Shadows of the Past

Chapter 6

        Getting ready for coffee with Evie was kind of exciting, it had been forever since I'd done anything without Dez, dating or otherwise. He's a big fan of setting me up with girls he meets pretty much anywhere, and because I'm too busy to meet people myself, I just go along with it. For someone with no interest in dating, he really has far too much fun playing matchmaker.

After a quick shower, I pulled on a black tee and grey skinny jeans before French braiding my hair, and slipping on my shoes. I tucked my phone in my pocket, grabbed my purse, and walked out the door, heading downstairs to meet Evie in front of the B&B. She had asked if we could walk to the coffee shop together and it was a beautiful day out so I couldn't say no.

"Good morning! Ready to go?" She greeted me with a smile. She was wearing a red cropped tee and ripped black skinny jeans with a pair of matching black converse. Her red hair framed her face, falling out of the messy bun on top of her head.

"Yep, I'm good to go. Good morning to you too, by the way. You look nice," I replied with a soft smile. She reached out to take my hand in hers, and we walked out the door together towards the café. "So, you said you were here to visit your aunt? How is that going?" I asked as we made our way down the sidewalk, curious what brought her to such a small town.

"Oh it's going fine, my mom wanted me to come help her out around the house because she broke her ankle trying to clean the gutters by herself, but Aunt Ruth refuses to let me do anything so it's kinda boring. You'd think that with her being on crutches, she'd let me at least cook or something, but she keeps insisting that she doesn't need help and that I'm a guest so I should be treated as such," Evie spoke quickly. "You said you grew up here but you're just visiting? When did you move away?" She queried, her eyes lighting up with curiosity.

"About 6 years ago, some not so great things happened and I wanted to get away from it all. I'm just lucky that my best friend came here to visit with me. I don't think I could have made it by myself," I answered. "I don't know how long we'll end up staying though, it was kind of a spur of the moment trip, and I have to get back to work eventually." She squeezed my hand as I spoke, giving me an encouraging glance. We walked up to the café, and she released my hand as she picked a booth and sat down. I went to order coffee for us at the counter before joining her at the booth.

"So, what do you do for work?" She asked, propping her chin up on her hand and tilting her head slightly.

"I run an animal sanctuary, we rescue and rehabilitate injured or neglected wildlife mostly. It's a lot of work and not all of our rescues can be released, but I can't imagine doing anything else. Dez handles the scheduling for our fundraising events, and I run the aviary rehabilitation unit, which basically means I get to direct the team that works with the birds. My assistant is running everything while we're here. How about you?" I love my work, and I was proud of all the good we do, but right now I'm more interested in talking about her life than mine.

"I'm an artist, actually. I do commissions for murals in hospitals and stuff like that mostly, although I do some sculpting in my free time as well. I was commissioned to do the mural for the town hall during the bi-centennial celebration two years ago. That was actually a really fun project to work on, and it only took me like three weeks. I really enjoyed looking into the town's history for inspiration." She was easily the most beautiful person I'd ever seen, with so much passion on her face as she talked about her work. She leaned back as our cups were placed in front of us, quietly thanking the barista before resting her elbows on the table once again.

"Wait, you're the one that did the mural on town hall? Mary was so excited for that, she wouldn't stop texting me about it for weeks! Her and Rick absolutely love it. She said that my high school science teacher's niece did it but never actually gave me a name. It's really cool that you got to do that, I know the city council went through about 6 hundred artists' applications for that project. Rick and Mary are both on the council and keep me updated on anything important going on here."

"I forgot that Aunt Ruth was a teacher, I tend to only visit in the summer when school is out. I'm not fond of the cold, and from what I've heard, the winters here are brutal. I much prefer the summer sunshine, that's why I live in Nevada. Plus, they pay artists way more there if you know where to set up shop," Evie looked almost wistful as she spoke.

"Are you closer to California or like Utah? The sanctuary I work at is in Lincoln County, but Dez and I live in White Pine." I was surprised that we lived so close to each other. "I could take you on a tour of the sanctuary if you live close enough, that would probably be fun. I can teach you how to handle hawks and other birds, they look scary, but I promise they're mostly just fluffy loud pillows." I was rambling again.

"I'm actually in Lincoln too, I just drive down to Vegas for art shows a couple of times a month. That actually sounds amazing, honestly. I've always wanted to pet an owl, so I'd be able to check that off my bucket list."

As I opened my mouth to respond, someone walked up to our table. I looked up and saw a familiar face, belonging to someone I was really hoping to avoid while I was in town. I sat back in my seat, crossed my arms, and took a deep breath in.

"It's been a long time Blake" a voice came from the person standing next to our booth. My heart dropped when I realized I had been recognized, despite the years away.

"Not long enough if I'm being honest. What do you want, Luke?"