Holiday in Holly Oaks

Chapter 14

The next morning came earlier than Tallie wanted but she was opening the store and no matter how she felt, she refused to let it interfere with doing a good job with her dad's store. She pulled herself out of bed with just enough time to throw on clothes, put her hair in a ponytail, and grabbed a scone on the way out of the house.

She took her phone but it left off, not ready to face whatever messages Case had left her. She only had time to say "hi" and "bye" to her parents and was grateful for that. If she talked to them it wouldn't take long for them to mention Case and she didn't know what she would say. 

The streets were quiet as she walked to the store. She tried not to think about Case but it was where she always ended up, their fight playing on repeat.

When she entered the main square, she headed towards Oaks but stopped halfway there, unsure she wanted to face all the regulars. She felt like all the pain from her fight with Case was written across her forehead and it would bring questions and curious looks. She wanted coffee, but she wanted her privacy more, so she changed directions and went straight to the store. 

Unlocking the door, she set about her routine, turning on lights, taking off her coat, and leaving her things in the backroom, picking what music to play over the speakers. The familiarity of it kept her brain from thinking about Case, and she was disappointed the distraction was over fifteen minutes later as she flipped the Closed sign to Open. 

Even though the mornings at the store were usually slow, she was always good and finding productive things to fill her time. The sheet music needed regular organization, and supplies needed to be check and ordered, but she didn't feel like doing anything.

She sat on the barstool behind the check out counter and listened to the melancholy Christmas music she had put on. But three songs in she regretted her choice. She changed it to pop Christmas songs, but the cheeriness felt false.

She was on her seventh music choice when the first customer arrived. She looked up, feeling a rush of hope that only turned to disappointment when she saw it wasn't Case. She realized that despite their fight she had unconsciously been waiting for him to show up. He had every morning she had been at work since he had been back in Holly Oaks.

She tried to bury her disappointment as she helped the customer. She was grateful for the distraction they provided but they were gone too soon and she was left alone with her music again. 

She looked across the square to the glowing windows of Oaks and thought about taking an early coffee break, but she didn't want everyone seeing her in her miserable state.

Only yesterday, Case and she had been bold with their affection for each other and there was no doubt the news had spread throughout the whole town. Everyone would be expecting her to have the bright cheery glow a new relationship brings, and when they saw anything less they would suspect something was wrong. 

This was the flip-side of the love and community you got in a small town: everyone knew everything about you. Growing up in Holly Oaks Tallie had never known anything else.

At times it annoyed her that everything about her life felt like it belonged to the town and not just her, but she had learned it wasn't going to change. Holly Oaks had been that way when her mom was a kid and it would continue to be that way, so she became more aware of what she shared and this was something she didn't want to share. 

She knew people would find out about her fight with Case, that was inevitable, but if she could delay that happening by not getting coffee, then she wouldn't get coffee. So she resorted to finding a distraction and started organizing the records. But after coming across some of her and Case's favorite albums from high school, she gave up and returned to moping on the stool.