Page 115 of Possibly Texas

Jack said his “goodbyes” to Sofia, both of them grinning ear to ear, before he walked away, a distinct lilt to his walk. When he passed by Starbuck’s on his way down the road back to his place, he caught my eye. Levi Lee was still talking my ear off, oblivious to anything else around us, so I just gave Jack a wink. His cheeks grew rosy and he tried to avoid my eyes, but he finally winked back before hurrying on his way.

That made me smile.

Even Jack could be embarrassed.

After my break, I headed back in to continue “swabbing the decks,” as Starbuck would have put it. Not before I reassured Levi Lee that we were friends and he hadn’t done anything to change that fact. Levi Lee made me smile. He came off as what a lot of people might have referred to as “naïve,” but he was a nice guy. He made me laugh. He didn’t care that he wasn’t great at his art. Being friends with Levi Lee—even if we never got a coffee together in the way he’d suggested—would make my time in Possibly better.

For however long that was.

And, I suddenly realized, I didn’t mind if that was a long time.

That realization hit me like a ton of bricks as I was doing my final duty of the day—mopping the entire café. I had spent the last few weeks wondering why I had to be in Possibly. Why my mom hadn’t come to rescue me. In my heart of hearts, I’d truly felt as though Possibly was the worst place in the world to find myself. But as I mopped the floor, I realized that I didn’t hate Possibly and it wasn’t the worst place in the world.

It was different than everything else I’d ever known.

That had made me want to reject it, to declare it mundane and backwoods. However, it was the easiest life I’d ever known, living in Possibly. There was no hustle and bustle, no running like hell from the cops. No wondering where my next meal would come from and if it would have enough nutritional value to keep me from feeling like crap for days. It wasn’t exciting, but it wasn’t stressful.

Maybe I missed the excitement of the road—something Possibly could never match—but I didn’t miss everything else. Once I got used to the easy going way of living of Possibly, and the way the people of Possibly lived simply and peacefully, I found that I didn’t miss the excitement either. What’s the point of excitement if it comes with conditions and consequences?

Near the end of my shift, after I’d put away my cleaning supplies and cleaned up in the backroom, I walked back out into the café to an empty dining area. At the counter, Starbuck was passing a freshly made frappe to the only customer in the place.

Auggie.

I froze as he thanked Starbuck and turned away from the counter, clutching his drink. When our eyes met, he didn’t quite smile, but he didn’t scowl at me, either. I wasn’t sure if I should say anything to him, but I didn’t have to wonder for long.

“Hey,” he said, shuffling cautiously away from the counter towards me.

“Hey back,” I said, hoping it wasn’t the wrong thing to say.

Auggie’s eyes flitted around for a moment as he chewed at his lip, obviously trying to figure out what to say to me. I was glad that he was doing the thinking because my mind was drawing a blank. I desperately wanted to say something to him, but I didn’t know what to say.

Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. I knew exactly what to say to Auggie, but I didn’t know if I had the courage to say it.

I’m a jerk and I was wrong.

Do you want to get coffee sometime?

After what had happened between Lilly and Amos, did everything that Auggie and I had said to each other really matter? Did we really want to have a years-long storm brewing between us before one of us blew up in front of the whole town? Why not just skip to the handshake and forgiveness part of it all?

“Yesterday was crazy, huh?” he asked, looking over at me to smile, finally. “In a good way, I mean. Kind of. At least last night was. That was fun.”

I nodded. “I’ve never danced before. In public, I mean. With other people.”

He braved a smile.

So, I decided to be brave, too. At least a little bit. I leaned in conspiratorially as I spoke.

“Who do you think strung up all the lights and played the song?” I asked.

Auggie chuckled.

“Right?” he asked and took a sip of his frappe. “Another Possibly mystery to solve.”

I laughed. “Yeah. That seems to be a thing here. You guys—we—like our mysteries.”

Auggie cocked his head to the side, a queer smile playing along his lips.

“We?”