Almost Home (NG2)

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Customers were steady all morning. It was the day before Christmas Eve, so everyone was in a festive mood. College kids were home. John Harris talked to Rick about his grandkids arriving from Virginia.

She smiled when Rob came in and waved to Mr. Currier. The older man stood and walked over to the counter.

"When's your kid due back?"

Rob smiled. "Tonight. He drove as far as Virginia. He'll get back on the road after some sleep."

Phoebe stood frozen in place with the coffees, Rob hadn't ordered yet, on the counter.

Rick walked over. "I heard he was coming home."

Without thinking, she said, "I didn't!"

The three men looked at her. Rob smiled. "He's coming for good. He'll be working at O&C."

"What about the girlfriend?"

Rob inserted his visa into the chip reader. "It didn't work out."

She completed the transaction. Thankfully, no one was in line as she walked into the storeroom. She felt numb when she should be smiling. It was a dream come true, but he wasn't coming home for her. He was coming for a job. He didn't even text her with his news.

She felt worse than all the times she thought of him cozying up to his girl. Somehow, she'd have to convince him she wasn't a little girl.

She wiped her eyes with the hem of her shirt and returned to the front. There was coffee to serve.

Phoebe woke up on Christmas Eve morning and looked out the window. In the driveway across the street was a Subaru with Tennessee plates. She felt her heart rate accelerate.

Phoebe had gone out the night before with Morgan and Aleena. They were her friends from college. Morgan graduated, but stayed in the Portland area. Aleena grew up in Kennebunk. She hadn't finished school because occupational therapy required a master's degree. The three grew close when they lived on campus, because they were all more studious than social. They were not so close for her to have shared her crush with them. Her feelings for Robbie were her secret, except she was pretty sure he knew.

They were the three virgins. In the four and a half years of postsecondary education, they had had less than ten dates between them. Morgan had the most with two separate guys. She met one at her cousin's wedding in Connecticut the summer after their freshman year, and the other she met through a friend. She went out with him twice before he went back to his old girlfriend.

Phoebe knew her friends weren't the type of girls construction workers whistled at. Morgan might have been if she wore non-baggy clothes, took her hair out of a ponytail and put on some makeup. Lilli claimed to get whistles walking from the train to her office building all the time. Phoebe might get some whistles too, even though she didn't have a better scorecard. She dated Sawyer three times, but she kept thinking of Robbie, so she ended it. Before there were guys who tried to pick her up. She was smart enough to know they only wanted the one thing she was saving for one man.

The three sat at a table in a large bar which hosted karaoke. None of them dared get up and sing, but they enjoyed listening. Phoebe laughed when a guy got up and sang 'Cowboy don't like beaches'. Without realizing, she started singing along. The guy was not nearly as good as Nash.

"Morgan leaned into her. "How do you know the words?"

Busted. "My favorite group sings it. I saw them in concert."

Aleena giggled. "You like Country?"

"Yup."

She took out her phone and recorded the performance. Maybe she'd show it to Robbie.