803 Wishing Lane by Shaw Hart

Two

Heath

I watchas Caroline turns and heads back into the kitchen, my heart thumping loudly as she disappears from my sight. It’s always like that when I see her. It has been since the first time I laid eyes on her.

I can still remember the first time I came into the Virgin Street Diner after Caroline had bought it. I had taken one look at her and fallen head over heels in love with her. I’ve never been very good with women but I really messed up with my sweet Caroline.

When I had first come in, I sat at the counter, hoping to work up the nerve to ask her out. Then the little girl coloring at the other end of the counter had run over and hugged her and the family resemblance was so strong that I knew they were related. I assumed that she was her daughter and that my girl was taken and just like that, all my dreams of being with this girl were dashed.

When she took my order, I might have been a little short with her. I was frustrated that someone beat me to her and I took that out on her. She had tried to be nice to me, but I shut her down, giving her the cold shoulder. I’ve been paying for it ever since.

Caroline isn’t taken. I should have looked for a ring before I opened my mouth. I’ve been working on getting back in her good graces ever since that first day.

So far, I’ve failed.

Miserably.

I thought that I could be patient but I might have overestimated the limits of my patience. I keep trying to talk to her but she hasn’t opened up to me much; I can’t really say that I blame her.

My best friend, Jacob Sten, says that I need to just suck it up and ask her out already. He says that’s how he got his wife, Amelia. I’m beginning to think that maybe he’s right. I need to just man up and tell her how I feel. I’m only torturing myself by prolonging it and longing for her.

I pay my bill, nodding goodbye to Amelia as I head out the door, and head back toward my shop which is right across the street from the Virgin Street Diner. I pass by Dr. Coleman in the parking lot and stop to say hi to him. He’s just getting out of his car and he looks frazzled.

“Hey, doc. How’s it going?” I ask.

He sighs, dragging a hand through his hair. “Busy. I was just stopping in to grab a bite to eat before I head back to the office.”

“No luck finding a new nurse yet?” I guess and he nods.

“I put a new ad up for one. Hopefully I can find someone soon.”

“Good luck,” I say, waving as he hurries into the diner and I make my way back to the trading post.

I unlock the doors and head inside, flipping the lights back on. I’ve owned the Trading Post for close to a decade now. I bought it right after I moved to town. The old owner was ready to retire and I had jumped at the chance to buy it.

Cherry Falls is a typical small town. Everyone knows everyone else and all of their business. The crime rate is next to zero and there’s never any traffic. Besides, it’s beautiful here with the mountains on one side and water on the other.

Small towns have always suited me more than big cities. I don’t really like crowds, and I tend to do better talking to people one-on-one. Most people would call me gruff. They’d be right but the real truth is that I just never know what to say to people, especially people that I don’t know.

Some people are born with the gift of gab but I was never one of those people.

My parents were, though. My mom and dad were both born and raised in a small town just like Cherry Falls. We lived up in the mountains in this little tourist spot and they owned a gift shop and a small ice cream parlor right on Main Street. They could make anyone who walked through the door feel like family. It was a gift, really.

Me, I liked working in the back where I could stick to myself. There have only been a handful of people that I feel comfortable around. Jacob and Caroline are the only ones that I’ve ever met where I felt at ease as soon as I saw them. Maybe that’s why I’m so obsessed with Caroline.

I head to the back office, grabbing another box of sweaters that I need to stock and carry them out onto the floor. As I work, I think about Caroline and how to approach her.

She seems a little shy, at least around me. I wonder if that’s a good sign or a bad one.

The bell on the front door jingles and I look up, smiling when I see Jacob walking in. He waves at me and I set the box of sweaters down on the counter and head over to him.

“What are you doing here?” I ask him with a smile.

“I came to see if you wanted to grab a late lunch with me, but I’m guessing that you’ve already been across the street,” he says and my eyes flick over his shoulder to the Virgin Street Diner.

“Yeah, I just got back.”

“Did you finally ask her out?” he asks, but I know he already knows the answer to that question.

“Not today.”

Jacob sighs, hanging his head dramatically.

“She was busy,” I try to defend myself and he just groans.

“You’re killing me, man.”

“I’m killing myself,” I mumble.

“Why don’t you just bite the bullet and ask her?”

“I just don’t want her to reject me.”

Jacob mulls over my words and we’re silent for a few minutes, both lost in thought. Finally, he comes to a conclusion.

“Why don’t you take a break, then? Regroup. You could go up to your cabin for the weekend and decompress. Come back on Monday and have a plan to ask her out or move on. Watching you watching her is getting old, man.”

I snort at the last part but I’m sure that he’s right. I flip over his words in my head.

Maybe he’s right. Maybe a break is just what I need. My subconscious reminds me that Caroline is taking Charlotte camping this weekend and will probably be up near my cabin. I decide to keep that piece of information to myself.

Maybe I’ll run into her. Maybe that will be the sign I’m looking for. If I see her, then I’m meant to ask her out and take the leap. If not, then maybe I need to try to get over my infatuation with her.

Infatuation seems like too tame of a word for what I feel for her and I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to just get over her.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

“Of course, I’m right,” Jacob says with a smile and I laugh at his cocky smile. “I’ll leave you to your stocking. Have a nice weekend.”

I wave as he heads to the door, letting him know that I’ll talk to him on Monday before he heads out the door and across the street to the diner.

I get back to my stocking, all the while wondering if I can really go two whole days without seeing Caroline.