Page 67 of Back to Square One

The text from Stevie was the third one in as many days, and Rowan immediately felt guilty. Stevie wasn’t wrong, and it was time for Rowan to make more of an effort.

Got time for lunch today?

Stevie’s reply came back immediately and with an enthusiasm that included about a dozen celebratory emojis, which warmed Rowan’s heart. It was nice to be wanted. They made plans to meet at their favorite taco truck, which happened to be near Stevie’s client for that day. Rowan got there first and was placing her order just as Stevie’s truck pulled into the lot.

They hugged, and Stevie seemed to hold on a little extra. She ordered and they adjourned to a little table to wait. September had been warm and lovely, as if it wasn’t quite ready to let go of summer. But October was not playing. The air had a brisk, crisp feel to it. Not cold, but colder than the warm breezes of last month, and one hundred percent signaling that a change was coming. The leaves were releasing their green and embracing the yellows, reds, and oranges of the season.

“What’s new?” Stevie asked, then took a bite of her taco. “What have you been up to?”

Rowan lifted one shoulder. “Not much. Work. Reading. Getting ready for winter. Got my fall decorations out.” She gave a soft chuckle. “I know that all sounds so frivolous, but after the accident and the brain stuff, it’s kind of nice to focus on silly things.” She took a bite and chewed before adding, “I actually have a few fall things that I don’t remember buying, so that was nice.”

Stevie laughed along with her. “Like little gifts in your attic.”

“Exactly. Apparently, I bought a giant inflatable black cat that moves its head.”

“For the front lawn! I remember I came over to see it, and the lady across the street said her dog was terrified of it.”

“Oh, no, poor Edgar.” But Rowan laughed because these little glimpses and revelations of things that were no longer in her brain made her feel almost whole again.

They talked a bit about the upcoming season and how Stevie would shift her staff from landscaping to snow removal. For the next month or two, she’d be winterizing lawns, but eventually she’d put snowplows on the fronts of several of her company trucks.

“Any snowfall predictions?” Rowan asked.

“The Farmers’ Almanac says light snow this year, but they’re wrong almost as often as they’re right, so I have no freaking idea.” She shrugged and crumpled up the wrap to her taco. “So,” she said, leveling her gaze at Rowan. “Been spending a lot of time with Evie, I hear.”

There it was. Rowan had sort of suspected they’d end up at this topic, but it still felt a little bit like a sharp poke from her friend. “Some. Yeah.” She shrugged and picked at her taco. “It’s been nice, actually.”

Stevie nodded slowly, studying her as if expecting to find something in her expression.

“What?” Rowan asked as she chewed.

Stevie’s eyebrows rose and she shook her head. “Nothing. I just want you to be careful. That’s all.”

“Careful of what?”

Stevie’s throat moved as she swallowed. Off to the right of them was an office building and a few folks exiting, and Stevie seemed to find them suddenly interesting. Letting out a quiet breath, she said, “Listen. You don’t remember what kind of shape you were in after Evie broke your heart. I get that. But I remember it.” She nibbled on her bottom lip for a moment before she went on. “I remember, and it was awful. You couldn’t eat. You couldn’t sleep. I had to physically put you in the shower once because you hadn’t taken one in days and you smelled like that guy that lives in the alley behind Meyer’s Market.”

Rowan gasped. “That is a vicious, vicious lie.” She was trying to play it off as comical, but Stevie’s expression remained serious for a second or two before she finally smiled.

“It’s one hundred percent the truth. You reeked.”

Rowan held her gaze and made herself be serious. “I promise I’m showering.”

“I just don’t want to see you hurt like that again. You know?”

“I do.” Rowan took a deep breath and let it out. “I do know. And I appreciate it.”

“So…how is she? She doesn’t say much to other people, even when we ask.”

“No?” Rowan hadn’t realized that.

Stevie shook her head. “I text her pretty regularly to check in. She always tells me she’s fine or ‘same shit, different day,’ but it never seems, I don’t know, real?”

Rowan nodded. “She’s still very self-conscious. I’m surprised she let Claire talk her into going to the lake, if I’m being honest, because she doesn’t love people seeing her if she has a flare-up.”

“But she lets you see it.”

Rowan paused at the statement, taking it for the truth is was. “She does.” She wiped her hands with her paper napkin, then crumpled it up and left it in the empty container with the remaining crumbs of her lunch. “It took some insistence on my part, a little bit of tough love. But, yeah.”