“You are a small-town girl. I would love to visit you there, though. Think about how fun it would be to go to the theater and out to fancy dinners, or even shopping. Can you imagine the clothes they sell there?”
“No, I can’t. I struggled with the idea of a limo and a plane to go to dinner. I don’t want to be the woman who just goes about and spends his money while Austin works himself to death.” In my head, that’s what he did there, as opposed to enjoying life like he should. I didn’t want to fight with him about that, and I didn’t want a part of the city life. “I just know we’d drift apart, and all of my insecurities would settle in. I’d end up coming back home and feeling worse about the fact that we failed.”
“You are a pessimist, sis.” Kim smiled sadly at me.
“This isn’t Pretty Woman, Kim.”
Her eyes widened, and she laughed. “No, you’re definitely not a hooker with a heart of gold,” she assured me.
“I know that. I just want to follow my heart, and contrary to what people say about it, my life is not waiting for me in New York. I like it here. I want Austin to want to be with the real me and find the real him. I’ve seen more and more of the old Austin in the last few weeks, and I like it. At least, until he pulls up in a limo.”
“He picked a stubborn one when he picked you. I love that you want to stand up for yourself, though. Just try to enjoy the spoiling a tiny bit for me? I am so jealous.”
“I should ask him to bring a friend here for you,” I joked. She giggled. Preston left soon after any of us met him, but I didn’t think he was Kim’s type at all. Kim was as small-town as I was. “He’s taking me somewhere Saturday. It’s a surprise, and I don’t know whether to be excited or not.”
“Oh, be excited,” Kim urged me as she glanced at the clock on the wall. “Look! We have enough time to stop by the coffee shop and get some dessert and coffee. I’ve been stumbling around here enough with this list tonight on our girl night. Let’s go watch a sickeningly romantic movie that will make you see what you deserve.”
We left the building, and she locked up before we walked to her car. Kim drove us over to the Grind and talked to the girls about her idea, who got excited over the new venture. They told Kim that they’d have the owner call her in the morning to talk about it, and even gave us our treats for free.
“Will the stand have these desserts?” I asked with a sigh as she drove.
“If so, I am going to gain one hundred pounds. The chocolate cake is to die for.” We’d gotten a slice of that, as well as cheesecake that the owner’s wife made for him, and both were amazing. “I might eat it for breakfast every single day. Maybe I should have a healthy, vegan truck or something instead. That’s healthy, right?”
“So, I hear, but yuck!” I groaned as we pulled into the driveway of my house. She got the desserts, and I grabbed the coffee, following her to the door as she unlocked it with her key. There were no secrets between Kim and me, though I didn’t tell her every detail about Austin. Some things a girl just needed to keep private, something that was much more of a presence in my life now that he was back.
I couldn’t stand the idea of not seeing her all the time. We were too close, and we’d only gotten closer when Mom and Dad left. It was unbreakable now. If it came down to it, Austin would have to deal with it.
We sat down on the couch and found a movie on Netflix. I was fine with romantic, but I insisted that it not be ridiculous. Kim offered up You’ve Got Mail. I liked Sleepless in Seattle, but that ended in New York, and I vetoed the very idea of the movie. We snuggled up on the couch and watched it, sharing our treats and sipping coffee as we recited every line from memory. Kim loved the idea of a small bookstore like that and cursed the male lead when he took over and closed her store.
“That’s why I don’t want to live in New York City,” I said. “I am all about the small businesses and not the chains taking over.” I took the last bite of cake.
We giggled and watched another movie about a cowboy in a small town a lot like ours who sweeps a new girl off her feet and saves her.
“Cowboys are so sexy,” Kim swooned as she reached for a handful of popcorn that I’d made in between movies.
“Did you know that Preston is still wearing that cowboy hat over in Singapore? Austin showed me a picture.”
She laughed at the idea. “An English cowboy. That’s new. You know, I saw Austin with his old hat on in town. There’s still a little cowboy under all that city boy yet.”
I’d noticed. I memorized every moment he slipped into the old Austin who I knew before he moved. I added them to the file in my head of memories from high school. We finished that movie, falling asleep on the couch as I reached for the blanket to cover us up.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Austin
It was gorgeous on Saturday. I’d be more excited about it if there weren’t several calls and messages from Mia on my phone by the time I was up for coffee. I left the phone in my room as I ate breakfast with my parents, enjoying the fruit salad that Mom prepared with the eggs and toast. She used to do that for me as a kid, but this had a lot more variety in it. I helped myself to a second serving. “Thanks, Mom, this is great,” I told her in too high of a voice.
She looked at me with concern in her eyes.
“Are you okay, son?” Dad asked.
I wiped my face with a napkin and nodded. My nerves were getting to me, and I needed to relax before the date today.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I think that I had some trouble sleeping last night, and I feel kind of restless. I’ll relax.” I gave them both a reassuring smile.
“A date with a pretty woman will do that to a man,” my dad said softly, giving Mom a tender smile. “I think we should have one soon, don’t you? Maybe dinner at the steakhouse.”
“That sounds wonderful,” she said. “Everyone is always asking how you are, and they’d love to see you.”