But the eye candy wasn’t the only reason Audrey loved seeing Josh in his garage. Whenever he had a vehicle to fix, he looked happy. Content. Like he was in his element. It was one of the few times she’d noticed that he didn’t have any stress in his face or body. It was strange to her because, even though she loved her job, loved the people she served, and loved working with her sister, it did stress her out sometimes.
But when Josh had his music playing and had a wrench or whatever else mechanics used in his hand, he was in his bliss. Which was somehow even sexier than his outward appearance which was what Viv referred to as four-alarm-fire-hot.
Unfortunately, Audrey wasn’t going to get a Josh sighting tonight. The bay door was rolled down and the lights at the shop were off.
She wondered where he was.
Was he on a date?
Over the past eight years that she’d lived in town, he’d never had a girlfriend. Not an official one, anyway. He’d dated a few women that she knew about off and on, but as far as she knew nothing had ever been serious.
He could be with one of them now. She wondered what they were doing. Were they out to dinner? Playing mini-golf? Going to a movie?
She knew two things they absolutely were not doing. One, they weren’t going for a ride on his motorcycle. And two, they weren’t spending the night at his house. Those were two hard and fast rules he had when it came to dating.
She’d asked him if women liked going on rides on his bike, it had been her sad way of trying to open up the conversation and hint that she’d like to go on a ride with him. But it had backfired. He’d told her he’d never taken anyone for a ride. When she asked him why he explained that bike rides were sort of like therapy for him, they were his escape. And he didn’t want to have anyone on the back that would threaten to ruin that for him.
As far as the no overnight guests rule went, she wasn’t exactly sure what that was about. He’d mentioned it once when Viv asked how many women had done the walk-of-shame from his house and he’d told her zero because he never let anyone stay the night. Viv had gotten distracted and not asked a follow-up question so Audrey didn’t know why that was, but she assumed it might be because he just didn’t like people in his space, or maybe it was because he didn’t like the morning after awkwardness of getting the person to leave.
She wouldn’t really know since she’d never spent the night at anyone’s house or had anyone spend the night at hers. She’d never even been on an actual date.
The sun was beginning to set as she made her way past the fire station which sat on the corner of the street that Brewed Awakenings was on. She’d worked the afternoon shift, which was bittersweet. She loved the extra sleep that not having to be up at four in the morning provided. But Josh only came into Brewed Awakenings in the mornings so working the afternoon shift meant no Josh.
As she turned onto Main Street and walked along the wooden sidewalk along the downtown area lined with mom-and-pop shops, she was filled with a sense of rightness and belonging. It was the same feeling she’d always gotten when she’d come here as a child for summer vacations.
Hope Falls had always felt like home.
String lights crisscrossed above the street and hung between the black lampposts giving the entire downtown area a magical glow. There was a river that flowed beside the town that had a bridge that spanned across it which was also lit up with twinkle lights which only added to the quaintness.
As she approached Sue Ann’s Café where she was meeting her sisters, she heard the rev of a motorcycle and her breath caught in her throat. She saw the singular headlight coming toward her and it wasn’t until the bike pulled to the four-way stop sign that she exhaled.
The rider wasn’t Josh.
Days that she didn’t have a Josh sighting were just not as sweet as days that she did. Not just because of her romantic feelings for him, but also because over the years he’d become her best friend. If something good or bad happened, he was the first person she wanted to tell. If she was having a good or bad day, he was the one she wanted to share it with. It just made things a little complicated because she was also madly in love with him.
They had gotten into the habit of having movie nights once or twice a month. Usually on Sundays after he ate at his grandmother’s house, he would stop by. She had a tradition of baking on Sundays, so she’d always have fresh brownies, cupcakes, cookies or other goodies ready or just coming out of the oven. They would curl up on her couch, separately not together, sadly, watch a movie, usually a comedy and enjoy whatever treat she’d prepared. Inevitably by the time the credits rolled there would be one goody remaining which they would fight over. Not physically. Although she wouldn’t mind tussling with him.
Unfortunately, their resolutions came in the form of either quick draw, where they would both put their respective hands on their knees, count backwards from three and the first to grab it won. Or they’d go with the classic, rock-paper-scissors. But her favorite way of settling the score was a good old-fashioned staring contest.
That one was her favorite because she got to brazenly stare into Josh’s deep brown eyes. She’d get so lost in them sometimes, that she would forget why she’d been looking at him in the first place. He always broke first. He said that he couldn’t look at her and not smile. She wasn’t sure if that was because he knew what a dork she was or if it was because he just found her funny, or if she made him happy. She really hoped it was that she made him happy.
As she walked under the bright yellow awning and entered the café, she immediately saw that her oldest sister Grace was already seated with Viv at the sisters’ favorite table; the table sat right in the front of the café, centered under the picture window that overlooked the downtown area.
Audrey had always loved the eclectic décor at the small eatery, and it hadn’t changed in the over two decades she and her sisters had been coming here. There were a dozen tables sitting at comfortable angles around the dining floor. Each was covered with eclectically mismatched tablecloths. Shelves lined the back wall and displayed local crafts and personal mementos. Photos dotted the walls, which featured residents of Hope Falls and many of the events hosted by the town. It had such a homey feeling and whenever she was here it felt like a hug.
“Hey!” Audrey smiled as she approached the table and took off her scarf and gloves. “Where’s Ava?” Audrey asked as she took a seat beside Grace across from Viv. She thought she would have been the last one here because she had to close up Brewed at five and that’s when the sisters were meeting.
“She’s in the bathroom,” Grace explained.
Audrey noticed Viv was smirking at her as she lowered down.
“What?” The second she asked the question she regretted it. If her sister was looking at her like that, it had something to do with Josh, a subject Viv teased her about mercilessly.
“I saw you outside, before you walked in. You thought that was Josh on the motorcycle, didn’t you?”
Unrequited love was difficult enough without people, people who were supposed to love you, pointing it out all the time. Talk about salt in a wound.
Before she had to respond to her sister’s accurate assumption, Ava returned. As she took a seat next to Viv she said, “Oh, I heard you are doing something with the singles for Valentine’s Day.”