I laughed. “I still haven’t walked around the town, actually, but you do have the cutest quirky neighbor. Oh, and fair warning—the town asshole owns the woods behind your property. I wouldn’t wander them if I were you. He’s the opposite of a people person.”
“Ohhh, interesting. Is he a Luke type of antisocial or a Jess antisocial?”
If there was anything Yoana and I were professionals at, it was talking in Gilmore Girls references.
“Jess. Totally a Jess.”
“Is he hot? Oh gosh, please tell me he’s hot.”
Oh, was Mr. Personality a fine specimen of an asshole. If grumpy smolders could kill, I would’ve been dead ten times over by now. It was as if someone took Damon from The Vampire Diaries, tossed in a little Hook from Once Upon A Time, and voila! Mr. Personality was born. If brooding was an Olympic sport, he’d take gold.
“That’s not the point,” I said, trying my hardest to shake off his obvious sex appeal because I was still on a mission to hate him—even if he did hang out with the elderly in his free time and save me from people like Lars. That didn’t cancel out his shortness with me or his moody personality.
“It is the point, Kennedy. It’s okay to find the town asshole sexy.”
And I did. It was just that Yoana didn’t need to know that fact—nor did anyone else—because it had no relevance to anything. Was Mr. Personality drop-dead gorgeous with locks of dark brown hair that fell in front of his face in the sexiest of ways? Yes. Had his deep eyes of mystery entranced me for a moment in time? Sure, yeah, whatever. Time stood still, blah blah, blah. That didn’t change the fact that he was lacking people skills. No amount of full lips or chiseled jawlines could change that fact.
His good looks and mysterious nature simply made looking away a bit more difficult.
“If you keep talking, I’m going to hang up the phone,” I joked, standing to walk into the bathroom.
“Fine, fine, but what do you mean you haven’t been into town yet? Don’t tell me you’ve been antisocial. You have to get out! Explore. Meet new people.”
“Trust me, I don’t have to meet new people. They have a way of coming straight to my front porch.”
“You need to get out, Kennedy. It will be good for you.”
“But your house is so big and comfy,” I playfully teased, trying to shift the direction the conversation was going. I could tell by Yoana’s sigh that she was worried. I knew it was because she was concerned about my mental health, which had been suffering majorly throughout the past few months. She wanted me to be okay, which I understood completely. I wanted that, too. These things just took time. I had to heal on my own terms—even when the rest of the world wanted me to get over it sooner than later.
That didn’t seem fair to me, though. It was my trauma, after all, not theirs.
But my husband had already left me because of my inability to move forward with my life. I couldn’t also lose my sister for the very same reasons.
“I just worry about you, Kenny,” she said, using the nickname Mama used to call me. My stomach fluttered with nerves as it fell from her lips. “You’ve been through so much. After losing Mama and Daddy and Da—”
“I’ll explore today,” I offered, cutting her off before she could go into mentioning the accident that had burned my soul. “I’ll see what’s going on in this place,” I said, trying to sound hopeful so Yoana’s worries could evaporate.
The sigh that slipped through the phone speaker was much more relaxed this time. “Oh, Kennedy, you’re going to love it! Nathan talked me into flipping the house out there by offering me a few highlights of Havenbarrow. There’s an old-fashioned drive-in movie theater that only plays black and white movies, and every other Friday night is a romantic movie,” she urged, piquing my interest.
“Oh? Do go on.”
“There’s a coffee shop that has a stray cat named Marshmallow that wanders around.”
Okay, she was now tickling my fancy.
“And, and, and!” she exclaimed, her excitement coming through loud and clear. “The library has a secret bookshelf! At least that’s the urban legend. The bookshelf leads to a hidden reading nook, and you have to find the right book to unlock it. Rumor has it no one has found it yet, but it’s supposed to be there.”
Challenge accepted.
“You can even take Mama and Daddy’s car out to get around,” Yoana said with a splash of hope.
That was definitely taking things too far. She knew about my issues with driving. I wasn’t ready to jump off the diving board just yet. “One step at a time, sis.”
I could almost feel her guilty smile coming through the phone. “I had to try.”
After hanging up with Yoana, in an attempt to avoid the invasive individuals bearing baked goods and to push myself out of my comfort zone, I walked into town to find some breakfast.
The café had a very Luke’s Diner feel to it with the random tables scattered around and red leather booths along the walls. The stools that sat at the front counter were occupied by individuals chatting, using their actual voices instead of staring down at their cell phones. There was a sign on the wall in front of the coffee station that read, No cell phones. Connect and unplug or get the eff out.
Now, if that wasn’t a Luke’s Diner comment, I didn’t know what was. I guessed there was no need to ask if they had a Wi-Fi password I could use. I slid my phone into my purse and sat down in a booth. It didn’t take long for my steak and eggs to be delivered to me, and then I turned my attention to the window for my dining entertainment. An adorable puppy was leashed across the street.
Don’t do it, pup.
The owner of the dog was yelling at someone on her cell phone and flailing her arms around like a madwoman. The dog’s leash was tied to a bike rack, and every few seconds, it would tug on the leather strap, loosening the knot a hair. He was trying to reach the stray cat sitting on the opposite side of the busy street, licking its paws clean.
The owner didn’t notice her dog’s level of distress, too busy screaming into her phone to concern herself with the fact that her dog was about to take off running into traffic.
The pacing of my heartbeats became erratic. The dog’s leash was almost loose. He was almost freed from the restraint in place for his own protection. “No,” I muttered to myself, my hands shaking, hoping the dog would sit and stay where it was.
The cat stretched himself out, making the dog even more frantic. The alertness in the dog’s eyes and its loud barks should’ve made the owner take note, but she hadn’t.
Imagine being that disconnected from one’s surroundings.
“No!” I screamed, my voice cracking as the sound shot from my lips. People glanced my way, but I didn’t care.
I leaped up from my booth as chills raced through my body, and two seconds later, the leash was free, the dog was in the street, and my heart was in my throat.
Before the dog could leap in front of a car, before a gruesome sight unfurled right before me, Mr. Personality stepped into the road in front of the moving vehicle and snatched the dog up into his arms.
Mr.
Freaking.
Personality.
Are you kidding me?!
Grown, buff man holding tiny, defenseless puppy against his chest?