
After Arthur’s restroom break, he sat back
at the table and resumed eating his turkey on rye, but the more
Andy talked, the tighter his grip became on the sandwich. He could
feel the bread smashing between his fingers and the mayo and
horseradish began to drip down his hand. Not noticing any of this,
Andy continued.
“
Yeah, everyone thought
Darwood and Veronica were going to get married. They were
inseparable. Even when Darwood went off to college in Webster
City—he’s two years older than her. Anyway, he would come home on
the weekends, and they would have date nights. I swear to you, they
would look at each other like they were actors in a movie. They
truly only had eyes for each other. Blake and Veronica were voted
prom king and queen all four years, and every year in the year
books, they were photographed as the cutest couple. It was
ridiculous. Darwood was out of high school for like two of those
years and still everyone voted for them. It came as the biggest
surprise when they broke up. The mayor never talked about it, but
most of us assumed Veronica left him when she went away for school.
After they called it quits, most of us guys knew if they couldn’t
make it as a couple, then there was no way in hell any of us would
ever be able to do it.” Andy laughed before continuing. “Maybe
that’s why I’m single now. There’s no point in trying if the most
beloved couple of Surpatch couldn’t make it.”
Arthur’s stare never left
the window. He could feel his temper rising.
How could she have lied to me?
His
sandwich was now nothing more than a piece of soggy bread and
turkey that lay on his hands. He watched as Blake walked over to
stand next to Veronica again. It appeared like they were
talking—laughing at something.
Could the
laughter be because of me and my ignorance? Why did I think a woman
could be honest and faithful? Every time I turn around, Veronica is
out on the town like some hussy or talking to Blake. Is this why
she came back to Surpatch, to be with him? Is Andy right or has
their romance never fully died away? Are they sneaking around
behind my back?
From where Arthur sat, it
looked like she was leaning towards Blake. Trying to take deep
breaths to control his rage, Arthur dropped his mush of a sandwich
on the table and grabbed his glass of water with both hands. The
dressing that used to be on his sandwich smeared the sides of the
glass. Arthur gulped the full cup of water in three
swallows.
Lies! It was all lies. She has
done nothing but lie from day one.
He
trusted her, and she lied.
Oblivious to Arthur’s silent ire, Andy
continued.
“
This is my first time
seeing them since she left town a few years ago. I heard she was
back, but I thought she moved back with some weird dude
that…”
Andy stopped mid-sentence. He realized he
may have been talking to the “weird dude”. Twisting in his seat, he
finally saw Arthur was fuming.
“
Hey, man. I didn’t know.
Look, don’t take any of what I said to heart. I’m sure they are
just friends now. It’s a small town, everybody runs into everybody
here all the time. She did tell you about her past with Blake,
didn’t she?”
Arthur slammed his empty
glass on the table. His eyes remained on that lying bitch.
How could I have been so blind?
All of this was happening right under his nose.
His hands shook as he wiped the rest of the condiments from his
fingers. Dropping his used napkin on the table, Arthur forgot all
about Andy, and the rest of the world moving around him. All he
could think about was how she used him to get her way. The rain was
now letting up and Arthur watched as Blake opened the door for
Veronica. They exchanged a few more words before going their
separate ways. Once the two were out of sight, Arthur stood and
stormed out of Tiny’s without saying another word to his
boss.
Chapter 6
V
eronica was not having the day she would’ve hoped for. After
the run-in with Blake at the bakery, while being stuck in a rain
storm, she returned to the library only to be informed the system
she’d been working diligently on crashed sometime while she was
out. All of the work she processed that day was lost. As she became
overly involved in her rework, she didn’t notice the time flying
by. Veronica didn’t pull her eyes from the screen until she
realized how quiet the library became. Almost four hours had passed
since Hayley and Sherry called their goodbyes and went home for the
weekend. She wondered why Arthur hadn’t come in to get her once he
left work. But then again, with his mood swings lately, she
wouldn’t have put it past him to have waited for a little while,
and then drove home without her. After collecting her things,
including her cinnamon buns she picked up for dessert that evening,
Veronica headed home. It was darker out than she would’ve hoped,
but she walked as fast as she could. While walking she decided
after they ate dinner, she would need a nice hot bubble bath with a
glass of wine. She hoped Arthur would join her.
As she neared the house,
she saw none of the lights were on. It worried her.
Is everything okay with Arthur?
He is still new in town. Would they know to call
me if he was in some kind of accident?
That would explain why he never picked me up from
work
. Attempting to open the door—which
when one or the other weren’t home, was usually left
unlocked—Veronica noticed the deadbolt was set. Not even the porch
light was on. She knocked a few times with no answer before
fumbling through her purse to find her keys. Her stomach twisted
into knots as she opened the door. Worry shot through her like
little zaps of electricity.
Where is
he?
Setting her purse on the floor in the
entryway, she felt for the light switch in the hall. With a flick
of her finger, the front part of the house lit up. As Veronica
wandered further into the house, she caught movement in the dining
room. She stopped moving.
The silhouette looked to be of someone
sitting down, but she wasn’t sure. Perhaps her mind was playing
tricks on her. As she began to walk again, the silhouette started
to rise from its seated position. Her heart leapt into her
throat.