“Does he live here with you?” I ask.
“Yeah, he’s been my best friend since college and we moved back here after we graduated.”
“Are you two, like, together?” Lyla asks and Madelyn lets out a little laugh.
“No, just friends and roommates.”
“Hmm,” Lyla says and I see Iris grin at Madelyn.
I’m guessing that Iris thinks that Madelyn and Flynn should be together.
“What do you guys want to order for dinner? We’ll need to go pick it up since I’m out of wine too. I meant to get some on the way home and then forgot.”
“No worries,” Iris assures her and I nod.
“How about pizza?” Lyla suggests and my stomach rumbles.
“That sounds good to me,” I joke and the girls laugh.
“I can drive,” Lyla offers and we all head outside and back to Lyla’s Jeep.
Madelyn calls in our order and we make the short drive back to Main Street. The pizza parlor, Mancini’s, is a few stores down from the market and we head in there to grab some wine while we wait for the pizza and breadsticks to be done.
We’re walking up and down the aisles, grabbing snacks for tonight when we hit the hair dye aisles and I remember my mom’s bucket list. Madelyn spots me eyeing the boxes of dye and grins.
“Are we going to dye our hair tonight?” she asks excitedly and I laugh.
“It was on my mom’s bucket list,” I start to explain, but it turns out that’s all it takes for the other girls to gather around me and debate colors.
“I want to dye my hair too. Maybe purple?” Lyla says, picking up a lavender one.
“That would look pretty. Mine is black so I don’t think anything would show up,” Iris says, eyeing the boxes.
“We could bleach it first,” Madelyn suggests, examining the boxes too.
“No thanks,” Iris says, her eyes wide and I wonder if she’s tried that before and regretted it.
“I don’t know what will show on mine either,” Madelyn says, “But I’ll help you two with yours!”
I inspect the boxes until my eyes snag on the box of pink hair dye, and I know that I’ve found my color. I toss it into the cart and head up to the checkout, giggling with the other girls as we unload our cart of junk food onto the belt.
Madelyn pays while Iris and I head over to Mancini’s to pick up our order. We meet Lyla and Madelyn at the Jeep and all pile back in and make our way back to Madelyn’s house.
“I’m starving,” Lyla says as we dump our grocery bags and pizza boxes down on the expansive kitchen counter.
Iris is already grabbing plates and wine glasses and I help Madelyn clear off a space for us to sit at the counter. Flynn comes down as we’re grabbing a slice and steals a piece for himself before Madelyn yells for him to get out.
I laugh as he dodges the dishtowel that she throws at him and races out of the room.
“I’m sorry, why aren’t you two together?” Lyla asks as she leans back in her chair.
“Yeah,” Iris chimes in enthusiastically as she takes a large gulp of her wine.
She’s had half a glass and I’m pretty sure that she might already be drunk.
“We’re just friends,” Madelyn says, shoving a slice of pizza in her mouth.
“Yeah… but why?” Iris asks.
“Oh my god,” Madelyn groans. “Enough about me and Flynn. What’s going on with you and Hudson? Or you and Teller?” she asks, turning it on Lyla and me.
“Hudson just works at the restaurant beneath my apartment.”
“Yeah, and he leaves her notes on her car asking her out to dinner,” I add.
Lyla shoots me a glare but Iris and Madelyn both ohh at that information.
“I don’t know much about him. He’s not a townie. He moved here, what? Three years ago? Or was it two?” Madelyn asks.
“Two, I think,” Iris says and Madelyn nods.
“He seems like a nice guy from what I’ve heard. Plus, you two would be soooo cute together,” Iris says.
“You totally would,” Madelyn agrees and I nod.
I can tell that Lyla doesn’t want to talk about her and Hudson anymore, so I’m not surprised by what she does next.
“Sutton went out with Teller the other night,” Lyla blurts, throwing me into the line of fire.
“Yes!” Madelyn cheers. “I knew there was something between you two. He couldn’t stop staring at you the other night,” Madelyn says excitedly.
“It was just one date, but it was really nice,” I tell them.
“Teller is so sweet. There aren’t that many single guys in town and even fewer who are dating material. I mean, there’s Teller, Hudson—”
“Flynn,” Lyla adds, and Madelyn rolls her eyes.
“Archie,” Iris whispers, and we all turn to look at her.
“Who is Archie?” I ask, taking a sip of my wine.
“He’s a bartender at The Fainting Goat.”
“The one who helped you up onto the bull?” I ask, and she blushes but nods.
“Gavin!” Lyla says and I frown at her.
“Who?” I ask but the other two girls seem to know who she’s talking about.
“Gavin. He’s some recluse that lives up in the woods. He’s a total hottie but we see him like once a month,” Madelyn explains.
“Do you guys know everyone in town?” I ask with a laugh.
“Yeah, curse of small-town life, I suppose. Everyone knows everyone… and all of their business.”
“You must have liked it. You both left for college and decided to come back. Right?” I ask them.
“I guess. I came back because this will always be home. I don’t mind the slow pace of life,” Iris says.
“And my parents wanted to retire and leave me the market here. I guess I could have decided not to come back here and they would have left it to someone else, but like Iris said, this will always be my home,” Madelyn says with a small smile.
“What about you?” I ask Lyla and she shrugs.
“I’m not from here. I actually just moved here a little less than a year ago.”
“How did you start at the Mystery Cabin?” I ask curiously.
I had thought that Lyla was born and raised here too.
“I had just gotten to town and was planning on passing through when I saw a help wanted sign on the bulletin board at the Destiny Falls Market. It seemed interesting and I was planning on taking the tour since it’s the only thing to do in town really. I went and met Stan and kind of fell in love with the place. I asked him if he was still looking for extra help. He said yes and I applied. I think I was the only one to apply, so I got it. I found my apartment after that and the rest is history.”
“Where are you from originally?” I ask.
“Baltimore.”
“You’re from California, right?” Madelyn asks, turning the conversation to me.
“Did you have a boyfriend back home?” Iris asks me, and I shake my head no.
“No, I’ve never had a boyfriend. I didn’t even really date.”
“Why not? Are the boys in California dumb?” Lyla asks and I laugh.
“I was always busy. It was just my mom and me, and we didn’t really have much. I was busy working and studying to get good grades so I could get a scholarship and afford college.”