Grace
In the town of Chester, you saw the same faces every single day. Even when you didn’t want to. I was quick to learn that Jackson not only took Tucker to the park every now and then, but he also carried that big boy into town each day and would sit in the sun with his companion for hours. It seemed to be Tucker’s happy place, and Jackson had no trouble giving his dog that joy.
Even though he hated when I looked his way, I couldn’t help myself.
It was intriguing to zoom in on someone I believed was so different from me and see parts of him that matched corners of my soul.
Maybe we weren’t so opposite, after all—both of us being lost and stuff.
He wasn’t the only one I saw in town, though, which was unfortunate.
I saw Autumn all the time, but I did a good job of avoiding her. I saw her first at the diner. Then again at the ice cream shop, and I dipped out before she could say a word my way.
Then we crossed paths in the grocery store.
She was wearing high heels and had her blond hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. As she pushed her cart down the fresh produce section, I paused. She looked at the bananas as if they were foreign creatures, studying every single one as if she’d never seen the fruit before.
They are just bananas, idiot. Just pick one.
The moment the thought rolled through my mind, I felt guilt.
Sorry for calling you an idiot.
Wait.
No.
She stole my husband. I was allowed to mentally call her names without feeling guilty about it.
As she picked up the bananas, she raised her head, and her eyes fell on me. “Grace,” she said, my name rolling off her tongue like a disease.
She stepped backward, and I stood still.
Her eyes watered over, and I hated that it happened. She began to cry in the middle of the grocery store, tears hitting her soon-to-be-purchased fruits. Gosh, I hated her tears because they reminded me of my own pain.
The pain she caused me.
She stepped toward me, and my body tensed up. I pushed my cart away from me.
“Grace, wait. Can we talk?” she asked.
Her words stung me as they left her mouth.
She stepped closer.
I turned around and ran.
I ran.
Just to be clear, I wasn’t a runner. I was certain that I didn’t even know how to properly run. After about twenty seconds, I was winded, and sweating in places I didn’t know sweat could come from. But, still, I kept running because I could hear her behind me, click-clacking in her heels.
Autumn was a runner.
She’d been running since she was in diapers and was one of the fastest people I knew.
As I raced down the streets of Chester, out of breath and seconds from passing out, I listened to her calm as day voice still calling after me. She wasn’t a lick out of breath while I was debating if I should call an ambulance for CPR. My arms flung all over the place like an octopus as she ran like the next USA Olympian champion.
The second I could, I threw the door to The Silent Bookshop open, and Josie saw my panicked expression, though I didn’t have time to say anything to her. I hastily opened the set of double doors and rushed into the silent area, where I proceeded to hide behind bookshelves.
