Chapter Two

"Holly, can you stop at the hardware store and pick up the parts I ordered?" my dad asked as I finished my breakfast the next morning.

"Sure- I'll stop there on my way to work. Do you want me to pick something up for dinner?" I answered, putting my empty bowl in the dishwasher.

"Nah, I'll be at work when you get home, so I'll make that rice thing you like and put it in the fridge." He sipped at his coffee, wincing at the heat.

"Okay. I'll see you later tonight then." I kissed his cheek as I grabbed my keys off the kitchen table and headed out the door.

The car was cold, but it was a short drive to West Hardware, and the heat was barely going by the time I got there. The door chimed as I walked in, the smells of tools and wood filling the air. Andrew stopped organizing the shelf he was working on and hurried over to greet me. The store was empty other than the two of us.

"You here for the parts your dad ordered?" he asked, smiling.

"You must be a mind reader," I answered, returning his easy grin. He laughed, raking a hand through his light brown hair. He had let it grow out since I had moved back, not long by any standard, but just shaggy along the edge of his collar. Combined with the light stubble on his jaw, I thought it made him look rugged and dashing. He thought he just looked lazy.

"Yup. I must read minds. Or maybe it's that he has been in here every day this week asking about them. They're in the back. I'll go grab 'em," he said with a laugh as he turned toward the back room. I leaned up against the counter, looking around the small shop. It had looked the same in here for as long as I could remember. A big metal sign hung over the register, WEST HARDWARE: A FAMILY BUSINESS. Ray West, Luke's father, ran the store. I remember the day he bought it; all of us kids had been running around the store hyped up on cake and punch while the adults congratulated Mr. West.

The store was Mr. West's pride and joy. Ray spent every waking moment he could in the shop. I could easily see why Barb was ending their marriage. Ever since he had bought it, she had been second fiddle to a hardware store. Luke and Tyler both pretty much grew up in the store, playing with screwdrivers and hammers instead of GI Joes. As soon as Luke was old enough, he started helping his dad run the shop. I knew Luke wanted more of an active role in managing the store now that he was older, but it was clear that Mr. West still saw him as a kid.

Luke had earned an associate's degree from the local community college and was taking online classes to work toward a degree in business. He wanted to run the store more efficiently, but his dad refused to change anything about the store. I knew times were getting rough, and the slipping economy didn't help. Luke had some great ideas to bring in more business, but Ray was stubborn and didn't want to change. It was a point of contention between the two of them, but Luke still held out hope that he could change his dad's mind.

"All right, here are the parts. Your dad already paid for them, so you are good to go," Andrew said as he carried a large package out from the back room.

"Thanks. How are Ray and Luke doing today?" I asked, picking up the package and heading to the door. Andrew held it open for me and then followed me to the car to help me get it in the backseat.

"They left for the city about an hour ago. They’re both nervous as hell. I have a bad feeling about today," he said grimly as he held the car door open for me.

"Me too. Thanks for the package. Dad thanks you too." I closed the car door to the backseat. "I've got to get to work. I'll see you in a little while," I said, sliding into the driver's side door. Andrew waved and headed back into the shop, turning to watch me drive away. He waved again as I maneuvered onto the main road, his smile fading as I turned.

Andrew. We've been friends for as long as I can remember. I lived on the top of the mountain and his house was only a couple of miles downhill from me. In our mountain community, that pretty much made us next door neighbors, so growing up we were always together. Our friendship was cemented the first day of kindergarten when he shared his crayons with me because I forgot mine. He even let me use the blue one and didn't get mad when it broke. "Now I just have two!" little Andrew had told me. It was an easy and perfect friendship, the two of us always together. Things felt natural when I was with him. I felt like me when I was with him.

Andrew was the first boy I ever kissed. It was the day after my thirteenth birthday, and boys were starting to become interesting instead of gross. We were walking home from the bus stop together, when he told me I was pretty. No one but my dad had ever said that to me, so I turned and kissed him on the lips, trying to replicate the kisses I'd seen in movies. It had felt so awkward, and yet somehow so right to kiss him. Kissing looked so easy, so natural in all the movies, but in real life it was a disaster. He had just stood there, not doing anything but turning bright red. We walked the rest of the way home in silence.

When I tell people that Andrew and I never kissed again after that, they often don't believe me. It seems strange to them that two teenagers would never act on their raging hormones and at least have made out. My college roommate had laughed when I told her none of us ever messed around with one another. She never understood that I had made a promise in high school to never date any of my closest friends. It was probably why we were all still friends.

The road curved and I hugged it a little too tight, hearing the parts slide on the seat behind me. Some days I missed high school. No, that wasn't right, I didn't miss high school. I missed my friends and having the perfect excuse to hang out with them all the time.

Andrew, Luke, Britney, and Eli were still my closest friends despite us all having gone in different directions. Andrew and Luke both stayed in Conifer after graduation for family reasons; Britney moved closer to the city to go to school, but still worked at the local Mexican restaurant as a waitress on weekends and breaks. Eli got a job down in Denver and was working his way up the corporate ladder. I had gone off to Boulder on a scholarship.

I wished I had never left. School had been easy for me in high school and I had made my academic scholarship easily. Unfortunately, I made some poor decisions in college. I snickered at myself as I turned off the main road. Poor decisions? I scoffed at myself. That was the polite way of saying I screwed my life up. My “poor decisions” forced me to come back home in disgrace and failure.

Only Luke knew the true extent of my poor decisions, and I had no intention of telling anyone else. Not even my dad knew. It was too shameful. I had to find a new path for my life. I knew I didn't want to work as a grocery clerk for the rest of eternity, but I couldn't go back to the life I had in Boulder. I had lost myself there, and I was still picking up the pieces, putting myself back together.

I left my car in the back of the parking lot and headed into the store. I was excited to see all my friends after my shift. I had missed them all when I was away at school, and because of all our busy lives, we hadn't all been in the same place since summer. I was most excited to get to spend time with Andrew, though. Even since I had come back, we hadn't been able to spend much time together. At least I saw him more than when I was in college. While I was away, we had talked on the phone. Andrew and Luke both came up to visit a couple of times, but it just wasn't the same.

I had been nervous to come home and be seen a failure in everyone's eyes. I knew Luke hadn't told anyone what I had done, but I still saw judgment everywhere I went. Except in Andrew. When he looked at me, he saw someone worthwhile. He just treated me like I had never left, and I realized just how much I had missed him. I wouldn't have made the poor decisions I did if he had been around.

I sighed and put my work apron on, punching my time-card into the clock. Time to get my head out of memories and get ready to start my shift. Only a few hours until freedom and friends. I wondered how many people were going to reference the weather today as I headed to the checkout stand.