Page 25 of When In Doubt

I glance around. “Are you working?”

“Nah, just a social visit.”

“Me too.” I ball my hands up in my coat pockets, hoping to keep the anxious fidgeting at bay.

“I was on my way to get funnel cake if you’d like to join?”

“Sure.” I bob my head in agreement, relieved to have a direction to go in. I feel a little like a baby bird as I follow in Becca’s wake, marveling at the way she cuts through the crowd, occasionally stopping to give someone a hug or ask them a question. As I look around I can see the scene duplicated many times over around the room. Everybody’s so happy.

Valerie’s words ring in my ears.

People are nice here.

I rub a fist over my sternum, trying to soothe the ache that’s building.

We approach the food truck that’s parked out in the yard, and I glance around, half hoping Oscar might be here somewhere. I should make an effort after he was nice enough to invite me.

“You know what you want?” Becca asks.

“Just plain, I think?”

She places our order, brushing me aside when I go to pay. She manages to find a free space on one of the benches and we sit to eat. I have to suppress a moan when I bite into it, hot and perfectly crunchy. “That’s incredible.”

“Oh yeah, this place is the best,” she says, nodding back at the truck.

“I can’t believe I’ve never had this before.” I nod down at my plate, now half demolished.

“Not ever?” Becca looks a little horrified.

I shake my head.

“Not even at carnivals or anything when you were a kid?”

“Carnivals were never really my thing.” I pull out my phone and snap a quick picture to send to Luci. “My best friend has been trying to get me on this stuff for years. She’s gonna be so mad that she didn’t get to see it.”

Becca smiles. “She’s in Connecticut?”

“Uh huh.” I send off the picture and slip the device into my coat pocket. I grin as it starts vibrating against my hip, Luci’s trademark string of messages coming through in quick succession.

“How long did you live there?” Becca asks, “I heard someone say you grew up in Cedar Creek?”

“Yeah, until I was fourteen. Then my mom got a job out east, so I was there until a couple months ago.”

“And what brought you back?”

“Just wanted to try something new.” I give her the most watered-down possible version of the truth. “Elsie offered me the space when she decided to retire, so it seemed like the right time.”

“That’s not the story I heard,” she teases.

I roll my eyes. “What did you hear?”

“Nothing serious.” She stretches her hand across the table to give mine a pat. The contact almost makes me gasp and I want to flip my hand around and hang on to it for as long as possible. “Joyce was just in the diner being her usual self.”

“What did she say?” I press.

“She seemed to have the idea that you rolled into town and wrote Elsie a blank cheque to vacate the store.”

I have to laugh at that. “If I had ‘blank cheque’ money, I would be living in a much nicer apartment.”