Page 106 of Deck the Hauls

Okay, if you’re sure? If you change your mind, just let me know. If not, perhaps we could catch up in person in the new year?

My thumb hovered over the keys. Should I keep the conversation going, ask how she was doing? I sighed. No, it would all be so unsatisfactorily superficial. All I wanted was for her to be sitting across from me, available to talk about everything and anything, without the restrictions of text messages. As my girlfriend, not my friend.

I’m sure. Thank you.

I went back to doomscrolling.

“Checking on the latest on Phillip?” George asked, raising an eyebrow as she put a new coffee down in front of me.

“Thank you. How did you guess?”

“You were glaring furiously at your phone. I figured it was either Phillip or Austin.”

I snorted. “It looks like Phillip’s finally getting what he deserves. The police have opened an investigation, and a production company has dumped him from an upcoming film. Hopefully that’s just the beginning.”

“I’m glad to hear it. How are you holding up?” George asked, resting her hands on the top of the chair opposite me.

I looked around the café. Hannah was polishing glasses behind the counter, and the morning breakfast rush seemed to have dissipated. It would be good to talk to someone. “Do you have time to sit?”

“Just let me grab my coffee.”

George jogged over to the counter, said something to Hannah and returned with a half-empty mug of coffee.

“How’s the café doing? Have you noticed much of an uptick in sales since the movie came out?” I asked.

George grinned. “We had a group of women in their forties come in from Albany yesterday. They wanted to sit at the table Emily and Austin had filmed at and asked to have the same order. It’s hard to tell how much the movie has helped, but we have been busier than usual the past few weeks. This is actually one of the quietest moments we’ve had recently. So I think it has made a difference. How about at the farm?”

I nodded. “Yeah, we’ve had quite a few people visiting to see the museum, especially after the newspaper article came out about it. Roz is thrilled.”

“Oh, excellent!” George took a swig from her drink and leaned in. “And how are you coping? Have you spoken to Emily recently?”

I’d told George what had happened shortly after arriving back in Sapphire Springs—my relationship with Emily and its unraveling. I wasn’t sure Emily would have been happy with me sharing, but I had to talk to someone about what happened, and I trusted George implicitly not to tell anyone else. Even though my revelations hadn’t been a shock—it turned out all of them, not just Roz, had been commenting on me and Emily ‘U-Hauling’—she agreed to keep it to herself.

I ran my fingers over a dent in the wooden table. “We seem to be spending more time playing phone tag than actually speaking. I keep missing her calls because I’m in the cabin or somewhere else on the farm that’s out of range. Last night I ended up driving my truck near the farmhouse to get reception so I could speak to her once her shift ended. But I was freezing cold and Emily was tired, so we didn’t speak for long and…I don’t know, things just feel so awkward. Maybe it’s me. I’ve never been great at speaking on the phone.”

Or texting, as our recent exchange showed.

George’s face softened. “That’s rough. I guess it’s not surprising, though. You guys have been through a lot of change. And going back to being just friends after you’ve been more than that would be a huge adjustment.”

I dug my fingernails into my hand. “I knew it was coming eventually, but I didn’t appreciate just how hard it would be. It probably didn’t help that I’d started to think perhaps Emily would come around to dating me. Damn, I was stupid.”

“You weren’t stupid. I would have thought the same with the way she looked at you. It was pretty obvious to all of us that she cared for you a lot.”

But not enough to risk her career.

“Have you considered taking a break from speaking with her? I know you want to stay friends, but having a few weeks apart might help you get accustomed to the idea.”

I bit my lip. “I have thought about that, but she’s going through so much at the moment with the Phillip news coming out and the media attention.”

Perhaps after the media interest died down, I could suggest it. It would be painful, but so was this.

George reached out and squeezed my hand. “I’m so sorry, Dana. You deserve someone who loves you and isn’t afraid to shout about it from the rooftops. And if Emily can’t give you that, I’m confident you’ll find someone who can. Just say the word, and Jenny will jump back into cupid mode and have you signed up for all the dating apps and multiple blind dates before you know it.”

I managed a weak chuckle, but my stomach roiled at the thought of dating anyone who wasn’t Emily.

The front door opened and a couple walked in. A line had developed at the counter, and Hannah was now busy taking orders.

“I’m sorry, Dana, I’d better go help Hannah. Do you want some lunch?”