Perfect Summer by Bethany Lopez
Mitch
How is it possible that she’s become even more beautiful?
I stood there, in the middle of Java Jitters, feeling all eyes on us and knowing we’d probably be in the next edition of the Mason Creek Scoop, but not caring. Suddenly I was seventeen again and standing before me was the girl who held all my firsts.
My first kiss, my first love, my first lover, and my first heartbreak.
Yes, there were a million other firsts in there, but those were the big ones.
Faith Evans had been the girl who made my hands sweat in seventh-grade math class and the young woman who’d held me in her arms the day my father died.
But as I stood there taking note of the changes in her face, the subtle highlights in her hair, and the fact that she smelled exactly the same, none of it mattered.
She hadn’t just broken my heart when she walked out without so much as a backwards glance … she’d destroyed me.
“Hi, Mitch,” Faith said in reply, her eyes wide with shock.
I’d started this. I’d seen her from behind and had decided it was time to stop playing games and finally acknowledge the fact that she was living back in Mason Creek.
I’d seen her around, of course. The town was ridiculously small. I couldn’t go anywhere from one side of town to the other without running into people I knew, no matter the time of day. So, of course there was no way Faith could live here for a year without us running into each other.
I’d dodged her at least a dozen times.
I’d hidden behind trees, cars, even Old Man Morton once.
I hadn’t been ready to see her, and I’d heard through the grapevine that she wanted to put off seeing me for as long as possible, so I played along.
But, five minutes ago I’d stood outside the coffee shop and watched as she chatted with Jessie, and I’d decided enough was enough.
Now that I was here, smelling her and looking into those startled blue eyes, I realized I’d made a mistake. I still wasn’t ready.
“I can’t do this,” I muttered, before turning on my heel and striding out of there as fast as I could.
Once out on the sidewalk, I started left, before remembering I’d parked my truck to the right. So, I spun around to go back the other way, only to find Faith clutching her to-go cup in front of me.
“Mitch,” she repeated, and the sound of my name seemed to slap into my chest like a bullet. “Are you okay?”
“Yup. Fine,” I lied, as I tried to walk around her.
Faith blocked me and gave me a sad smile.
“Can we talk for a minute?” she asked.
I wanted to tell her to go to hell, but I knew my mom would hear about it and be sorely disappointed. She had raised me to be a gentleman, after all. So, instead I said, “Just. I have a job to get to.”
“That’s right. Olivia said you own your own business. Painting houses, right?”
I wasn’t about to sit there and discuss my livelihood with Faith Evans.
“What’d you want to talk to me about?” I asked instead.
‘Oh, I, uh, have been meaning to get with you … to clear the air. I’m sorry about what happened after graduation, but, you know, we were just kids … I hope you can forgive me, and we can be amicable. I mean, we’re bound to run into each other around town.”
“We’ve been doing okay so far,” I said, regretting the words as soon as they were out of my mouth. I sounded bitter … and like an ass. Like a bitter ass. “Just kidding … we’re fine. It’s water under the covered bridge … as they say.”
Relief crossed her features and I itched to get out of there.
“Well, if that’s all, I really do have to get to work,” I said, rocking back on the balls of my feet.
“Of course,” she said with a light laugh. “I’ve got to go open the salon, so … it was nice to see you.”
“Yup, you, too,” I said, this time moving around her without issue and hightailing it to my truck.
I opened my door and hopped up into it.
Mason Creek was the kind of place you could leave your work truck, full of tools and equipment, unlocked without a worry.
Once I was in the safety of my cab, I let out the breath I’d been holding and grabbed on to the steering wheel. I wanted to let out a shout, but I knew the gossips were out on their morning walk around Town Square, eyes on me as they waited for me to give them something to get them through the day.
Well, I wasn’t giving them the satisfaction. Being gossip fodder once in my life was more than enough.
Needing an outlet, I pressed Wilder’s name on my phone and listened to it ring.
I knew he’d be up, as a rancher he woke before the sun, but I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to answer right away or not. If he couldn’t, I knew I could count on him to call me back when he was free.
“What’s up, Mitch?” he said when he picked up.
Wilder had been a couple years ahead of us in high school and he and I hadn’t really connected until a few years after graduation. He’d had his heartbroken by his high school girlfriend, too, so we’d bonded over that one night at Pony Up, the local pub, and we’d been close ever since.
“It finally happened,” I told him, my eyes drifting back to where Faith and I had spoken on the sidewalk.
“You hooked up with the redhead from the bar?” he joked.
“No, I spoke with Faith.”
“Shit, Mitch. How’d that go?”
“Not great. You think you can meet up tonight?” I asked.
“Yeah, man, of course. Whatever you need.”
We hung up and I pulled my truck out of the parking space and headed down the street, but this time, rather than avoiding the salon, I drove right past it.