AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Our walk into town is a weird mirror image of the first day I walked her to work. But back then, I was just out to tease my aggravating neighbor. The stakes are a lot higher tonight.
“How’s Jackie?” she asks after about a block of silence.
“He’s good. Thanks for asking. What did you think of New Orleans?”
“Nice. People are friendly. Good music, good restaurants. Really hot, but they say the winters are pretty mild.”
A prickle runs up my spine when she mentions winter. She’s already thinking about the future there. “I’ve always wanted to go there.”
“You should. It’s nice.”
This is the worst conversation I’ve ever had. Fighting out loud would be better than this banal and meaningless exchange.
“Maybe we could go sometime.” I reach to take her hand in mine, but she pulls away and turns around to face me.
“They offered me the job, Jeremy.”
My stomach lurches in a way that reminds me of the elevator. “New Orleans?”
“New Orleans, Illinois, and Boulder. I think I’m going with New Orleans.”
The elevator lurches again.
My goal, of course, is to keep her in town, but much as I hate to admit it, Walden has a point. Blaze is smart, ambitious, and dedicated. She could do a lot better, professionally speaking, than staying here, trying to hold her crumbling library together with duct tape and string and minimal support from the very people who should be helping her the most.
New Orleans means more money and a better job, and it’s a cool city to boot. Welkins Ridge has her friends, her crazy family, and me. Are we enough to tip the scales?
A few more blocks and I guess we’ll find out.
“I’m proud of you,” I tell her. And I am, although it’s hard work forcing the words out. I start walking again.
“I can’t stay here, Jeremy,” she insists, falling into step beside me. “Not like this. I’m so exhausted from just trying to keep the library standing that I barely have the energy to do my actual job. If North Falls had something for me, I’d take it, but they don’t, and I can’t sit around for the next couple of years hoping one will open up. You understand that, right?”
“I get it,” I tell her. And I do. “But if we found a way to get the library the money it needs, would you stay? I mean, not just for me, but… maybe partly for me?”
She stops again, just outside the Flying Saucer this time, and looks at me, her eyes glazing with tears. “Of course I would,” she sniffs. “I love you, Jeremy, and I’ve hated every minute of being apart. I even love this stupid, ungrateful town. But I’ve been trying to raise that money ever since I started the job, and I can’t. The town won’t raise my budget, there’s only so much grant money out there, and I just don’t know that many millionaire philanthropists.” She shrugs, helpless. “I’m stuck. If I stay here, I just have to watch it all fall apart.”
“But if we could raise the money, you’d stay?” I press.
Her mouth twists. “Yeah. But we can’t. So I won’t.” She turns and begins walking rapidly down the street. “I’m sorry.”
I match my pace to hers, taking her free hand in mine and giving it a squeeze.
She squeezes back then gently tugs her hand out of mine. “Hey, you’re not making this any easier, you know.” The ghost of a smile flickers over her face. “It might be better if we just cool things down now and not drag it out to the last minute.”
I take her hand again. She doesn’t tug away this time. “It might be,” I agree. “But let’s just take it all one step at a time.”
Hand in hand, we reach the steps of the library and stop.
“Thanks for the walk.” Blaze lifts the cup. “And thanks for the latte. That was very thoughtful of you.”
I barely hear her, a thread of anxiety zinging through my chest. This is it, the moment of truth, where we find out if she really meant what she said about staying. “I’ll head in with you.”
“Jeremy—”
“Just quickly, to say hi to Gigi. We got to know each other while you were gone.”
The zing in my chest has worked its way up to my throat where it’s turned into a tight throbbing sensation. Gigi and I, with the help of Joyce and Lucky and Bill Mayer and dozens of other people in town, have worked our asses off over the past three weeks. We’re close, but we’re not all the way there, and I’m not sure it will be enough.
